Neverending Pork Shoulder and Week 11

The turnips didn't make it this week, but I did get to experiment with pea shoots. I realized that I've eaten them in the salad mix when we've gotten it, though they are also good steamed quickly with some sauteed ginger and garlic. When I cooked mine, I included about a cup of edamame and added soy sauce and sesame seeds at the end. Unfortunately I had to pour off most of the soy sauce because I had added too much, and the pea shoots were slightly overcooked, but it was still an enjoyable side dish.


I made a rosemary garlic sauce to put on the spinach and egg pasta from Week 9. It had strong flavors from its ingredients, but it didn't overwhelm the fresh noodles. We also got Italian dandelion greens that week, and I braised those in the same pot (my new Dutch oven!) as the pork shoulder.

Working from an Amanda Hesser recipe that I found online, I browned the 3-4 pound bone in pork shoulder in my Dutch oven. I took it out and sauteed diced carrots, onion, whole garlic cloves, rosemary, and parsley until they were soft.

The recipe called for red wine, but I love cooking with dry vermouth and used 1/2 cup of that to deglaze the pan instead. Next I added the pork back to the pot and covered it about a third of the way with water. It went into the 325 degree oven for several hours, and Davy and I turned and basted it every half hour. We didn't eat it until the next day, which the recipe said would make it even tastier.

When I reheated it in the oven, I just put the chopped dandelion greens right on top of the meat for 30-45 minutes at 300 degrees. We ate the pulled pork and greens over rice with the carrots and onions that had cooked with the meat. Everything was delicious and full of flavor, and the greens were still slightly tangy to offset the rich pork. After two nights of greens, pork, and rice, we started making pork nachos and quesadillas for some variation. There are still a few servings left, but I haven't gotten sick of it yet.

On Friday I made a roasted shrimp and broccoli dish that was simple and rewarding. I tossed the broccoli with cumin and coriander seeds, along with a few other ingredients, before adding the shrimp. The shrimp was flavored with lemon zest, olive oil, salt and pepper, and everything blended together nicely.

For the upcoming week, I ordered whole wheat fettuccine, eggs, more Italian dandelion greens, sunflower sprouts, and curly kale.