This may sound weird, but I truly love shredded cabbage with lemon juice and salt. It is great for digestion. Roasted cabbage with lemon sounds pretty good too, or even homemade sauerkraut in Martha Stewart Living this month (not online yet).
Unfortunately, I won't be able to pick up my CSA this week so their won't be a post.
The night before, my friend roasted the beets for a tasty beet salad with toasted walnuts and goat cheese. Last night, I still had a few things left over from the week before, so I made eggplant, caramelized onion, and tomato pasta, and sprinkled it with the parsley.
If you are looking for a hearty soup with sweet potatoes, try this Sweet and Spicy Lentil Soup. Swap out the swiss chard for collards, and add the leek in with part of the onion, and you got yourself a meal.
Want to try a delicious dessert? Try this Apple Cake. I made it last weekend, and besides the peeling and chopping, the recipe is pretty simple. Plus, you can sneak it in for breakfast and not feel too guilty.
And if you are feeling ambitious this weekend, try this Butternut Squash Ravioli. Not going to lie - it is time-consuming, but you do feel kind of proud at the end: I made homemade ravioli - ta da!
Last Wednesday was my final week of my CSA. It has not really hit me yet, but I know it will once I run out of all the produce. Seriously, I don't realize how the CSA shaped my eating until it is gone. Here is what I got my final week: -Broccoli -Sweet potatoes -Cabbage -Butternut squash -Garlic -Kale -Leeks -Lettuce -Sage -Apples -One quince -Eggs
Oh CSA, how I will miss you! Stay tuned for Thanksgiving recipes :)
Hello! I got a lot of greens this week from my CSA. I think I am going to my FAVORITE soup - hearty winter vegetable with this produce. Here is what I got:
-Collard greens
-Leeks
-Potatoes
-Boy choy
-Mesclun
-Arugula
-Broccoli
-Acorn squash
-Eggs
-Jonagold Apples
-Mutsu Apples
Have a great weekend, I am off to watch the NYC Marathon!
Last week I made a delicious soup perfect for this cold weather, hence the name Hearty Winter-Vegetable Soup from Martha Stewart's January 2010 issue. The soup takes a lot of prep work, but once you get though all the chopping, you are on your way. It makes great leftovers, in fact I liked it better the second day because the flavors had melded together and the escarole had softened even more.
Here are the ingredients for Martha Stewart's Hearty Winter-Vegetable Soup (serves 10-12):
-2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
-4 leeks, white and pale-green parts only, halved lengthwise, cut into 1-inch pieces, and washed well
-3 celery stalks, cut on the bias into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
-3 medium carrots, cut into cubes
-2 garlic cloves, crushed
-2 pinches of red-pepper flakes
-Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
-5 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken stock (I used vegetable stock)
-1 1/2 cups water
-1 small (1 to 1 1/2 pounds) butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes
-2 Yukon Gold potatoes (about 12 ounces), cut into cubes
-1 head escarole, cut into 1-inch-thick ribbons
-1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
-2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh mint
-2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh dill
To begin, chop leeks, celery, carrots and peel garlic.
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat. Cook leeks, celery, carrots, garlic, red-pepper flakes, and 1 teaspoon salt, stirring occasionally, until leeks are translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add stock and water, and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, peel and cut squash and cut potatoes. Add squash and potatoes to the soup and return to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
Stir in escarole and chickpeas, and return to a boil.
Stir in lemon juice and herbs.
Season with salt and pepper. Serve and enjoy with a popover.
Ingredients for Popovers from Martha Stewart's January 2010 issue (makes 1 dozen*):
-2 1/2 cups whole milk
-2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 teaspoon coarse salt
-6 large eggs
-Unsalted butter, softened for pans
*Note: Using a standard muffin tin, the recipe made 2 dozen popovers.
Before I begin with the directions let me compare a popover tin to a muffin tin. In my experience, the muffin tin only affected how the popovers turned out visually, but taste-wise the muffin tin popovers were still very delicious.
Cooks Illustrated explains the importance of the popover tin's design, "Only tangentially related to muffin tins, popover pans are composed of heavyweight steel cups affixed to one another with thick steel wire; they typically have six cups. The open design maximizes heat transfer, which is crucial to high-rising popovers and babas au rhum."
Because my muffin tin could not achieve the heat level needed, all my popovers collapsed except for one miraculously. I made two attempts, I used Martha's oven temperature for the first round, and then I increased the temperature to 450 degrees for the first 15 minutes, and reduced it to 425 for the second half of baking. The second attempt had better results, but still far from perfect.
To begin, heat oven to 425 degrees F. Meanwhile whisk together milk, flour, and salt.
Add eggs and whisk together until combined. Mixture might be lumpy.
Place popover or muffin tin in oven to heat up for 5 minutes. Quickly remove the tin and generously coat each cup with softened butter. Fill each cup a little more than halfway with batter. Place back in oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Do NOT open the oven and reduce temperature to 375 degrees F and bake for about 25 minutes.
First attempt.
Second Attempt at higher temperature.
Let stand for 5 minutes and then turn popovers out and serve warm. If not using all the popovers, poke a small hole to release steam. Reheat when ready to eat.
Last night I went and picked up my first batch of produce from my CSA. Although, it seemed a little less this year because of the oddly cool weather we have been having, it was still just as exciting. It is cool to see the dirt on the plants and even the roots left on the arugula. Here is what I got this week:
-1 bunch of arugula -2 leeks -1 bunch of lettuce -1 bundle of asparagus -1 bunch of pea shoots -dill -2 quarts of strawberries -2 stalks of rhubarb -1/2 dozen eggs
When you get fresh produce, it is important to store it away properly to ensure that it stays fresh for the longest period possible.
For certain vegetables such as lettuce, I like to place in a salad spinner and remove all the dust and dirt and then place in a paper towel-lined air-tight container. That way it is ready whenever I need it. For herbs like dill I place in a glass of water and place in the fridge. For the strawberries, if I am not using them right away I place them in the refrigerator on a paper towel-lined plate. Strawberries - especially local ones are very fragile and can easily get crushed in quart containers. Do not wash them until just before using them. If you haven't seen pea-shoots, this is what they look like - so pretty: Here is the menu I am planning to do this week:
I made a Spanish tortilla with asparagus, leeks, and potatoes last night. Here is a simple how-to on making a Spanish Tortilla (which is an egg and potato dish). Click here for a version from Everyday Food.
Preheat oven at 375 degrees. Get a few potatoes and slice thinly. Salt and pepper generously. Heat olive in a non-stick or cast-iron skillet. Place potatoes and cook until tender crisp, about 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally so the potatoes are rotated from the heat. In the meantime, slice the rest of whatever you want to put it the skillet. I sliced up the asparagus and leeks. Place in the skillet and stir together and cook until tender. Take 5-8 eggs (depending on how eggy you like it). Salt and pepper and put a generous dash of hot sauce and whisk together. Place egg mixture in skillet of the potatoes - the eggs should not cover all the potatoes. Place in oven and cook for about 12-15 minutes until eggs have set and top becomes golden. Slice and serve with hot sauce on top.
which can be purchased here.
