Back From A Break

I had a little two (okay, three) week hiatus from posting, in part due to a vacation I took to Iceland!  It was one of the best trips I've taken, and would highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.  There's not a lot of produce there, so my CSA share was the furthest thing from my mind while I was vacationing.

What did I do with it all, you ask?  I let a friend pick up up and keep it.  In the past, I've had a friend pick it up and save it for me, too, but with the timing of this vacation, that would not have been worth it.  Besides, who wants to come home to a house full of vegetables to pack into the freezer or pickling jars and luggage to unpack into drawers and laundry machines? 

If you're feeling particularly magnanimous, a number of CSA farms will happily donate your share to a local food bank for you.  Many of them do that anyway with any shares that don't get picked up on a given week.  You could also coordinate donation through your church or school for a single family in need.

In the mean time, for those of you who haven't taken vacation, here's a couple of rapid-fire ideas for your shares, things that I've been making in August:

Make a potato salad out of whole/halved baby potatoes (starting their season about now), diced onion, diced carrot and diced celery (all in season).  Dress it with equal parts fat free greek yogurt, mayo and a ton of chopped dill and finely minced garlic.  Word of caution - take the potatoes out of the boiling water before you think they're done cooking, because they keep cooking after you take them out, even if you rinse them with cold water.  You don't want to end up with dill mashed potatoes.

Make an "Israeli" salad out of diced heirloom tomatoes, diced cucumber, a can of drained and rinsed chick peas, a handful of chopped flat leaf parsley and a handful of chopped mint.  Dress with vinegar, oil and a little coarse salt.

Here's an amazing recipe for chocolate zucchini bread:  http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chocolate_zucchini_bread/  At least 1/2 of my zucchini goes into one of these every week.

I'll be better about posting for the rest of the season.  Hopefully, we'll start getting more fall veggies.  I'm almost all zucchini'd out.

When Life Gives You Eggplant...

... make Baba Ghanouj!

CSA Share 7/31/2012

• Sun-gold Cherry Tomatoes
• Red Heirloom Slicing Tomatoes
• Garlic
• Red-leaf Lettuce
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini
• Yellow Summer Squash
• Scallions
• Green Beans
• Purple Eggplant

I love eggplant.  My lovely soon-to-be wife does not.  No matter what I do it them, short of breading/frying/red sauce/cheese-ing them, she will not eat them.  I've tried chopping them finely and putting them in stuffings for stuffed tomatoes - she found them.  I tried mixing them in with other highly seasoned roasted summer vegetables - she picked them all out.  Won't go near the things.

Don't get me wrong, I love eggplant parmaggiano as much as any other tomato-blooded Italian.  I have on good authority (mine) that my mom makes the best eggplant parm around.  I personally don't like making it, as we live in a small-ish two bedroom apartment, and the whole place smells like a fried dough stand for days afterwards.  It's just not my style.

So I climbed out on a limb this week and made hummus' cousin Baba Ghanouj with the 2 eggplants from our share.  With a healthy amount of gentle prodding, I got her to try some.  Success!  She liked it so much, she pushed aside last night's leftovers and brought the dip with CSA veggies and homemade pita chips for lunch today.  I will definitely be making this again when more of those purple beauties come our way.

Baba Ghanouj and Friends

• 2 medium eggplants
• 2/3 cups tahini paste
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped as finely as possible.
• 1 lemon, juiced.
• 2-3 scallions, sliced into little circles
• Smoked salt, smoked black pepper and smoked paprika, to taste.
• Small handful flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped.
• Whatever raw CSA veggies you like, cut into dip-able sticks (e.g. carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, whole cherry tomatoes, etc).

[Note: While Baba Ghanouj is best made with eggplants roasted over an open flame to add a smoky element, I am tragically without a grill, and have a glass-top range where we live.  This recipe is designed for all of us yardless apartment dwellers.  I compensate for the lack of a grill by using smoked seasonings.  If you don't have any available, feel free to use regular salt, pepper and paprika, but do invest in a bottle of Liquid Smoke (available in most grocery stores), and add a few drops to your finished dip.

If using thin Japanese eggplant, I would cut roasting time by 2/3 but watch them closely, as I've never actually tried using them in this recipe...but it's a start.]

Preheat the oven to Bake 400.  Slice your eggplants in half lengthwise, then brush the cut side with olive oil.  Place on tin-foil lined cookie sheet and bake for 40 minutes.  Use this time to cut up your CSA veggies, dig out that chip-and-dip someone bought you off of your wedding registry but you've never used, that sort of thing.  Scoop the flesh into a strainer or cheesecloth over a collander, and let the water drain out for about 20 minutes. Transfer the drained eggplant to a cutting board and chop with a knife until it's pretty creamy in texture.  Transfer to a mixing bowl, and add your other ingredients.  Set out with your cut veggies and enjoy!

Bonus Technique:  Homemade Pita Chips

Take your old, stale pita breads that are knocking around in your fridge, and rip them into chip sized pieces.  I like to seperate the two halves of the bread for double the amount of chips, but they'll be crunchier if you leave them together.  Dry roast on a cookie sheet for about 10 minutes, or until they're crisp.  Let them cool, then store them in a Gladware, zip lock bag or something else air-tight.  If you don't let them cool before you put them away, they'll get sort of soggy and weird.

Bibimbap: Fun to Say, Easy to Make, Good to Eat.

CSA Share 7/24/2012

• Sungold cherry tomatoes
• Red heirloom slicing tomatoes
• Rosemary
• Genoan basil
• Garlic
• Lettuce
• Kohlrabi
• Beets with tops
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini and summer squash
• Scallions

Bi-Bim-Bap.  I love saying that word.  Loosely translated from Korean, it means "mixed rice" and describes a classic Korean dish of raw and/or cooked vegetables, marinated cooked meat and a runny egg over rice in a bowl.  The contents are then all mixed together by the eater, along with some amazing korean hot sauce (gochujang) and consumed with kimchee on the side.

If you happen to find yourself in a Korean restaurant, order the "dolsat bibimbap" (a.k.a. "stone bowl" or "hot stone" bibimbap) and you'll get the above, but served in a broiling hot stone bowl such that the rice at the bottom develops a beautiful crispiness, like the best paellas.  If you're at home and don't happen to have a five-hundred-degree-Farenheit stone bowl handy, regular ol' bibimbap is a healthy, balanced dinner and a great way to use a variety of vegetables.  It requires some specialty ingredients, all of which are found pretty cheap at any asian grocery.  In case you don't have access to an asian grocery, some reasonable subsitutions are included.  Feel free to vary the veggies below - I try to use what ever's in season (translation: whatever I get in my share each week!)

Bibimbap

• 1 to 1 1/2 cups cooked white rice per person. I like shortgrain, but use what you have around.  Brown is good too.
• 1 serving of beef per person -or- 1 serving of chicken per person - or- 1 serving of pork loin per person.  These should be cubed, but uncooked (for now).
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• Soy sauce
• Mirin (sweet asian rice wine for cooking.  Sub in any sweet white wine, or dry white wine with 1/2 tsp of sugar added)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil.
• A squeeze of gochujang (you can sub in sriracha, or equal parts Tobasco and ketchup if you're really, really in a bind).
• 1/2 medium cucumber, cut into matchsticks, per person
• 1/2 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks, per person
• 1/2 medicum zucchini or summer squash... you guessed it... cut into matchsticks, per person.
• About 1/2 a cup of cooked spinach or beet tops per person.
• 1 scallion per person, sliced into little rounds.
• 1/4 of raw kohlrabi, matchstick'ed (preferably with a mandolin) per person.
• 1 egg per person, sunny side up.
• Gochujang (or sriracha) to serve.  Avoid the ketchup trick here, it won't work.
• Kimchee to serve.

Caveat before starting this one:  As you may have noticed, I'm not a mise en place kind of guy - I like to get things done fairly efficiently via multi-tasking.  If you're the sort of person that needs to have everything set up in little prep bowls like your favorite celebrity chef before starting, by all means do so, just be realistic about the time it will take you to accomplish this dish - possibly take over an hour.  If you multi-task, it won't take you much longer than it takes for the rice to cook and to get everything arranged in the bowl - 30 to 40 minutes depending on skill and comfort in the kitchen - to make two of these.

Get your rice a'cooking according to package directions.  During the 20 minutes you have to wait (40 for brown rice - plenty of time there) add your meat, garlic and onions with a little oil or cooking spray to a pan, and stir-fry over medium-high heat until the contents are nice and golden brown.  There will be a brown residue on the bottom of the pan - don't panic, this is okay.  Your food is not burned.  While your meat is cooking and your rice is doing its thing, start slicing your veggies, setting them aside for later.  When your meat is golden brown, add the soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil and a squeeze of gochujang to the pan and stir furiously, scraping up said brown residue and making a great korean-style teryaki pan sauce.  Adding liquids to create a sauce is technique called "deglazing" a pan, and will be your best friend in the kitchen.  Set aside.

If you have time (like if you're using brown rice) and don't like raw zucchini, stir fry it quickly with a little olive or other cooking oil before using it in your dish.  The spinach or beet tops can be quickly steamed, stir fried, or you can even microwave steam it, like in this sad excuse for a recipe from the Food Network.

While or after your rice is cooked and your meat is done, fry one egg sunny side up per person.  Once  your eggs are done and your veggies are sliced, arrange them in serving bowls as such:  A layer of rice, with veggies (except scallions) arranged around the edge of the bowl by type, meat in the middle, egg on top of everything.  Scatter your scallions over the bowl and serve with extra gochujang and kimchee.   Be true to the name of the dish:  mix it all up and enjoy!

(Almost) Weekend Bonus Recipe - Smooth Smoothie

This one was sent me to me by a friend who also works in healthcare and is fellow CSA subscriber.  Thanks, Monica!

Blueberry, Cucumber and Kale Breakfast Smoothie 

• Handful of kale leaves, torn up (about 1/2 cup)
• Handful of blueberries (about 1/2 cup)
• One small cucumber (or 1/2 of a large one), cut into chunks
• 1/4 of apple juice
• 4-6 ice cubes

Blend until creamy. Consume. (Note: be sure to check teeth after delicious consumption as blueberries and kale are known to adhere to teeth in the most unflattering way!)

Flavor Saver

CSA Share 7/17/2012

• Green leaf lettuce
• Swiss Chard
• Carrots
• Zucchini and summer squash
• Cucumbers
• Garlic
• Onions
• Broccoli

You may have noticed an abundance of zucchini in your shares lately.  It will likely keep on going, with the zucchini getting larger and larger until they become what the Brits refer to as "vegetable marrow."  What you will also notice is that you will run out of things to do with said zucchini - there are only so many sautees a person can eat.

If you are like myself and my fiancee, you will miss the taste of freshly picked organic farm produce in the winter months, when you're picking up insipid produce (trucked over from the West Coast or flown up from South America) at your local grocery store.  The answer to this dilemma is right in your kitchen - your freezer!  Now, you can't just stick the zucchini whole into the freezer and hope for the best.  Here's a method on how to freeze your zucchini and enjoy it come the shorter, colder days of the year.

How to Freeze Zucchini, Summer Squash & Pattypan Squash

• As much of the above soft-shelled squashes as you could conceivably (and conveniently) fit into your freezer, cut into 1/4 inch slices or half-moons

This proccess is called "blanching."  Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.  [Note: Some people advocate for salting your blanching water, as it will improve flavor and possibly shelf-life.  I do not, since we all already get too much salt in our normal diets, and hypertension is rampant in our nation.]  While your water is getting there, set up a large salad bowl filled with equal parts water and ice cubes, and set it next to the pot.  Next to that, set a salad spinner or a bunch of paper towels, and next to that, some freezer bags. 

Working in batches, dump the veggies into your boiling water and leave them for under 3 minutes.  You want them just barely soft.  Fish them out with a slotted spoon and plunge into your ice water.  This halts the cooking process.  Once your veggies are chilly, dry them off in the spinner or with paper towels. This step is essential, as it will prevent a good deal of freezer burn.  When they're chilly but dry, put them in your freezer bags, push all the air out and seal them.

These will stay good up to 6-7 months in your freezer.

Kohlslaw

CSA Delivery 7/10/2012

• Baby cabbage
• Purple kohlrabi
• Broccoli
• Garlic
• Green-leaf lettuce
• Red-leaf lettuce
• Carrots
• Scallions
• Baby zucchini and summer squash
• Cucumbers

Kohlrabi is a vegetable that you'll see regularly in your CSA box or at your local farmer's market, but is largely absent at the grocery store.  Maybe it has to do with its almost alien appearance, with slender stalks topped with leaves coming off at nearly right angles from a central green or purple orb.  Despite its weird looks, I would encourage everyone to give kohlrabi a try (especially if it comes in your CSA share, since you already paid for it).  Raw kohlrabi tastes like a cross between broccoli and a granny smith apple.  Cooked, it acts like any of your root vegetables (e.g. turnips, parsnips, carrots). 

Here's a good entry level kohlrabi recipe, which makes enough to bring to a cookout - you will look like a culinary wizard, and you'll use up a bunch of veggies which otherwise may sit in your crisper for days/weeks on end.

Kohl-slaw

• 2-3 heads of purple and/or green kohlrabi
• 2-3 heads of baby cabbage (or 1 head regular size or napa cabbage)
• 5-6 carrots
• 1/2 bunch (maybe 6 individual) scallions
• 1/2 cup mayonaisse (light is fine)
• 1/2 cup plain fat free greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoons of white sugar
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• salt and black pepper to taste
• [shortcut - buy a jar of premade coleslaw dressing from the cooler section of the grocery store and dump it over the salad, rather than making your own]

This recipe is incredibly easy if you have a piece of kitchen equipment known as a mandolin.  It's basically a home deli slicer for veggies, and comes with piece that converts it to julienne (matchstick-size pieces).  You can also try slicing the veggies yourself with a knife, but try to keep your pieces as small and consistent as possible (especially with the kohlrabi).

Julienne all the veggies and toss them together.  In a seperate bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients, then add them to the veggies.  You may need to make another 1/2 batch of dressing, depending on how nuts you go with the sliced veggies.

Salads Are Inevitable, But Are Not All Made Equal

Delivery 7/3/2012

• 2 Zucchini
• 2 Yellow Summer Squash
• 2 Bulbs of Garlic
• 4 Cucumbers
• 2 Heads of Romaine Lettuce
• 1 Head of Curly Kale
• 1 Bunch of Swiss Chard
• 1 Bunch of Beets, With Greens
• 1 Bunch of Scallions
• 1 Bunch of Thai Basil
• 1 Bunch of Carrots

As the title says, if you have a CSA share you will most definitely be eating multiple salads for multiple meals, multiple times per week.  Your basic green salad is probably the easiest, most versatile way to use a number of vegetables - slice them up, throw them over lettuce and serve. 
But why limit yourself to basic garden salads?  Here's an idea for a quick, fresh salad which uses a familiar vegetable in an unsual way.

Zucchini & Carrot "Pasta" Salad

• 2 relatively small, tender zucchini (the larger they are, the tougher.  Grate the large ones for zucchini bread but not for salads or sautees).
• 2-3 carrots
• 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, halved
• Which ever fresh herbs came in your share (scallions, thai basil were in mine this week), chopped finely
• 1/4 cup of good olive oil
• The juice from one lemon
• A handful of pine nuts, toasted until golden and fragrant in a dry pan
• 1/2-1/3 cup of goat cheese, crumbled (not everybody cares for goat cheese.  If you want to omit this ingredient, that's fine, but add salt - the cheese provides the bulk of saltiness for this salad).

Take the cut side of the clove(s) of garlic and rub the inside of your salad serving bowl with them, until the bowl smells very garlicky.  Take a vegetable peeler as if you're going to take the skin off the zucchini and carrots in long strips, but keep going:  Use the peeler to basically make long noodle-like strips of both raw vegetables.  Peel/strip them directly into your waiting garlicked-up bowl.  Toss the strips gently with your chopped herbs, then dress with the oil and lemon.  Lastly, toss with pine nuts and goat cheese, and serve.