CSA - Week 3

I've been keeping up, and some, with our CSA box program.

Here what we got for Week Three:

Potatoes (Nicola)

Beets

Baby onions

Spinach 
Lettuce

Black kale

Garlic

Cucumbers
Kohlrabi

Italian parsley

Zucchini








This box seemed somehow smaller than the last, but maybe it's because I'm eating more vegetables? I am relying more and more on simple sautéeing, rather than finding an elaborate recipe in which to highlight the vegetables. I haven't grown bored yet, but will probably mix it up this next week. I do so loathe a routine...


Here's what I did:


Potatoes - I cut them up into bite-sized pieces and parboiled them with some chicken broth and chopped parsley. When they were nearly tender, I drained them and sautéed them in olive oil and garlic until a little golden crust built-up. I tossed in some more parsley and a few of the onion greens, and salt and pepper. 





As I was eating them, the taste brought me back to... somewhere. Later, I realized I ate these many times in Germany. Sure enough, I looked up parsley potatoes (Petersilienkartoffeln), and it was almost exactly what I did. The latent Kuchenmädchen surfaces. I'll have to make Marillenknödel next.


Beets - In truth, I was hesitant to eat these.

They sure are purty...

Beet greens

I have never liked beets, even though so many people seem to enjoy them. Ryan is also not a fan of them. I wanted to use both the beet greens and the roots, so I made this Roasted Beets and Sautéed Beet Greens recipe.

The cheese pizza was delicious too. I do have a toddler and preschooler you know...

I was pleasantly surprised. The overwhelming earthy flavor of the beets had been tempered by the roasting and a hidden sweetness came out. Ryan, Anika, Kaden and I, all of us, loved them. Anika has been asking for them for the last two nights, and I almost caved and bought some more yesterday at the store, but felt I should wait to see what our fourth box brings.

Baby onions - I tried my hand at roasting them again. This time, I cooked them a little longer to see if I could get more of the yummy caramelization. Instead, they just burnt.



They were still good, but I need to use a non-stick pan to get better caramelization. And I don't want to use non-stick in the oven, so I probably won't make this recipe again.

Spinach and Lettuce - Half of the spinach bunch was wilted and eaten with garlic. The other half was added to the lettuce for salad. We only got one head of lettuce this week, so I had to buy another head at the store to maintain our salad eating schedule.

Black Kale - My favorite kale thus far. I removed the thick stalks, chopped it up, wilted it, and added it to a quick egg scramble in the morning. I also added onion greens, garlic, and goat cheese. I loved it.

Garlic - I added the entire head to the cilantro lime pesto I made last week.

Cucumbers/Kohlrabi - These were eaten raw, with a little salt. I did up grate a little of the Kohlrabi and added it to some salad. I really really really really really like Kohlrabi. When I was growing up, my mom would make soups and add kohlrabi to it. I remember swiping slices off the cutting board because I liked them so much. I had to buy more cucumbers this week for Anika, too. Gotta keep up with demand!

Parsley - added to the potatoes above.

Zucchini - Sliced and sautéed with olive oil, salt, and pepper. 

Week three is a success - no leftovers. I am experimenting more with creating my own recipes, which is really pushing my culinary envelope. I am usually a recipe follower.


P.S. Did you know beets turn some people's pee pink? 

Kaden: Two Years Old. Coming Soon!

Guess what I've been doing this week... Preparing for this little guy's celebration! And having so much fun doing it.

CSA - Week 2

So... I've been eating my veggies. Which is to say, a lot. Almost every meal has vegetables in it. Besides salad, I feel like I'm eating the entire CSA box myself most days. I'm okay with this. 


Four big things happened this week:

1. I tried Fava Beans for the first time.

2. I tried Swiss Chard for the first time.

3. I tried Garlic Scapes for the first time.

4. I tried Dandelion Greens for the first time.

5. I found my first slug inside my lettuce. Even though I'm certain he was free-range, organic fed and not genetically modified, I did not eat him.

Here's what was in the box:





Beautiful, no? And look! Strawberries! All this cost me ~$20, which I think is a great price for all these organic veggies. Included was:


Fingerling potatoes
Carrots, Cucumbers, Lettuce
Baby onions
Chard
Fennel 
Dandelion Greens
Garlic Scapes
Cilantro
Fava Beans
Strawberries


Here's what I did with them all:


Fingerling Potatoes - I boiled them whole, unpeeled, in heavily salted water (1 lb. of kosher salt) until they were tender. The amount of salt seemed ridiculous to me, but once the potatoes were done, they were perfectly salted, with a tender skin that softly burst when I bit through it.

You can see the residue of evaporated salt on the pan rim.

I ate quite of few of them right from the pan, but then decided to roughly mash a few of them. I added some of the baby onion tops, a little butter and pepper. They were delicious, because of course they were.

Carrots, Lettuce, Cucumbers - We just ate them raw. These were my go to midday snacks, while they lasted! I think Anika ate most of the cucumbers herself.

Baby Onions - I tossed these with olive oil, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar and then roasted them at 400 degrees, for about 30 minutes. They could have stayed in for a bit longer, but were very good nonetheless. The balsamic vinegar thickened and caramelized on the onions. 

Chard - I was really excited to try this. It was so beautiful just to look at, bright magenta stalks that veined into the dark green leaves above. They sure looked delicious.

The recipe I made was this Chard, Onion and Gruyère Panade from Food.com.

I wish that I had liked this dish, especially because it took quite a bit of time to prepare and make. What I wanted it to taste like was french onion soup, all rich mouth feel with that bite of Swiss. But it just wasn't tasty. The husband agreed. Alas.

Dandelion Greens - I wilted them in a pan with some olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. The next time I make these, I'll be sure and completely remove the tough stalks. The greens turned out tender when flash cooked, but the stalks remained chewy and hard to eat.

Garlic Scapes - I made this Garlic Scape Pesto from Mike Kostyo's blog. I had almost everything on hand to make it, and it came together fast. Pesto has such a high taste payoff for little effort. I used pine nuts rather than pumpkin seeds.

Cheese tortellini with the pesto. I added some of the roasted baby onions too.

Cilantro - I made a pesto with this as well. A Cilantro Lime Pesto! We ate it with chicken in burritos. And by we, I mean me, because no one in my house likes cilantro, yet. So this is what happened to most of it:

This will be great later this year. I'm sure I'll be freezing many other sauces this summer!


Fava Beans - I was hesitant to try these. But I'll try anything once. They looked harmless enough...





I opened them up, and was surprised to find it filled with a fuzzy white fur. I thought maybe it was a bad pod, but they were all filled with the fuzz, the big beans cradled within it.

The luckiest of beans. It looks pretty cozy in there!

Fava beans, de-podded.

After taking the beans out of the pod, I then had to boil them for a few minutes, until the outer shell cracked off. Then I popped the inner bean out. It was a lot of work, for just a few beans. But they were really good. I ate them just as is, with a little salt, kind of like edamame.

Fennel - I sliced the bulb thinly and sauteed them with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. I am quickly realizing pretty much any vegetable tastes good with garlic, olive oil (or butter), salt and pepper. This is becoming my go to way to cook stuff.





As for the strawberries, we ate them, tops and all, one by one, while lounging on the couch that first night.

Here are a few photos from last week's box. This is the Quinoa and Kale Quiche I made last week. 

These are the Colorado Red Potatoes. I roasted them and they were flippin' awesome. Cooking them cut side down, mixed with the olive oil, salt, and pepper, made a golden brown crunchy crust. 

I chopped them up and made a scramble the next day. 

I'm really enjoying the CSA boxes. Let's see how long I can keep this up. :)

Rainbow Crayons!

I've been wanting to make some rainbow crayons for a while now. I'd been tossing all our crayon odds and ends into a battered diaper wipe box, saving them for something stupendously amazingly wonderful. Recently, I saw a fun crayon craft on The Pinterest, and it reminded me: Hey, time to make some rainbow crayons! It was really easy, and the payoff was huge - the perfect craft activity for young kids.

I gathered the troops, the tidbit box, and put them to work peeling the paper off the crayons. They liked very much the process of peeling and color sorting.

Colors all sorted and ready to be melted!

What you'll need:
Crayon remnants, depapered and color quarantined.
Clean aluminum can(s). A few instructions I read said to have one can for every color you were melting. I used two. One for red and orange. And then a clean one for yellow, to which I added, green, blue, and purple. This worked well. None of the colors muddled together.
A wooden skewer for stirring.
Some kind of vessel to pour your melted wax into. At Goodwill, I found some plastic ice cube trays with long, skinny spots. I used these trays, but you could also use a mini muffin pan, or even a small load pan of some kind, and just cut the wax into slices once it hardens. One of my friend's passed along a silicone ice cube tray that will work great for next time too.

Boil water in a pan, and then lower to a simmer. You only need a few inches of water, otherwise your can will careen into the water. Drop the wax into the can, and place the can in the boiling water. In just a few minutes, the wax will melt into a smooth, saturated liquid. Stir it up well with your wooden skewer.

I tried to get a clear photo of this, but the air was so blazing hot over the pan, I didn't linger.

Next, carefully pour your wax into your container.

The wax takes just a few minutes to dry between colors. But look what pops out? RAINBOWS!

Anika was delighted to see the efforts of all her work. She started coloring right away.

I did make Anika a chore chart this week too. I'd been trying to figure out how to handle chores. In a way, I am against giving an allowance, because there are certain activities that just simply need to be done to run a household. But I understand very well how motivating a potential reward can be. We decided on a chore chart in which Anika works toward more of an experience, rather than money - like going to the library, seeing a movie, or picking a day for a picnic. So far, this plan is working. See willing couch vacuumers below.

A few photos from our quiet week:

Anika drawing

Apple tree

Man climbing rope

Teddy bear/Lady bug

Play structure 

Anika playing teacher. She pulled everyone over to "group", as she does in preschool. Notwithstanding the beer, this is a fair to accurate representation.

Kaden riding in style. He just came over to back of the Big Wheels and hopped in! Anika lovingly obliged with ten circles around the driveway.

I am excited about what's coming: summer camp, swim lessons, nature playschool, my regular walks with Kaden - all starting Monday! We've been laying low this week, enjoying the lull before all these summer activities begin. Making CSA meals, taking walks, lingering around the house in pajamas, much too much internet and TV, hours withering away... I always get into a funk without some kind of schedule. So, welcome summer! I've been waiting for you.

Songs I'm Loving Right Now

Just sharing a few of the songs that I'm enjoying. Not all of these are recent, but they are new to me!

1. Bavarian #1 (Say You Will) - Miike Snow
Miike Snow is so unique to me. A little electronic, a little pop, a little marching band... All awesome.

Werewolf - Fiona Apple
Piano? Check. Female? Check. Emo confessional? Check. Of course, I'm down with this.

How Do You Like Me Now? - The Heavy
It's isn't possible to listen to this song, and not immediately become overwhelmed by your own rhythm and swagger. Funk guitar riffs, horns section, unabashedly bad ass lyrics... you see where I'm going.

Lost - KT Tunstall
Just a sweet song. I love her voice. The whole Tiger Suit album is lovely.

Three More Days - Ray LaMontague
To quote the most overused words in Shades of Grey: Oh, oh my. His raspy, soulful voice just gets me. Love this lush, inviting song. Bring it on home!

Trespassers William - My Hands Up
Soft, strumming guitar. Open, lulling voice. Slight ambient tones underneath. Sedative for my ears.

Call Me Maybe, almost made the list.
Almost.

Community Supported Agriculture - Week 1

Ryan and I had discussed for many years the idea of getting a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box for the summer. In the last few years, we've grown fond of Gathering Together Farm, an organic farm just outside Philomath, on the road to the coast. We discovered it after a few of our friends invited us to one of the farm's wine dinners. At these dinners, local wines are paired with a multi-course, rustic-gourmet meal. If you're lucky, you are seated outside on the open air porch, surrounded by mismatched, rough hewn tables and chairs (and heaters if it's chilly!). Every bit of the evening was delectable and enchanting. I've been back to the restaurant a few times since, and its magic hasn't waned.

We decided this year we'd get a CSA box from Gathering Together. Each week from mid-June to Early November, we receive a box filled with fresh vegetables (and a few fruits). I am going to chronicle the contents we receive each week and what I do with them. So, let's get to it!

Our boxes are scheduled for a Tuesday pick up. However, I thought our day was Thursday. Thusly, I didn't actually get our box until Thursday, when I had to go to the farm to get it. Lucky for us, the stand sells delicious fresh cinnamon donuts, and I needed to buy some onions regardless. A trip out to the farm is never for naught. While the kids munched on their goodies, I transferred the produce from the farm's tote to my canvas bags, and we headed for home with big culinary ideas simmering.

Box #1:

Colorado Rose Potatoes

Carrots

Baby Walla Onions

Red Mustard Greens

Red Kale

Fresh Garlic

Lettuce (two huge heads)

Cucumbers

Thyme

Along with the produce, a newsletter is included to offer ideas as to how to eat your bounty, which is a fantastic and helpful addendum. Here's what I did with my goodies:

Potatoes - These are still in my fridge, waiting...

Carrots - Gone.  Honestly, they tasted so good raw, that that's just how we ate most of them. They were crunchy and sweet. 

Baby Walla Onions - Gone. Half were used in the Sauteéd Mustard Greens. The other half were caramelized along with the onions in the  Quinoa and Kale Crustless Quiche.

Red Mustard Greens - Gone. See Sauteéd Mustard Greens.

Red Kale - Gone. Added to Quinoa and Kale Crustless Quiche.

Fresh Garlic - Gone. Sauteéd and added to Quinoa and Kale Crustless Quiche.

Lettuce - Gone. A few leaves were hamburger fixings, but the rest were munched on as salad. I ate mine with the Carrot-Ginger Dressing. We ate a lot of salad this week. Which was fine. I had the last of it yesterday as a surprisingly spot-hitting late night snack.

Cucumbers - Gone immediately. Devoured by my daughter. Raw and salted.

Thyme - Dried and stored for future seasoning opportunities.

RECIPES:

Carrot-Ginger Dressing (from GOOP newsletter)

1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

1 large shallot, peeled and roughly chopped (I used a small one)

2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh ginger (I peeled it too)

1 tablespoon sweet white miso

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon roasted sesame seed oil

1/4 cup grapeseed oil

2 tablespoons water

Pulse the carrot, shallot and ginger in a blender until finely chopped. Scrape down the sides, add the miso, vinegar and sesame seed oil and whiz together. While the blender is going, slowly drizzle in the grapeseed oil and the water.

Sautéed Mustard Greens

1/2 c. thinly sliced onions (1/2 bunch baby wallas)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 bunch mustard greens

2-3 Tbsp. chicken or vegetable broth 

salt/pepper to taste

Dash of sesame oil

In a large sauté pan, cook the onions in olive oil over medium heat until they start to caramelize, or about 5-10 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook a minute more. Add the mustard greens and broth and cook until the greens are just barely wilted. Toss with sesame and season to taste with salt and pepper. You can top this with toasted sesame seed, or try adding tamari.

I even got my four-year-old to eat some of this - and she liked it!

Quinoa and Kale Crustless Quiche from Food52
1/2 cup Quinoa
1 cup water
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 bunch Kale, stems removed and cut into ribbons
1 Vidalia Onion, thinly sliced (I used 3 large sweet yellows, because I flippin' love caramelized onions)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup white cheddar cheese (I used regular Tillamook cheddar)
3 ounces cream cheese, cubed (I used goat cheese)
4 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare a 9" pie dish (either butter the dish thoroughly or spray with baking spray). Rinse the quinoa. Combine the quinoa and water in a pan. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat and then reduce to a simmer. This will take about twenty minutes. Set aside.


Meanwhile, start to caramelize the onions. Heat the olive oil in a large saute on medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the onions. Slowly cook until the onions are soft and browned.
Remove the onions from the pan, and place them in a large mixing bowl. Add the kale into the hot onion pan. On medium heat, cook until the kale is wilted and bright green, about two minutes.
Allow the greens to cool. Squeeze out any extra liquid using a sieve or a clean dish towel.



Add the kale, quinoa, garlic, cream cheese and cheddar to the mixing bowl. Stir the ingredients so that they are evenly distributed.


In a small bowl, whisk the eggs so that they are well combined. Pour over the quinoa/kale mixture. Stir until the egg clings to the greens. Add salt and pepper.

Pour the mixture in the prepared pie dish. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is golden and the pie has started to pull away from the edge of the baking dish. This dish is delightful hot, but even better at room temperature.

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Overall, I was very pleased with the quality of the produce in the box, and the amount we received. It was just enough. Anymore and I couldn't keep up with meal assembly line. As it stands, we are eating fresh, local vegetables at almost every meal. Having the limitations of vegetable selection, and knowing we need to eat everything up makes it very easy to know what to eat for dinner. And having the recipe inspiration is so helpful. I'll try and add some photos next week of what I make. We pick up our second box today and I'm looking forward to finding out what were are eating tonight!