Member Ainslie Binder made a halved version of this recipe and said it was—as Rachel Ray would say—”DELISH.” (Well, actually, Ainslie said it was “delicious,” but I could not resist!)
Where I used to live, summer was all about the zucchini. Everyone seemed to grow them and there would be so many that you couldn’t unload them on your colleague or neighbor. If you left your car door unlocked (this was a rural area, so no one really locked their cars), you might end up with a couple in your front seats. Actually, I think this is the only time people locked their car doors. We also used to carve our names in them as they grew and if they got too big, they were kind of tasteless so we’d use them for target practice. Read the rest of this entry »
For those of us lucky to get a fruit share, we will be getting Sour Cherries. They are a delicacy–great for cooking and often used in pies. But they are sour! Some eat them fresh, but they are used in cooking, especially soups, pork dishes and pies and liquers are made from them. I wonder what I will do with them, so I’ve found a couple of articles about them that you might find informative. Read the rest of this entry »
Aside from the usual salads, we didn’t do anything super spectacular with our share.
I think, the thing I love most with kale is sausages. This is a classic recipe (also sausages with broccoli rabe) that has been written up numerous times on various blogs, including this vegetarian recipe. One good twist to this dinner staple that my husband did was to add a can of whole italian plum tomatoes to the mix. Just squeeze the tomatoes with your (clean) hands to roughly crush them up. Read the rest of this entry »
This week, we welcome member Nicole Fabri to the “What I Did With My Share.” Read more to find out how she feeds her family with her CSA.
What joy that our CSA has finally started and we are getting fantastic fresh and nutritious vegetables every week! I have personally been delighted to see my little boy (2 yrs) munching on mustard greens and asking for more “salatt”. What follows is a few fun creations from our kitchen that might give you some interesting ideas.
One of the first things I made with all that lovely fresh mint and peppermint was a cool summer drink. Read the rest of this entry »
I would like to be organized enough to get everything cleaned and prepared for use during the week when I bring my loot home on Tuesday night. But usually I don’t get to it until I’m doing my whirling dervish dinner dance each night. For those of you who are organized or want to start getting better about prep – here is a video link sent in to our CSA newsletter headquarters about cleaning your lettuce.
http://www.gourmet.com/food/testkitchen/2008/12/knauer_how_to_clean_and_store_lettuce
This week’s “A Cookbook I Wanna Eat” was submitted by PLGCSA member Megan Hackett.
I like eating the best when someone else is doing the cooking.
But if it is my turn to cook, then please let it be vegetables (from our CSA share!). Because I probably won’t overcook them (like I do to most animals due mostly from my irrational fear of food poisoning and such). It also gives me a good excuse to peruse one of my favorite cookbooks while I contemplate what to make. Or have my husband make. Chez Panisse Vegetables is a very pretty and calming book. I love the vegetable and herb prints that begin each section. Alice Waters offers a bit of background on each category, teasers about how they are enjoyed at Chez Panisse, and finally, storage advice as well as directions for their most simple preparations. Then, as if that weren’t enough, there are actual recipes. Most of the recipes are fairly uncomplicated. The chard gratin in particular is delicious and there are lots of nice salads. I’m into salads (no cooking required and perfect for summer).There is also a Chez Panisse Fruits book that I may have to steal from my friends’ kitchen once the Hepworth Farm bounty starts arriving again. If anyone knows what to do with all those plums, it’s Alice.
Were you a little surprised to see this last week? I was. I love broccoli rabe, but this wasn’t at all like the kind I get win the supermarket which is full of leaves with thicker stalks and no flowers. I decided to get to the bottom of this vegetable. Should be easy in this information age, right? Wrong. I couldn’t find much on spring rabe except that it was another name for broccoli rabe. But on many sites, people said the best kind of broccoli rabe - or rapini or one of its numerous other names - to get is the kind with crisp green leaves, thin stalks, and few open flowers. This is the kind we got. Hooray CSA! So here are four things about rabba, Italian turnip or whatever you want to call it.
-It is not related to broccoli. It is related to turnips.
-It is used in a lot of Italian and Chinese cooking. It is probably the most popular vegetable in Hong Kong.
-It is rich in folate, phytochemical indole-3-carbinol, and Sulforaphane. It fights cancer and helps detoxify you.
-4 out of 5 cooks agree, it’s best when blanched first.
Do you know anything else about spring rabe or have a favorite fruit or veggie you want to see in the spotlight? Email me at themamapapa@yahoo.com.
Now that we are starting our CSA season, at times, we get vegetables that we don’t normally eat, haven’t seen before or are just “tired of.” The CSA is a great opportunity to branch out and try new things or reinvent old standards. Here are some links to sites that I have used to experiment or find new ways to cook vegetables. I have had great success with each one. If you have a recipe you love and would like to share, please send it to comm@plgcsa.org. We hope to feature specific recipes in the future.
1. Epicurious.com
This site is the archives of Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines (both owned by the same company) with user ratings and level of difficulty. Just type in an ingredient and find many, many recipes that include it. I’ve used it for Thanksgivings, vegetarian recipes, potato and leek soup, random ingredients I have that I need to put together into something edible, and quick 15 minute recipes.
2. Allrecipes.com
This site is like having everyone’s recipe box at your fingertips. Many of the recipes have that home-cooked feel and there are user reviews and ratings with suggestions on improvements. We found several baked buffalo wing recipes here and a gyro loaf.
3. The New York Times Dining Section
For the foodie in you, there are reviews, recipes (from Mark Bittman, among others), and stories. The NYT Magazine also has a (very small) food section but has some excellent recipes. This recipe for Guinness Pot Pie is really amazing (but skip making the trotters and you can make it all veg by using tofu!).
We had a cooking demo with Kate Strassman of Kate’s Renegade Aboveground Kitchen (KRAK). Kate showed us how to make her excellently tasty and flavorful Coconut Corn Soup and her all-purpose quick and easy dressing. Recipes are below.
The Coconut Corn Chowder was quick and easy and had complex flavors of ginger, chili, garlic, coconut and vegetables. This soup is also vegan. The soup base, as Kate mentioned, makes a good base for any kind of soup you want to make b/c you can really add whatever vegetables you have on hand. Kate prefers the heaviest coconut milk you can find and I would agree, that the fattier, the creamier! The finishing touch is a good dose of minced cilantro.
Kate’s Dressing, equally simple yet complex in flavor, can be used as an alternative to butter or olive oil on steamed vegetables or salad. We also thought it would taste great with pasta or any starch if you are looking for a good quick meal. The Bragg’s is like soy sauce (salty and vinegary) but is a little thinner and has good amino acids in it. Nutritional yeast, similar to brewers yeast is full of B vitamins and has a nutty, cheesy flavor. So, the dressing is good for you!
One interesting nutritional note that Kate pointed out about oils is that not all oils are created equal. Oils that are processed correctly will not seem “oily.” For example, she pointed out that if you were washing out a bottle that had high quality refined oil in it, you would not need a lot of soap. She also pointed out that you should not use olive oil for high temperature frying/sautes. Not only is it a low temperature oil (it will smoke and burn at high temps), it can also be carcinogenic!
On a sad note, Kate is leaving us in PLG and Brooklyn at the end of October. Fortunately for her, she will be going to India at the end of the year to teach English! No doubt she will be eating and cooking (and teaching) her way through the country! Best of luck to you Kate! I feel fortunate to have been able to get to know you a little!!!!
THANKS KATE!
============= Coconut Corn Chowder =============
base:
1 can fatty coconut milk (no light stuff!)
3 tablespoons canola, peanut, or coconut oil (not olive oil! it’s just not right for this recipe!)
2 onions
5 cloves garlic
1-2 inches grated ginger
2 tsp chili flakes
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp paprika
2-3 tsp salt
cilantro
optional, but yummy:
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp smoked paprika
12 curry leaves
veggies!
3-4 ears of corn* (a must)
plus optional combos of these:
1-2 small zucchini
1 bell pepper of sorts
tomatoes are yummy
scallions or red onions
slivered collards, chard, kale
Coarsely chop your onions, garlic, and ginger.
Heat oil in the bottom of your medium sized soup pot, and add cumin, mustard, and chili flakes. Sauté until the seeds start to sputter and change color. (medium high heat) Add ginger, garlic, curry leaves and onions– Sauté until onions are translucent.
Pour in the coconut milk, plus 2 - 3 more cans of water. Add salt, turmeric, smoked or regular paprika. If you are cooking with collards or zucchini (half-inch cubes), add them at this point since they take a little longer to cook. Also, if you want to make this extra hearty, you could add a can of rinsed and strained chick peas at this point in time. Stir and cover, (medium heat), let broth bubble and infuse itself with yumminess for about 8 minutes.
While this is happening, shuck your corn, and with a sharp knife carefully sliver off the corn kernels from the cob into a bowl. Mince your pepper into little cubes, tomatoes, onions, and chard or kale. Add all the veggies into the bubbling pot. And stir for just a minute, then turn off burner and remove from heat. This is what makes this soup delicious– crunchy, still tender vegetables. Do not overcook! Mince your cilantro, stir in it in, and Enjoy!
============= Kate’s Dressing =============
Do not cook with this. Simply dress steamed vegetables, tofu, or salads:
Find a clean jar or bottle.
Fill it 1/3 way with flax oil
Fill it 1/3 more with Bragg’s liquid aminos
Then 1/4 more with apple cider vinegar
Add 3 minced garlic cloves
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons black pepper
shake! keep in fridge.