Feed Your Eco Featured September Recipe: Organic Roasted Tomato Sauce

I found this month’s Organic Recipe on a great site devoted to green living in our nation’s capitol:  City Renewed- The DC Area’s Most Comprehensive Green Resource Guide.  I encourage you to visit their site when you get a chance.  It is filled with informative articles with excellent tips and advice anyone can use to make their home and/or office a more eco-friendly environment.  This site is also terrific resource for DC residents to learn more about local events, educational opportunities, Farmers Markets, festivals, and more.

Here in the southeast, the hot summer days yield an abundance of delicious, juicy, ripe, red tomatoes for us to enjoy well into the month of September. The process of roasting the vegetables in this sauce really brings out the natural flavors.   Many of the ingredients can be grown in your own garden or can be purchased at your local farmers market.  Try making this over the weekend and let us know what you think!  Thank you to City Renewed for sharing this!!

Organic Roasted Tomato Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 or more medium organic tomatoes, cored and cut into quarters or eighths
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 small or one medium onion, cut into quarters or eighths
1 large red bell pepper, cut into large pieces
1 leek, cut in half lengthwise, washed and sliced
1 small head of garlic
1/4 cup basil, chopped just a little
2 ounces goat cheese (optional)
Black pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray large glass baking dish with nonstick spray. Put tomato pieces in dish, pour olive oil over tomatoes and stir. Bake for 30 to 50 minutes, stirring tomatoes every 20 minutes. Stir again then add onion, bell pepper and leek. Wrap garlic in foil and put on rack in oven. After about 30 minutes, when everything looks and smells delicious, remove baking dish and garlic from oven. Unwrap garlic, cut the top and squeeze the softened garlic into the tomato goodness. Add basil and black pepper, and mix well. Serve over chunky pasta. A dollop of goat cheese can be put on top for extra zing.

Photo Credit: helenkosings.wordpress.com

Feed Your Eco Featured August Recipe: Organic Carrot Soup with Ginger

I found this delicious organic recipe on Epicurious earlier this month and thought this would make an ideal summer soup recipe to share!

This healthy vegetarian recipe is by Carl Schroeder, chef at Arterra in San Diego, and is a wonderful blend of Carrots, Ginger and Herbs.  Try it hot or cold.

Organic Carrot Soup with Ginger Essence

Makes 4 servings
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced leeks (white part only)
1/2 large white onion, diced (about 1 cup)
2 1/2 pounds organic carrots, chopped
2 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon chopped fresh lemongrass (or 2 teaspoons dried, tied in a piece of cheesecloth)
3 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 cup fresh carrot juice
1/2 cup light sour cream, plus 4 tsp for garnish
Coarsely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped chives

Preparation

Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed large stockpot on high heat until hot. Cook leeks and onion 2 to 3 minutes. Add carrots and 2 tbsp water. Cook, covered, 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add stock, lemongrass and 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger. Simmer about 30 minutes. Let mixture cool for 10 minutes, then pour into a food processor and purée. Add carrot juice and strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Discard pulp. (If not serving immediately, cool and refrigerate liquid.) Add sour cream and remaining 2 teaspoons ginger to strained liquid. Stir until completely incorporated. Heat 3 or 4 minutes over medium-low heat or serve cold. Season with pepper. Divide among 4 bowls. Garnish with chives and 1 tsp each sour cream.