CSA (our) week 11: September 24th, 2009

1. Tomatillo
2. Lettuce: Leaf, Red
3. Scallions
4. Cilantro
5. Mei Quing Choi
6. Eggplant
7. Pepper, Sweet
8. Beans: Green

Tomatillos- See Salsa Verde recipe which is part of the Fish Tacos post
Lettuce- used as a wrap for black eyed pea cakes (see previous post)

Cilantro: Green Rice

Make 1 cup of jasmine rice cooked in vegetable or chicken broth with 1 tablespoon of butter or olive oil.

Chop 1/2 cup of cilantro and add to the cooked rice
add 1/2 teaspoon of crushed cumin seeds and 1/2 teaspoon of crushed coriander seeds
cayenne pepper to taste
add 2 tablespoons lime juice

I've read a few recipes that suggest toasting the rice with onions or garlic and/or nuts. I like the sound of that.


Green Beans: Roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Egg Plant and Peppers: Roasted with olive oil, balsamic, herbs (whatever is on hand), salt and pepper.

The scallions were used to make scallion and egg wontons. My new obsession.

Mei Quing Choi was sautéed with onion and covered in a sauce of cider vinegar, soy sauce, honey, red chili paste, peanut butter and red pepper flakes.

That's all folks.

CSA (our) week 10: September 17th, 2009

1. Tomatoes, Mini – 1 pt

2. Beans: Black-Eyed Peas

3. Carrots – 1 bunch

4. Basil: Red OR Green – 1 bunch

5. Squash, Summer

6. Beans: Soy

The soy beans I used simply by blanching and sprinkling the unshelled pods with salt.

The mini tomatoes and Summer Squash made a simple dinner:

1 carton mini tomatoes
2 yellow squash
4 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 yellow onion
1/2 can crushed tomatoes or about 2 cups of tomato sauce
1 can garbanzo beans
4 fresh basil leaves

Dice the onion and add to heated oil
crush 4 cloves of garlic into the pan and allow to cook until just before the garlic browns.
Chop squash into bite size pieces (I like mine 1/2 moon shaped and about 1/2 inch thick)
slice the mini tomatoes in half
Add the squash and tomatoes to the pan and allow it to cook on one side
Stir the vegetables and add crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce, basil leaves, as well as 1 can of garbanzo beans. Allow this to cook for 5 minutes and serve.

The carrots were used as garnish and they will also be used in a recipe for pan fried black eyed pea cakes (to follow in a later post).

This was kind of a boring CSA share. Luckily I still have a lot of leftovers from previous weeks.

Acorn Squash Soup

This is a pretty basic Acorn Squash soup recipe with a few of my own additions.

2 Acorn Squash
olive oil
salt
pepper

1/2 cup of vegetable stock
1 can garbanzo beans

2 Cups of vegetable stock
1 yellow onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons butter
curry powder
nutmeg
cinnamon
1/2 can light coconut milk
salt and pepper

Start by cutting the acorn squash into quarters
place in a brownie pan and brush with olive oil, salt and pepper
cover with tin foil and roast at 450 for 30 minutes

Put garbanzo beans and 1/2 cup vegetable stock into a sauce pan.
Bring to a boil and then reduce. Cook until soft.

Remove squash from the oven and let cool.

Chop 1 medium yellow onion.
Heat 2 teaspoons of butter in a large pot and add onion. Crush one clove of garlic into the pot and allow it to cook until onions are soft.
Add 2 cups of vegetable stock and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes.
Then, scoop the flesh of the squash into the pot and allow that to simmer for 10 more minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool.

Puree the garbanzo beans in a food processor and put aside in a separate bowl.
No need to clean excess from the food processor because it's all going to get mixed together eventually.

When the squash mixture is cooled, puree in food processor until smooth and then return to pot. Add pureed garbanzo beans and mix until smooth.
Add about 1/4 teaspoon of curry powder, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, adjusting for your personal taste. Thin to soup consistency with the coconut milk. Add salt and pepper to taste.

CSA (our) week 9: September 10th, 2009

Our 1st summer turning to autumn share. On this rainy morning I'm thinking about some squash soup and caramelized root vegetables. I'm also very excited to prepare the Tatsoi. In the coming weeks, I guess I should consider freezing part of my share for those months when the CSA share will be limited or unavailable. I'm feeling hesitant about starting this process because I’m not sure how well and for how long everything will keep.

1. Eggplant -1

2. Lettuce -1

3. Beets -1

4. Tat Soi -1

5. Squash, winter: Acorn -1

6. Cilantro -1 bunch

7. Cantaloupe -1

I actually worked the cantaloupe table and all of the melons smelled delicious. I must have chosen the worst one because it had no flavor at all. What a disappointment.

The beets were used in a simple salad

Beets
Celery
Red Onion
Garbanzo Beans

Peel and roast the beets for 20-30 minutes... until fork tender
slice the beets into 1/4 thick circles
slice 1/4 of the red onion
chop 2 stalks of celery
add one can of garbanzo beans
mix together with Italian dressing.

The cilantro I'll be using in a pan black eyed pea cake recipe. I will post that recipe later.

Grilled vegetable wraps and Panini’s

The Eggplant will be marinated in Olive oil, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar and then grilled.

CSA (our) week 8: September 3rd, 2009

1. Eggplant
2. Radishes
3. Tomatoes, Mini
4. Cabbage, Red
5. Peppers
6. Beans: Romano
7. Basil


I learned from this week's share: Red Cabbage lasts a ridiculously long time in the refrigerator (like 4 weeks.) Basil, does not. Also, I do not so much like cooked radishes. I should (and will) probably try using them in a raw salad from now on.

Eggplant: Broiled

Peppers: Broiled

Beans: Cooked in a red sauce with mini tomatoes.

Radishes: Broiled with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Cabbage: Used randomly (salad, egg rolls)

Summer Squash Chocolate Cookies

This I got from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
An interesting book about Kingsolver's life for a year on her family farm. During the time the book was written in, the diet of Barbara and her family consited of only what they could grow or buy locally (with a very few exceptions). The cocoa powder in this recipe is my addition.

1 egg, beaten
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
Combine in large bowl.

3/4 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg

Combine in a separate, small bowl and blend into liquid mixture
1 cup finely shredded zucchini
12 oz chocolate chips
Stir these into other ingredients, mix well. Drop by spoonful onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 350°, 10 to 15 minutes.

Tuna Tacos

Tuna

1/2 lb tuna marinated in salsa, hot sauce or my favorite; a mix of paprika, Cayenne pepper and olive oil.
Cook over a grill or pan fry.


Corn Tortillas

2 Cups Corn Masa mix

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 1/8 Cup Water

Mix all ingredients together until they form a ball. Add a bit of water if it's not coming together for you.


Once you have formed a large dough ball, start pulling off pieces about the size of a golf ball and rolling them into smaller balls. You should get between 12 - 16

Now, if you have a tortilla press you probably don't need to be reading this recipe.
If you don't, all you really need is a rolling pin and a couple of plastic bags or wax paper.

If you use wax paper, make sure you have a bunch because one piece will probably only make it through one or two tortillas.

Lay out one plastic bag/piece of wax paper, place one dough ball in the center, cover with another plastic bag or piece of wax paper and start rolling. I found that if you turn the paper/bag in a circle as you are rolling you will come out with a much rounder shape.

Heat a non-stick skillet on high
From all the recipes I read, you should be cooking these over cast iron. I don’t have cast iron and I will say they came out a bit gummy. I'm assuming it's because they weren't cooked at a hot enough temperature. Either way, they were still very good and more satisfying than having grabbed some tortillas off the shelf.


Salsa Verde

1 1/2 lb tomatillos
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon honey
2 Jalapeño peppers OR 2 Serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
Salt to taste

Cut the tomatillos in half and roast them under the broiler for about 5 minutes. Then give them a fine chop or add them to the food processor.
Chop the onion, cilantro, and jalapenos and add them to the tomatillos.
Mix in lime juice and honey. Add salt to taste.

Assemble with chopped purple cabbage, carrots, lettuce, sweet peppers, etc.

Eggplant Rollatini and Stuffed Peppers

Once a month, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship that provides the space for our CSA pick-up also holds a cooking class. The girl that conducts the class is an expert in specialized diets. For the class, she prepares relatively simple vegetarian dishes, not unlike what I'm use to cooking at home. However, all of her recipes are gluten free, which is something very different and interesting for me. I've gotten a few really great tips so far. The Kale chips came from one of her classes along with the following two recipes.


Eggplant Rollatini

A somewhat healthier version of the original (they're not fried).

I would suggest using the Japanese style eggplant for this recipe. I find it's more tender and sweet.

1 eggplant for every 2 people serving

1/2 cup light or fat free ricotta
This is a recipe where light ricotta will actually work better, because it is less milky and will hold together better

2 cloves garlic
Red pepper
Salt and pepper
Strong flavored medium-hard cheese (something like an asiago, manchego or swiss)
Tooth picks
Tomato Sauce

Slice the eggplant into long 1/4 inch pieces. Season on both sides with S&P.

Mix together 1/2 cup of ricotta with 2 cloves of crushed garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Add 1/4 cup of shredded asiago, manchego (or other strong flavored melty cheese) to the mix.

Spread ricotta over strips of eggplant. Roll the eggplant and secure with a toothpick. Cover with tomato sauce and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.


Stuffed Peppers

1 cup black sticky rice (or any flavorful whole grain rice)
1 cup tomato sauce
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion diced
1/2 bunch swiss chard washed and drained
2 green/red/yellow sweet peppers
Cheese

Prepare the rice and set aside
Heat oil in a pan and add diced onions. Cook until soft.
Chop the swiss chard into 1 inch pieces (approximately) and add it to the pan.
When the swiss chard has wilted 1/2 way, add the tomato sauce.
(Black sticky rice is generally used in sweet and savory dishes. At this point, you might also add some honey, nutmeg and cinnamon. )
When the swiss chard is fully wilted into the sauce, remove from heat and stir into the rice. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour or overnight to allow the flavors to come together.
Remove the tops, core and seeds from the sweet peppers. Fill the peppers with the rice mixture, top with shredded cheese and bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until the pepper is fork tender.