CSA Week 12

pretty colors this week! Rainbow chard, white beans, melon, white eggplant, red onions, hot peppers, heirloom tomatoes, zucchini, bell pepper, and eggs.

CSA Week 11: Grits with vegetable salsa & kale

Grits with spicy tomato-vegetable sauce and sauteed kale. I made the grits with butter, ricotta, and a little bit of sharp goat cheese that I got in Vermont. The sauce is a spicy marinara mixed with sauteed yellow squash, corn, and onions.

CSA Week 10: Salad with green goddess dressing

Spinach salad with green goddess dressing made from parsley, cilantro, basil, olive oil, lemon juice, sour cream, salt & pepper.

CSA Week 10: Chili & cornbread

Vegetarian chili and brown butter cornbread, made using this recipe and this recipe. I used 6 guajillo and pasilla peppers plus all of the liquid from a can of chipotle in adobo, and it still came out pretty mild. If you like your chili spicy, I would just dump int the whole can of chipotles, or add some hot sauce at the end. I also cooked the beans in vegetable broth, added some lentils to create a finer texture, and included a bell pepper and some honey in the mix. You could kick up the flavor with some dark chocolate or coffee mixed in at the end.

soaking black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, and lentils.

toasted, de-seeded, and shredded guajillo and pasilla peppers.

CSA Week 10: Eggplant pesto bake

Baked eggplant with pesto, ricotta, marinara, and mozzarella, served with some spaghetti and basil. 

CSA Week 10: Pita, bhaba ganoush, tomato salad

Homemade pita, bhaba ganoush, and a salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, chickpeas, red onions, lemon, and olive oil. I made the pita using this recipe, which involves mixing the dough the night before, refrigerating overnight, punching down for the first few hours (not strictly necessary if you want to do it right before bed), and then rolling it out and baking the next day. Tip - try to keep the dough as wet as possible while working with it, while making sure you still knead it long enough to get it smooth and elastic. Then, when you bake it, spray or sprinkle a little bit of water on the  baking stone before shutting the door - the steam encourages rising. Wrap the pitas in slightly damp paper towels or dishcloths until they cool to keep them soft. You don't really need to re-moisten and roll the dough if it doesn't puff up all the way - they will still split down the middle once they're cool.

CSA Week 10

Eggs, stripey bell pepper, watermelon, eggplant, parsley, hot peppers, corn, onions, tomatoes, and SUPER DELICIOUS FAVORITE SUNGOLD TOMATOES. we used to grow sungolds at the farm I volunteered at upstate, and  they are sweet like candy!

CSA Week 9: Breakfasts

No photos cause of camera dysfunction, but two good breakfasts this week: repeat southwest scrambed eggs with black beans, onions, peppers, salsa, and avocado; and spicy homefries with green pepper and onions. plus a lot of tasty peaches and watermelon!

CSA Week 9: More tacos

Tacos with black beans, potatoes, green pepper, onions, corn, homemade salsa, avocado, and pickled cabbage.

CSA Week 9: Minestrone

Damn good minestrone with croutons and pesto! I've tried to make this a few times before but it never turned out so well - the texture was off and the flavor wasn't complex. I think what made the difference here was the deliberate sequence of adding different veggies, the celery, which I usually omit, the parmesan rind in the broth, and the long, slow simmer. I followed this recipe with the following changes:
- added a clove of garlic, lots of black pepper, and red pepper flakes during the sautee phase
- used TWO old parmesan rinds just cuz I had 'em
- garbanzo beans instead of cannelini
- stirred in some shredded basil at the end
- topped with a big spoonful of lemony pesto!

apologies for the shitty webcam picture. camera is under repair.

CSA Week 9: Potatoes & Carrots

Garlic & spinach mashed potatoes and roasted carrots with horseradish yogurt. No picture for this one, but very  delicious!

CSA Week 8

Watermelon, basil, onions, cucumbers, peaches, hot peppers, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, green peppers, and eggplant. My eggs got smashed by the watermelon on the ride home :(

CSA week 8: Bahn Mi

Tofu bahn mi with sriracha-mayo, thinly sliced cucumber, grated carrot, pickled cabbage, and coriander. I prepped  the tofu by pressing it and then roasting it in a mixture of ginger, garlic, lime, soy sauce, brown sugar, and sesame oil. Why do I ever eat anything other than bahn mi?

CSA Week 8: Spicy stuffed peppers

Originally I planned to use all of my CSA tomatoes, jalapenos, corn, zucchini, and peppers to make some enchiladas, but I was  too lazy to leave the house to buy more tortillas, so I came up with these black bean, veggie, and masa-stuffed peppers with salsa roja instead. I'm glad I did! Enchiladas are always more appealing to me in  concept than reality - I hope for something warm and gooey, and then get hung up on the dry and crumbly texture of the tortillas. Italian-style stuffed peppers (just rice, cheese, peppers, and marinara) were a comfort food when I was a kid, so this more complex version with grits and veggies really hit the cozy spot. The salsa roja is just tomatoes, jalapenos, garlic cloves, and onions roasted up, pureed, and cooked down to a thick sauce with a little bit of salt, sugar, pepper, and ancho chili powder. Next I sauteed some zucchini, onion, and corn with salt and lime juice and then mixed it some black beans. The last component is the grits, made simply by boiling cornmeal until soft and then stirring in some milk, butter, grated cheddar, and salt and pepper. To assemble, I cut two green peppers in half, filled them with grits and veggies, and then snuggled them up in a baking dish surrounded by the salsa roja. I covered them up with tin foil and then baked it at 400 for about a half hour. Once everything was soft I took off  the foil and melted some extra grated cheddar on top.

Interlude: Bienenstichkuche

I made this Bienenstichkuche for the first time for a potluck earlier in the summer, and it was absolutely delicious! I love the name, the creamy-crunchy texture, and the honey-lemon flavor (which I amped up with lots of extra almond extract). Yesterday I made a gluten- and dairy-free variation for my friend's birthday party using this cake as the layers and replacing the milk in the pastry cream with coconut milk. I baked the cake in two layers because crumbly polenta-based cake is very hard to cut smoothly, and put the almond topping on the thinner upper layer.