Poor kohlrabi. Always left in the bin.

Many members pass on this funny looking vegetable because they don’t know what to do with it, but it’s actually pretty versatile. Kohlrabi can be steamed, roasted, boiled, or baked. It can also be eaten raw - try combining it with apple, carrot, onion, and parsley to make a slaw using this recipe.

Garlic scapes are enjoying a new-found popularity. We got some in this week’s share. Not a whole lot, but enough to enjoy. The New York Times posted an article today on the virtues of The Scape (and garlic in general).

There is a recipe for White Bean and Garlic Scape dip that only requires 3-4 scapes that sounds awesome. My mother pickles them in soy sauce for a little seasonal ban chan dish.

Eat ‘em and enjoy ‘em while you can!

While I’m not vegan (or even a strict vegetarian), I often enjoy the recipes at VeganYumYum. This one for Sweet Chili Lime Tofu with Wok Steamed Collards and Quinoa looks delicious, and you can substitute our CSA kale or swiss chard for the collard greens.

As a bit of personal inspiration, I thought it would be fitting to start the new CSA season off with a remarkable video by Mark Bittman at this year’s TED conference.

“In this fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what’s wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it’s putting the entire planet at risk.”

I am a huge fan of his blog and am hoping to rely on many of his recipes to tackle that weekly box of vegetables.

Tart green apple is a nice addition to traditional butternut squash soup.

Butternut Squash Apple Soup

1 yellow onion, chopped
1 rib of celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 Tbsp butter
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, chopped
1 tart green apple, peeled, cored, chopped
(squash and apple should be at a 3 to 1 ratio)
3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
Pinches of nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper

Procedure:
Combine butter, onion, celery, and carrot in large saucepan. Cook for 5 minutes. Add squash, apple, and broth. Bring to boil. Simmer for 10 minutes or until squash is soft. Puree. Add spices to taste.

Serves 4-6.

from Simply Recipes

Ariella snagged this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis on
Food Network. It was excellent!

1 (3-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup basil pesto
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, plus more for greasing

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly butter an 8-inch baking dish and set aside. Fill a large pot with enough water to come 2 inches up the sides of the pot. Set a steamer rack in the pot, cover, and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the squash and steam over medium heat until the squash is very tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer the squash to a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Season the squash to taste with salt and pepper.

Spoon half of the squash evenly over the prepared baking dish. Dollop half of the pesto all over the squash in the dish. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the squash. Repeat layering with the remaining squash, pesto, and cheese. Using a skewer, swirl the pesto decoratively into the squash. Dot the top with butter and bake until the gratin is heated through and golden brown around the edges, about 40 minutes.

Kate doesn’t have a recipe for her delicious sweet potato samosas and fresh coconut chutney (she’s one of those improvisational chefs who just wings it), but she did recommend a great cookbook: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking, by Yamuna Devi.

Hint: it’s on sale right now at Amazon.com for only $26.

Not only did Heidi host our potluck, she also whipped up a fantastic colcannon. This is a traditional Irish/Scottish dish, with the addition of milk and cheese. Here’s the recipe from Jane Brody’s Good Food Book:

1 lb all-purpose potatoes, washed but not peeled
1 lb green cabbage (about 4 cups), shredded
1-2 large onions, chopped
¼ c milk
1 T butter
3 oz (or more) sharp Cheddar, grated
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil the potatoes until tender, not mushy. Spoon them out of the boiling water, set aside to cool.

2. Boil the onions and cabbage for 5 minutes, and drain well.

3. Mash potatoes with milk and butter.

4. Mix in cabbage and potatoes.

5. Mix in cheddar, reserving some for the top

6. Bake in a Dutch oven or casserole dish until it’s heated through and cheese on top has melted. Temperature not critical depending on what else you may have in the oven.

Options
Peel potatoes after step 1 if you wish; I don’t.
Use a ricer to mash potatoes if you have one.

Yum, these were good! Here’s Jamie’s muffin recipe…

Makes 1 dozen
Active time: 15 min.
Start to finish: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour (I used half all-purpose, half whole-wheat)
1 tsp baking powder
1 - 2 cups canned pumpkin - depending on your desired pumpkin flavor (1 can is typically 15 oz.) (I used fresh pumpkin, by cutting the pumpkin in half, taking out seeds, & baking it at 350 for 45 min)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice (a combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice)
1.25 cups plus 1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Equipment: 12 foil or paper muffin liners; a muffin pan with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups

DIRECTIONS:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350. Put liners in muffin cups.

Whisk together flour and baking powder in a small bowl.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin-pie spice, 1.25 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about 3/4 full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture (or honey at the end).

Bake until puffed and golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

Here’s Barbara’s recipe for the tasty soup she brought to our potluck:

Sauté garlic, onions and leeks in olive oil. (How much? How much soup do you want?)

While preparing the veggies for sautéing, steam carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, leftover squash, turnips, beets — anything that can be mashed to thicken the soup. (Veggies and proportions depending on what you have and on your tastes.)

When everything is soft and the sauté is sautéed, put the steamed veggies into the blender a little at a time with enough water to make it work. As each blenderload is pureed, pour it into the sauté pot. Keep at it until all the steamed veggies are pureed and everything is in the same pot.

Mix it all together, heat it up some more — and there it is. If you want to go to hell with yourself and want to call it a Cream of Autumn Soup, add a carton of heavy cream at the end. But we don’t.

Oh, yeah: salt and pepper to taste.