CSA Meals - Weeks 7 and 8

I don't fall for all of the pumpkin frenzy that goes on in October, though I'm not opposed to it.  I love squash and pumpkin; I just wouldn't choose them to flavor one of my daily treats if I had chocolate as an option.  


The overabundance of sweet potatoes hanging out on our bakers rack inspired me to bake outside of my comfort zone.  Jamie at Home, one of many in my collection of Jamie Oliver cookbooks, includes a recipe for Butternut Squash Muffins with a Frosty Top that I've had in the back of my mind since I saw him make them on his show. 


Sweet potatoes are close enough to butternut squash that I thought I could make the substitution work.  I used the same amount of potatoes by weight that Jamie calls for in his recipe, and steamed them for about five minutes to soften them a little before pulverizing in the food processor.  

I also cut back on the sugar (I used a scant two cups instead of 2 1/4) and used vegetable oil instead of olive oil.  The olive oil flavor would probably be a nice foil for the sweet potato, but Jamie made muffins, and I was making cupcakes, and vegetable oil just seemed more appropriate.  It made the cupcakes less orangey, which was a little surprising, but I found the color to be appealing.  They were fluffy but not too light in texture, and held up well to the icing. 

I love Jamie, but my cupcakes were not going to have a frosty, citrusy "top" like his muffins did.  The frosting I made was thick and flecked with cinnamon, and the base was cream cheese instead of sour cream.

We may or may not have dipped gingersnaps in the extra frosting after the cupcakes were gone - I tried to pile as much of it on top of the cupcakes as I could, but we still had some extra.


To counter the indulgence of the cupcakes, I made a veggie soup with the collard greens.  Until my mom made soup with collards, I didn't think they were a viable soup ingredient.  The leaves are tough, but as long as they're cooked long enough, they are delicious in soup.  

I sauteed chopped onion, carrots, and the greens in a little olive oil.  When they wilted down, I added chicken stock and a big cheese rind to the pot.  Everything simmered together, and sat overnight.  Before dinner the following evening, I added the remainder of a box of orzo and a can of white beans, and let the soup boil softly until the pasta was cooked through.  Unfortunately I forgot to photograph the finished product, but it was a hearty and pretty soup.


The roasted broccoli from earlier in the week turned out beautifully, and tasted as great as it looked.  I had it with some pasta and pesto when I was on my own for dinner one night.  


We ate the sweet peppers raw, cut into slices and dipped into hummus with the last of our homegrown cherry tomatoes.

I ate both of the Asian pears for my mid-morning snack, and I wasn't blown away by them.  The smaller one definitely had more flavor, but they were both fairly bland and it wasn't easy to get used to the texture.  I like them better than, say, eggplant, but wouldn't go out of my way to eat them again.


Our kohlrabi and turnips were neglected for over a week, so I decided to roast them with the massive sweet potato.  When I was chopping the turnips, I was surprised to see how beautiful they were inside.

I wish I could say that I liked them better than I have in the past, but I'm still not a big fan of their bitter taste.  Davy and I both preferred the sweet potato to the kohlrabi and turnips after everything was roasted.

We ate them with roasted red snapper and sauteed spinach.

I wish I could say that the subsequent meals were as healthy as that one, but the only vegetable we've eaten at home since them is sauteed broccoli rabe with leftover Belmont pizza.  Don't worry though, I'm still getting my daily (plus) dose of chocolate.

Pizza Night

My brother- and sister-in-law live in Chicago, and when we go to the beach, they're usually asked to make pizza on their assigned cooking night.  My brother-in-law is also thrilled to come to the east coast so that he can eat soft shell crabs, and this year he decided to utilize the fresh seafood in a delicious dinner for pizza night.

Cary and Brian started with my pizza crust recipe (below), topped it with my homemade pesto, added sliced jalapenos and fried soft shell crabs, and covered everything with shredded mozzarella.  The resulting pie is pictured below, and it doesn't need much more of an explanation aside from me saying that it was a delicious as it looks.

Homemade Pizza Crust

1 packet dried yeast, dissolved in 1/2 cup water

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 Tablespoon oil

Stir flour, salt, and sugar together; add oil and yeast dissolved in water

Combine and knead until smooth and elastic; form dough into a ball

Grease a large bowl with oil, turn dough to coat, and allow to rise to twice its size (up to an hour and a half)

Once the dough has risen, punch it down and knead until smooth

Press into pizza pan, brush with oil, and allow to rise for 10 minutes

Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes until the crust is slightly brown

Add toppings, and bake for another 10 minutes or so until the cheese is brown and all toppings are heated through

(If you're pressed for time, omit the resting phase and simply top the raw crust, then bake the entire pizza at 500 degrees until the cheese is brown.)

CSA Meals - Weeks 11 and 12

Tomorrow we leave for ten blissful days at the beach, and as a result, the posts for last week and this week are combined and brief.  I made two batches of pesto with the large bag of basil we received, and still had enough to add several leaves to the meal we made on Tuesday.


I've produced a few different versions of vegetarian pasta dishes as the heat persists.  Last Wednesday I combined penne with grated zucchini, tomatoes, onion, garlic and pesto.  The zucchini was only available in grated form because I was making zucchini bread, and had a lot leftover.  It was a nice change from eating it sliced or chopped, and it almost melted into the rest of the sauce.

This week's variety included the two-toned squash, tomato, feta, and basil, mixed with the three Bombolini pastas I purchased at the market (black pepper, spinach, and plain linguine).  All of the linguine was tender, fresh, and had a lot of flavor.  I'm looking forward to trying more of the Bombolini offerings the next time I get to the market.

Since it's too warm to make soup, I threw a bunch of ingredients together into a dish that could be called a salad.  Purslane, tomato, parsley, and chickpeas went in the first night, with a lime juice, cumin, onion, and garlic dressing.  We ate it with corn on the cob and grilled rockfish.  I added feta and leftover corn kernels to some of it for lunch on Saturday, and on Monday Davy used the remainder for dinner in a few tortillas.  The purslane worked very well with the chickpeas, lime, and cumin.  It's has thick green leaves, and it gets a little slimy when you chew it (from its omega-3s), but I liked it's substantial texture and savory flavor.

I'll try to post a few pictures of dinners at the beach, and then I'll be back with CSA entries for Week 14.  Have a great week!

CSA Meals - Week 5

Sharing recipes and methods of cooking with friends is one of my favorite parts of participating in a CSA.  Last week ended up being slightly different than normal, because Shannon and I arranged for a veggie swap over the weekend.  She gave me a giant zucchini and lettuce from her garden, and I unloaded cabbage, radicchio, and kale into her produce drawer.

We both had the benefit of variety, and I got to try a recipe that I've been holding onto in anticipation of the zucchini harvest: "Pasta and Fried Zucchini Salad."  The New York Times recipe includes zucchini, fresh mozzarella, basil, and lemon, all of which scream summer to me.  

Frying the zucchini takes a lot of time, and I don't think that it has to be fried to make this dish.  Next time I would grill or roast the zucchini, which would probably improve the taste and healthiness of the salad.  

My favorite part of the pasta salad wasn't the tenderness of the mozzarella or the kale pesto-coated penne (although I always love pesto-coated pasta).  What I liked most was the inclusion of capers, red wine vinegar and lemon zest, all of which brightened the dish and elevated it to a more interesting level.  The dish isn't simple, but every component of it blends together effortlessly.  I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but the recipe and my modifications are below.

The other big cooking effort of the week was "Kale Fried Rice," from Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook, and it was recommended by my friend Lyndsey.  I used my garlic scapes in place of garlic cloves, and added eggs and edamame to make it into a one pot meal.  I also ran out of brown rice, and ended up using half brown and half jasmine, which made the dish a little bit lighter.    

   

 

My kale should have been sliced more finely, and I used more than called for, but this fried rice is deceivingly flavorful and satisfying.  

We munched on the green beans and cucumbers raw, which really makes me appreciate just how fresh and cared for our CSA produce is.  After the swap, we were only left with potatoes at the end of the week, which will endure longer than the greens I traded away.

Pasta and Fried Zucchini Salad

Published: April 26, 2011 (NYT)

Time: 45 minutes

Adapted from “Plenty” by Yotam Ottolenghi (Chronicle Books)

Salt and black pepper

2/3 cup sunflower oil (or vegetable oil)

3 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

3/4 cup frozen edamame

2 cups basil leaves, shredded coarsely*

1/4 cup parsley leaves*

1/3 cup olive oil*

9 ounces penne

Zest of 1 lemon (I used zest and juice of 1/2 lemon)

1 1/2 tablespoons capers

7 ounces buffalo mozzarella, torn into chunks.

*I used kale pesto from my freezer and a few leaves of fresh basil

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In a medium saucepan, heat sunflower (vegetable) oil over medium-high heat. Fry zucchini slices in batches (do not crowd them) for 3 minutes, or until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a colander to drain. Tip zucchini slices into a bowl, pour vinegar on top and stir, then set aside.

2. In the hot water, blanch edamame for 3 minutes; drain, refresh under running cold water and set aside to dry. Keep boiling water in pot.

3. In boiling water, cook pasta until al dente; drain and rinse under cold water. Return pasta to pot. Pour zucchini slices and their juices over pasta. Add edamame, basil sauce (kale pesto), lemon zest and juice, capers and mozzarella. Stir together gently, then taste and season with plenty of salt and pepper. Before serving, stir in remaining basil.

Yield: 4 servings

CSA Meals - Week 3

Can anyone guess what this is?

I know I would have a hard time figuring it out.  It's a blend of fresh strawberries, ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and sugar that was eventually poured into popsicle molds.  


The strawberries we got last Tuesday were a little soggy, but still delicious, and Darbi recommended eating them that day.  Davy and I were going out to dinner, and I knew we probably wouldn't get to them, so I made the mixture above based on this recipe.  I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't tasted the popsicles yet, but I have a feeling that they're going to be creamy and refreshing.


Looking back on the week, I have to give myself credit for being somewhat more creative than normal with the produce.  Aside from some standard salads with sliced radish, feta, pistachios and medium-boiled eggs, I made the popsicles, quiche and a kale sauce that is similar to pesto. 


The quiche was based on a recipe for ham and spinach filling, and I substituted blanched rainbow chard for the spinach.  I'd never made a quiche before, or used a store-bought pie crust, but it seemed to go pretty well.  I baked the pie with dried beans according to the recipe directions, although I'm not sure that I needed to take that extra step.

The eggs I got from the market, not surprisingly, were far superior to eggs from the grocery store.  You can see how deep the color of the yolks is in the picture below, and they don't have that weird chemical taste when you boil them.

I still have some of the amazing Christmas ham in my freezer, and it was smoky and divine in the quiche.

The only other change I made was the addition of some grated cheddar cheese.  I just didn't feel right having eggs and ham without it, especially since the quiche was already extra healthy from the chard.  

The quiche took a lot longer to set than twenty-five minutes, which is what the recipe suggested.  The picture above was taken before it was really done, and I was so hungry by the time it was ready that I forgot to take another one.  


We had some pieces of quiche for dinner last night, and I think it was almost better after sitting overnight in the fridge.  Quiche is an easy, versatile meal, and can be made with tons of different fillings, so I'm glad I finally got around to trying it in my own kitchen.


On Friday night I was trying to figure out how to incorporate the curly kale we got into an appetizing side dish for a cookout we were having on Sunday.  I was envisioning a smooth, creamy sauce for pasta salad, but I ended up with something fairly different.  


I blanched the kale and chopped it, and then pureed it in the food processor with several cloves of garlic.  At this point I was horrified at how much garlic there was, so I tried adding lemon juice to cancel some of it out.  I squeezed in the juice of a lemon, sprinkled in some salt and pepper, and then the remainder of a container of ricotta (which was probably only a tablespoon or two) before giving up and using a lot of olive oil to get it to the right consistency.  


I made a pound of orzo the same night, and while it was still hot, I added about half of my makeshift kale pesto so the pasta would absorb some of its flavor.  When I was ready to assemble the salad on Sunday, I chopped and roasted an onion and several small sweet peppers.  They went into the bowl with the orzo as soon as they were ready, along with about 3/4 lb of feta, 3/4 cup toasted pine nuts, and more lemon juice and olive oil.  

Miraculously, the salad wasn't dry or too garlicky, probably because because I made the kale pesto ahead of time and the flavors had time to mellow.  I think it also turned out so well because feta is such a great pasta salad ingredient, and can mask as well as heighten certain tastes.  It's also a good dish to have hot, cold, or at room temperature, which is ideal for a summer cookout.


It's already June, and the weather has been absurdly hot already, so expect an update on the mysterious strawberry-ricotta popsicles any day now.