What's in the box? June 23, 2015

After several weeks of travel and the accompanying hodgepodge of roadside meals, I could not wait to get home to my CSA box. And having crisscrossed most of the country—and seen the prices and poor availability of food in many places—I have never been more grateful for where I live. There is truly no place like home.

And what a treat that this week's box was full of all of my most favorite vegetables!
Eggplant
Yellow Squash
Cucumber
Peppers
Beans
Cherry Tomatoes
Heirloom Tomatoes
Celery
Basil

Ratatouille, right?! Jana Eakes has shared her recipe for Grilled Ratatouille that I can't wait to try out tonight. And long-time CSA member and volunteer Daintry Thomas has shared recipes for Eggplant and Zucchini Gratin and her own Summer Vegetable Casserole, which make wonderful use of many of the vegetables in our box this week.

I'm so glad members are sending in more recipes. That is what forum is for. Keep 'em coming! They sound so good, I want to try them all, but I will probably need a little more of just about everything. Fortunately, Jana says the farm stand has extra zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes for sale, so I will be picking up some later this week for a dinner party I'm hosting on Friday.

Until then, here's how I plan to make quick use of what's in the box:

Wednesday
Jana's Grilled Ratatouille

Thursday
Heirloom Tomato Salad with Mozzarella and Basil
Heirloom Tomato and Basil Pizza 

Friday (dinner party)
Minty Yogurt Dip for vegetables (cherry tomatoes, celery, peppers)
Balsamic Green Beans
Daintry's Summer Vegetable Casserole


Digging deeper:

Bored with beans? Check out "Oh, Snap! 31 Green Bean Recipes" from Southern Living.

Befuddled by eggplant? Try this handy resource: "Learning to Love Eggplant: How to Pick 'Em, Cook 'Em and Eat 'Em" from TheKitchn.com

No time to eat it now? Freeze it for later! Daintry recommends this tutorial for Freezing Eggplant. And here's how to do the same with your zucchini and squash.

Eggplant and Zucchini Gratin

Eggplant and Zucchini Gratin

1/2 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic
3 medium onions, halved and sliced
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1 pound small zucchini
1 pound small eggplant
1 1/3 pound small Italian tomatoes

Rub the bottom of a shallow gratin dish with the garlic clove. In 1/4 cup olive oil, cook the onions until soft but not brown. Spread this mixture on the gratin dish. Sprinkle with fresh thyme and season well with salt and pepper.

Wash the zucchini and eggplant and make lengthwise stripes on them with a vegetable stripper. Slice the zucchini, eggplant and tomatoes into rounds. Overlap alternating slices of eggplant, zucchini and tomato over the onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle over another 1/4 cup olive oil. Bake the gratin in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Serves 4-6.

Recipe from Tante Marie's Cooking school, shared by Daintry Thomas

Jana's Grilled Ratatouille

Jana's Grilled Ratatouille

1 large eggplant (or 2-3 small narrow eggplants), cut into small cubes
1 yellow onion, sliced
2 or more zucchini and yellow squash mix (cut into small pieces)
1-2 bell peppers, any color (cut into small pieces)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil + another 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tomato
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

Preheat grill to medium heat.  Prep eggplant first: trim cap and blossom end, cut into small cubes, place in colander and salt generously to draw out moisture. Let salted pieces sit for 30 minutes or so, then rinse salt and pat dry with paper towels.  

Place dry eggplant cubes in bowl with other vegetables and toss with olive oil.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Place vegetable mix in either a grill basket or a pizza pan, then grill, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching and sticking for 12-15 minutes or until tender.

In a separate bowl, whisk the other 1/4 cup olive oil with the chopped, seeded tomato and the vinegar, garlic, and basil.  Add grilled vegetables to mix and stir gently.  Serve immediately while still warm.

-Jana Eakes

Summer Vegetable Casserole

Summer Vegetable Casserole

Squash
Bell pepper
Tomato
Onion
Salt and peper to taste
Shredded mozzarella (optional)

Melt a little butter in the bottom of a deep casserole. Put a layer of squash on top. Then a layer of onion. Then a layer of bell pepper. Finally a layer of slice tomatoes. Season between layers if you wish. If the casserole is deep enough and you are serving a crowd, layer again.

Cook at 350 F for 30 minutes to an hour: 30 minutes if you like the veggies with a bit more crunch, an hour if you prefer them more tender. Cover with foil to keep the natural juices from cooking out. For extra flavor, melt some shredded mozzarella on top.

-Daintry Thomas

Kale and Mushroom Quiche

Ok it's confession time: up until a year or so ago I was was afraid of making pie crust,homemade pie dough and homemade bread ( but that's another story for another time).

      Let's put that in perspective,I have been cooking like a mad woman for the last nine years and could count one hand the number of times I had made homemade pie crust or heck even a homemade pie for that matter. I tried one Christmas to make a few pumpkin pies in store-bought crusts and well it was a total disaster.

   I know,I know I know what the heck lady its flour and butter. 

 
 Seriously I was worried I'd mess it up sooooo I just didn't make a lot of pies or quiches. I made this pie crust a year or so ago and I was hooked. It's a shortening-based pie crust from the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. It's fairly straightforward and because the recipe makes three crust my anxiety was kept at bay until it slowly just went away.
 

    I had one pie dough recipe under my belt,confidence slightly restored and I was on the lookout to try more recipes. Fast-forward to this past Easter,we had some family and friends to our house for a big lunch. I put a deep-dish quiche on the menu. I have had and LOVE quiche. Egg dishes are a favorite breakfast item for me so my love for a quiche was natural. The quiche recipe I chose to serve was made in a 9-inch springform pan and the crust was no joke. All went well and the quiche,crust included.was a hit!

 This past Tueday,we got kale in our CSA share box and I knew one recipe I HAD to make: quiche. Quiche is also a great lunch main dish or light summer dinner idea that will fill you up without being too heavy. Kale holds up really well in a quiche. Mushrooms,fresh herbs,onion (not pictured) and TWO different kinds of cheese rounded out the recipe. I also added some lemon zest to brighten up the kale and mushrooms. 

  Now enter the custard mix: eggs,whole milk and ricotta.I added a few fresh herbs but not too many because I didn't want to overload the custard mixture.Ok so truth be told The idea of a quiche didn't really just appear to me in my appetite just because of a bunch of kale. Nope that's half of the story. A friend of mine keeps chickens and she recently brought me fresh eggs.            

          So let's do the math : fresh,beautiful,organic kale + farm-fresh eggs +  a flaky pie crust recipe = one heck of a quiche!  Yippeee!

     

Alrighty before we move on to my recipe I thought I'd offer up a few links that look pretty darn tasty and could up your quiche game.

Taste of Home magazine offers 10 ! different of their most requested quiche recipes.

Pioneer Woman has a recipe for a Cowboy Quiche that looks divine.

Fine Cooking magazine  has a fantasic make-your-own quiche recipe feature on their site that not only allows for YOUR variations,it also whips up a recipe for you based on your ingredients choices.

Here is the search page on simplyrecipes.com for the search word quiche. It's a wonderful,dependable recipe website I have used numerous times.

 Ok so here goes it with my quiche recipe. I threw it together sort of and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! 

Kale and Mushroom Quiche

adapted from my brain

Ingredients:

one recipe of pate' brisee ( pie crust) 

1/2 of a small bunch of kale- stems removed

  and chiffonaded 

1/2 cup mushrooms,diced

1/4 cup diced onion

6 eggs

1/2 cup ricotta ( you could substitute Greek yogurt or sour cream)

1/2 cup whole milk

2 TBL chopped fresh herb ( I used parsley and thyme.)

pinch of lemon zest

pinch of nutmeg

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella ( I added in some parmesan to 

   that 1 1/2 cup.)

Directions-

1. Pre-bake crust: roll out dough to fit a 9-inch pie plate,gently press into pie plate. Crumble up a piece of parchment paper then flatten it out.Place paper onto pie dough and fill with dried beans to hold down the paper. Bake pie dough on a baking sheet for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool for 1 hour.

2. Saute' kale,mushrooms, and onion in a skillet with a little olive oil,until wilted and softened,10-15 minutes minutes or so. Set aside to cool.

3. In a medium sized mixing bowl combine eggs,ricotta,whole milk,fresh herbs,lemon zest,nutmeg,salt,and pepper. Stir to breakup the eggs and combine well. Next stir in the shredded cheese.

4.Spread the kale mixture around the cooled pie crust. Then gently pour the custard mixture on top of the kale. 

5.Bake for 40-50 minutes in a 325 degree oven. You will know the quiche is done when the center DOES NOT jiggle. Let cool for 10 minutes just to let everything set nicely,then devour. Well that's a word I don't type often,jiggle. Enjoy!

What's In The Box ? June 17, 2015

   I tell you what,each week's share offerings just keep getting prettier by the pound!

Here's whats in the box:
Sungold tomatoes
Squash
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Green Beans
Cabbage
Peppers
Celery
Kale
Romaine lettuce

    Ok soooo before we get down to business with recipes,links and the like let me throw this out there : Have you noticed that the MORE VARIETY we have in our share box the MORE HARMONY there is between vegetables?
For example: You could enjoy a lovely quiche with tomatoes AND kale ?
Mix the peppers and zucchini together in a skillet and you've get fantastic stir-fry or fajita ingredients?
  Each week I ,along with so many others, enjoy every single vegetable in our csa share I also don't want to use it all up and miss ONE SINGLE BITE of organic goodness.

 IT'S OK TO USE IT ALL UP! I promise.

    Instead of using just a single vegetable in a single dish and truly finding your creative chef self in the kitchen,you can also celebrate a little harmony among the share's offering and make some rockin' quesadillas or a delicious salad with KALE AND ROMAINE!!!!!

 So what I'm going to do here on the Wednesday "What's In The Box ?" post is TWO things:
 1. As usual there will be a list that highlights each vegetable in the box and recipes that single out that particular vegetable.
2. After that there will be a slightly shorter and more concise list of recipe links that features MORE THAN ONE  vegetable and above the link I will just type what vegetables to use from the that week's share in that particular recipe.

COMPLICATED??? Shouldn't be,just go with me.

Here goes nothing!

Sungold Tomatoes-
Five Ways To Preserve Small Tomatoes - friends this lady right here can can and she knows about some preserves too. Marisa McClellan is fantastic. Here she helps you save those beautiful small tomatoes for those green salads in the middle of winter.
Yellow Tomato and Basil Jam - if you're into making jam this looks likes a really,really tasty recipe AND would make a generous homemade gift.
Sungold Tomato and Rosemary Soup - this link and recipe are simple and straightforward. I think this soup might be a reason to invite some friends for lunch. It's just enough,yum!
Sungold Tomato Vinaigrette -this recipe calls for 1 cup of sungold tomatoes and that means you would have plenty left over to snack on!

Squash and Zucchini-
Zucchini,Eggplant and Tomato Gratin -  savory and light all at the same time,sounds good to me.
Carrot Feta Zucchini Fritters - ok gonna makes these fritters really soon. I think the sweetness of the carrots would appeal to kids. You could easily replace the feta with shredded Parmesan.

Cucumbers-
Mediterranean Chickpea Salad - I don't think this salad would work without the cucumber,just call it the glue of this salad...the balance in the salad bowl.
Cucumber Lemon Water -man this taste good!

Green Beans- 
Balsamic Green Bean Salad -you had me at balsamic vinegar!
Green Beans with Warm Shallot Dressing  - this looks heavenly.

Cabbage-
Roasted Cabbage Wedges with Onion-Dijon Sauce - well this recipe just fancied cabbage up for me.
Grilled Ginger-Sesame Chicken Chopped Salad - a. I know cabbage is not in the recipe title but it's the foundation for this salad,for all of that flavor. b. this would make a delicious lunch to eat on all week long.
Crunchy Cabbage Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing - now this recipe calls for Napa cabbage and red cabbage. You could substitute the cabbage we got in our share just slice it thinly.

Bell Peppers-
Oven Fajitas - oh my stars this looks so easy and not too much clean up either.
Mini Pepper Nachos with Corn,Black Beans and Avocado -if you LOVE nachos and are trying to watch your carbs this recipe is FOR YOU! Bell peppers hold up well after cooking and would make a great vehicle for nachos.
** to use the bell peppers in our share in this recipe,just cut into large strips similar to the mini peppers in the pictures.**

Celery- 
Skinny Greek Yogurt Tuna Salad -easy,light lunch option for a picnic or lunch during the week.
Quick-Pickled Celery -so I've not used ALL of my celery from last week hoping that we would get celery again this week soooooooo I could make this recipe. I think this would make a fine relish on a grilled kosher beef hot dog.

Kale-
15 Ways to Make Kale Chips - I haven't made kale chips yet,but with 15 different ways in this article I think it's time for me to try.
Ginger Beef,Mushroom and Kale Stir-Fry - this recipe might just be the recipe I make this weekend for Father's Day. My husband would love to see a plate of this stir fry on the table!

Romaine Lettuce-
Grilled Romaine Salad with Creamy Avocado Basil Dressing -wow all of the colors AND flavors in this salad !

DOUBLE FEATURE RECIPES-
Sungold Tomatoes and Zucchini
 Zucchini Pasta with Sungold Tomatoes,Corn and Sunflower Seeds - light and classy,throw in that optional ingredient of lobster and you have a fancy dinner on your hands. **Note you could easily use angel hair instead of making pasta of the zucchini and toss thinly sliced zucchini in the dish itself.**

Squash,Zucchini and Bell Pepper
Grilled Veggie Quesadillas with Goat Cheese and Pesto - DEEEE-LICIOUS dinner idea right here.

Cucumbers and Romaine Lettuce
Turkey and Cucumber Lettuce Wrap - another healthy and tasty lunch option. **Trade the iceberg lettuce for the romaine lettuce. The romaine will hold up better as well.**

Kale and Romaine Lettuce

Kale and Romaine Caesar Salad  - a bowl of this salad next to a pan-seared steak or grilled portobello mushroom caps would make a fine summer's night dinner.

   Ok so I hope this format is helpful and gives you more options to enjoy your CSA share offerings. Have a great week!

Basil Cucumber and Corn Salad

 

  It's a Monday in the middle of summer and that means one of two things :
1.You went to a cookout/pool party/bbq/get-together type thing this past weekend ( I know the weekend that just ended.) aaaaaand you had some delicious food.
2. You have to go a cookout/pool party/bbq/get-together thing some time this upcoming weekend  (yes I know I know it's only Monday and the weekend seems a million miles away but it will be here sooner than you think. One day at a time.) aaaaand have you have to bring some sort of delicious food item to future get-together. Well don't sweat it, I have a recipe for you that's easy and taste like like summer.

   Basil Cucumber Corn Salad is an easy,cool and refreshing salad sure to lighten up any plate full of food. Oh wait...yeah that's zucchini in the picture above. I know I said cucumber and corn,nothing about zucchini. Weeeelllll funny thing happens at my house when fresh produce appears on the counter,it disappears as fast as I get it out on the counter. IF ! I don't get my act together someone ( my husband,my child or sometimes well even me) will walk right by and POOF! that fresh produce is gone.

  Just now as I type this blog post,sitting at my desk and nowhere near the kitchen my child came to me to ask for a CARROT. It's yes, a wonderful thing and yes, one day she could dislike vegetables but UNTIL THAT DAY I will oblige her request for a carrot at 10:08 am. 

    I made up this corn salad yesterday to eat on all week. All of the ingredients were laid out on the kitchen counter. My husband walks in the kitchen to tell me something. I turn around ( away from the counter where all the corn salad ingredients are laid out nicely) to put something in the sink and POOF I look up to see him eating half of the cucumber for this salad. He had lovingly cut the cucumber in half so as not to eat up all of my ingredients. Thanks honey,how thoughtful .

   Well... think,think,think... ZUCCHINI IS HERE TO SAVE THE DAY! No worries,the salad still has cucumber in it and some delicious zucchini too. It also has in it an old friend from a few blog post back: basil pesto.

  Basil pesto makes a fantastic dressing for this salad. It's chunky texture makes for a flavorful coating on the vegetables. I also threw n some feta cheese. The cheese adds just enough savory along with the flavors in the pesto,it makes for a well-balanced salad.

Basil,Cucumber and Corn Salad
adapted from Sumptuous Spoonfuls
Ingredients:
3 cups cooked corn
( I used frozen corn. Frozen corn is blanched but still retains a lot of it's freshness.)
2 cups of cucumber and/or zucchini,peeled and chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves,sliced thinly ( or chiffonade the basil)
2 green onions,sliced thinly
2 TBL mayonnaise
2-4 TBL basil pesto
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese optional
Directions:
1.In a medium toss together to combine corn,cucumber/zucchini,basil,green onions. Stir in the mayo,basil pesto and salt and pepper ( and feta cheese if using).
2.Cover and let marinate in the fridge until serving time. Enjoy!

Celery Almond Pesto

   So ever since I mentioned the celery almond pesto from Wednesday's post I haven't been able to get it off my mind. It intrigued me.

Celery?

Almond?

Pesto?

Really????

        Ok fine so I had to try it soon. It calls for the usual players in most pesto recipes: leafy green something,cheese,garlic,nuts and olive oil,but oh buddy this was no ordinary pesto. It is good. Really good. Let's dive in!

    I snipped off all of the celery leaves at the thinnest part of the stalk. The bunch of celery yielded over 4 cups of celery leaves,more than enough for the recipe. The leaves are beautiful and HUGE ! Little did I now how much flavor those leaves packed,good heavens.

    The other ingredient that took me a back were the almonds. Almonds have a subtle but bold flavor all their own and they met the strong flavors of the celery leaves nose to nose. The recipe called for blanched almonds, all I had in the freezer were whole,skin-on raw almonds ,so that is what I went with. I quickly toasted the almonds in a dry skillet until the smelled nutty,always a sign that they are good and toasty.Toasting nuts really does give them a chance to show off  all of their flavors. The act of toasting the nuts heats up the natural oils just hiding away in the nuts.

I put all of the ingredients in the food processor and let the magic happen. Taste test #1 yielded a REALLY BOLD pesto that was peppery,a tiny bit spicy and balanced out by the smoothness of the almonds,but something was missing.

Huh...

Well it dawned on my like a ray of sunshine,well it was something yellow : A LEMON!   I , 99% of the time,put the juice of 1/2 a lemon in my batch of pesto. It brightens up all of the flavors and really brings them together. Lemon is sort of the friend that kid that gets along with everybody and brightens up the room when they walk in it.
Taste test #2 : And well thats exactly what the pesto needed,so ta-da! Celery Almond Pesto is finished,hooray! Mystery to me no more.
    Now the hunt is on what to pair it with,maybe a nice flank steak grilled up and slice thinly,ooohhhh maybe with a big ol' baked potato on the side. Well a girl can dream,but for now the recipe for this wonderful pesto !

Celery Almond Pesto
adapted from shesimmers.com

Ingredients:
4 cups of fresh celery leaves\
1/3 cup raw,skin-on almonds,toasted
juice of half a lemon
1/3 grated Parmesan
2 garlic cloves,peeled
1 tsp salt
3/4 olive oil
Directions:
Put all ingredients in the bowl of your food processor,pulse a number of times to break everything up into a paste. Then with the machine running ,drizzle in the olive oil until the pesto has reached your desired consistency. ( I like mine a little thin,but chunky enough to served as a dip.)

What's In The Box ? June 9, 2015

Fresh,organic and beautiful vegetables! 

Here's what we've got in the box this week:

Squash 

Zucchini

Cucumber 

Kohlrabi

Onions

Beans

Celery

Basil

Chard

Garlic

      Alright let's get down to business with some recipe ideas:

Squash AND Zucchini are interchangable so have fun getting creative in these recipes!

Squash Casserole - this is a classic version from a classic local cookbook from long ago.

Yellow Squash Fritters - these look like delicious side item at cookout

Easy Cheesy Zucchini Bake - oh gosh you had me at melted cheese.

*** Here's a link to help you freeze the fresh squash or zucchini if you have too. 

Cucumber-

Thai Shrimp and Cucumber Salad - every single bite of this salad looks delicious. It'd be a great summer picnic salad.

Tomato Cucumber Salad with Olives and Feta - this would be a great variation on the traditional tomato and cucumber salad.

3 Easy Cucumber Salad Recipes - who are we kidding,it's summertime in Mississippi and a cool cucumber salad is just perfect most days!

Kohlrabi-

Kohlrabi Fritters - a creamy dill sauce on the side,wonderful!

Kohlrabi is Weird! (just read it) -the fine folks over at thekitchn.com never fail me,helpful and classy!

Vegetarian Kohlrabi Stew with Cheese - this is a German dish that would be tasty served with a simple green salad and crusty buttery bread.

Onions and Garlic- I always have onions and garlic in my pantry. They are are a must in most recipes. You can add them to quite a few of these recipes and enjoy every bite.

Beans-

Fresh Green Beans,One Way - Ree Drummond and all her fine,fine,fine recipes are always tasty.

Green Bean Crisps oh my stars these look so good and a side of this comeback sauce . 

Celery- 

Before we go any farther I must say something,DERN THAT IS SOME BEAUTIFUL CELERY! 

   I had to get that out. 

  The celery was just beautiful aaaannnd because the leaves were so plentiful we are gonna start with another pesto recipe. I know hold onto your seats!

Celery Almond Pesto -  I look for leaves on my celery when I buy it in the grocery store. Celery leaves have a light,crispy almost sweetness to them that can't be beat. They are a perfect substitution for parsley in a salad or soup. 

Creamy Buffalo Blue Cheese Stuffed Celery - a healthy-ER take on buffalo sauce and blue cheese. I'm not a buffalo wing fan,but I love the combo of blue cheese and buffalo sauce. Ta-da put it in celery and I'm there.

Blue Cheese and Pecan Stuffed Celery - bold flavors of cranberries and blue cheese + nuttiness or pecans+ light,easy going flavors in fresh celery = one FANTASTIC appetizer for any get-together!\

Basil-

Basil,Chive,Cucumber and Corn Salad - gosh this is a pretty salad and I'm sure super tasty.

Basil-Feta Sauce Chicken - basil and feta,swoon.

Tomato Basil Pizza -If you don't know David Lebowitz you should or at least his recipes and cookbooks. They are beautiful.

Chard-

Swiss Chard Gratin - according to Google,the definition of the word gratin is 

1. a dish with a light browned crust of breadcrumbs or melted cheese.  Enough said.

Swiss Chard Tacos - I think these would make a great lunch entree' for a small group of friends and the leaves from this week's chard would work really well too.

     I hope you enjoy this week's offerings and try some recipes featured here. Have a great week!

1. 
   

Pickles,Pickles Everywhere!

 
Pickle as described by dictionary.com :
As a noun-
1.a cucumber that has been preserved in brine,vinegar,or like.
2. often ,pickles ,any other vegetable ,as cauliflower,celery,etc .
3.preserved in brine or marinade.

   I like how the definition of a pickle slowly broadens after the mention of a cucumber as is what most folks think of when they think of pickle. Although #6 on dictionary.com's list also cracks me up and truth be told I've been in quite a few of these pickles as well:

6. a troublesome or awkward situation;predicament.  (ummmm...)

   So moving right along,pickles can be cucumbers or okra or beets and most recently I saw a beautiful recipe for swiss chard stems,which really after pickling the stiff chard stem turns into a crunchy pickle. Pretty and pickled,what a treat!

Here are some other awesome refrigerator pickle recipes from some great sources:

1.I'm a huge fan of  Deb Perleman over at smittenkitchen.com . Here's her recipe for dill pickles looks delicious Easiest Fridge Dill Pickles

2. You had me at Pickled Hot Peppers over at the The Creekside Cook.

3. Giardiniera is an Italian condiment per se. It's also called sottaceti or under vinegar. Who knew! Here's a link for an easy refrigetrator giardiniera recipe from Deep South Dish. ( She's a native Mississippian.) Recipe here Refrigerated Pickled Vegetables or Giardiniera .

     If you have beets left in your crisper drawer and are in a pickle   ( ha!,the door was wide open!) as to what to do with them,    PICKLE THEM!
 I found a lovely,easy pickled beets recipe insonnetskitchen.com . I did change one little,bitty part of the recipe. The recipe calls for the beets to be boiled,but I didn't have enough eyes on my almost three year old so I chose to roast the beets.( at least in the oven I can close the door and walk away as opposed to a hot pot on the stovetop).
The pros and cons of roasting instead of boiling the beets:
Pro- it brings out the sweetness of the beets.
Con- It makes them a tiny bit softer so the won't be as crispy when they pickle as if you boiled them.
   (In the end,we are bathing them in vinegar so To-MAY-toes To-MAH-toes is what I say. )

     Moving along, the recipe is pretty straightforward: roast the beets,cool the beets ( if you have time let them cool on the counter for a little while or with tongs or a slotted spoon put beets in a colander and run under cold water until cool enough to handle.), peel and slice beets and add to a jar with spices and vinegar.

Well if you are like me you might need specifics,here ya go:

Quick Pickled Beets
adapted from insonnetskitchen.com
One more thing before we get started,these beet pickles are

REFRIGERATOR PICKLES,NO CANNING/HOT WATER BATH PROCESSING/SEALING OF JARS NECESSARY. 
So no sweat,just a great jar of beet pickles to enjoy. They will live in the fridge until completely consumed.

Ingredients:
1 bunch of beets,roasted and sliced ( How To Roast Beets )
1/4 onion,sliced thinly
2 garlic cloves,thinly sliced
2 bay leaves
5 black peppercorns
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white vinegar ( I used apple cider vinegar,either is fine.)
Directions:
1. Placed all ingredients in a mason jar. Gently shake just to get everything mix together and place the jar in the fridge to pickle. The pickles will last up to a month in the fridge after that they will start to get mushy-er. Enjoy!












   

Basil Pesto and So Much More!

Ok ok I know you have seen this picture before,say ummm a few days ago ?
Right.
Oh but see there are puzzles pieces in this very photo that fit perfectly into the pesto puzzle.

Ok we're even closer,there are three DIFFERENT pesto ingredients in this picture.
Alright two more hints,here goes it.

 

   Alrighty here we are,the three pieces. Carrot tops,kale and basil can ALL be made into their own batch, a fine batch of pesto. All three ingredients all shine in their respective batches of pesto AND YOU CAN MAKE THEM out of your CSA box from this week.









   The basil stems and leaves from the last two CSA boxes were just ready and willing to be made into pesto. My 3-yr old LOVES pesto and well stir up some hot,cooked pasta with any delicious pesto then Ta-Da ! there's dinner. I will admit the child loves to push the buttons on the food processor,so I had no problem getting her to help me make the pesto. We put all of the ingredients ( except the extra virgin olive oil) and let it rip. She helped me stream in through the feeder tube,the extra virgin olive oil until we got a consistency I was happy with. And I'll be dog-goned if the minute I got the lid off that food processor that kid went for the pesto spatula in hand. OUT OF CONTROL I tell you.

 Now please don't think she's a complete angel when it comes to food,she's not fond of pot roast and it took her a while to warm up to pizza. 

I know tough life.

We made some delicious basil pesto together. It was a pretty traditional basil pesto recipe,not exact but really cooking never is. (If you need exact here is a fine tutorial on making pesto from the wonderful folks at the kitchn.com . Pesto Making Tutorial)
Baking yes,cooking uh...mostly.

Basil Pesto
Ingredients:
2 cups basil leaves,packed
2-3 garlic cloves,whole
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of red pepper flakes,if you like spicy
1/2 cup olive oil
Directions-
1. Put all of the ingredients EXCEPT olive oil in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 4 or 5 times to chop fine and combine as best you can.
2. With the machine running,stream the olive oil into the bowl of the food processor through the feeder tube until you have reached the desired consistency
3. and oh the picture of the plastic container directly above,well YOU CAN FREEZE PESTO!
( Here's a helpful link on freezing pesto: How To Freeze Pesto I know ,oh happy day. Now there are varying opinions on whether to add in the parmesan cheese when you initially mix the pesto together OR when you thaw it and serve. I most likely  won't remember at that point in time,so I add it in. Either way is fine,whatever works for you. Enjoy!

OH OH WAIT WAIT, before you go here are some other delicious pesto recipe using puzzle pieces ingredients other than basil;

Kale Pesto from food52

Roasted Red Pepper Pesto from A Spicy Perspective

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto from Bake Your Day

Beet Green Pesto from Nutmeg Nanny

Carrot Top Pesto from Hand-Picked Nation

What's In the Box ? June 2,2015

   Hooray for another week of fresh produce with some new beautiful offerings.

Here's what we've got in the box this week:
Carrots
Squash
Zucchini
Onions
Kohlrabi
Cucumbers
Beans
Basil
Kale
Cabbage  

  Aaaaand here are a few links that will lead you to some delicious recipes to make this week:

Carrots:
Carrot Salad -this was a staple when I was growing up.
Roasted Baby Carrots- and this recipe has fresh rosemary in it too.

Squash:
 We have a member recipe from Jana E. to share,this looks pretty darn delicious to me,Enjoy!
Stuffed Squash
Ingredients-
several zucchini, or yellow squash (interchangeable)
1 cup finely diced yellow squash, or zucchini (opposite of whatever you're stuffing)
enough oil or butter to saute in (1-2teaspoons or less)
kernels from 2 ears of large corn (at least 1 cup), uncooked
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 jalapeno (or other) chili, seeded and minced
2T chopped basil
2T (or more) grated cheese (Gruyere, Muenster...your call)
Directions-
Preheat oven to 375 F.  Prep whichever squash (the yellow or the zucchini squash) you're planning to stuff by boiling about 5 minutes (or less, depending on size) and quickly removing to cold water bath to stop the cooking.  You just want to soften enough to split and scoop out the middle.  The other kind of squash you saute over medium-high heat until tender (about 3-5 minutes).  Mix the sauteed squash with the other ingredients, adding salt to taste.  Fill the squash (or zucchini squash, whichever you chose) and set in a baking dish.  add enough water to come just up the sides of the dish (about 1/4 inch up?) and cover with foil.  bake 20-30 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a fork.

Note:  this recipe is helpful when you have both kinds of squash.  I recommend using whichever you have more of to stuff, and the less for the stuffing.  vary the cheeses, add herbs...it's easy to play with to your liking.  If the squashes are really small, vary your cook time (less).

Onions:
BBQ Onion Steaks with Honey-Mustard Sauce -you had me at Honey-Mustard Sauce.
Grilled Sweet Onions - add a little blue cheese on top and I'm set!

Kohlrabi:
Kohlrabi Chips - these would be perfect with a Greek yogurt ranch dip on the side.
Fritters and More,5 different ways to prepare kohlrabi- the good folks over at thekitchn.com really put together some fine recipe collections.

Cucumbers:
Sweet and Sour Thai Cucumber Pasta Salad - a fresh take on the idea of pasta salad ( psssst. Here's a secret,it doesn't have pasta in it!)
Tomato,Cucumber and Avocado Salad - I think I could eat this every single day this summer,looks divine.

Beans-
Parmesan Roasted Green Beans- you had me at parmesan.
Roasted Balsamic Green Beans- the sweet,tangy syrup that coats these beans is delicious.

Basil;
Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta -Pioneer Woman 's recipes never fail. (I'm just saying.)
Green Goddess Hummus - Basil would make a great substitute for tarragon in this recipe.

Kale;
Baby Kale ,Mozzarella and Egg Bake - a FANTASTIC way to work kale into your breakfast.
12 Kale Salad Recipes - I mean really,how many ways can we enjoy kale? How about at least 12 !!

Cabbage;
Cabbage and Lime Salad with Roasted Peanuts - this looks delicious and beautiful.
Easy Asian Quinoa Slaw -now talk about pretty,this one would make a great picnic lunch.

ENJOY!