A 'Dark Days' style dinner

Inspired by the 'Dark Days Challenge' over at (not so)Urban Hennery I decided to give a shot at a locally made dinner last night. With some of my Boston Organics delivery coming from Massachusetts I decided to give a shot at two recipes i've never tried. I was incredibly pleased with the results!

Carrot & green bean spaghetti with potato and turnip 'latkes':

In honor of Hanukkah (which starts tonight at sundown) I gave a new twist to the classic latke.

Potato & Turnip Latke:

Makes 4 latkes:

2 medium sized potato's

1 large turnip

1/4 cup of oil (not local)

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper (not local)

1 teaspoon kosher salt (not local)

Grate the potato's & turnip. Squeeze and remove as much excess moisture as possible. Toss with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Press the mixture into 4 latkes. Place them in the skillet and flatten to about 1/2 inch with a spatula. Cook until both sides are well browned and slightly crispy, turning once (about 12 minutes). Transfer latkes to paper towel to remove excess oil.

To go with the latkes I went with a carrot 'spaghetti' which I saw randomly on the food network last week. I attempted to replicate as best as possible:

Serves 2

3 medium carrots

2 cloves of garlic (more or less depending on your preference)

3 tablespoons olive oil (not local)

pinch of salt (not local)

pinch of black pepper (not local)

1/4 cup pasta sauce (defrosted from homemade batch I made with farmers market ingredients in august)

Peel the carrots into long thin strips & sprinkle on salt. Mince garlic. Heat olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat. When the oil has warmed toss in the carrots & 'turn' them frequently with tongs or with a flipping motion if you are skilled with the pan. Once the carrots start to soften toss in garlic and black pepper. Cook over medium heat tossing frequently until the garlic is golden and the carrots have sufficiently softened.

While cooking the carrots warm pasta sauce on low heat. Top 'spaghetti' with sauce.

These to recipes worked really well on their own & in combination with each other. The pasta sauce which was pulled from the freezer was made in august with tomatoes, onion, garlic, green pepper, basil & oregano all from the farmers market.

With the exception of olive oil, salt, and pepper my entire meal was organic and grown in-state. Not bad for my first attempt!