csa day: summer stuff (and a comfort food recipe)

last week

This is what we've gotten the last two weeks from our CSA. I love that we're getting summer stuff like tomatoes (yay!), squash, basil, and watermelon, but also getting things like carrots, potatoes, and onions. Planning dinners has been a cinch lately because of all the food we've got on hand, and our weekly grocery trips are getting shorter and cheaper. We often look in our cart as we stand in line at the register and ask, is this really all we need? I'm really impressed with the variety and amount of produce we've been getting from the farm this year.

this week

Want to know what we've been making? I've included a menu for the past two weeks since I am behind in my posting.

Menu
Tuesday: Leftover okonomiyaki and tamagoyaki

Wednesday: Homemade pizza with onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach. Crust recipe is here. I also made a whole-wheat version to try.

Thursday/Friday: Thai curry with squash, green beans, and tofu

Saturday: Out to eat at the Sante Fe Grill, our new favorite Mexican restaurant in town

Sunday: Veggie burgers. Corn, tomato, and basil salad with vinaigrette.

Monday: Japanese curry with potatoes, carrots, onions, and tofu

* * *

Tuesday: Out with co-workers (me), fending for himself (K)

Wednesday: Leftover curry

Thursday: Pasta with tomatoes, basil, feta, and fried eggs

Friday: Barbecue tofu, cabbage casserole, sauteed squash

Saturday: Out

Sunday/Monday: Hummus, pitas, feta dip, and lots of fresh vegetables

* * * * * 

I've made the cabbage casserole twice recently for company and both times the guests went back for seconds, which I think says a lot for a cabbage dish. The cabbage flavor gets a layer of depth from roasting in the oven and is complemented by buttery cracker crumbs and sharp cheddar cheese. It's savory comfort food.

I wanted to give you a recipe, but I don't measure anything for this--I just use what we have on hand. Here's what I estimate I used this last time. Feel free to change things up and eyeball amounts.

Cabbage Casserole
(adapted from a dish K's mom makes)

2 small heads of cabbage (equivalent to 1 large)
4 tiny onions (equivalent to 1 medium onion)
1/2 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crushed
2 TBSP butter, melted
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350* and oil a 13" x 9" baking dish.

Chop the cabbage and onions into thin strips. Saute cabbage and onions with a bit of oil over medium-high heat until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Be sure to salt and pepper generously.

While the vegetables cook, mix the melted butter and crushed crackers.

Transfer cabbage and onions to the prepared baking dish. Top with cheddar cheese and cracker crumbs. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Serve immediately and amaze your friends and family with how delicious cabbage can be. This is also great reheated the next day.

csa day: summer vegetables

Squash, zucchini, onions, cucumbers, cabbage, green beans, garlic, fennel

Menu

Tuesday/Wednesday: Skillet nachos with black beans, squash, and zucchini

Thursday: Family cook out

Friday/Saturday: Green curry with tofu, zucchini, and green beans over rice

Sunday/Monday: Okonomiyaki (Japanese cabbage pancake), tamagoyaki (sweet omelet). I planned this meal for a couple of weeks ago, but it never got made.

* * * * * 

Otsu (Soba salad)

Recently I've been cooking from Super Natural Cooking and found this cold soba dish to be the perfect summer meal. Crisp vegetables, tofu, cilantro, and soba are tossed with a tangy Asian-inspired dressing. This meal is even better after chilling overnight in the fridge. We're definitely putting it in our regular dinner rotation. I've also been thinking of how to adapt this for a summer picnic or potluck. I think smaller pasta and tofu cubes instead of strips would make it very picnic friendly. Here's the otsu recipe link if you're interested (and you should be, it's delicious!).

* * * 

What are you eating this week?

Also, does anybody have any suggestions for cooking fennel? I've got three bulbs in my fridge right now. They're starting to taunt me.

csa day: first day of summer

Summer is here! I'm anxiously awaiting some juicy tomatoes, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the cooler weather crops. 

This week we got kale, cabbage, mixed salad greens, radishes, onions, and potatoes.

Menu

Tuesday/Wednesday: Black bean, kale, and onion tacos

Thursday/Friday: Pitas stuffed with hummus, salad greens, radishes, and carrots. Topped with feta dip from Sweet Paul magazine. This meal was slated for last week, but we didn't get around to it.

Saturday/Sunday: Toasted kale with eggs and marinara sauce

Monday: Okonomiyaki

Snack: Kale chips

We've got a lot of kale. So far we've eaten it in soup and pie, toasted it, sauteed it, and baked it. We even put it on our tacos tonight. I know. I was desperate because we suddenly had two giant bunches in the fridge. We did find a new favorite kale dish last week when we made kale and feta pizza. I'd recommend that one. The tacos are only for the really adventurous. If you've got other ideas, let me know. We'd like to try them all while we've got so much kale on hand. Actually, I just want new recipes so that I can trick myself into thinking I'm eating something different instead of kale again. Please send ideas. 

csa day

This week our CSA box came loaded with broccoli, French breakfast radishes (oolala--fancy), carrots, lettuce, kale, and kohlrabi. With the exception of the radishes, we got these same vegetables last week. That's fine--it just means I have to be more creative so it doesn't feel like we're eating the same thing over and over. This is what I've come up with:

Menu

Tuesday/Wednesday: Teriyaki vegetable and tofurky sandwiches

Thursday/Friday: Broccoli Lasagna

Saturday/Sunday: Kale and Feta Pizza

Monday: Hummus, pita bread, whatever raw vegetables we have left

Every day: Salad of lettuce, carrots, radishes, and kohlrabi

Dessert of the week: 25 cent ice cream on Saturday!

* * * 

Scenes from my kitchen last week

Chocolate chip pecan cookies 

I baked three dozen for a get together with friends. Then I froze the extra dough--enough for two dozen more cookies!

Eggs ready to be made into cake

I made a yellow cake with chocolate icing for my sister's graduation party. It didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped, but enough icing will cover nearly all flaws, right? The cake baked up tall and pale yellow. I frosted it with an old-fashioned chocolate buttercream. We cut thick slices that reminded me so much of the bazaar scene in Pollyanna. Every time I watched that movie I wanted to eat that cake, and now I have. Next time I'll have to snap some photos.

* * * 

What's on your menu this week?

csa day: still salad season

This week our Finger Picking Farms CSA box contained (clockwise from top): Summer Crisp lettuce, Oriole Orange Swiss chard, broccoli, purple and white kohlrabi, Winterbor kale, and Danvers Half long carrots.


Menu for the week

Tuesday/Wednesday: Spicy Black Bean burgers on toast topped with caramelized onions and sauteed chard. Salad of lettuce, carrots, broccoli, and kohlrabi with homemade thousand island dressing. I'm making my own burgers because you guys shamed me into it. Last time I posted veggie burgers on our menu I got several requests for the recipe. Yeah, I just took them out of the box in the freezer and heated them. [head in hands] I'll let you know how this homemade version goes.

Thursday/Friday: Stir-fried tofu and vegetables (carrots, onions, broccoli, kohlrabi) over rice. Served with garlic mirin sauce or maybe magic sauce.

Saturday: Dinner out (Julie's graduation party)

Sunday/Monday: Toasted kale with soy crumbles and marinara sauce (credit goes to Jodi for this one), bread

Bread of the Week: Light Wheat

* * * * * 

I am so glad to be back in the kitchen after several semesters away. I've been baking a lot this week, and I'd highly recommend making your own cheddar crackers (via maya*made). They are a delicious and addicting snack.

Last week's dinner winner was homemade bread topped with sauteed chard, a fried egg, and bechamel sauce. We had this instead of chard gratin because I didn't feel like taking the time to bake everything.

For dessert last week we had strawberry sour cream ice cream from The Perfect Scoop. Punch cups full of sweet homemade ice cream are my favorite summer treat. Of course, I think my favoritism might shift once I make these fudge pops.

* * * 

What's going on in your kitchen this week?

csa day: leafy greens

Our CSA box this week included:

Kale, lots of lettuce, chard, radishes, sugar snap peas, and turnips

Tuesday's dinner

Weekly Menu

Sunday: Black bean and rice tacos

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday/Wednesday: Barbecue tofu sandwiches, roasted turnips, salad with radishes and sugar snap peas, lemon garlic soy dressing

Thursday/Friday: Spring Garden Soup and rice. This is a miso soup with lots of greens. It's from How It All Vegan. (No, I'm not going vegan. I've had this book since high school when I saw the authors do a cooking demonstration. I was getting rid of things the other day and found some good recipes in this book, so it gets to stay around a while longer.)

Saturday: Dinner with K's family

Sunday: Chard gratin, homemade bread, fried eggs

Monday: Leftovers

We are shifting our meal planning to coordinate with our CSA delivery, so our weekly menu will start on Tuesdays instead of Sundays. We get our vegetables on Monday nights and have decided to use the produce as a jumping off point for meals. We'll then make a list of groceries needed to round out the meals. This is the first year we've shifted our planning/shopping. I think it's a necessary step to using all of the vegetables we get. 

* * * * * 

The sugar snap peas tasted so sweet that I kept eating them like candy as I made dinner tonight. I wanted to balance that sweetness in the salad with a little tartness, so I threw together a lemon garlic soy dressing. It was snappy enough to balance the peas. 

Lemon Garlic Soy Dressing

(*Please note, these measurements are approximate. I eyeballed with these amounts in mind. Also, this recipe makes just enough dressing for two people. Multiply if you want more.)

2 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP soy sauce

1 TBSP lemon juice (or a bit less. K would prefer less tang. I liked it.)

1 clove of garlic

Blend all ingredients together. I use a Magic Bullet and have dressing in seconds. If you'd prefer an unplugged method, mince the garlic and whisk everything together. 

* * * * * 

Just so I don't give you the wrong idea, we don't eat vegetables all the time. We also make room for sweets. These are sugar cookies I baked to celebrate my sister's college graduation. Festive, huh? She liked the cookies, but our real graduation present to her was helping to move all of her stuff home from school on a hot and humid afternoon. We love you a lot, Jules. 

* * * 

What's going on in your kitchen this week?

csa day: "lettuce" begin

Lettuce sandwich with tofurkey and cheese

Our first CSA day of the year! It felt like Christmas to open our door and find a box of fresh vegetables there waiting for us.

This is the first year that K and I have a CSA subscription to ourselves because the past two years we've split it with my family. I'm a little nervous about being able to use all of the vegetables each week, but I'm taking this as a good challenge to try to eat more veggies and keep my diet more local. I think I'll be cooking/preparing food more, maybe freezing or pickling things, sharing with friends, and hosting family and friends to help us eat this bounty. I'd really like to cut our grocery bill down to the minimum (local eggs and milk, yogurt, flour, etc.) and eat mainly from our CSA. I'll be documenting the process here, so hopefully I can get some help when I run out of ideas for what to do with all the radishes and greens I get.

Our vegetables from Finger Picking Farms

This week we got four kinds of lettuce--Panisse, Green Towers, Bronze Arrowhead, and Jericho. We also got Red Russian Kale, turnips, garlic chives, radishes, and strawberries. The strawberries were so tiny and sweet that K and I ate them as soon as we had the box in the door, so no photos of those.

Olive Bread + Bean and Olive Soup

The menu for this week

Sunday/Monday: White bean and black olive soup from my favorite cookbook, Olive bread from this book (pre-CSA meals)

Tuesday: Dinner out for Dad's birthday (Happy Birthday!)

Wednesday/Thursday: Big salad with lots of lettuce, garlic chives, radishes, eggs, and parmesan. Garlic oregano vinaigrette. Olive bread. White bean dip.

Friday: Kale and Turnip greens tart, adapted from this recipe.

* * * * * 

What are you eating this week? 

Are any of you getting a CSA subscription this year?

  

Simple Sweet Potato Soup

Last week I overheard Harley, one of my coworkers, telling some people about his lunch--sweet potato soup. He started giving the recipe and my ears perked up. I butted in, asking him to tell me, too. He was nice enough to start the recipe from the beginning again. Thanks, Harley.

The recipe is a good one. It's simple, easy to remember, and a cinch to adjust to the quantities you have on hand. That's because Harley didn't give any specific quantities for his recipe. It's a throw everything in the pot and let the magic happen kind of soup. I think you're really going to like it.

Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients:

onion, diced
garlic, minced
ginger, finely chopped
vegetable broth
sweet potatoes, baked or boiled. Cut half into large chunks. 
Mash the other half.
coconut milk
curry powder
a little vegetable oil

Heat the vegetable oil in a soup pot. Add the onions, cook until translucent. Then throw in the garlic and ginger for a minute or two. Pour in the vegetable broth. Add the mashed sweet potatoes and stir until smooth. Put in the rest of the sweet potatoes, coconut milk, and curry powder to taste. Heat until it's warm enough to make you happy. Tastes great on a cold day with homemade bread. Tastes even better if you can get someone else to make it for you (thanks, K!).

* * * * * 

Hope you all have been having a good week! Mine has been busy with school and dreaming up crochet projects. I've got a finished project to share with you soon (hopefully with my very first pattern).

*We ate this soup up before I thought to take a photo of it. Oops.

csa day: red hot heart

This week our CSA vegetables include:

sweet potatoes

bok choy

radishes

sweet peppers

tatsoi

red hot peppers

Weekly Menu:

Navajo Stew from Moosewood Simple Suppers

Vegetable Fajitas

Austrian Garlic Soup

Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread (scroll to page 100)

Brownies

We are doing a great job this week of eating up all those peppers. We used some in the stew and lots in the fajitas. Our CSA subscription with Finger Picking Farms lasts for a few more weeks. I'm hoping to make some sweet potato biscuits before we finish off all of our farm-grown sweet potatoes.

I hope you're eating well this week! Have you come across any good recipes lately?

csa day: three weeks in one post

[this week]

Our CSA subscription is still going on despite my lack of posts about it. K and I still stop by my dad's house once a week to divvy up our box of vegetables. We have been getting lots of peppers (ideas welcome!), radishes, and sweet potatoes. We've also found squash, salad greens, and little pears in our weekly box, too.

[last week]

[two weeks ago]

Menu Highlights:

Moosewood French Onion Soup

Vegetable pot pie adapted from this book

Fall salad: mixed salad greens, baked sweet potatoes, toasted pecans, smoked gouda, roasted squash seeds, sliced pears

Tofu with garlic mirin sauce, sweet potatoes, green beans

Cincinnati-style chili

Jodi's Pumpkin Chip Muffins

Snickerdoodles

* * * 

I hope you've been eating well! If you've got any ideas for using up a lot of peppers, let me know.

csa day: autumn begins

CSA day vegetables from the past two weeks have definitely shown that fall is here. We're getting butternut squash and cold weather greens like chard, though some summer staples like tomatoes and peppers are still hanging on.

Two weeks ago we got: lots of sweet peppers, hot peppers, a variety of squash, chard, and tomatoes.

Last week we got: sweet peppers, a mix of beans, hot peppers, sweet basil and holy (purple) basil, beets, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes.

This year's CSA subscription has felt very different from last year's. Last year we picked up the vegetables at the farmers' market and chatted with one of the guys who worked on the farm. He'd let us know how growing was going and give us tips on how to cook things we weren't familiar with. This year the vegetables are delivered to my dad's front porch in the early morning, so it feels a little like the vegetable fairy has come. Delivery is very convenient for us, but I've missed the interaction with the person who grows our food. 

Recently Nick, the farmer of Finger Picking Farms, emailed some details about how the farming is going. He said that because of the lack of rain and super hot weather, he's gone to overnight watering for the fall crops. The watering has to be rotated fairly often to get to all of the crops, so he's been sleeping in a makeshift bed in the back of his pick-up truck, waking every hour and a half to change the watering over. Knowing all of the work he's put into these vegetables will make them taste even better and will keep me motivated to use them all.

The plan is to freeze a lot of peppers, make a small batch of pesto, and to roast the squash and sweet potatoes. I'm sure we'll find a night to have the green, speckled, and yellow wax beans with dinner, but I don't know what we'll do with the beets yet. With school and work, I don't have the time to whip up beet gnocchi this week. Does anybody have any quick and easy ideas?

* * * * * 

Menu Highlights from the past two weeks:

Indonesian Sweet Potato and Cabbage Soup

Spinach Lasagna

Black Bean Chili (from Lynn's Paradise Cafe)

Breakfast Burritos (Chili leftovers + Eggs + Tortillas)

Peas, Feta, and Fried Egg on Toast (via A Cup of Jo)

Veggie Burgers and Cabbage Casserole (K's mom's recipe)

Yes, I am very behind on sharing our menus, but we've made some really great meals lately that I think you will absolutely love! 

The Sweet Potato and Cabbage soup--Inspired by the Indonesian dish gado-gado, this soup contains sweet potatoes, chopped cabbage, ginger, garlic, onions, and tomatoes in a peanut butter broth, and is excellent when topped with green onions and cilantro. While the name might not sound very appealing at first, let me tell you, once you make this it will quickly become a regular in your meal-making. It's got peanut butter in it after all!  And with so many healthy vegetables, it's great for warding off colds.

The Black Bean Chili--This is a very thick and hearty chili (what a certain TV chef might refer to as a--gag--stoup). The recipe comes from a nationally famous local restaurant that specializes in good food, expensive drinks, and gaudy decor. What I love about this chili is how versatile it is. Not only did we eat it as plain ol' chili, we also used it to make breakfast burritos and as a topping for baked sweet potatoes (my new favorite lunch). The only major change we made is using only half as many beans as the recipe calls for. Believe me, even when halved, it's still plenty of beans.

* * * * * 

What have you been cooking lately? I'm always looking for fast meals and make-ahead dinners.

csa day: melons and squash

Here's what we found in our Finger Picking Farms CSA box last week. Lots of good things: squash, zucchini, melons, basil, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and okra. 

This week our CSA is on break because of all the dry, hot weather we've been having. Hopefully now that it's cooling down the crops will start improving. I know it must be hard on Nick, our CSA farmer, but he has kept us well-supplied with fruits, vegetables, and flowers this year. 

[Julie pretending to throw her bouquet of basil]

This week's menu:

Monday and Tuesday--Egg Noodle Soup

This is my vegetarian riff on chicken noodle soup--I use vegetables, vegetable broth, egg noodles, and eggs. Secret ingredient: Bay leaves. 

Wednesday and Thursday--Vegetable Strata with Homemade Pesto 

This one was inspired by a really delicious strata I ate at The Cafe. I had never tasted a strata, but it wowed me right away. The bread and eggs make it so comforting and the vegetables make it hearty. I might have a recipe for you if this works out. K cooked it all as I cobbled together different internet recipes and shouted out the directions. (Thanks K!)

Friday--Veggie burgers, corn risotto, and roasted sweet potatoes

* * * 

Hope you're eating well this week! Have you been cooking anything good?

csa day: catching up

[two weeks ago--that big thing in the middle is a melon that tasted like cantaloupe]

Well, happy Monday to you! How did the weekend slip away so fast? I spent mine visiting with family, taking walks, having movie nights, and reading reading reading for school. Before I knew it, it was over.  

It has dawned on me that my CSA-documenting has gotten a little lax, and we just can't have that, can we? So today I'm catching up on two weeks worth of CSA vegetables from Finger Picking Farms (last week and the week before).

We've been eating melons, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, and some very delicious okra. Hot red peppers hang on our wall, waiting to be dried and crumbled into spicy dishes.  We've also gotten some beautiful flowers--cockscomb and zinnias--as well as fresh basil. So, we've had plenty of fresh food around, though we've been struggling to find time to cook it.

What works for us during the school year is cooking only three times a week. We cook two big meals in advance, and each lasts two nights. So, on Sunday we cook a meal to eat on Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday, we make dinner for Wednesday and Thursday.  Then we plan one fast meal to cook on Friday. This week we're planning soup (can't shake the fall fever), pasta, and homemade pizza. 

[our half of the vegetables from last week]

Menu Highlights from this week and last (i.e. I'm not including the night we ate popcorn and easy mac)

Summer Vegetable Minestrone with artisan bread

Creamy Corn Soup

Enchilada Stack with white beans, peppers, onions, and squash

Pasta with veggie crumbles, peppers, onions, and squash (noticing a theme?)

Homemade pizza with olives, tomatoes, onions, and peppers

* * * * * 

This time of year old routines get shaken up and new ones established. I hope you're finding your groove.

csa day: summer bounty

A box full of vegetables from Finger Pickin' Farms. 

This is what the box looks like when it's delivered to the front porch. Piles of good things waiting to be uncovered. I usually scurry out back with the box and my camera to document all the things we got. Not this week. It was too darn hot.

After the photo session, Dad and I divvy up the vegetables. This week we got tomatoes, squash, sweet peppers, hot peppers, green cucumbers, white cucumbers, potatoes, sun gold tomatoes, and green beans. Dad's excited that we're finally getting things he likes; he wasn't such a big fan of the kale or beets, but at least he tried to like them. 

* * * * * 

In other food news, last weekend I made some really amazing cupcakes if I do say so myself. Peach cupcakes with brown sugar cream cheese frosting. Yeah, my tastebuds are still having dreams about those cupcakes. I think brown sugar cream cheese frosting might just be my favorite frosting of all time. There's still an extra little stash of it hidden in the fridge that I will not be sharing (sorry K!). 

I halved the recipe and still ended up with 16 cupcakes. The only thing I'd change is to add more peach. I used two medium ones for half the recipe and it could definitely have used more. 

* * * * * 

Hope you're eating well this week!

csa day: tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and corn

In this week's CSA box from Finger Pickin' Farms we found:

Top row: Tomatoes, hot peppers, corn

Bottom row: Sweet peppers, potatoes, sun gold cherry tomatoes 

Meals have been simple this week. Corn on the cob, tomatoes and cheese, done. Tacos. Mushroom and egg toast made with shiitake mushrooms and eggs from the farmers' market and whole wheat toast from my freezer. Mom had us over for dinner one night. She made some really delicious baked spinach and ricotta egg rolls and pineapple upside down cake. We've been snacking on fudgesicles and basking in the glory of air-conditioning on days when the heat index has reached ridiculous numbers like 114 degrees.  

I did bake cinnamon rolls last weekend. I was craving a luxurious Sunday morning with lots of coffee and cream cheese frosting. K put on some classical records while we read the newspaper. It was amazing, and I think it might just become a weekend ritual. 

I hope you're staying cool and eating well this week!

csa day: a pot of sun gold

Finger Pickin' Farms' CSA contents this week:

Top row: Sun gold cherry tomatoes, wax beans, onions, carrots

Bottom row: Beets, red peppers, potatoes

(Not pictured: Candy-colored zinnias. They're beautiful, but my camera blurred all of the pictures. I repeat, it was the camera's fault.)

These tomatoes are seriously oozing sunlight. 

Bread from the oven in my hot hot hot kitchen. Worth the heat.

Yes, I'm still baking. I just can't help myself. I've been making bread all week long from this easy recipe. I made the dough at the beginning of the week, stuck it in the fridge, and whenever I need bread I cut off a hunk of dough and bake it.  Plus, the bread tastes amazing! Chewy, light, and really flavorful. We've used it for sandwiches, dipping in soup, and alongside pasta. It's definitely a recipe worth keeping around.

* * * * * 

Weekly Menu:

Homemade pasta with tomatoes, squash, walnuts and garlic. Garlic bread.

Grilled teriyaki vegetable sandwiches  

Quinoa pilaf with zucchini, mint, cucumbers, and feta (didn't get around to making it last week)

Summer vegetable soup with white beans and black olives

* * * * * 

So, I know it's hot. Yes, this summer has seen some record temperature days. But I'm still going to try to talk you into trying this soup recipe (unless you're reading this in the Southern Hemisphere, in which case this recipe might sound pretty enticing just about now). 

This soup is perfect to make in the summer, while you're getting lots of great produce from your local farmers. Heck, I got to use five different vegetables from my CSA box (including some leftover from last week). 

I think you'll like it. The flavors run the gamut--the carrots lend sweetness, the tomatoes and lemon give it some tartness, and the olives add a delicious brininess--but all come together to create a really balanced taste. If you just can't bring yourself to make this now, tuck the recipe away until colder weather. It's one worth trying.

Feel free to substitute with the vegetables you have on hand. Fresh herbs would also be wonderful in this. I wish I'd had some basil to throw into the pot. Next time...

Summer Vegetable Soup with White Beans and Black Olives

(adapted from The New Moosewood Cookbook's White Bean and Black Olive Soup)

1 large onion, diced

2 medium carrots, diced

1 tsp salt (or more to taste)

2 small sweet peppers, diced

1 small squash or zucchini, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups vegetable broth

1 cup tomato sauce

2 cups cooked white Northern beans

1/2 cup sliced black olives

1 TBSP lemon juice

Chopped tomatoes for topping.

Heat a good dollop of oil in a soup pot. Add the onions, carrots, and salt and cook over medium heat until tender (about 8-10 minutes). Add the peppers, squash/zucchini and garlic and cook about 5 minutes more, until peppers are softened. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the toppings, and cook for about 15 minutes. Top with tomatoes (you could also add herbs, sour cream, or whatever makes you happy).  Tastes great served with crusty bread slathered with herbed cream cheese. 

Happy eating!

csa day: summer rainbow and backyard eggs

There were lots of good things in the CSA box this week from Finger Pickin' Farms. 

Left to right--

Top Row: Squash and zucchini, flowers, yellow wax beans

Middle Row: Carrots, sweet peppers, chiles

Bottom row: Onions, tomatoes, cucumbers

We've also been eating these lovely eggs. K and I walked over to my cousin Ryan's house and were lucky enough to receive a dozen eggs from his backyard chickens. He's had them for a little over a year now and seems to really like them and the eggs they lay. He said the heat has slowed down their egg-laying, but that in cooler weather he has more eggs than he knows what to do with. Seems like I should visit him more often, huh? Especially since these eggs have the orangest yolks I've ever come across.

Things on the menu this week:

*Homemade pasta with squash, tomatoes, and walnuts

*Baked tofu, roasted potatoes, and yellow beans in cream sauce

*Japanese curry over mashed potatoes

*Quinoa pilaf with feta, mint, and squash

*Homemade peach ice cream

*Mint lassis

*Tassajara whole wheat bread

**What are you eating this week?**

csa day + lots going on in the kitchen this week

Half of Finger Pickin' Farms CSA share for the week of July 6, 2010:

This is only our half because I forgot to take my camera over to my dad's house. 

From left to right, starting at the top:

Row 1: Zucchini, squash, peppers 

Row 2: Pattypan squash, white cucumbers, green cucumbers

Row 3: Tomatoes (from one of my dad's patients, not the CSA), onions, and carrots

Not pictured: flowers and basil

And because I've been so gung-ho about cooking lately, I thought I'd share what I've been up to. I made a cinnamon coffee cake for a tea party I had with my friend Julia. The topping was very crumbly at first, but really got good on day 3. That's good to know, but who bakes a cake and then waits three days to eat it?

A couple of you asked to know how the beet gnocchi turned out. It was really good! I don't get many opportunities to eat such bright pink food, and I loved it. 

Beet gnocchi is made from beets, potatoes, and parmesan cheese mashed together with some flour to form a dough. It's rolled out and sliced, then boiled like pasta. I tossed the gnocchi with basil, walnuts, olive oil, garlic, and parmesan cheese. The beet flavor was subtle in the final dish because the garlic and basil were the stand out flavors. I was really surprised how light yet filling the gnocchi were.

I would definitely make beet gnocchi again, but would pick out one big beet to use instead of the tiny beets I used here. Our CSA beets were really sweet, especially after roasting them, but it was a bit of a hassle to peel so many little ones. Also, I would be up for making regular gnocchi without the beets, though I would miss that bright pink color!

This week I checked another thing off of my 2010 to-do list because I made mayonnaise (I know, how strange, who puts "make mayonnaise" on their list of resolutions? Forgive me, I had just watched Julie and Julia). I used my mixer to make the recipe from this book, though someday I suppose I'll try to make it by hand to gain some serious kitchen cred. Despite the fact that the recipe stated that making mayonnaise with a food processor or mixer "takes no skill whatsoever," I'm still pretty impressed that I could get egg yolks and oil to come together to make such a creamy sandwich spread. 

This mayonnaise turned out much creamier than store-bought. I love knowing all of the ingredients that went into it, plus I got to flavor it how I wanted it. I left most of it plain, but did add basil to a small portion. The basil mayonnaise has been great on sandwiches and the plain made a great potato salad.

I had 3 leftover egg whites after making the mayonnaise and so I got to make pavlovas, which I've wanted to try for years. The recipe comes from my new favorite cookbook. These mini-pavlovas (meringues) are so fluffy, crunchy and sweet. Topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit these are a wonderful summer dessert, so light and refreshing. Mmm...I would highly recommend making these!

Weekly Menu:

*Fourth of July cook out

*Enchilada Stack

*Green eggs (scrambled with cream cheese and basil), corn on the cob, green beans

*Picnic food--Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato salad, plums. Ideally eaten at the park, if we can catch a breeze.

*Dinner with Kristie (maybe that squash and pasta casserole)