Tag: summer

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.

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?

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.

week four: kale, cilantro, napa cabbage, salad mix, carrots, head lettuce

Well, I’m definitely back to eating lots of salads. I’m also excited to make another batch of cilantro pesto. My daughter cheered for more kale chips, which I made yesterday. I don’t expect them to last past tonight’s dinner.

I made saag “paneer” with the turnip greens and collards. It’s amazing how such a big bowl of greens can cook down to such a small amount of puree. I had to add two bunches of fresh spinach from the store to feed four adults. I also substituted extra firm tofu for paneer to make it healthier. The dish got a thumbs up from my mother-in-law, who is from India. Yay!

The napa cabbage found its way into Heidi Swanson’s Japanese pizza recipe with a few modifications. I skipped the leeks and added some shredded carrots and chopped green onions. It was so good I ate my portion straight from the pan – never even added the garnish.

My favorite salad right now: salad greens tossed with balsamic vinaigrette, chopped tomato and strawberries, hard boiled egg whites, crumbled feta cheese and a sprinkle of sunflower seeds.

This is starting to sound like a food blog! Don’t worry, I’ve got some knitting that’s almost ready to share. Pics to come soon!

week two: broccoli, green garlic, radishes, salad turnips, lettuce mix, cilantro
week three: broccoli, salad turnips, purple top turnips, head lettuce, collards, green onions

I need to do a little bit of catch up on my CSA notes. Even though I planned out how to use my veggies the first week, I wound up throwing things together at the last minute in the evenings.

• Instead of the kale salad, I made kale chips. They are one of my daughter’s favorite and she practically ate the whole batch in one sitting.
• I was in the mood for Indian food, so I added the radish greens to my Channa Masala for Dummies recipe. Yum!
• I roasted one batch of radishes in the oven at 350 degrees. I usually roast veggies at 500 degrees, but I was afraid the radishes would cook too fast. Instead, they didn’t get that brown crispy outside my family loves. They were good, but not great.
• I pan sauteed the second batch of radishes with chopped turnips, broccoli stems and onions. I let them get nice and caramelized, then added the turnip greens until wilted. Yum!
• That big bowl of cilantro pictured above lasted a long time. I added chopped leaves to all kinds of dishes, but used most of it to make cilantro pesto.
• After the second week, I bought a salad spinner and it’s made life so much easier!
• I’m still buying a few organic staples from the store each week: lemons, tomatoes, avocados and strawberries.

My favorite sandwich right now: fried egg over medium with tomato and avocado slices on multigrain toast.

My big plan for this week is to make saag with the turnip greens and collards. I’ve done a little research and even though most recipes use a mix of spinach and mustard greens, saag is technically any type of green. Crossing my fingers on this one!

I have a confession to make. I’m giving up on growing summer veggies. I feel kind of bad about it, but I wasn’t having very good luck. I really want to enjoy locally grown, organic veggies during the summer; I would just rather someone else grow them for me.

So I decided to buy a small CSA share from Community CROPS. I opted in for the fresh eggs, too. This week we got kale, mixed greens, salad greens, mint, green onions and radishes. I think I’m going to have to invest in a salad spinner!

I’m going to try and keep track of what we get and what I make. Here’s what I’ve got planned:

• roast the radishes and toss with a mint/yogurt sauce. Idea via NYT.
• make kale salad from Super Natural Every Day
• substitute radish greens for dandelion greens in the chickpea salad
  from Super Natural Every Day
• use the onions in stir fry
• eat lots and lots of salad!

My favorite salad right now: toss mixed and salad greens with raspberry vinaigrette, chopped tomato and avocado, crumbled goat cheese and a sprinkle of sunflower seeds.

What are some of your favorite recipes using fresh greens?

resource: Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Every Day is my favorite summer cookbook. You can find my previous posts about her book here and here. She has a recipe sampler available here. You can find the above recipes in her book when you “search inside” on amazon.com.