CSA Meals - Week 4

Aside from sweet varieties like banana, zucchini, and pumpkin, I haven't really ventured into the world of bread-making.  A friend recently directed me to a blog called the Cookin' Canuck, where I discovered a recipe for Caramelized Onion & Spinach Olive Oil Quick Bread.  

If it hadn't been for the inclusion of the word "quick," I may not have cared so much, but something about this recipe struck me.  Knowing that we'd probably receive some type of green that would be easy enough to adapt for this recipe, I decided to make it as soon as I could.  My opportunity came last Thursday, when we had a couple people over to grill ribs and chicken.  I substituted our red Russian kale for the spinach, but otherwise followed the site's instructions.  

My picture isn't as pretty as the Cookin' Canuck's, and my bread was slightly underdone and very crumbly, but it has an amazing flavor from the olive oil that paired very nicely with the sweet onions and earthy kale.  One of my friends said that it reminded him of cornbread, which was an apt comparison because of the soft texture and savory flavor.  I am definitely going to hold onto this recipe; I love how the bread can be eaten at any time of the day, and can accompany almost any other food.  We paired it multiple times with a frittata, and I can imagine that it would be fantastic with soups and stews in the winter.

Another dish that I've been waiting to recreate is from one of Martha Rose Shulman's "Recipes for Health" columns in The New York Times.  With the bag full of beans that Shannon gave us, along with our spring onions and squash, I didn't need much else to try Greek Stewed Green Beans and Yellow Squash with Tomatoes.  

We haven't gotten tomatoes from our share yet, so I bought a can of petite diced, and I forgot to sprinkle lemon juice when I served it, but the stew was delicious and fresh-tasting regardless.  We ate it as a side next to our grilled chicken and ribs, although I would have no trouble eating this for my main course.  It made enough to be eaten several times, and we heated some of it in a pan for the frittata I mentioned earlier.  This recipe is a prime example of how basic, quality ingredients don't need to be dressed up to please the palate.  

I was able to use stir fry greens from Week 3 with this week's pac choi (a leaf is pictured below) to make a shrimp stir fry on Tuesday.  The greens and shrimp didn't need a lot of extra flavor besides a little soy sauce and Sriracha, and I also had a healthy lunch for the next day.  

I made several salads with feta, cucumber, and tomato for snacks throughout the week, and planned on making a salad with the French endive (which is also known as frisee).  The only thing I needed was garlic, and Kroger didn't have any when I went on Monday.  Davy had to go to band practice, so I didn't have time to go to another store, and we ended up trying a new pizza place near Carytown.  It turned out to be worth it, and we didn't even have to get rid of the endive.  I'll have more to report about the frisee and my second attempt at homemade dressing next week.