Food for Thought

I laughed and cried my way through Dirty Life: on farming, food and love in about 2 days. I loved this book for many reasons, but the biggest one being the longing one feels to be connected to land, food and community in a really primal and basic way. This is the main reason I had to leave New York. When we first arrived in the late spring I could not keep my hands and feet out of the soil. It was as if my body was trying to absorb a major nutrient that it had been deprived of for the last decade. And Olive, oh my, how she has blossomed and bloomed in the most profound ways.
Of course being away from my husband during the week has it's rough moments, but in general I really feel we are all happiest in the environments we need to be in. And our weekend reunions are truly the most sacred and sweetest ever.
1.  Fantastic read for everyone- city slicker  or country bumpkin ;-)  2. Savory Tarts with all our homegrown/gathered ingredients 3. Our dried tomatoes 4. Freshly ground almond flour for the crust  5. The filling: swiss chard, onions, chantrelle mushrooms, and the secret ingredient *ground clove* 6. Our garlic and freshly ground cumin  7. Dried chantrelles from our woods!

Savory Swiss Chard Tart 
*adapted from greenkitchenstories.com 
Vegan/GF Makes one large tart 

Tart Shell:

½ cup superfine chickpea flour or garbanzo bean flour
¼ cup almond flour or almond meal (pre-buy or make your own by just food processing almonds! :) 
2 Tbsp. potato starch, tapioca starch, or cornstarch
½ tsp. sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. each finely chopped fresh rosemary and thyme (sage is really good too!)
3 Tbsp. virgin coconut oil plus more for pan

Filling:

2 Tbsp. virgin coconut oil or olive oil (for frying)
1 med yellow onion, cut in half then sliced thin 
½ tsp. ground cloves
4 cups fresh swiss chard
1 leek, thinly sliced (including green leaves)
12–15 crimini (baby bella) or any wild mushroom, sliced
Juice of ½ lemon; salt and pepper to taste 

Making the Tart shells: Combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl; season with salt and pepper. Add coconut oil and 3 Tbsp. ice-cold water. Using your hands, work dry ingredients toward the center until dough forms. Gather dough into a ball, wrap in plastic, and chill for 30 minutes. DO AHEAD: Dough may be made 1 day ahead. Wrap tightly with plastic and chill.

Preheat oven to 375°. Grease pan. Press the ball of dough evenly onto bottom and up sides of tart pan (if it reaches). Trim dough flush with edge of pans. Prick bottom with a fork to prevent it from bubbling as it bakes. Bake until golden, about 12-15 minutes. *Try to not let it over cook or it gets very brittle*

Let tart shell cool slightly, then invert each pan and turn out shells onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Or if it seems too brittle (I overcooked mine the first time), then leave in the tart pan and put in a cool place till it's time to fill er' up!  

Filling:
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cloves and cook until onion is lightly browned; add swiss chard, leek and mushrooms. Cook until spinach is brightly colored, 3–5 minutes. Add lemon juice and cook 2 minutes longer. Spoon filling into each tart shell and serve hot. 

Enjoy!!