CSA week 6

We had our first set of summer vegetables today. I made quick use of them. We did not get any fruit, but that will change as the stone fruit comes into season. Today we all got basil, lettuce mix, scallions, garlic, and cabbage. I chose carrots over beets and zucchini over fava beans (I know weird for me).

What I made: The kids ate all the carrots on the ride home; zucchini, garlic, and basil in pasta with onions; salad with basil and scallions; pickled daikon with garlic and scallions. I am saving the cabbage to make coleslaw for our camping trip next week.

Sauteed greens

This is one of the simplest recipes ever (other than toast). Just take a bunch of greens and cook them for a quick, healthy side. We use beet greens, turnip greens, kale, chard, basically anything green. If your greens are bitter you will need lemon juice or zest to balance. How to tell, just taste it raw, if it tastes slightly bitter you need lemon, if it just tastes raw you don't.

Always start with your thickest/waxiest greens and work your way down the line adding them until you get to the thinnest depending on how many different types you are using. I tend to leave the stems on for crunch, but some people like to remove them. Also if you have some herbs languishing in your crisper, you can throw those in too. With this recipe I don't salt until the very end, greens shrink considerably and what looks like light salt in the beginning is over-salted in the end, so I wait.

turnip greens and spinach

rough chop the turnip greens (or whatever you are using)

saute in oil until wilted (add lemon juice if bitter)

then add your spinach (thinnest)

stir it in and cook until spinach is also wilted, add salt to taste

serve alongside something equally healthy or something unhealthy like we do

Enjoy!

CSA week 5

We got a lot of stuff today. It was pretty fun, since we had been at the pool late and there was a ready made snack for each of the kids to eat on the way home. Everyone got garlic, fava beans, sugar snap peas, and kale. I picked beets over carrots as the quick pickled beets were a hit last week, and spicy salad mix over chard. There were also two bags of cherries for our fruit share.

What I made: Cherries and peas were dinner on the way home, quick pickled beets again, creamy greens with kale and spicy salad mix, fava beans with mint, and fresh garlic in lots of things.

Mapo tofu

My kids love tofu, I mean love, love, love tofu. I hadn't ever made mapo tofu as it is traditionally prepared with ground beef and yet somehow it is always hiding on the vegetarian menu in chinese restaurants for those not aware of the preparation. Then one day after reading my favorite serious eats writer J. Kenji Alt-Lopez's recipe for mapo tofu, I realized, I make tacos, spaghetti, sloaf, sloppy joes, S.O.S., all with yves meatless ground, why not mapo tofu. I haven't looked back since. This is now a family favorite.

This time I did not have my usual two packages of meatless ground, so I subbed a package of tempeh. It was still good, but it is best with just meatless ground, so I will try to remember to always have two packages. One day I will actually make my own mapo sauce, but for now the House Foods packages are yum, yum, yummy.

tofu, fake meat, onions, celery, carrots, oil, and mapo tofu sauce (tempeh if desired)

drain your tofu (firm organic)

julienne your carrots, mince your celery, chop your onions

saute onions and celery in oil until softened

if you need to use tempeh fry it separately first

stir smeat into onions and celery and cook until browned adding more oil if needed

add carrots

then add sauce and simmer (with the kids we use two mild, one hot, feel free to go all hot)

cube your drained tofu

slowly fold it into simmering sauce (add tempeh also if using)

let simmer until tofu is just warmed through, it should act as a cool balance to the spicy sauce

serve with rice and chili paste

Go tofu!

CSA week 4

Now we are seeing some color and fruit! This week we picked beets over carrots, collards over kale or chard, and haruki turnips over radishes. Everyone got sugar snap peas, garlic, and arugula. We also got a bag of bing cherries, our first fruit of the season.

What I made: Sugar snap peas in bellies on the ride home, cherries in bellies at the playground, quick pickled beets, arugula salad with avocado and mango, turnips in bellies, southern cooked collards, and fresh garlic in lots of things

Green tea cookies

Of the three desserts I made for our block party last month, these were hands down, the favorite. Nary a cookies was left after the first hour and I saw a few adults sneaking 2-3 cookies each. They are a simple butter sable with green tea powder added and it is like green tea ice cream in a cookie format. As usual my recipe is straight from Food and Wine.

flour, sugar, butter, salt, soda, and matcha

cream your butter

then add your sugar and blend

add in green tea powder (it is very powdery so be aware)

then blend in salt, soda, and flour

wrap in a ball and refrigerate until chilled

roll out dough on floured surface

cut into fun shapes

and bake until the edges just start to brown

eat with friends

Delicious!

CSA week 3

This week we are still in the greens of spring. Everything is green. Everyone got sugar snap peas, scapes, kale, spinach, and baby lettuce. I picked sorrel over mint, parsley, or cilantro. We even got an extra bag of spinach as they have so much.

 

What I made: Sugar snap peas in bellies on the drive home, vegan saag paneer with all my spinach, scapes, and tofu; baby lettuce and sorrel salads; kale salad;  and scape/arugula pesto.

Carmelitas

For our recent block party odd numbers got to bring dessert and even had to bring a main/side. I am happy we live in an odd numbered house. I made three different desserts. My husband doesn't eat sugar and we try to keep the kids sugar free at home, so I went a little nutty when I got to make something sweet and couldn't pick just one recipe to make.

This one was the second favorite. It is a recipe out of food and wine and after making the recipe and tasting the bars I would change the way it was made drastically. It feels like one of the recipes where they take a banquet size recipe and reduce it to family portions but the actual end result didn't come out just right. For example the bottom was really hard, so next time I won't cook it first. The dulce de leche and chocolate layer did not cover enough especially on the top layer. I would definitely use more of each next time. Either way though, they all were eaten happily.

such a product placement shot, I am not even going to say what they are

mix your salt,, flour, and baking soda

stir in your oats and sugar

then cut in your butter

crush your pecans and stir flour into the dulce de leche

start with a layer of oat mix (pre-baked here, but next time I won't)

then add half of chocolate chips, pecans, and dulce de leche (note I'm doubling these next time)

then top with rest of the oat mix and the rest of the chocolate chips, pecans, and dulce de leche

bake thirty minutes, cool, cut and serve

Apparently a ladybird favorite.

CSA week 2

Yah spring! This week we all got haruki turnips, pea shoots, scapes, and then bok choi or broccoli rabe, spinach or kale, arugula or lettuce. I picked broccoli rabe since we did bok choi last week, spinach to cook with the scapes (a family favorite), and arugula for salads.

What I made: pea shoots right into bellies, spinach sauteed with scapes, sauted broccoli rabe, and arugula salads