Recently a friend and I were talking about meals we make just for ourselves.  I was pretty excited about an eggplant dish I made when I was alone (no one else in my family is that into eggplant) She reminded me of this zucchini lasagna that was at my wedding shower.  Her husband doesn’t like zucchini so she never makes it.  I thought it would be perfect to go with this week’s zucchini and next time we get eggplant I will share my dish.

Are there any meals you’re making just for you?

The plums are here!

Total time: 50 minutes

2 tablespoons brown sugar
1½ tablespoons plus 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ plus ½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
2 heaping tablespoons finely chopped candied ginger
12 plums, cut in half and pitted
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 well beaten egg
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
Vanilla ice cream, optional.

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees, with rack in center.

2. Thoroughly mix brown sugar, 1½ tablespoons flour, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ground ginger and candied ginger. Add to plums and mix well. Arrange, skin side up, in ungreased, deep 9-inch pie plate.

3. Combine remaining sugar, baking powder, flour, cinnamon and salt. Mix well. Stir in egg. Then, using hands, mix thoroughly to produce little particles. Sprinkle over plums.

4. Drizzle butter evenly over crumb mixture and bake 30 to 35 minutes. Crumble is done when top is browned and plums yield easily when pricked with cake tester. Remove from oven and cool.

5. Serve warm or refrigerate for up to two days or freeze well covered. If reheating, bring to room temperature then warm at 300 degrees. If desired, serve with ice cream.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Thanks for your responses to my question about beets.  Jen suggested I grate them and throw them into a salad which is what I did with some feta.  It was perfect.  Pavani also sent in a recipe.  It looks good.  Maybe next time.

Carottes et Betteraves Râpées

- 450 grams (1 pound) carrots

- 450 grams (1 pound) uncooked beetroots (get small, young ones, with smooth skin and firm flesh)

- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced, or 1 teaspoon garlic paste

- 1 tablespoon hazelnut oil (or walnut, or squash seed, or olive oil)?-

1 tablespoon honey vinegar (or cider or balsamic vinegar)

- 1 teaspoon strong Dijon mustard

- Tabasco sauce or poblano pepper flakes, to taste

- Smoked salt (or regular sea salt, or gomasio, or zaatar)

- Freshly ground black pepper

Optional add-ins: - Leafy fresh herbs (cilantro, chervil, flat-leaf parsley), chopped?- Toasted nuts (almonds, pine nuts, cashews, peanuts) or seeds (sesame, sunflower seeds), or better yet, my new friend the dukkah - Shaved parmesan or cubed feta cheese or crumbled blue cheese - Mâche or baby spinach leaves?- A grated apple or shallot?- Any dried herb, spice, or spice mix you think might work (and you know there’s only one way to find out)

Serves 4 to 6.

Trim, peel, and grate the carrots and beets. (If you own a food processor with a grater attachment, yay for you!) Place the rest of the main ingredients, from garlic to black pepper, in a large salad bowl, add the grated carrots and beets, and toss until well combined. Add any desired add-ins and toss again.

Taste, adjust the seasoning, and let stand for 30 minutes, if you can, before serving: the beets and carrots will render juices that will make the salad moister. If you don’t have that kind of time and the salad does not feel quite moist enough, add a dash of citrus juice, tomato juice, or any sort of juice that may currently reside in the refrigerator door.?–

I think I’ve mentioned before how much I love parsley.  I have had a busy couple of weeks, so I needed something fast, but still satisfying.  I was inspired by Ana Costa’s scape recipe from a couple of weeks ago and I threw my remaining three scapes ( free bin score!) in with all the parsley in the fruit processor. I added a bunch of walnuts and some australian parmesan and oil.  I put it on some whole wheat pasta with fresh tomatoes.  It was kind of the perfect summer meal.  I still have some pesto in the fridge for the next time I need something fast.

Let us know what you are doing with your share.

I love getting scapes.  It’s such a quick season, but each year it reminds me of all the the good things to come (GARLIC!).  Two of our members shared what they have done with their scapes.

Ana Costa made a great pesto for her family

Add to you food processor:
12 garlic swirls
bunch of dill or basil or cilantro
1 cup toasted pecans or pinenuts or walnuts
3/4 grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil (or more, plus a little water to get to the consistency you like)
Toss with pasta!

Megan Hackett made a fabulous dip for her friends

Also in a food processor

4 scapes

2 cans white beans

s and pepper

extra virgin olive oil

Puree

Let us know what you are doing with your share!

Earlier in the season, we got some radishes.  I’m just not that into radishes, but this year I was on a mission to use all that I got to the full potential.  I used them in salads - green, tuna and rice salads.  I kind of started to like them.  My friend in Vermont also got radishes from her CSA and told me about this radish top soup.   I was curious, but it was too late, no more radishes.  Until two weeks ago.  I got a small bunch of radishes, not enough to make the soup, but I didn’t use them and then last week in the free bin SCORE!  Radishes!  Loads of radishes!  I made the soup.  It was on one of the chilly fall nights last week.  I didn’t really know what to expect.  Well . . . it was perfect.  Cozy and comforting and a little bit like baby food.  And it was super simple.  I’m hoping for another score this week in the free bin.  I used the tops of four bunches.  Now I have plenty of radishes left over and a little bird told me I can roast them.  We’ll see.  I am going to make this soup again.  I’m hoping for another score this week in the free bin.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 medium red potatoes, diced
• 4 cups raw radish greens
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup milk
• 5 radishes, sliced

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onion, and saute until tender.
2. Mix in potatoes and radish greens, coating them with butter.
3. Pour in chicken broth.
4. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.
5. Allow the soup mixture to cool slightly, and transfer to a blender. Blend until smooth.
6. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Mix in the milk.
7. Cook and stir until well blended. Serve with radish slices.

This week check out member, Amy Plattsmier’s recipe that uses potatoes, parsnips and a food mill. Yum!

When my packrat husband, Jason, and I were slogging through the process of signing up for a wedding registry 10+ years ago, I nixed many items he wanted to include, one of them being a Williams Sonoma food mill. Not having any idea what a food mill was, I never gave the omission a second thought, that is, until I had a baby. All of the baby books with sections on making one’s own baby food extolled incessantly the virtues of the food mill, but still I stubbornly chose the back of a fork to mash freshly steamed squash or banana for my toothless child.

Read the rest of this entry »

So I made some delicious BLTs this week with the lettuce and tomatoes we got.  I really enjoyed them, but now I wish I tried this Bacon, Lettuce and Plum recipe that appeared in the NY Times on Wednesday.  Maybe this week . . .

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, it’s been a gluttonous couple of weeks.  After vacation, I am trying to eat healthier and spend less. It’s time to stat making more meals at home.  Luckily I have a full pantry and lots of good produce from the CSA every week.  I was really happy about the fruit share this week.   I live for those donut peaches.  But they didn’t last long.  My kids and I basically sat at the dining room table eating donut peaches and apricots.  I was thrilled that they loved the fruit so much.  My husband is lucky that I managed to save a couple for him.  It wasn’t easy.   For dinner we made veggie kebobs on the grill.  I put  potato, zucchini, garlic, pepper and red onion (not CSA) on  a wooden skewer brushed with some oil and I also mixed some eggplant with oil and salt and pepper and parsley and grilled it.  It was a super satisfying cheap healthy meal.  The next night I decided to tackle the beans.  I’m not that into beans.  I think I may have been forced to eat them as a child.  When I saw them at pick-up, I wasn’t too happy, but I am trying to use everything so I found this recipe which used the beans and the parsley (see below).  Very quick and easy.  I served that over a Trader Joe’s grains mix and added lots of salt and pepper.  It was really good. I may be changing my tune about beans. Read the rest of this entry »

So, most of you know that we donate our leftover shares and vegetables to Food Not Bombs. Ever wonder what happens after that? Well, board member and founder of the CSA Diana Liss and board member Karen Oh went to volunteer at Food Not Bombs to help them cook our leftovers and other donations and then serve them to the public at a local park.

Food Not Bombs is housed at 123 Community Space, a shared community space in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Currently located at 123 Tompkins Avenue, 123 Community Space has just been through a nasty eviction battle and will probably move in September. The space hosts four grassroots groups: A New World In Our Hearts, Freegan Bike Workshop, Misled Youth Network, and NYC Anarchist Black Cross and hosts a variety of community programs from free/low cost screenprinting workshops to bicycle repair to political prisoner letterwriting. Read the rest of this entry »