Posted on

pepper season

I have too many peppers. In addition to a crisper full of red and green varieties of varying levels of heat, I have a whole bunch in the deep freeze. Today I got to work tackling the ones in the crisper.

The reds became a mild hot sauce. It has just a tiny kick. I used this recipe, which was recommended by a friend. There weren’t any habanero in mine (too much heat for me!).

The others got stuffed in a big jar to become pickles. I had some extra room, so I threw in some carrots, too. Here’s the recipe. All I added was a pinch of turmeric.

I also made a small jar of dill cucumber and green bean pickles. The cucumber was from my garden!

The peppers in the deep freeze are destined to become jelly, I think. They’ll have to wait for another weekend. I’m done in the kitchen for today.

Posted on

a delicate little squash

  
I tried delicata squash for the first time tonight. It was so good, plus it doesn’t need to be peeled! Roasted with olive oil, salt, garlic, red onion and served over rice. It was perfect on its own, but I whisked a little yellow curry paste with coconut milk, tossed it in and OMG YUM. #csa 

Posted on

summertime roasting

20130725-085908.jpg

It seems fitting that I started writing this right before vacation and finished just after coming home. A few days before we left I went on a roasting frenzy to cook up all the remaining veggies in the fridge. I served them with everything — warm and cold. Potatoes with eggs for breakfast: check. Turnips and beets with dinner: check. Zucchini on toast for a snack: check.

When we got home, I had a lot of veggies that my friend had dropped off while we were gone and I did the same thing. It seems a little crazy to have the oven on for so long in summertime, but it’s so worth it! I have a fridge filled with antipasto ingredients that are sweet and delicious.

Some tips:
Roast on a cloudy day, early in the morning or after the sun goes down so your kitchen doesn’t become a sauna.

Use more than one roasting pan and combine veggies with similar cooking times. I don’t even wash pans in between.

Limit your ingredients and roast at a high temperature to get everything nice and carmelized. A little oil, salt and garlic go a long way.

Experiment with herbs! Roasted potatoes with thyme are my favorite.

Pictured above: beets, turnips, green onions :: red potatoes :: yellow squash

Posted on

trying something new: kale + coconut

20130611-114104.jpg

I’m not usually a fan of coconut, but there’s a recipe in Super Natural Every Day that I’ve been wanting to try. Recently my daughter decided she liked coconut popcicles, so I figured since I had a big bag of kale in the fridge, now would be a good time.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I didn’t change much with the recipe, just used a bit less oil, and served it over farro. It was awesome.

I can’t recommend the flat variation enough for baked kale. I used curly for this, and my daughter was finicky because it doesn’t crisp evenly. She still ate most of it, though.

You can find the recipe on amazon if you “look inside” the book. Page 80. Yum.

Posted on

ok, csa. we’re ready for you.

20130502-215042.jpg

Bring on the spinach, curly kale* and leaf lettuce mix!

After much debate on whether or not to get a juicer, I decided to opt for the NutriBullet. I know it’s technically not a juicer, but it does an amazing job and there’s no leftover pulp. So far, I’m in love.

Now I’m even more excited for the CSA season to begin. Hopefully, the freak snow this week did’t hurt the veggies.

*the flat leaf kale will most likely be baked into chips for my daughter. I’m ok with that.

Posted on

green sunday

20121111-192630.jpg

I know I slacked off on my Summer CSA posts. I should probably do a wrap-up of the second half, but after spending the day preserving greens, I need to talk about the Winter CSA.

It’s every two weeks. We’ve only had one pickup so far and boy did we get a lot of greens. Granted, the only “official” ones were in a bag of mixed greens, but we also got carrots, beets and radishes. All of those came with big bunches of leaves on top!

It’s not really pesto season anymore so I did a lot of blanching and freezing today. My fingernails might even be a little green. I ready for soup season to begin!

Posted on

community crops farm walk

I was invited to share my first CSA experience with Community CROPS on their blog. While I was writing, I realized I had some pictures from the Farm Walk that would be fun to share. It was a lovely evening and my daughter had a blast. If you’re local, I recommend going next year. It will be at their new farm.

Anyone want to guess what vegetable comes from the plants in picture number three?

crops farm walk pepper

crops farm walk chicken

crops farm walk asparagus tops

crops farm walk ginger

crops farm walk sunflower

Posted on

csa bags 7, 8, 9: leafy green pesto recipe

csa pesto

week 7: potatoes, carrots, summer squash, cucumbers, kale, lemon basil
week 8: potatoes, beets, cucumbers, summer squash, parsley
week 9: potatoes, carrots, cucumber, summer squash, kale, tomato, eggplant

One of the things I wasn’t expecting when joining a CSA was the enormous amount of greens I’d be receiving each week. In addition to chard, kale, spinach, bok choy, cabbage and lettuce, there are the greens that come with beets and turnips. I didn’t know you could eat them. They’re usually removed by the time they reach the grocery store.

Luckily, my daughter loves pesto. As long as it’s green with garlic, lemon juice and nuts, she’s happy. I’ve made it with broccoli, asparagus and all kinds of leafy greens. She never fails to eat it up, especially if it’s tossed with cheese tortellini (her favorite!).

When I found my crisper filled with greens that needed to be used up soon, I threw this together and it turned out so good. Try mixing it up with different ingredients. Enjoy!

Leafy Green Pesto

1 bunch kale, blanched
1 bunch beet greens,* blanched
1 cup almonds, blanched
1/2 cup fresh italian parsley
grated peel and juice from one lemon
1-2 cloves of garlic
sea salt to taste
olive oil optional

Whiz ingredients together in a food processor until mixed thoroughly. Add small amounts of water or olive oil if necessary.

Toss it with white beans, chick peas or pasta. Use it as a dip. Try not to eat it by the spoonful. Don’t forget to top it off with a little grated parmesan cheese. Yum!

*I used the greens from candy-striped beets (Chioggia beets). Red beet greens are too messy for me and go straight into smoothies.

Tips

  • I blanch all green veggies, especially broccoli and asparagus, when making pesto. The only exceptions are herbs and spinach. Give them a whirl in the salad spinner to drain excess water.
  • Don’t spend extra for blanched almonds. Buy raw with the skins on and drop them in boiling water for 30 seconds. Pinch between your fingers and the skins pop right off!
  • Bread and bagel bags are the perfect size for storing long, leafy greens.
Posted on

csa bags five and six: recipe planning goes improv

csa cabbage cole slaw

week five: green cabbage, beets, kale, garlic, summer squash
week six: potatoes, beets, bok choy, green onions, parsley, basil

Planning how to use my CSA veggies has pretty much gone out the window. My kitchen faces west, and it gets too hot in the late afternoon to use the oven. I’ve just been grabbing things out of the fridge and making things up as I go.

  • I’ve been pan sautéing anything and everything: beets, turnips, carrots, cabbage, zucchini. I find you can’t go wrong with a base of red onion, garlic and lemon.
  • I’m still making kale chips in the mornings when it’s cool.
  • Extra greens are finding their way into smoothies.
  • The cabbage came just in time to make some slaw for a potluck picnic. I’m not usually a fan of traditional picnic sides, but this lime and peanut coleslaw was deliciously different.
  • Speaking of non-traditional picnic sides, I’ve fallen in love with this no-mayo potato avocado salad. I skip the chives and add lemon zest. It’s good either warm or chilled.
  • My favorite new-to-me veggie so far has been the candy-striped chioggia beets. I hope we get lots more of these. Aren’t they pretty?

csa candy striped beets

There’s no CSA pickup this week. I’m looking forward to using up all of our odds and ends with generous amounts of basil and parsley.