Week Seven -- not more beets!

Oh yes, more beets.

Cherry tomatoes
Corn (2)
green pepper
carrots
watercress
eggplant
celery
onions
cucumbers
zucchini

So pretty!

So the cherry tomatoes have been a wonderful nosh. This picture was taken after the ride home. Notice that it's not quite a full pint.


The beets became borscht. This is from Saved  by Soup

4 medium-size beets, greens cut off and reserved for another use, peeled and diced
1 medium-size onion, diced
5 cups cold water
Salt
Combine the beets, onion, water and salt to taste in a heavy 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, partially cover the saucepan, and simmer until the beets are tender when pierced with a sharp knife, about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Transfer the soup to a food processor or blender or use an immersion blender, and process until smooth. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Season with more salt to taste if necessary. 

We had it in a glass with a dollop of sour cream mixed in. It wasn't bad!

The zucchini was larger than my forearm. Here's a picture: I put it next to a box of tissues for comparison. We ate it tonight. I grated it up (it filled the workbowl of my 14-cup food processor). I chopped up one of last week's onions and sauteed it for a little while, then added the grated zucchini. Added a little salt, pepper and dill, and sauteed it until it started getting brown. It was barely enough for 3 people.

The corn was great.

Weeks Five and Six

Week Five was great. We got:

Romanesco
Cauliflower
Kale

Cabbage
Basil
Carrots
Beets
Sugar Snap Peas
Spring Onions
Fennel
Lettuce

But we didn't get too inventive; it was too hot to think about cooking much. I made the same cauliflower recipe from Mark Bittman; roasted with a balsamic vinaigrette and served cool with raisins. The Romanesco is a very distinctive and beautiful head of cauliflower/brocolli-like stuff. I kind of braised it, nothing fancy. I ate the kale myself one night, in the kale and potato casserole recipe. The cabbage went into another bowl of slaw, which we are still enjoying. We ate the lettuce and fennel boringly in a salad, munched on the sugar snap peas and carrots raw. Tracy made pesto with the basil, the onions go in everything, and the beets combined with Week 6 beets went into a double recipe of the pasta & beets. All yummy.




Week 6
Mike picked it up and left it at my house, and when I got home at 10:45 pm I didn't feel like photographing the whole thing, just bagged it and put it in the frig.

The box contained:
Spring Onions
Celery
Beets
Carrots
Kale
Eggplant
1 Green Pepper
Parsley
2 Pickling Cucumbers
1 Zucchini

On Wednesday, I made the pasta & beets for dinner. Mike couldn't stop eating it, but luckily he did so we'll have some as a side dish tonight with turkey.

The celery was largely leaves, and the stalks were kind of hard and not too delicious. Or maybe this is good celery and I never had it before? Anyway, I washed it and dried it and put most of it into a large plastic bag in the freezer. I'll make vegetable stock one of these days.

I washed the carrots and we'll be eating those. Three were entwined in a sexy embrace.


I made some tabbouli with the parsley and the zucchini (zucchini isn't traditional but it's an acceptable alternative to cucumber). 

More fun with brassica

Brassica is the family of vegetables that includes cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli. I made a couple of Mark Bittman recipes from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian for July 4th.

First I spent about 45 minutes cleaning the cauliflower. There were lots of tiny bugs living inside it, probably because it was so pretty. I soaked it in about a million changes of water with some white vinegar in it, which encouraged the inhabitants to come out, but it took forever.

I made this recipe; it was nice but not thrilling. I used golden raisins and they didn't contrast enough with the gold cauliflower. They also all wanted to be on the bottom of the bowl.

Roasted Cauliflower with Raisins and Vinaigrette
1 large head cauliflower, cored, trimmed and separated into florets
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar or balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped parsley leaves (I had no parsley, left it out)
1. Preheat the oven to 400. Put the cauliflower in a roasting pan, drizzle with 3Tbsp of oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to distribute. Roast, turning once or twice, for 15 minutes or so, until the cauliflower just starts to soften.
2. Meanwhile, combine the remaining oil with the vinegar and a little salt and pepper, taste and adjust the seasoning. Remove the pan from the oven, drizzle the cauliflower with 2 Tbsp of the vinaigrette, and toss to coat. Roast again, turning once more, until a thin-bladed knife pierces a piece with little resistance, another 15 minutes. 
3. When you're ready to serve, put the cauliflower in a large salad bowl and add the raisins and parsley. Add the remaining dressing and toss. Taste and sprinkle with more salt if needed and lots of pepper, then serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

I've made this Coleslaw many times. It's always good, and it lets the vegetables really shine. This gorgeous head of organic cabbage was particularly nice-tasting. It was so large that I doubled the recipe. It made 2 large bowlfuls.

Spicy No-Mayo Coleslaw
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar, red wine vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used lemon)
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp minced fresh jalapeno chile (optional)
1/4 cup peanut or extra virgin olive oil
6 cups cored and shredded cabbage
1 large red pepper, shredded
1/3 cup diced scallion (I left this out)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup minced parsley leaves (we have already discovered that we don't have any, no big loss here)
1. Whisk the mustard, vinegar, garlic and chile together in a small bowl. Add the oil a little at a time, whisking all the while.
2. Combine the vegetables and toss with the dressing. Season with salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to serve. It's best to let this rest for an hour or so before serving to allow the flavors to mellow. Just before serving, toss with the parsley. Toss it anyway, even if not adding parsley.

Week Four continued, mmmmm

Great dinner tonight. Salad (with the farmstand lettuce), salmon and roasted brocolli & garlic scapes. Mike came over, so he's participating as an eater, if not a cook.

Salmon, courtesy of Cousin Sheila, Stacey and Sharon:


2 lbs salmon (skinless would be best), cut into serving-sized pieces
4 Tbsp olive oil or melted butter
4 Tbsp honey
4 Tbsp dijon mustard
3/4 cup bread crumbs (approx)
3/4 cup chopped pecans (approx)


Mix together the oil, honey and mustard in a large-ish bowl. Mix together the bread crumbs and pecans in another large bowl or plate. Dip the salmon in the liquid to coat, then in the dry stuff to coat. Place in a baking pan, covered with parchment paper. Bake at 350 about 15-20 minutes, until the fish is done.


Roasted Brocolli and Garlic Scapes, courtesy of Rachael Ray's website
(garlic scapes were my addition, could use 2-3 chopped cloves of garlic)
1 head of brocolli, cut into nice pieces
12 garlic scapes, cut in half (or those chopped garlic cloves)
3 Tbsp oil
Salt & pepper to taste


Combine all above in a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Toss to distribute the seasonings. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes until the brocolli gets a little brown on the ends.

The garlic scapes were kind of good this way. The brocolli definitely was good.

Week Four (in which we learn we like beets)

This week's box overflowed into a bag. We got:
cauliflower
cabbage
broccoli
carrots
beets
sugar snap peas
hakurei turnips
lettuce
garlic scapes (a dozen this time)

The first thing we ate was sugar snap peas. They are still delicious, just washed with the ends snapped off.

The next easy item was the carrots. I read that some people eat the greens, so I washed them, but they were a little too much like bitter grass for me, and I threw them out. I trimmed and scrubbed the carrots with a vegetable brush, and they were delicious, much more carroty than the average carrot. I included a pen next to the plate to show how petite these little cuties were.

Tracy was supposed to go out for dinner, so I decided to eat the beets. She ended up eating with me and this recipe was just super:
Penne with Beets and Their Greens and Pecans
(from Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini)
2 bunches small golden or red beets with perky greens (I used one bunch)
1-2 Tbsp fruit vinegar, such as raspberry
1/2 lb penne rigate (I used linguini because that's all I had)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/8 tsp chili flakes
salt and pepper
1/4 cup toasted, coarse-chopped pecans


1. Trim off beet stems and greens; reserve. Scrub beets. Drop into boiling water to cover by an inch or so. Boil until not quite tender, about 10 minutes--but timing varies. Drain. When cooled slightly, slip off skins under running water. Quarter beets. Toss with vinegar to taste.
2. Trim and wash beet greens. Cut stems into thin slices. If leaves are large, cut into wide slices; if not, leave whole. Set on rack over boiling water and steam until soft, about 10 minutes--but timing is variable.
3. Cook penne in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender.
4. Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp oil in large skillet over moderate heat. Add garlic and chili flakes and toss. Add greens and heat through. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Drain pasta and toss with remaining 1 tbsp oil. Add hot greens and toss. Divide between 2 heated shallow bowls. Top with beets and nuts.
Serves 2
 















As for the turnips, I cut off the greens, washed and dried them, and haven't decided what to do with them. They're heading for a soup or salad. The turnips themselves I washed and peeled and I will probably just eat them raw. 

Week Three

Garlic Scapes! Never heard of them until last week.

This week our box had: garlic scapes, green garlic, cilantro, dill, mesclun, scallions, lettuce, kale, sugar snap peas, broccoli and collard greens.

Never having lived in the south, I've never had collard greens before. The farm handout had a nice recipe from Paula Dean, but since I'm not cooking with ham hocks, it was a good thing I went to the library in the morning. I took out the most amazing book: "Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini" by Elizabeth Schneider.

First I made this nice White Bean and Garlic Scapes Dip:

1/3 cup sliced garlic scapes (3 to 4)
1 Tbsp freshly squeeze lemon juice, more to taste
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt, more to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 

In a food processor, process garlic scapes with lemon juice, salt and pepper until finely chopped. Add cannellini beans and process to a rough puree. With motor running slowly drizzle olive oil through feed tube and process until fairly smooth. Pulse in 2 or 3 tbsp water, or more, until mixture is the consistency of a dip. Add more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice if desired.

This was a nice dip for the sugar snap peas which we just devoured raw while cooking the COLLARD GREENS!

I found a recipe in the A-Z book that looked really nice, but it called for 2-2.5 lbs of collard greens. Ours was only 7 ounces. Not knowing collards, and fearing spinach-like shrinkage, I ran out to Whole Foods and bought some more, about a pound. Note: collard greens do NOT shrink as much as other greens so we'll be eating this for a while.

Collards with Sweet Spices and Corn Bread Topping

2 to 2.5 lbs collard greens
2 quarts water
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp butter (I used olive oil)
1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp ground ginger (I used fresh grated)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cardamom (I omitted this)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon


TOPPING


3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg (I omitted this)
1 egg
1 tbsp corn oil


1. If collards are large, strip stems from leaves and discard. Stack leave and halve lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips. If collards are small, simply cut both stems and leaves into 1/2 inch slices. Rinse collards in several changes of water.
2. Bring water to a boil in large pot about 10 inches in diameter. Add salt, then collards, and return to a boil. Boil gently, stirring now and then, until tender. Timing varies, but 15 minutes is usual. Drain, reserving liquid. Chop collards quite fine.
3. Melt butter (olive oil) in the same pot over low heat. add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add ginger, cumin, cardamom and cinnamon. Stir a minute or two. Add collards and 1 quart reserved cooking liquid. Simmer gently for a few minutes. Turn off heat.
4. To make the topping: Whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and nutmeg in mixing bowl. In a small bowl, beat egg and oil to blend. Stir in 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking liquid. Pour into dry ingredients, mixing with a fork to barely blend. The batter should resemble thick applesauce; add more cooking liquid if needed.
5. Bring collards to a boil. Drop batter by tablespoons (about 10) over greens, leaving spaces between. Cover pot and boil gently for 10 minutes. Uncover and boil a few minutes longer, until dumpling tops become nearly dry to the touch.
6. Serve hot, accompanied by hot pepper sauce, if desired.
Serves 3-4 as a main dish, 6-8 as a side dish.


Variation: to serve as a vegetable dish without topping, follow the recipe through step 3, adding just 1 cup of the reserved liquid instead of 1 quart.



This dish had a very nice flavor from the spices. The collards were sweet and lovely. Even the picky girl really liked it.







That's probably it for this week. I'm freezing the dill and cilantro, making some salad, yadda yadda. 

Week Two

Late post this week (posting on Monday when everything's eaten).
Mike picked up the veggies. There were sugar snap peas, fennel, lettuce, kale, swiss chard, scallions, and spring garlic. The spring garlic actually had a bulb this week (last week it looked like a large scallion).

Mike made a stir-fry with the sugar snap peas, chicken and some of the scallions that night. He also made a salad, and left the rest for me.

I got home Friday and didn't cook until Sunday.

I made kale chips. Recipe from Allandale Farms:

1 bunch kale
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp seasoned salt


Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. line a non-insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite sized pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.


Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

It took more like 25 minutes, but I kept stirring the kale so it wouldn't burn. I didn't measure the oil, used too much. But this was a big hit. Ha, Mike!




There wasn't enough fennel to make a recipe with, so I sliced it really thin and used it in a salad. That was very nice. We dressed the salad with more of the lemon dressing that Mike made. Thanks, Mike!












Since it was Father's Day, an occasion for something special, I made some pizza dough. I cut the last 2 scallions into small rings and sauteed them with some sliced red pepper. I rolled out 5 small pizza rounds, and everybody made their own pizza with pesto from Trader Joe's, vegan and normal mozzarella cheese, and some sliced swiss chard.


There wasn't much swiss chard left, and it was looking kind of tired. I sauteed and added it to bean burgers for lunches today.