Produce for Your Pooch
Photo by Michael Piazza / Styled by Catrine Kelty / Dog Bowl on Loan From Hazel Blackburn
Editor’s Note: When we heard about Siena Farms’ new Farm Pup Share, a CSA box of “seconds” vegetables otherwise destined for the compost pile paired with recipes and instructions for adding them to a dog’s regular diet, we were so intrigued. Siena has had a long-time partnership with the Boston Area Gleaners, who pick up over 1,000 pounds of leftover produce each week on the farm, but some produce can’t be donated due to pest or disease damage and surface blemishes, so it ends up being composted instead. Here was a genius way to reduce farm waste and pass along all that good nutrition to our furry friends. Whether you’re part of the farm share or just have tired-looking veg taking up space in your fridge, here are some canine-friendly tips and recipes from the Farm Pup Share’s creator, Anna Derian, and Sofra chef Pri Paige.
For a deeper dive into how Anna created the Farm Pup Share, click here.
SIENA FARMS WINTER SQUASH DOGGY BISCUITS by Anna Derian
We love making dog treats with our less-than-perfect winter squash and radishes to reduce waste—and our pups love eating them! During the winter I set aside as many after-market squashes as I can to make homemade “pumpkin” purée for my dog, Hank. Kabocha is a particularly sweet variety of winter squash, and just one squash cooks down to about a week’s worth of pumpkin, ready to add to Hank’s commercial kibble. When I have extra squash, I make these biscuits.
This recipe is super versatile, and you can toss in any dog-friendly fruit or vegetable into the purée to help clear out your fridge. The buckwheat flour creates a crunchy texture that dogs love. I first used it because I had a whole bag that was approaching its expiration date, but you can substitute any flour you have instead.
1 whole kabocha squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
2 daikon radishes, peeled and cubed
2 apples, peeled and cubed
2 large eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons natural peanut butter
3 cups buckwheat flour, or any flour of your choice
Preheat oven to 450°F. Place cubed squash in a casserole dish with 2 cups of water. Cover with foil and bake until soft—about 40 minutes. Add more water if the squash dries out. After squash is done, reduce heat to 350°F.
Boil cubed daikon and apples together until soft, about 20 minutes. In a blender, purée cooked squash and boiled daikon and apples.
Add 1½ cups purée to a large mixing bowl and stir in eggs and peanut butter. Slowly add the buckwheat flour until fully incorporated. Add more flour if the dough is sticky. Knead dough into a ball and roll out to about ¼ inch using a rolling pin on a floured surface. Cut dough into shapes using a cookie cutter, preferably a bone shape, and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake the treats for 20–25 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool before feeding to your pup!
Store in your fridge for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for 1 year.
WILLY NELSON’S FAVORITE WINTER KIBBLE SALADS by Pri Paige
We started feeding vegetables to our medium-sized cocker spaniel mix, Willy Nelson, some years ago and he loves them so much that if we give him only kibble, he won’t eat and groans out of despair. Willy eats twice a day; his “kibble salads” consist of 30% to 50% vegetables mixed in with his dry food. And we even give him kale or kohlrabi stems as a treat; they are like vegetable bones!
At home this helps us use the whole vegetable, for zero waste: I save vegetables scraps from dinner prep in a bowl in the fridge, chopped and ready for his next meal.
Add to regular high quality dog kibble:
• Shaved broccoli rabe and diced apples
• Chopped kale stems and grated carrots with a little dollop of Greek yogurt
• Grated turnip and broccoli stems
• Butternut squash boiled in water until soft, smashed with a fork with a little bit of olive oil, with diced pears
• Watermelon radishes and apples, medium dice, spinach leaves chopped and tossed with kibble and a little spoonful of peanut butter on bottom of his bowl as a surprise
• Baked sweet potato cubes (just olive oil, no salt) with chopped outer leaves of red cabbage
