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[Posted by Ruth]
Lately, we've been bombarded with cucumbers in our farm share. I love fresh cucumbers but am not a huge fan of pickles. I just picked up a new share today and realized that I still had several cucumbers lurking in the lower depths of the fridge. What do to?
Our younger son, Banning, is really into juicing these days and last time he was home he brought my husband a juicer. I figured I'd give it a shot. Worst case, it would be awful but at least I could say "I tried" while tossing out the failed attempt at potability.
Instead, I got something I really liked. It's quick and refreshing and I'm thinking I may just have to try it again later with a splash of Hendricks Gin and a little seltzer.
As an added bonus...it's a beautiful shade of green.
Cucumber Mint Juice with Lime
Makes about 1 quart
If you don't have a juicer, you can blend and then strain the juice.
5 to 7 cucumbers
Approx 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
Juice of 2 limes
Run unpeeled cucumbers and mint leaves through the juicer. When finished, add the lime juice and chill.
[Posted by Ruth]
Here's what we have for Week 2.
One of my favorite food blogs, The Bitten Word, had a great suggestion last year to help manage the weekly onslaught of produce from a CSA. Use a simple white board to keep track of what you get in each week, and what is leftover from the previous week. This has been a big help in keeping on top of what we've used and what is waiting to be used. I put a second one on the door of my downstairs freezer, to help me keep track of what's in there as well. Maybe it's just me, but I find it really satisfying to erase each item as we finish it. It feels like a tiny victory. (Yes, I know, I should probably get a life.)
Facing the board the last night of week one, I realized I still had a lot leftover. We'd made our way through the salad greens, but still had kale, 1/2 the Asian mix, 1/2 the dandelion greens, one bok choy and some chard. Time for a clean out the fridge meal.
The reality of trying to use everything in a CSA farm share is that you're often faced with a hodgepodge of produce and no set plan. Where are you going to find a recipe for a few partial bags of this and that and a bit of wilted something else? Sometimes, you just have to pull it all out, chop it up, get in in a pot and hope for the best. So, rather than provide a set recipe, I thought I'd let this post reflect the way I really cook many nights; which is more ingredient, seat of the pants based, rather than following a set recipe. The key here is to channel your inner Julia Child, serve it with confidence and, as she would say, "Never explain, never apologize!"
Along with all those greens, I had a bag of green French lentils, some mushrooms, a hot pepper, some onion and a few leftover cloves of roasted garlic. Time for beans and greens.
Beans and Greens, basic game plan
(Mark Bittman's book "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" has some great suggestions as well)
Coarsely chop a seemingly impossible amount of greens and set aside. I had 8+ cups.
In a heavy bottomed pot, saute onions, peppers, garlic and mushrooms in olive oil.
Add the greens, if you have tons, you may have to do this in stages to allow the volume to go down a bit.
Season to taste - you can keep this as simple as salt and pepper or have it take any direction you like:
Head southwest, with cumin, chile powder, etc. (I did cumin, aleppo pepper and chipotle pepper with a bit of Worcestershire sauce)
Go Asian, with ginger, soy, hoisin sauce and some sesame oil added at the end
Try French: add tarragon, thyme and a bit of lavender and some wine
etc.
Add your beans, the lentils are great because they don't require presoaking, but you can add any presoaked beans you like, or even canned in a pinch.
Add enough water or broth to cook the beans, usually at least double their volume, and cook slowly until beans are tender, checking along the way to see if more liquid is needed. You can taste the broth along the way to adjust the seasoning. It should seem flavorful, not bland.
Serve with rice, pasta, quinoa, etc. and relax. You've cleaned out the fridge... for now!
[Posted by Ruth]
In our boxes this week we got a half bag of Braising Mix. If you're unfamiliar with Braising Mix, also known as Saute Mix, its made of up more mature sections of what is normally found in a baby salad greens mix. It will often consist of shoots from greens that have bolted or gone to seed, a little too rugged to be included in a baby salad mix but still too tender to require as much cooking as a fully mature green.
This makes Braising Mix ideally suited to a quick meal. It is at its best when given a quick saute or when tossed with a hot dressing for a wilted salad.
Preparation:
As you can see in the earlier photo, Braising Mix is often pretty 'stemmy'. Although you could tear the leaves off the stems, this is time consuming and will produce too much waste. The best bet, after a thorough washing and spinning dry, is to take a moment to line them up with the stems pointing in one direction, a few hands full at a time, and chop the stems into approx 1" sections. This will let them add flavor and crunch to your finished dish, without sticking someone with a mouthful of long, chewy stem.
To preserve the fresh taste and vibrant color of this mix, I went with a quick wilted Salad Dressing
Braising Mix with Warm Honey Mustard Dressing
1 large clove garlic. minced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 T prepared mustard
1 T honey
4 tsp apple cider or sherry vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 bag Braising Mix
Prepare Braising Mix as directed above and have it waiting in the bowl you will use to serve it.
Heat oil in a small, heavy pan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and sizzle gently to cook the garlic a bit. Do not brown the garlic. Stir in the honey and mustard until blended in. Stir in the vinegar, salt and pepper, sizzle for just a moment to ensure all it quite hot, but not enough to cook off the vinegar. The mixture will still look somewhat separated. Immediately, toss the hot dressing into the Braising Mix until thoroughly blending and wilted a bit.
Serve the same way you would serve a side salad. We found this went really well with the roasted potatoes we had the same night. The color was terrific.
[Posted by Ruth]
Broccoli Rabe, also known as Rapini, Broccoletti and by several other names, is not actually related to Broccoli at all. While its tops and yellow flowers somewhat resemble broccoli, it is a decedent of a wild herb and more closely related to turnips. A lot of recipes online call for blanching it first in an effort to tame its bitterness, but this seems counterproductive to me. Why not use the bitterness and add flavors that compliment it? Maybe its my age showing, but I'm all about embracing the bitterness these days.
Broccoli Rabe with Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms.
Property caramelizing the onions makes this dish take a while longer but makes a big difference in flavor.
1 bunch Broccoli Rabe, stems and all, coarsely chopped. Trim about 1 inch off the bottoms of the stems
(other than this little bit of trimming, you can use the entire plant, flowers and all)
1 large Vidalia Onion, or similarly sweet onion, halved and very thinly sliced
8 oz Baby Bella Mushrooms, sliced
1 T butter
1 T extra virgin olive oil, plus more to add later if needed
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups grated Romano or Parmesan Cheese
8 oz Pasta, cooked according to directions. Cook the pasta after the onions are caramelized.
Heat the Butter and 1 T of olive oil in a large, heavy pan over medium, low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are caramelized. Turn heat lower if they begin to brown too fast. They will take between 40 and 60 minutes to fully caramelize but it's worth the time. This will add depth and sweetness to the end result. Its not necessary to ever add sugar to caramelize onions, their own sugars will do it naturally.
When they are caramelized, stir in the mushrooms and cook at a slightly higher temperature until they begin to brown and give off their juices. Add the Broccoli Rabe, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and a bit more olive oil, if needed. Cook, stirring, until the Broccoli Rabe has wilted and then cover and cook over low heat for a few minutes until it reaches the consistency you like. Don't overcook. Stir in the cooked pasta with about 1/2 cup of its cooking water and then fold in the cheese. Toss well and serve.
[Posted by Ruth]
Last year, I made a fairly miserable meal out of grilled baby bok choy. It was completely my fault; didn't wash it enough, didn't marinade it enough and didn't grill it long enough. So, aside from being gritty, tasteless and undercooked, it was terrific.
Fast forward to the last two weeks. We got some Baby Bok Choy in each box.
Look at it sitting there, green and cute....mocking me... It was time to face my bok choy fears.
Baby Bok Choy and Shrimp Braised in Coconut Curry Sauce
6 small heads of baby bok choy, cut in half (cut larger ones in quarters)
(note, wash them again after cutting, grit hides down in the recesses of the leaves)
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 lb medium raw shrimp, cleaned
1 can coconut milk (I used light)
2 T red curry paste (or more to taste)
2 T natural peanut butter
2 T brown Sugar
salt, pepper to taste
Heat butter and olive oil in a large, nonstick pan over medium, high heat and lightly brown the baby bok choy on the cut side. Remove bok choy from pan and set aside.
Lower the heat on the pan and stir in the curry paste, peanut butter and brown sugar. Cook, stirring constantly, until all is well incorporated and the mixture begins to get very fragrant. Stir in the can of coconut milk, raise the heat, bring to a slow boil and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes to thicken slightly. Taste sauce and add salt and pepper as needed. Place the bok choy back in the pan, pressing the cut sides down into the sauce and simmer, covered, for about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp, pressing them down into the sauce as well. Simmer, uncovered, until the bok choy is tender and the shrimp is cooked through, about 5 more minutes. Serve with Jasmin Rice.
It was flavorful, cooked enough, not gritty and still a reasonably quick meal to prepare. This round goes to me, Baby Bok Choy.
[Posted by Ruth]
The 3rd installment of our Spring Share brought an interesting twist, Garlic Mustard. I've pulled this flowering weed out of my own herb garden, but never thought to eat it. The taste is mild and reminiscent of garlic, much milder than the Garlic Scapes we're looking forward to later in the season. Garlic Mustard can be used raw in salads, or for pesto, but I decided to cook it with the the Beet Greens we got this week. I sauteed them with bacon and some onion, added black eyed peas and served them over 'Forbidden Rice'.
Forbidden Rice is a small grain black rice, originally from China. It got its name because it was a favorite of the Emperor and, therefore, forbidden to the general public. The rice has a mild, nutty flavor, a firm texture and actually cooks up quite purple, also coloring the cooking liquid purple.
Sauteed Garlic Mustard and Beet Greens over 'Forbidden Rice'
1 bunch Garlic Mustard, leaves and flower buds, coarsely chopped
1 bunch Beet Greens, coarsely chopped
4-6 oz Bacon, cubed
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups cooked black eyed peas
zest of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup, raw, Forbidden Rice, cooked according to package directions or any other rice of your choosing. The Forbidden Rice takes about 30-40 minutes, so start this first.
As always, wash the heck out of the greens and spin them dry.
Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium, high heat and saute the bacon until it is beginning to crisp and the fat has rendered out. Note, if there is more than a few tablespoons of fat in the pan at this point, remove the pan from the heat and soak up the excess fat with a paper towel. You want enough to coat and cook the greens, but no so much that it becomes greasy.
Add the onions to the remaining drippings and bacon and cook over medium heat until the onions soften. Stir in the Garlic Mustard and Beet Greens and cook, stirring, until wilted. Fold in the black eyed peas, lemon zest and salt and pepper to taste and cook until heated through and incorporated, 5-10 minutes over medium low heat.
Serve over the rice. You can pass yogurt or goat cheese to garnish, if desired.
This was another quick and healthy weeknight meal; on the table in under an hour.
[Posted by Ruth]
Our Spring Farm Share from Stone Gardens Farm will now be sending us a box a week. This means I will no longer be found frowning and muttering in the produce section of my local store. Just in time, I think I was starting to scare people. Here's what we got this week:
A large bunch of Dandelion Greens
A bag of Spinach
A bag of baby Kale
A bag of baby Lettuce
Small bunch of Radishes
Large bunch of Scallions
1 dozen Eggs
We added in 1 cut up chicken and were also able to get 4 more packages of their terrific Ground Beef.
I got everything washed and prepped right away. Last year taught me how important it is to do this. We went for the Dandelion Greens first and had them Thursday night.
Lamb and Dandelion Greens
This is a little bit of a cheat since the instructions should read, "First, cook too much lamb for Easter dinner." We used up our leftover lamb with this dish, but you could use any leftover lamb, beef, pork or chicken to add meat to this.
Approx 3 cups cooked lamb (or other meat) cut into small cubes
1/2 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 T olive oil
1 bunch Dandelion Greens, washed, spun dry and coarsely chopped
Zest of 1/2 lemon, finely chopped
1 T Herbs de Provence (if you don't have this a mixture of thyme and tarragon can be substituted)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/3 cup cream
Heat olive oil in a large heavy pan over medium heat, add the onions and garlic and cook slowly until softened and a bit caramelized. Stir in meat and the Herbs de Provence and continue heating until it warms through. Add in the dandelion greens and lemon zest and cook stirring until the greens are wilted. Stir in the cream, salt and pepper and cook over slightly higher heat until the cream thickens. Serve over rice, grains or pasta.
One caution on dandelion greens. Wash them thoroughly by submerging them in several changes of water. Do this until you are sure they are clean and then do it about 2 more times. Just rinsing will not get all the dirt out.
