CSA Meals - Weeks 9 and 10

I'm officially in holycowit'smid-Julywhereisthesummergoing? mode. The last couple of weeks went by in a whirlwind of celebration, relaxation, and travel.

Our house guests were in Richmond through the 4th of July, which meant that the annual party benefited from Lyndsey's extreme chopping talent. She used some of her salvaged cabbage and carrots, and our CSA red onion, to compile a simple, pretty coleslaw. If you don't believe me, the proof is in the photo below; it looks like bagged slaw mix sliced by machine, but it was all done by a skilled hand.

In the meantime, I put together a haphazard pasta salad with roasted summer squash, mozzarella, and several basil leaves (pictured). The rest of the basil was made into pesto the following week.

I believe my contribution was eaten, but it wasn't very noteworthy compared to the slaw and several of the other dishes gracing Tex's air-conditioned kitchen.

We recovered from the holiday in Seabrook, SC, and our first dinner there was a group effort that incorporated components of our share from Week 9. Davy and I steamed the yellow and green beans, and made flank steak with chimichurri sauce, which was decent. Keith and Carrie's dish, however, outshone ours, and the cucumber and cherry tomatoes we brought added a lot to the roasted shrimp and orzo salad. At the end of the meal, we added the remaining steak and beans to the salad to keep it going for lunch the following day.

In an attempt to clean out our fridge a little before the next round of CSA produce, I repeated a Splendid Table recipe from the spring (Spring Vegetables and White Beans Scented with Fresh Bay). Instead of spinach, I used dandelion greens - courtesy of Lyndsey and Travis, chicken stock instead of vegetable broth, and added some freshly made pesto. The "stew," as Lyne Rosetto Kasper and Sally Swift call it, was light and garlicky, and had an earthy flavor from the greens and carrots.

By some miracle, I managed to make caramel for turtle brownies the same night. The bubbling corn syrup and sugar were mesmerizing, and made a delicious sweet topping for the fudgy brownies. 

Davy and I whittled away at our cherry tomato and mesclun salad mix supply with a few green salads throughout the week, adding different ingredients depending on what we had and what was appealing at the time. 

I was visiting family in Harrisburg over the weekend, and we brought a big cucumber and tomato salad over to my grandma's for dinner on Sunday night. There were sungolds, slicing tomatoes, sweet peppers, and cucumbers from my share, and different types of herbs, tomatoes and cucumbers from my parents' CSA and garden. My mom and I worked on the salad together, and dressed it with a little olive oil, red wine vinegar, and sugar.

Despite the fact that it feels like summer is already slipping away, I know that there are many more meals and memories to be made over the next couple of months.

CSA Meals - Week 8

We sustained 100+ degree temperatures and crazy storms over the past week, and managed to maintain both hydration and power. 

Before all of the extreme weather hit, Davy grilled burgers, which we ate with sauteed chard (below) and corn on the cob.

There was a third, small ear of corn that we didn't consume on Tuesday, but I cut the kernels off the cob to use later in the week. I've been on an avocado kick since March, and I mashed half of one with a little lime juice and olive oil, added the corn, and made it into sandwich filling with some arugula. As a bonus, I ate it with a medium-boiled egg on my back porch.

The sungold cherry tomatoes, quartered and arranged carefully with fresh basil and mozzarella, were the highlight of a homemade pizza.

On Saturday morning, we made our traditional breakfast for out-of-town guests: a frittata with whatever vegetables and cheeses happen to be available. This time, it contained summer squash, onion, banana pepper, and cheddar cheese.

Those same out-of-town guests, our good friends Lyndsey and Travis, weren't as fortunate with the weekend storms. They lost power at their house in Rockville, MD, and aren't supposed to get it back until this Friday (!). We convinced them to stay for the week and celebrate the 4th of July with us. Travis went back to Rockville on Sunday to check on everything and returned with some of the rescued contents of the fridge and freezer.

On Monday evening, we grilled rockfish, ate a green salad with the Hoffmanns' CSA veggies, and made a chickpea, barley and zucchini salad to round out the meal. 

I am sorry that Lyndsey and Travis have to be displaced for so long, but I think Davy and I made out pretty well in this arrangement - it's been great having them (and their food).

CSA Meals - Week 6

Every recipe I've seen lately seems to have an emphasis on grilling or assembling without turning on the stove or oven. Luckily, I snuck in a roast chicken last week before the heat and humidity really hit. 

Tuesday, when I made the chicken, we enjoyed very fresh corn on the cob and raw green beans on the side. I used one of our spring onions in lieu of the ramps the recipe called for, and the liquid we spooned over our meat was pleasantly tangy.

I'll admit that making something like a roast chicken normally leads to a few days of kitchen laziness, and this time was no exception. The next few nights consisted of mac and cheese, leftover barbeque, sauteed kale, salad with feta and corn, and more chicken

Friday we ventured up 95 to celebrate another wonderful couple's wedding. We used some of the lettuce in our share for sandwiches to eat in the car, and snacked on cucumber slices dipped in hummus. The food at the wedding was, fortunately, much more interesting. We were treated to fruit and cheese, an antipasto platter, various passed hors d'oeuvres, fried chicken, paella, macaroni and cheese, sliders, a potato skin bar... and that was only the appetizer spread.

We finished the CSA week by combining the remaining chicken and produce in an enchilada casserole. I chopped a spring onion, turnips, and the two types of squashes in bite-sized pieces before seasoning them and roasting them.

After they came out of the oven, I mixed the vegetables with the chicken, and then alternated the filling with flour tortillas, grated cheddar cheese, and enchilada sauce.

You would never guess that there's a tortilla underneath the top layer of cheese, would you?

We ate the makeshift casserole with a garnish of lime juice and salad. It was a flavorful and satisfying hot meal, even in the onset of summer.

CSA Meals - Week 4

As I mentioned when I first reported on our Week 4 haul, I took less than half of the produce because we were traveling to Pittsburgh for the wedding of my good friend, Sarah. The bride was exquisite, and all of her careful planning resulted in a fabulous weekend, including delectable brownie truffles in the hotel gift bag and tea sandwiches for the bridal party that were the perfect pre-ceremony lunch.

Davy and I started our trip to Pittsburgh with regular-sized sandwiches I made at home. They utilized the remaining arugula, along with some Idiazabel cheese and Hungarian salami my grandma had given us.

Prior to leaving Richmond, I finished up the kale, tuna, and white bean salad, and we made hoisin turkey burgers for dinner on Wednesday night. I had high hopes for the burgers, and while they were flavorful, they didn't stay together well on the grill, and we didn't end up eating the second round of them. Luckily, the grilled carrots, squash and broccoli turned out well (we just tossed them with olive oil and seasoning), and were a refreshing afternoon snack the following day.

I was on my own Sunday evening, and seized the opportunity to eat pasta with pesto. In addition, I made what has been my go-to salad for the past few weeks: lettuce, edamame, sunflower seeds, and Asian sesame dressing. It's simple, summery, and has a blend of textures and tastes that's been very appealing lately.

For once I'd had the foresight to prep the chard I wasn't going to use right away, and sauteed it with garlic halfway through the week. On Monday night, I chopped it and added it to risotto with spicy turkey sausage. The onion, pictured below, is also from our CSA, and it formed a great base for the dish. I neglected to take any photos of the finished product, but the risotto turned out beautifully.  

My forgetfulness can probably be blamed on the extended recovery that was required after celebrating the union of two wonderful people. Congratulations, Sarah and Thomas!

CSA Meals - Week 3

Sometimes inspiration comes in the form of hearing what you already know from someone else. Two weeks ago, I experienced a renewed interest in my CSA after taking a cooking class called "Late Spring at the Farmer's Market" through the University of Richmond School of Continuing Studies.

The instructor gave us a few tastes of local and grocery store products to compare the difference between the two, which is more pronounced when they're sampled back to back. I'm already sold on fresh eggs, local strawberries, and turnips grown by someone I can talk to face-to-face, but it was the creamy, tangy, locally made goat cheese we had in class that re-opened my eyes about buying food at a farmers' market. Looking back, my meals during Week 3 seem much more interesting as a result.

On Wednesday, I prepared a salad with some of Week 2's kale, and massaged the leaves with my trusty Asian sesame dressing and lime juice. Sunflower seeds, corn, and edamame helped make the salad into a more substantial meal. That evening, I put together a penne, arugula and feta dish that turned into lunch on both Thursday and Friday.

Although it doesn't have anything to do with local produce, the encouragement I felt from my class led me to change my regular breakfast routine. I tried out a Martha Stewart recipe for breakfast quinoa, which was sweet and comforting. I'm not sure I'd want to eat it every day, but it was a nice switch from my usual wheat toast with peanut butter, and was very filling.

No vegetables were harmed during our Thursday night wine, cheese, and salami dinner, either, but the salami is local (to Harrisburg), and the round cheese and chutney were made within 100 miles of Richmond.

The dish I prepared in class was "Spring-to-Summer Vegetable Ragout Over Goat Cheese Grits," and I loved it enough to attempt it at home for some friends visiting from out of town (recipe below). I made a special trip to the St. Stephen's farmer's market for some extra vegetables, and picked up beautiful baby carrots and large, shelled peas. 

The ragout can be made with a variety of vegetables - we substituted edamame for peas in class - and in my opinion, the dish can be eaten any time of the day. I finished the leftovers for breakfast one morning, and they tasted completely appropriate as the first meal of the day.

A head of broccoli and a container of little cucumbers also found their way into my bag at the market, and I added them, with some peas, to a Thai-inspired noodle salad as part of Shannon's birthday dinner. Along with the noodles, we had arctic char from Yellow Umbrella that Davy grilled, and it was absolutely delicious.

On Monday, Memorial Day, I sauteed the curly kale with some garlic and red pepper flakes, and used some of it to make a frittata. Going with what seems to be the theme this week, I only took pictures before I did anything with the veggies. Luckily, they're pretty enough on their own.

To finish the week, I made another kale salad, this time with tuna fish, cannellini beans, cucumber, lemon juice, and olive oil. It's ideal for warm weather, and could also be used as a sandwich filling.

My trip to the St. Stephen's farmers' market was the first I'd made to a market during CSA season (outside of picking up my share). I'm really going to try to keep it up as we move into summer, and continue to branch out with local products other than what's given to me each week.



Spring-to-Summer Vegetable Ragout Over Goat Cheese Grits
Yields: 4 servings

For the Grits:
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1/2 cup stone ground white grits (coarsely ground)
1/2 T salt
2 t pepper
1/2 cup goat cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest

1. Bring the water and stock to a boil
2. Add the grits, and stir with a small whisk. Skim off any floating husks and reduce the temperature to medium. Continue stirring for five minutes, or until the grits absorb the liquid.
3. Remove from the heat and cover with a lid, or wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Set in a warm area for 35 minutes - the grits will finish cooking by steam.
4. Add the salt, pepper, goat cheese, and zest, and stir to incorporate. Keep warm until ready to serve.

For the Ragout: 
1/2 cup shelled peas
4 oz small carrots
4 oz small zucchini or yellow squash
3 green or spring onions
3 cloves garlic
2 T olive oil
salt, to taste
1/2 cup stock or water
1 T chopped mint
1 T chopped thyme 

1. Cut the carrots and squash into quarters lengthwise and then into 2 in lengths. Cut the onions in two inch lengths, quarter, and set aside. Slice the garlic thinly.
2. Cook the garlic in the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the carrots, onions, a pinch of salt, and the liquid. Cover and cook until the onions soften, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the squash/zucchini and cover. Cook until it softens, about 3 minutes. 
4. Add the peas and cook uncovered until everything is tender (2-3 more minutes). Stir in herbs, taste, and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Serve the ragout in bowls over the grits.

CSA Meals - Week 1

If you had to choose between a refrigerator and air conditioning, which would you pick? What about only having a refrigerator or internet?

Davy and I asked each other these types of questions after our fridge broke a few weeks ago and we had to shop for a new one. In the mean time, our chilled food supply was divided between Keith and Carrie's meat locker and two coolers in our living room. 

Sure, it's fun to think about replacing a major appliance, but it was also inconvenient to cycle through bags of ice and wonder whether or not the chutney needed to be thrown away. Ultimately, we cleared out several jars, bottles, and bags that had accumulated over nearly three years, and are still in the process of re-stocking. It was a cleansing experience, and one that reminded me how little it takes to put together meals when you have basic quality ingredients to work with.

This "simple is better" mindset was the perfect way to tackle the first of our CSA produce. We ate multiple salads with both homemade and store-bought dressing (Annie's Asian Sesame), but my favorite was the one we had the first night. I sliced some of our bright red strawberries, toasted/nearly burned some pine nuts, and tossed everything with little balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Amy's mesclun salad mix is earthy and peppery, which worked well with the berries' fruity sweetness. 
   

Along with the salad, I improvised with two recipes from How Sweet It Is to make chicken parm-ish tenders. 

We didn't have anything to dip them in, but they hit the spot with salad and roasted zucchini and squash sprinkled with grated parmesan.

On Wednesday, we celebrated a friend's birthday at Joe's Inn, and feasted off of my baked spaghetti leftovers with salad for dinner the next night.

The new refrigerator worked wonders on all of our greens, and the chard still looked fresh on Saturday. I chopped and softened half of an onion in a little olive oil, then added the chard stems to the pan.  

When everything was mostly cooked through, I stopped taking pictures, but some minced garlic, chard leaf ribbons and black beans completed the filling for cheesy lunch quesadillas on Saturday.

My parents were visiting on Mother's Day, and we had wonderful rockfish from Yellow Umbrella, which my dad graciously grilled. I made quinoa and a kale salad with feta and avocado for our side dishes. Again, no pictures, but the kale was tender and just as delicious when I ate it leftover for lunch a couple days later.

The only item left by Monday night was the baby pac choi, and it also held up nicely in our produce drawer.

I found a quick recipe for braised baby bok choy from Martha Stewart that required very little preparation and cooking. The stems retained a slight crunch, and the leaves absorbed the savory flavors from the soy sauce and chicken stock. The only change I made was to add a drizzle of sesame chili oil to give the pac choi an extra kick.

Since it had to happen, I guess I'm glad that our refrigerator stopped working when it did. It may have been a hassle to transfer and get rid of food, but it's made my approach to cooking much less complicated.

Fall CSA - Weeks 2 and 3

As I mentioned in my last post, I had a stomach bug a couple weeks ago. Combined with attending several concerts last week, our CSA routine was considerably disrupted, and we didn't use any of our Week 2 produce until Week 3.  Luckily, I was still on my stay-in-the-kitchen-and-off-the-couch kick, so we ate just about everything.


On Monday I made Jacques Pepin's Quick-Roasted Chicken for the second time, and this time I had enough foresight to let the butcher remove the chicken's backbone.  I love this recipe because it really is quick enough for a weeknight, which makes anything extra satisfying.  We made roasted potatoes and a salad with pistachios to go with the chicken.  The salad mix from Week 2 was very crisp, and the leaves stayed fresh for longer than usual.


The next night, after going to the market, I made carbonara-like dish with the fresh pasta (spinach and plain fettuccine and black pepper linguine).  I sauteed the cremini mushrooms, removed them from the pan, and then cooked the yellow squash with garlic and chopped homemade bacon.  

I added sungold cherry tomatoes and pasta when the squash was done, and stirred in tempered egg yolks and parmesan to finish it off.  


Unfortunately, the fettuccine was overcooked, and the noodles clumped together when I stirred everything together.  It was still pleasant to eat, and was fine leftover, but I was disappointed since I'd gotten special ingredients from the market to make dinner.  


We ate raw wax beans on the side to finish off the bag from the previous week, and had our apples as mid-morning snacks the next day.  As in the past, they were far superior to any grocery store apple available.  


On Thursday I gave eggplant another chance in this recipe for Eggplant Tian. Kerry Saretsky, the author, describes it as "easy" and "awesome," but I'm not sure I'd agree with it being "easy."  The techniques are simple enough: slicing, marinating, broiling, baking, but it took several steps to complete the recipe, and took longer than I'd like for a work night.  

As you can see, I baked it in one dish instead of four.  I was very happy with the results, and had no problem eating a few rounds of the leftovers with generous dollops of pesto on top.  This is a great way to use up eggplant, and it's almost as comforting as lasagna.  We enjoyed it with bread and a salad with homegrown peppers and tomatoes.

We munched on our green beans raw and also included them in a Saturday morning veggie scramble.  The eggs were also mixed with sweet peppers, feta, and eggs for a delicious and filling brunch.  


That afternoon, in anticipation of a special dinner on Sunday, I julienned and pickled our daikon radish and a large carrot.  

The radish emitted an not-so-pleasant odor that lingered in our fridge and freezer for most of the weekend, but it did add a nice crunch to shrimp spring rolls.  Below are a few shots of Davy's spring rolling handiwork.  We served them with a peanut butter and hoisin dipping sauce.

We also made homemade chicken pho from a recipe we made in a cooking class, and I got so caught up in preparing and eating it that I didn't take any pictures.  It also deserves its own post, which hopefully I'll have the time for at some point, but it turned out well and was comforting on a chilly Sunday night.


Monday was our wedding anniversary, and I made a simple dinner since we're going to Portland, OR for a long weekend.  I prepared two recipes from The Best Recipes in the World, by Mark Bittman: sole meuniere (made with flounder) and a braised leek and rice dish (made with bok choy instead of leeks).  

Both were subtly flavored and allowed the quality of the ingredients to really shine through.

I'll be taking Week 4 off, but plan on some Portland posts for next week!

CSA Meals - Week 15

Please accept my apologies for neglecting my blog.  The last week of our summer share was fairly uneventful, with some homemade 8 1/2 subs, grilled venison tenderloin marinated in chimichurri, grilled peppers and onions, pizza with arugula and prosciutto, and sauteed yellow squash.


We spent the past few weeks coping with various natural disasters, celebrating birthdays, including the first of our friends' 30th birthday.  Along with all of these events came some extraordinary edibles: prime rib started in the oven and finished on the stove when we lost power, funfetti cake, nutella dream cookies, and crab dip made with crabs that were caught and picked within twenty-four hours.  It was a fitting and wonderful way to conclude the summer.


Next up: the fall CSA, which starts on Tuesday!  






  

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!