Each week in Metro Pulse, contributor Benjamin Pounds explores often overlooked trails located outside of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Quite a few are around an hour’s drive from Knoxville making sure you spend more time on foot exploring abandoned farmlands or admiring mountain views than being trapped in the gridlock that sometimes overwhelms a trip to the Smokies.

Whether headed west to the Black Mountain section of the Cumberland Trail or north on I-75 to Cove Lake State Park in Cumberland County, it’s important to bring food that travels well and doesn’t add too much weight to your pack.

While out on the trail, Mahasti’s Appalachian Trail Mix Cookies are the added sweetness (white chocolate chips!) and crunchiness (Flour Head Bakery Honey Almond Granola!) your hike needs.

Take these cookies on your next outdoor adventure and share photos of your gang on Instagram with us. We’d love to see the satisfied faces after a few hours in the woods.

FHB Honey Almond Granola is available at both Tomato Head locations as well as Butler and Bailey Market, Kroger Bearden, and Three Rivers Market.

1 stick unsalted butter

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup light brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 ¼ cup all purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

2  cups Flour Head Bakery Honey Almond Granola *

1 cup dried cranberries

½ cup white chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and the sugars. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.

In another bowl mix together the flour with cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and mix well until everything is well combined.

Add the granola, dried cranberries and the white chocolate chips. Mix the batter until the ingredients are mixed in well.

Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto a parchment lined baking sheet, leaving 1-½ inches between each ball.

Bake the cookies in a 350 degree oven for 12 – 14 minutes or until they are golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven, and allow the cookies to cool.

If you’ve spent anytime at the Market Square Farmers’ Market over the past few weekends, you’ve noticed an abundance of summer squash. This simple recipe for Mahasti’s Summer Zucchini & Poblano Soup is a great alternative to preparing zucchini the traditional summer way – standing over a hot grill.

Incorporating poblano peppers adds a slightly sweet and earthy flavorful without overwhelming your taste buds with lots of heat. In case you missed her cooking segment on WBIR last Saturday, we’ve shared Mahasti’s on our blog so grab some local homegrown squash on your next shopping trip and give this recipe a spin in the comfort of your kitchen.

Enjoy!

¼ cup olive oil

1 medium onion, peeled and diced

2 large garlic cloves

1 large poblano pepper, cored, seeded and sliced

5 medium zucchini, ends removed

4 cups water

1 bunch cilantro

2 tsp salt

Peel and dice onion and set aside. Peel garlic, roughly chop and set aside. Rinse pepper, cut down the middle, remove stem and seeds, and cut into 1inch strips and set aside. Remove the ends off all of the zucchini. Cut 4 of the zucchini into 1inch rounds and set aside. Shred the remaining zucchini and set aside separately.

Remove about 1/2 inch off the bottom of the cilantro stems. Place the cilantro in a large bowl of cold water, swish around, and then lift the cilantro out of the water. Repeat the wash process with fresh water until there is no dirt left in the bottom of your bowl when you remove the cilantro. Roughly chop the cilantro and set aside.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent. Add zucchini, pepper and water. Bring the soup to boil, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Add cilantro and salt and blend with an immersion blender until soup is smooth. If using an upright blender, wait for soup to come to room temperature before blending to avoid burning yourself.

After soup is blended add the shredded zucchini. If you used an immersion blender soup will be ready to serve immediately. If you cooled your soup in order to use an upright blender, the soup can be re-heated after you add the shredded zucchini.

Serve with Flour Head Bakery bread and enjoy.

Serves 8- 10

June 25 is National Strawberry Parfait Day and Mahasti wants you to cool off with her version of this classic, summer treat. She recently shared this recipe on her WBIR cooking segment, where you can catch Mahasti every first and third Saturday of the month. You can also find all of those special recipes right here on our blog. bon appetit!

Tomato Head’s Strawberry Parfait

1 quart strawberries, washed, stemmed and quartered

1.5 cup sour cream

1.5 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbl powdered sugar

Your favorite Sugar cookie dough

Make your favorite sugar cookie dough. Scoop the cookies out into small balls onto a cookie sheet and bake the cookies for 10 – 12 minutes or until done. Ideally the cookies will bake up to the size of a half dollar. You will need 3 cookies per parfait. Allow cookies to cool.

While the cookies are baking, wash, stem and quarter the strawberries and set aside. In a medium bowl mix the sour cream, heavy cream, and powdered sugar together with a whisk or hand mixer, until smooth.

To assemble the parfaits:

Place 1 small cookie in the bottom of a glass or bowl. Top with about ¼ cup of sliced strawberries followed by ¼ cup of the sour cream mixture. Place another cookie on top of the sour cream mixture and repeat the process.  Place one more cookie on top and top with ¼ cup more of the sour cream mixture. Parfaits can be assembled up to 6 hours before, or can be eaten immediately.

Moroccan Carrot Salad

4 cups Carrots, peeled and sliced

1 Tbl Vegetable Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss carrots with oil, place on a baking sheet in one layer. Bake Carrots for 10 minutes. Place Carrots in a medium bowl.

¼ cup Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

1 Tbl Honey

½ cup Raisins

½ tsp Salt

½ tsp Allspice, ground

Add Lemon Juice, Honey, Raisins, Allspice and Salt to Carrots.  Toss until evenly coated.

Curried Cauliflower

3 cups Cauliflower, cut into ½ inch pieces

¼ cup oil

1 tsp Salt

1 ½ tsp Curry Powder

In a medium bowl toss cauliflower with oil, salt and curry powder. Place on a baking sheet in one layer. Bake Cauliflower for 10 minutes.

To assemble Tartines –

Moroccan Carrots

Curried Cauliflower

Tomato Head Hummus

Flour Head Bakery Knoxville Sourdough

Slice Sourdough, and spread slices with Tomato Head Hummus. Sprinkle with Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese. Top with Curried Cauliflower and Moroccan Carrots. Bake in 350 degree oven until cheese has melted and vegetables are heated through.  Serve immediately.

Carrots can be served at room temperature as a side dish with Chicken, Fish or Steak.

Mahasti’s interpretation of this classic brunch dish is perfect for the upcoming Christmas holiday. Think about preparing the biscuits, country hollandaise sauce, and breakfast sausage a day in advance so you can spend more time with your family on Christmas morning opening presents. Mahasti used sausage from Riverplains Farm in Strawberry Plains, Tennessee.

Click the photo below to watch Mahasti’s appearance on WBIR from last weekend.

For the Country Hollandaise

1 cup Mayonnaise

1 Tbl + 2 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice

2 tsp Cider Vinegar

With a whisk, mix all ingredients together in a small bowl, until smooth.

For the Knox Benedict:

4 Biscuits, Baked (can be baked a day ahead)

4 Eggs, Scrambled

Breakfast Sausage

Monterey Jack Cheese, Shredded

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut biscuits in half and place the biscuits on a cookie sheet. Top each half with some of the scrambled eggs, followed by some breakfast sausage, and cheese. Top with about 1 tablespoon of “Mock Hollandaise.” Place the topped biscuits in the preheated oven and bake for 13 – 15 minutes or until hot. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Mahasti’s most recent appearance on WBIR had her using a seasonal vegetable widely available at most Knoxville area farmers’ markets – turnips. For this recipe, Mahasti bought her turnips from Mountain Meadows Farm in Norris, TN. (Be sure to stop by their booth at the Market Square Farmers’ Market before it closes for the season on November 23.)

The popular root vegetable is a good source of calcium, vitamin C and potassium while being very low in saturated fat and cholesterol. By keeping the greens, you’ll retain the nutrition found in them such as vitamin A, vitamin K and beta carotene.

While popular in many fall soups and crock pots, Mahasti decided to create an enjoyable side dish that might accompany a grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of soup on a cold day. The next time your family needs an excellent side dish, think TURNIPS!

4 cups turnip root, diced

4-6 cups turnip greens and stems, cut into ½ inch strips

¾ cup onion, diced

¼ cup oil

¼ cup honey

4 Tbl cider vinegar

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

Turnips usually come in a bunch of 3 or 4 turnips with greens attached – one bunch should yield the above measurements.

Cut turnip greens from bulbs, keeping the stems. Cut the greens from the stems. Wash the stems, and roots under running cold water. Wash the greens by submerging them in a large bowl of water, removing to a colander and repeating as necessary until no sand or dirt remains in your bowl after lifting the greens out.

Heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté for 2 minutes. Add diced turnip root and stems. Stir the vegetables, then pat them into a single layer and cover the skillet with a large lid. Turn the heat down to medium low and leave the turnips undisturbed and covered for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, stir and repeat the process above leaving the turnips covered for another 5 minutes.

Remove lid, add honey, vinegar, salt and black pepper. Increase heat to high – stirring only once or twice. Cook turnips for another 5 minutes. Add the greens, stirring to wilt the greens then leave turnips undisturbed until all of the moisture has evaporated and been absorbed into the vegetables.

Serve hot or at room temperature as a side dish.

Good afternoon! Mahasti would like us to share the recipe from the most recent appearance on her twice monthly cooking segment, hosted by WBIR every first and third Saturday of each month. We think this is the perfect recipe for the beginning of fall.

The onions and pears in this dish lend a sweetness to your plate that balances the savoriness of the collard greens. You’ll also notice the arrival of those popular fall spices – cinnamon, clove and allspice. Besides being delicious, those three spices offer a few health benefits as well. Cinnamon helps prevent inflammation and regulates blood sugar; Cloves contain antioxidants; and allspice has anti-inflammatory properties.

Try this recipe at home and share your successes with us on Instagram. Use the hashtag #tomatohead so we can find you.

3 pears, peeled, cored and sliced

¼ tsp black pepper

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground clove

¼ tsp ground allspice

1 tsp sugar

¼ cup onion, diced

¼ cup oil

8 cups packed, Collard Greens

½ tsp salt

1 Tbl Balsamic Vinegar

In a medium bowl toss pears with black pepper, cinnamon, clove, allspice, and sugar. Heat oil a large

skillet over high heat. When oil is shimmering add onions and pears and sauté for 3-4 minutes until

pears are soft. Add Collards and sauté for 1-2 minutes until the greens begin to soften. Add salt and

balsamic vinegar. Continue to sauté until collards are soft – approximately another 3 minutes.

Serve immediately as a side with Chicken or steak.

We’ve got the perfect sandwich for summertime picnics – Mahasti’s Benedictine. Spread a generous amount of Benedictine on a slice of Flour Head Bakery Everyday White bread, top with Benton’s bacon, lettuce and tomato. You can also serve it as a dip with Flour Head Bakery pita crisps. Yum Yum Yum!

8 oz cream cheese, soft

1 cup cucumber, grated

¼ cup onion, grated

2 – 3 tsp jalapeno

¼ cup sour cream

¼ tsp plus a pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together until well combined.

Our menu experienced some changes last fall. The tuna salad is no longer available but that doesn’t mean you still can’t enjoy this classic lunchtime sandwich. A few of our customers have since asked for the tuna salad recipe and today’s the day we share it with everyone. In Mahasti’s simple to follow recipe, she’s substituted sour cream for mayonnaise, thus lowering the calorie count. The addition of Sriracha lends some tanginess, while chipotle sauce adds a smoky profile. The bells peppers, relish and onion add a nice crunch.

Enjoy!

1 – 12 oz Can Tuna in water

2 Tbl Onion, chopped

¼ cup Red Bell Pepper, diced

2 Tbl Cider Vinegar

1 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice

2  heaping Tbl sweet pickle relish

2 heaping Tbl Dill Pickle, chopped

Scant ¼ cup sour cream

1/8 tsp Sriracha Sauce

1 tsp chipotle sauce (from a can of chipotle en adobo)

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp plus a pinch salt

Drain Tuna and squeeze out all of the water.  Transfer Tuna to a large bowl, add remaining ingredients and toss well with a spoon till everything is well distributed.

Serve on Flour Head Bakery Every Day White sliced sandwich bread.