What IF...Festival

On Saturday, September 15, the Flying Carrot had the great privilege of being part of the extraordinary What IF...Festival in downtown Colorado Springs! We had no idea what a large event this would be and were so excited at the opportunity to educate so many people. At this event, we really focused on VEGGIES! We made our famous berry-beet recovery smoothies on the human-powered blender bike to demonstrate how to creatively use an oft unpopular veggie. Additionally, to highlight the season's produce, we prepared a simple cucumber tomato salad, fresh carrots, refreshing watermelon, and whole wheat zucchini bread for tasting. Needless to say, with such tasty produce from Venetucci Farm and Harlan Wolfe Ranch, we ran out of everything! Many kids (and adults) were surprised to find they liked beets and zucchini.

Gosh, I just love a little beet smoothie mustache!!

To get creative juices flowing, we debuted a new art project at this event. In addition to the healthy plate project, we allowed budding artists to express their love of fruits and veggies through painting. A large canvas and colorful acrylic paints made for an attractive display, which became more and more beautiful as festival attendants painted their favorite fruit or vegetable. They were also asked to think about and express how their favorite piece of produce tasted and/or how it made them feel. Knowing what you eat and why you eat it is so important to healthy eating. Challenge yourself to really focus on the flavors, smells, sounds, textures, and sight of the food you eat. What does it taste like? Why do you like it? Do you know where it comes from? How was it grown? Become a mindful eater (rather than a mindless) eater. This is the most enjoyable way to eat and fosters healthy eating habits! 

Blue Moon Run

On August 31, the Flying Carrot went to the Blue Moon Run at Ute Valley Park. Berry yogurt recovery smoothies were enjoyed by all. The healthy plate art project engaged kids as their parents raced, and beautiful veggies from Harlan Wolfe Ranch were on display. Take a look...

A big thanks to my support crew (Sam, Lauren & Kate) who ran the event wonderfully in my absence.

We love seeing little recovery smoothie 'mustaches'!

Garlic Fest 2012 & Ajo Blanco Recipe

The Garlic Festival, hosted by Pikes Peak Urban Gardens at Harlan Wolfe Ranch, took place on Saturday afternoon and marked the last summer event for the Flying Carrot. This is not to say you won't see us out and about this Fall, just that our busy time has passed. We are just so excited that the Flying Carrot is seemingly becoming a recognizable feature in the community, with several people approaching us to say that they remembered seeing us at various different events. This is excellent, and our future plans include an assessment about the outreach and effectiveness of the bus (feel free to leave any comments you have about the bus at the end of this post). 

The Garlic Festival was such a fun, relaxed event, and I received many requests asking for the "Ajo Blanco" soup recipe that I prepared for tasting. This soup is served cold and features garlic quite nicely. I used a combination of Spanish Roja and Siberian garlic from Harlan Wolfe Ranch. Besides having great flavor, this soup is simple to prepare and good for you! There is no dairy in this soup, the creamy texture comes from almonds and country style bread.

Ajo Blanco

Also known as white gazpacho, ajo blanco is highly popular in the Andalusia region of Spain. To save time, you can buy slivered, blanched almonds without the skin at most grocery stores.  

2  cups bread, day old country style or fresh bread,

   loosely packed, torn into 1-inch pieces

4⅔ cups water, divided

1  large clove garlic, coarsely chopped 
   (or 2 smaller cloves)

2  cups almonds, blanched, without skin

2½ teaspoons sea salt, divided

½  cup sherry vinegar

½  cup extra virgin olive oil

Optional garnishes: Thinly sliced apples or melon, green grapes, toasted sliced almonds

Method:

1. Soak the day old bread in 1⅓ cups of water in a medium bowl for 10 minutes. If using fresh bread, there is no need to soak it.

2. Process the garlic and almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Stop halfway through the process to scrape down the sides of the bowl. 

3. Add the soaked bread and any soaking water (or the fresh bread), 2 teaspoons of salt, sherry vinegar, and olive oil, and blend for 2 minutes or until smooth. This will form a very thick paste.

4. Transfer mixture to a large, nonreactive bowl and whisk in the remaining 3⅓ cups water (use 4⅓ water if using fresh bread)until you have a smooth soup. Alternately, add enough water to the food processor to thin and emulsify the paste, then transfer to bowl and whisk in remaining amount of water (note: this is the method I found easiest and used when preparing the soup for the festival). Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours until well chilled.

5. To serve, stir the soup well. Taste and adjust seasoning with ½ teaspoon of salt or more if desired (you may also omit the extra salt). Ladle 1 cup of soup into a chilled soup bowl, garnish and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Teresa Barrenchea, as presented at the Worlds of Flavor International Conference & Festival 2006

Check out the gorgeous piece of community art created by many who attended the festival. Remember, we eat with all our senses. Think about how your food tastes. How does it look? How does it make you feel? What word would you use to describe it?

Where to find the Flying Carrot 9/15 and 9/22

Follow the Flying Carrot to these awesome community events...

This Saturday, September 15th visit us and at the totally cool and creative "What IF...Festival." The What IF...Festival features the best of the region showing off their best, highlighting tech-enthusiasts,art-makers, garage inventors, performers,
Do-It-Yourself-ers, scientists, magicians, robot builders, urban farmers, engineers and other thinkers and tinkerers. This event is FREE!

To learn more about the festival visit: http://www.whatif-festival.org/
For festival guide click here, and to invite your friends send them this Facebook event invitation

On Saturday, September 22 follow the Flying Carrot to the Pikes Peak Urban Gardens Garlic Festival at the historic Harlan Wolfe Ranch (907 W. Cheyenne Rd, Colorado Springs). Come learn about how to grow garlic, taste garlic ice cream and other garlicky goods, sip on cold beer (if you're of age, of course), listen to some jammin' tunes, watch the iron chef competition, bid on some prized planting garlic varieties, and enter your recipe into the salsa contest!

The event runs from 1 to 4 pm. Cost is $10 and FREE for children 6 years of age and under. You must register for this event but will pay at the door. Registration is limited to 250 people. Click here to register now!

No-Knead Flatbread Dough Recipe (as featured at Mountain of the Sun Festival)

As a perfect pairing to the Stone Soup featured in the previous post, try making this flatbread at home. The recipe makes quite a lot and can be stored in the refrigerator for several days. To make it especially flavorful, mix minced garlic and herbs (we used French tarragon and oregano) into the dough.

No-Knead Flatbread Dough

2¾ cups lukewarm water
1½ tablespoons yeast
1½ tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
5 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups all-purpose flour
Olive oil, for brushing dough
Salt and pepper, to taste
Herbs of choice(optional)
Pizza toppings, if desired

1. Mix water, yeast, salt, sugar, and oil in a large mixing bowl. Add flour and mix until just combined (do not knead). Cover and allow to rest for 2 hours at room temperature. Dough can be refrigerated, covered loosely, up to 12 days.

2. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pinch off amount of dough desired and start to form a flattened disk. Use flour, as dough will be slightly sticky. Roll out desired size, place on baking sheet and brush with oil, salt, pepper, and herbs, or top with pizza toppings. 

3. Bake until golden and bubbling, about 10 minutes (alternately, cook the flatbread over a hot grill.)

Source: The Margarita at Pine Creek

Stone Soup Recipe (as featured at Mountain of the Sun Festival)

Those who attended the Mountain of the Sun Music Festival this weekend at Aspen Valley Ranch had the opportunity to taste a delicious culinary interpretation of the old folk story Stone Soup -- check out the children's book by Marcia Brown. The story goes that travelers arrive in a village carrying nothing but an empty cooking pot. The villagers are initially unwilling to share their food with the strangers, so the travelers fill the pot with water from a stream, drop a large stone in, and place it over a hot fire. Curious about what the travelers are cooking, one of the villagers asks what they are making. They reply that they are making "stone soup," which tastes delicious but needs a few more ingredients to improve the flavor. The villager doesn't mind sparing a few carrots and adds them to the soup. Eventually the other villagers each add more ingredients to the soup until they have a tasty and nourishing pot of soup for all to enjoy!

The wonderful thing about stone soup is that in addition to fostering a sense of community and cooperation, you don't need a recipe. You simply throw in whatever ingredients you have on hand. Our version featured a local bounty of potatoes, carrots, okra, squash, onion, jalapeno, and turnips from Harlan Wolfe Ranch and Venetucci Farm. The key ingredient in the story is the stone, which you don't have to include, but somehow it just doesn't seem the same without it. If you use your stone again, when you boil it in water it will release the delicious flavors of the first soup. 

"Heat some water in a pot. 

Add some stones you've scrubbed a lot.

Sprinkle pepper, salt and herbs.

Let it boil undisturbed.

Drop in carrots, onions, too.

Let the soup heat through and through.

Stir in milk to make it sweet.

Add potatoes for a treat.

Toss in meat cubes. Let it stew.

Let it bubble, let it brew.

Taste the soup and when it's done,

share Stone Soup with EVERYONE!"

If you would like to use a recipe for some guidance, check this one out: http://spoonful.com/recipes/stone-soup