CSA – Veggicurious

Cold Summer Zucchini Salad

I know that I’ve been slacking -its true. A trip to Toronto, a visit from my aunts, a visit from some other special someone, and now the flu and the past three weeks have been a whirlwind. But I’m back. I promise. Above, an easy easy salad that makes use of all the zucchini that has been appearing in my CSA, plus the tomatoes that are finally starting to roll in. I’ve long made a version of this salad, but I decided to use the recipe from this month’s Bon Appetit, and found the addition of lemon juice especially addictive. What this salad really needs, though, is perfectly ripe tomatoes, so add your own. And make sure to use a high-quality pecorino for the brightest flavor. In the last week, I’ve had this salad for lunch three times. That’s how much I like it. Give it a try!

A delicious Kohlrabi recipe

One of my favorite things about my Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA is the weekly email newsletter I receive. It lets me know exactly what I’m going to get in my share, usually includes an interview with one of the farmers who contributes to my CSA and photos of the farm, and recipes for some of the more unfamiliar vegetables. This week, I got a beautiful bunch of kohlrabi – a cross in flavor between turnips and cabbage. This recipe, included in the newsletter (originally taken from the blog Sustainable Pantry) was incredibly delicious. If you don’t have chard, blanch and add your kohlrabi greens! And make sure to peel the kohlrabi very well – it has a pretty hard outer “shell.”

Kohlrabi Curry

2 kohlrabi, peeled, quartered and sliced
1/2 onion, choppedcimg3633
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 T fresh chopped ginger
3-4 chilis (optional, I like things spicy so I used the Vietnamese chilis pictured)
Garlic scapes, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups chard, washed and chopped
1 can coconut milk
2 T red (or green) curry paste
2-3 T peanut butter (I prefer chunky for this, but smooth is fine)
Scallions (for garnish)
Salt

1. In a medium sized pot, Sauté the onion, garlic, ginger and chilis in a neutral oil (canola, safflower) over medium high heat until browned

2. Add the kolhrabi, scapes and chard and continue to cook for another 3-5 minutes, until the chard wilts and the kohlrabi softens up a little; season with salt

3. Add the curry paste and coconut milk, then fill the coconut milk can about 1/2 way with water, swish it around to get any remaining coconut milk, and add to the pot. Stir until the curry paste is dissolved. After the mixture boils, lower heat to a simmer and stir in the peanut butter until dissolved.

4. Cook for about 10 minutes. Taste and season as necessary with salt. Garnish with sliced scallions and serve over rice.

Anything can go into a burrito – even a weeks’ worth of veggies

I believe that almost anything can go into a burrito or wrap. Arriving home with another huge CSA share, and still swimming in vegetables from last week’s late holiday delivery, I made a mission out of using as many vegetables and odds and ends as possible in last nights dinner. I fried garlic scapes and green onions in a wok, then added dandelion greens and some chopped radish greens. Salt and pepper, a chopped habenero pepper, fresh cilantro and parsley, and a drained can of organic black beans went into the walk. I served the beans on whole wheat tortillas with fresh garnishes – sliced radishes, avocado, sprouts, and green onions.

And then I used even MORE vegetables. Red leaf lettuce, topped with a summer squash salad recipe cribbed from Simply in Season – squash, green onions, fresh basil, and Parmesan marinated in red vinegar and olive oil. It felt great to use up the rest of last week’s veggies, and dinner was delicious.

Winter Vegetable Gratin

Sometimes you want to cook something, and you have a fridge full of vegetables, and you have to figure out how to combine your craving with your desire to use everything up before your next CSA delivery. That how this dish was born. A basic gratin, (cream, milk, cheese) with turnips, savoy cabbage, and amazing fractal-style cauliflower. Between the layers of vegetable I added dollops of cream cheese, and topped the entire thing with parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs made from leftover herb and cornmeal rolls. It. Was. Delicious.

You can decide exactly how healthy (or unhealthy) you’d like to make this comfort food.

1. Choose any combination of starchy winter vegetables. In the gratin above I used red turnips, savoy cabbage, and what I like to call fractal cauliflower.
2. Place the chopped and sliced vegetables in a gratin dish. Salt and pepper each layer. At this point you can add cheese between layers, if you’d like. The above gratin uses cream cheese.
3. Fill the gratin dish 3/4 of the way with a cream, milk, or a combination of the two. Add herbs to the dairy before you pour it over the vegetables.
4. Top with grated parmesan, and some sort of breadcrumbs
5. Bake in a 350 degree over for 35 – 40 minutes. For the first 20 minutes cover the dish with tin foil, and remove the foil for the second 15 – 20 minutes.
6. When the vegetables are baked through and the breadcrumbs are toasted brown, the gratin is done. Enjoy!

Jalapeno Salsa

I love salsa, and jalapenos, and luckily my CSA has been giving me plenty of both. My salsa is a combination of a few recipes from the classic Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, a basic encyclopedia of home canning.

Jalapeno Salsa
makes 4 pints

5 cups chopped tomatoes
3 cups chopped jalapeno peppers, unseeded
3/4 c. chopped white onions
1 cup white vinegar
5 cloves garlic
4 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp. salt
1/2 t. cumin

Bring tomatoes, jalapenos, onion, vinegar, garlic, cilantro, salt, and cumin to boil over medium-high heat. I like to use my la cruset, but a good soup pot will work fine. Stir frequently, until the salsa thickens – about 15 minutes. Can using as you would tomato sauce, leaving 1/2 inch space at the top of a boiled jar. Remove air bubbles, wipe jar rim, and screw band down on top of a pre-soaked lid. Process jars in a large pot of boiling water for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and carefully remove jars after 5 minutes. If jar tops do not “pop” and indent, process again. Cool and store. You can begin enjoying your salsa after it mellows, in about 4 weeks.

Squash Chowder

I know that’s it’s too hot to cook soup. But last night, I did it anyway. We are absolutely swimming in tomatoes (such a lucky problem!) and I had leftover corn and squash from last week’s CSA to use. This is a simple, basic chowder recipe from a Simply in Season, a cookbook I’ve been using a lot lately since it focuses on healthy, seasonal recipes. While their recipe is for a zucchini chowder, I had yellow squash and patty pans. No problem! I substituted rice milk for evaporated milk, and cut the cheddar in half. And it was wonderful. Full of corn and tomatoes and squash and onions and fresh herbs in a light chowder broth. By the time my roommate Dr. Lee’s delicious tomato pie came out of the oven, we were already stuffed!

Rainbow Chard, Heirloom Tomatoes, and Fresh Egg

Rainbow Chard, Heirloom Tomatoes, Organic Egg

I didn’t get home until 8:30 last night, just in time for the last light of the day. I walked out back to check on my garden – something, I suspect the alley cats that keep kicking up my baby lettuces, is gnawing at my parsley – to pick some fresh mint for a soda and St. Germain, currently my favorite early summer drink.

By nine, I realized that I had yet to eat any dinner. This simple meal is made straight from my refrigerator, currently bursting with CSA vegetables and goodies from the Fair Food Farm stand. Just a garlic scape, diced and fried in local salted butter, with rainbow chard, diced stems and all. Some baby heirloom tomatoes, sliced and salted, and a local organic egg fried in more of that delicious salted butter. Fast and perfect.