Because you all are much more creative than I, we have started this new feature on our blog. Send us your recipes for great seasonal produce and we will include them here. Just send them as a comment and I’ll add them for everyone to enjoy. I’ll add my own as I get the chance.
Recipes for this week’s CSA items:
Summerly Squash from All Recipes
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 small zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch slices
- 2 small yellow summer squash, cut into 1/2-inch slices
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil (or fresh basil from our store!)
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir the onion about 5 minutes, until tender. Mix in the tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook and stir about 5 minutes. Mix in the zucchini, yellow squash, bay leaf, and basil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf before serving.
Roasted Beets from Teri’s Kitchen
- 1-1/2 pounds medium beets, peeled and quartered
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375° F. Place the beets in a small roasting or baking dish in one layer. Drizzle with the oil. Add the garlic, salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Roast until fork-tender, about 30 minutes. Serve hot or room temperature.
Ginger-Garlic Green Beans
1 lb. fresh green beans
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced
8 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup low sodium chicken stock
Wash the beans, trim the ends, and cut into 2″ pieces. Arrange beans over vegetable steamer and place over boiling water. Cover and steam 5 minutes, until the green beans are tender crisp. Drain beans and set aside.
Heat vegetable oil over low heat. Add ginger and garlic and sauté 3 minutes ,or until tender. Add chicken stock, stir. Add beans, cook 4 minutes stirring occasionally.
Serves 4
Creamy Apple Beet Cabbage Salad
1 c. coarsely chopped roasted beets
2 med. apples, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/3 c. mayonnaise
1 tbsp. prepared mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
Cabbage leaves (optional)
Minced parsley
Apples and Cabbage
1 med. onion, chopped
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, chopped
1/2 c. white wine or apple juice
1 small head cabbage, chopped
Brown onion in oil. Add apples. Stir to coat, then add wine/juice and cabbage. Simmer, covered until cabbage is translucent. Serves 4 to 6.
This is the only way my children will eat cabbage!
Roasted Beet Salad
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. honey-style mustard
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 c. light olive oil
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. poppy seed
1 c. celery or fennel, cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 tbsp. chopped fresh or dried chives
Toss beets with 1/3 cup of the poppy seed dressing. With a rubber spatula, lightly fold in the celery or fennel and 2 tablespoons of chopped chives. Add more dressing or save for another use. Sprinkle remaining chopped chives on top of salad.
Asian Summer Squash from cooks.com
2 tbsp. sesame oil
1/2 c. soy sauce
Tags: recipe
Pan Fried Brown Sugar Squash
Cut your squash into circular pieces rather thin. In a medium saucepan, add butter and Extra Virgin Olive Oil until melted. Add your squash frying until they are lightly brown on both sides. Add light brown sugar to the squash making sure to mix with the butter and Olive Oil. Finish with additional lightly sprinkled brown sugar. Enjoy!
Oriental Turkey Salad
1 head raw cabbage cut in 1 inch squares
1-1.5 lbs. smoked turkey cut in small cubes
1 pkg. dry Ramen noodles broken apart (chicken)
2-3 green onions cut up
1 cup cashews
Dressing
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 pkg. chicken seasoning from Ramen noodles
several dashes of Louisiana hot sauce
Mix salad ingredients in a bowl with a lid. Prepare dressing and add to bowl. Shake bowl to stir. Can be served immediately or the next day.
Cole Slaw
My family loves this recipe!
Shred:
1/2 to 1 Cabbage
2 Carrots
Mix:
2 Tbsps minced Onion
1 C. Mayonaise
1/4 C. Sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste
Pour over vegetables and toss.
Lori - Here are two cabbage recipes. I had caramelized cabbage twice on a recent trip to Austria, once with Pork and another time with Duck. I just loved it. When we got your cabbage, I looked online and found a recipe for caramelized cabbage. I substituted bacon for pancetta and we skipped the polenta. It was a hit with all who tried it - nearly outdid the burgers our friends had made.
http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-More/recipes/Caramelized-Cabbage-on-Creamy-Polenta-recipe-4920.aspx
Also, here’s a zippier twist on the ubiqitous cole slaw recipes…
Also, I report that the recipe for Sauteed Beets with Turmeric and Toasted Black Mustard Seeds from Farmer John’s Cookbook is fantastic. We served it with Indian spiced crusted salmon and a cucumber salad. The beets would go well with any Indian-inspired dish.
BLEU CHEESE COLESLAW
The bacon and bleu cheese give a face-lift to those tired old coleslaw recipes.
MATERIALS
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard.
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 slices bacon, coarsely chopped
1 head cabbage, shredded
4 ounces bleu cheese, crumbled
Freshly ground pepper to taste
ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
Combine mustard, garlic, and vinegar in blender container. Add oil gradually, processing constantly. Process until thickened. Cook bacon in skillet until crisp, remove from heat. Stir dressing into bacon and drippings in skillet. Combine cabbage and bleu cheese in large bowl. Pour dressing over top, toss to mix. Season with pepper.
(Spicy… if you want it to be) Fresh Tomato and Zucchini Pasta
1-2 med. Tomato per serving
1- zucchini cut in 2 inch lengths and sliced thin. (1 2-inch section per serving)
1/4 C sliced onion per serving
Fresh Garlic, minced (To taste)
Fresh Basil, some whole for garnish and some minced (to taste)
Red pepper flake (to taste)
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Angel hair pasta or other pasta of choice
Lemon Juice
Parm. Cheese (to taste)
1. lightly coat a large frying pan in olive oil
2. saute some of the garlic, red pepper flake and the onions
3. Add hole tomatoes, sliced zucchini and 1-2 T of Lemon Juice
4. Cook with the lid on until tomato skins begin to break open
5. With a fork peel off skins and smash tomatoes down
6. Keep covered until tomatoes are liquefied
7. Uncover, add some of the fresh basil, salt and pepper
8. Cook and drain pasta
9. Place tomato sauce on top of the pasta, top with fresh chopped garlic, basil and shredded cheese.
Suggestions: add black olives, serve with hot fresh bread and red wine (especially is you make it a little spicy)
I made this flan recipe with all the fresh eggs I received in my basket. It was so delicious, I cannot wait to make it again!
Flan (a traditional Mexican dessert)
1 jar smuckers caramel sauce
6 large eggs
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 13 oz cans evaporated milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
You will need 6 ramekins or other specialty flan cook ware and a large baking pan to put them in. (I used a regular muffin tin and the recipe made 1.5 dozen)
Pour approximately 2-3 tablespoons of caramel in each ramekin or muffin tin, tilting it to swirl the caramel around the sides.
In a mixer or with a whisk, blend the eggs together. Mix in the milks then slowly mix in the 1/2 cup of sugar, then the vanilla. Blend smooth after each ingredient is added.
Pour custard into caramel lined ramekins. Place ramekins in a large glass or ceramic baking dish and fill with about 1-2 inches of hot water. Bake for 45 minutes in the water bath and check with a knife just to the side of the center. If knife comes out clean, it’s ready.
Remove and let cool. Let each ramekin cool in refrigerator for 1 hour. (I let them cool overnight). Invert each ramekin onto a small plate, the caramel sauce will flow over the custard.
Our family loved the eggplant we received in our basket. This was a “new” vegetable for us and I found the following recipe and the family LOVED it. Our kids are now asking when they can eat more eggplant again.
Ingredients:
2 lb. eggplant (about 2 globe or 4 Italian)
Kosher salt
2 to 3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
8 fresh thyme sprigs
Lemon wedges or a vinaigrette for serving (optional)
TIP: Salt first for less oily eggplant. Eggplant soaks up oil like a sponge, but you can reduce its ability to absorb oil by salting the cut flesh and letting it sit for 30 min. or more. Then drain, pat dry, and proceed with cooking.
Directions:
Wipe the eggplants clean and slice them in half lengthwise. With the tip of a knife, score the flesh deeply in a diamond cross-hatch pattern by making two or three long cuts, cutting at a steep angle, and then rotating the eggplant to make another set of similar cuts. Press on the edges of the halves to open the cuts and sprinkle salt (1 to 1-1/2 tsp. total for all the halves) over the surface and into the cuts. Set aside, cut side up, for 30 min. Heat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Over the sink, gently squeeze the eggplant to extract the salty juice and wipe them dry with a paper towel. Brush each half thoroughly with olive oil (about 1 tsp. per half for Italian eggplant, 2 tsp. per half for globe). Arrange each half, cut side down, on top of a sprig or two of mint and some crumbled peanuts on the baking sheet. Roast for 1 hour. The eggplant will collapse and the bottoms will be a deep brown caramel color. Let cool considerably before handling, at least 20 min. Gently turn the cut side up. If serving as a side dish,
Optional: if you do not use the peanuts and mint, you roast with another herb such as thyme, then serve with a lemon wedge for squeezing or drizzle with vinaigrette. If using in other recipes, scoop the flesh from the skin with a spoon.
Adapted From Fine Cooking
http://www.finecooking.com/Recipes/Roasting/Eggplant/52350-53084.aspx?channel=1
thanks for that
great post , really good view on the subject and very well written, this certainly has put a spin on my day, many thanks from the USA and sustain up the good work
hey there, i liked reading your post, i just used the websiteSwap my Seeds, as a way of giving away my unused bagonia seeds. Anyone know what I can sell them for? I have maybe 500 seeds left.
Very Good Post, what do your reader think about jamie oliver? There are some very good jamie oliver inspited recipes mydish. I have also sent this post to my twitter accounts .