how i spent my summer vegetables

a tiny beginner guide to squash

tonight i noticed we have not one or two, but about four delicata squash (is squash the plural of squash?) in the fridge. since i've been on a bread making kick lately (well, a bagel making kick, to be more specific, but that could be a whole other post), i decided i really wanted to make a squash bread.

so i figured out what kind of squash it is we have - it's delicata. and thanks to this really helpful chart on squashes, including appropriate squash substitutions and some flavor and texture descriptions - i've narrowed my recipe candidates down to just a few. my theory on bread (or really any recipe i look for when trying to use the CSA veggies) is the fewer the ingredients, the better. simple recipes seem to really bring out the flavors in our fresh, local, organic veggies. and that's really the point, isn't it? 

grocery list - week 7?

i think i've mussed up the count on the weeks, but let's not worry about that.
this week's veggie list includes:

1 head Napa cabbage – transitional – Green Acres Organics
1 box new red Norland potatoes – certified organic – Green Valley Organics
1 bag snow peas – certified organic – White Swan Acres
1 bunch beets – certified organic – Millwood Springs Farm
1 bag young rainbow chard – certified organic – Elm Tree Organics
1 head escarole – certified organic – Windy Hollow Organics
1 bag baby head lettuce – transitional – Taste of Nature
1 head green leaf lettuce – certified organic – Back 40 Ranch

one of my favorite recipes of all time is stuffed cabbage (i used to make a crazy-good vegetarian version, but my new-meat-loving edition is unbelievably super), but i'd love to hear a fresher take on what to do with cabbage - something more summery. i made a simple asian slaw earlier this year (from the america's test kitchen cookbook, if memory serves), but what else should i try?

turnips au gratin, oh my!

last night, my good friend, maya, was in town and we decided to cook dinner in, since the fridge was completely full of veggies from last thursday.

we made a really awesome dinner that included potatoes and turnips au gratin (i used the simple recipe below, since my theory lately is the simpler the ingredients, the better it'll probably be), sauteed spinach, a salad of mixed greens with scallions, goat cheese and pine nuts and day-old multigrain rolls from le bus.

how are you using your vegetables this week? and i'd love more spinach recipes, since we have more than i can imagine using in the next few days. thanks! xo!

5 medium red potatoes
6 medium-large turnips
salt, pepper to taste
pat of butter (for greasing the dish)
2 cups cheddar (grated)
2 cups heavy cream

slice the turnips and potatoes with the fancy food processor slicer tool. pat them dry and spread one  layer in a buttered casserole dish. add salt, pepper and about 1/4 of the cheese. add another layer of turnips and potato, repeat salt, pepper and cheese. repeat until the dish is full, ending with a layer of salt, pepper and cheese on top. slowly pour the cream evenly over the dish. baked in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until the top is crisp and brown.

enjoy!

week four: grocery list

1 head broccoli – certified organic – Farmdale Organics
1 bunch Hakurai turnips – certified organic – Hillside Organics
1 bunch white scallions – certified organic – Country Boy Farm
1 bunch Lacinato (or dinosaur) Kale– certified organic – Goshen View Organics
1 bunch tatsoi – certified organic – Hillside Organics
1 bag wildfire lettuce mix – certified organic – Farmdale Organics – 1 lb
1 bag young rainbow chard – certified organic – Elm Tree Organics – ¼ lb
1 head red leaf lettuce – certified organic – Farmdale Organics
1 pint Chandler strawberries – certified organic – Friend’s Road Organics

so this week's challenge veggies will be the tatsoi and the turnips - and i'm sure you all have amazing turnip recipes that i'm excited to hear about, so link away! not to just totally leave us out on a limb with strange veggies, our CSA provided this recipe as an idea for the tatsoi from epicurious:

 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
1/2 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 lb mixed baby greens such as kale, mizuna, tatsoi, mustard, arugula, and spinach (16 cups)
1 1/2 oz edible flowers (optional)

whisk together vinegar, shallot, salt, and pepper in a large bowl, then add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified. add greens and flowers and toss until coated well.

notes:
· greens can be washed and dried 1 day ahead and chilled in a sealed plastic bag lined with paper towels. · vinaigrette can be made 6 hours ahead and chilled, covered. bring to room temperature before using.

post rhubarb report

thanks for all the awesome rhubarb ideas! i was torn between the awesome sweet snack brett suggested and the simple delicious recipe lauren linked to from the kitchn, but finally went with the kitchn's simple syrup. i was pretty pleased to discover that making simple syrup is, well, simple, so i've completely overcome my fear of it now. yay!

 i thought the concoction was going to end up staying this kind of gross greenish brown color that it looked in the pan, but when i strained it, sure enough it was as pretty and pink as the syrup they show in the photo. amazing!

 

and it only took a day or so before cute erik was brave enough to try working it into a cocktail. so, here are our cocktail recipes for the rhubarb syrup:

pink bubbly vodka veggie cocktail

1 shot vodka
splash rhubarb simple syrup
top with club soda for fizz
garnish with a sprig of mint (if you have one handy)

it's super summery and easy, and totally refreshing.

rhubarb vodka shot

1 shot vodka
1 shot cranberry juice
fresh lime juice to taste
splash of rhubarb syrup

we went a little crazy on the lime juice, which overpowered the cocktail just a little, but it was nicely sweet and fun to drink. the very idea of vegetable cocktails is pretty entertaining to me, so i hope you like it as much as we did.

week one: radishes and rhubarb

this week was full of delicious salad greens (argula! spring mix!), mushrooms and green onions. and also a few challenges for me: rhubarb and radishes. these seem really daunting to me, last year i think i ended up tossing out more radishes than i care to remember.

so i did some googling, and realized that while we could do something fancy with them to eat with dinner tonight, they'd probably serve us just as well chopped up thinly, fresh in our salad. erik had made his own vinagrette earlier this week (dillllllll) and we had six small tradishes with the greens, mushrooms and some goat cheese and it was so tasty. and now i'm no longer quite as intimidated by radishes.

my request of you: rhubarb recipes. the simpler the better (read: let's keep the number of ingredients to a minimum). post links or short recipes in the comments!