CSA Week 12

This week we got: 8 ears corn, 2 lbs tomatoes, 2 Concho jalapenos, 2 lbs Austrian Crescent potatoes, 2 fresh sweet onions, 1 red onion, 1 head Spanish Roja garlic, 1 bunch Cylindra beets, 1 bunch carrots, 1.5 lb zucchini, 2 patty pan squash, 4 cucumbers, 1 lb green beans, 1 lettuce, 1 bunch flat leaf parsley, 1 bunch basil (I also picked up a couple eggplant)

They said everyone looks forward to the corn, but this is just getting ridiculous!

Here's what we did:

Ratatouille (again, but this time I cubed everything instead of sliced; worked better) with Israeli couscous (PomPom loves this stuff). After we ate our fill, I added some veggie stock and tomato paste, cooked it until everything was completely soft and blended it into a pasta sauce.  Froze that

Black bean, beef, and veggie chile (tomatoes, jalapenos, sweet onions, squash, carrots) with Jalapeno corn bread (used fresh jalapenos and fresh sweet corn in this; it was tasty but didn't hold together)

Roasted green beans with lemon zest and sliced almonds (made this before; brought it to a potluck)

Tomato-beet salad (recipe below) to go with bahn mi that my father in-law brought (yum, thanks!)

Grilled flank steak and corn on the cob and my aunt's potato salad

I've got to use up the bits and pieces to make a salad for lunch tomorrow, which will be perked up by the next box!

I'm grating and freezing carrots (for carrot muffins) and sauteeing cut carrots and freezing for quick side dishes

I'll cut and freeze the corn remaining

I shredded and froze zucchini for zucchini bread and fritters

Tomato-Beet Salad

1 lb scrubbed Cylindra beets

2 lbs tomatoes, preferably heirloom

1/4 cup crumbled feta (used chevre, which I think is probably better than salty feta)

1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped fine

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (you want to go for the EVOO here; I used less than 1/4 cup, just drizzled to coat)

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Seal beets in a foil packet.  Roast on a rimmed baking sheet until tender, about 75 minutes.  Cool completely. Rub beets to remove skins; slice (once again, I cubed for ease of eating rather than slice for presentation). Slice/cube tomatoes (halve cherry tomatoes, if using).  Arrange slices or toss together cubes of tomato with beets.  Top slices or gently toss cubes with feta, parsley, and olive oil; season with salt and pepper.

Aunt Lana's Potato Salad

Potatoes, boiled and cubed

hardboiled eggs, chopped

radishes, chopped fine

celery, chopped fine,

onion, chopped fine

mayonaise (my aunt uses Lite, but I use full fat; you could also try subbing greek yogurt for some of the mayo)

seasoning blend (my aunt uses a seasoning salt, like Lowry's; I used a salt free seasoning blend from Costco and added salt)

lemon pepper

Use quantities to your taste and gently fold all ingredients together.  Chill and serve.

This is the only potato salad I like!

Note: If you've been paying attention, I haven't used ANY of the cucumbers the past few weeks.  Those things taste like poison to me and I can smell them across the room, so I've been giving all the cucumbers to a friend.  :)

CSA Week 11

Last week we got: 8 ears of corn, 2.5 lbs tomatoes, 1 bell pepper, 2 hot jalapenos, 3 anaheim peppers, 2 pounds purple sun potatoes, 2 fresh sweet onions, 1 red onion, 1 head garlic, 2 red & 1 chioggia beets, 1 bunch carrots, 1 lb zucchini, 4 patty pan squash, 2 cucumbers, 2 lb green beans, 1 lettuce, 1 bunch kale, 1 bunch sage, 1 bunch basil

Ummm, looks like I forgot to take a picture...or I don't remember which I device I used!

I feel like I lost a week somewhere, but the CSA week numbers work out.  So, the conclusion I have to draw is that I have lost my mind with all the preserving of food I've been doing just to keep up with all the produce coming into our house.  We've got the CSA, which is already a lot!  But we've got produce from our garden, my dad's garden, and from my sister in-law's orchard.  If I'm not doing one food preservation project every day I'm falling behind!  We've got canned applesauce, pickled beets, and jam.  Dried plums. And frozen everything else (vegetable stock, zucchini bread, carrot cupcakes, green beans).  It's not like I'm not busy normally, so the past few weeks have been exhausting!

Anyway, here's what we did this week:

Turkey burgers (with lettuce and tomato), grilled corn on the cob and sweet onions

BLTs with grilled squash and sweet onions

Meatloaf with garlic mashed potatoes and green salad (lettuce, squash, sweet onion, tomatoes)

Grilled salmon, sweet onions, and squash with kale and sweet corn salad

Shrimp stir fry (squash, sweet onions, beet greens, garlic, threw in celery and ginger, too) with white rice

Beet gnocchi with pecan sage brown butter (recipe below), Caprese salad (tomato, basil, mozarella)

Crookneck squash and sweet corn saute (made this twice and brought it to a couple Labor Day barbeques; it was yummy!)

I made up everything as I went along except the gnocchi and the squash saute, so we're sparse on actual recipes this week.  The beet recipe came from the weekly flyer, so here it is!

Beet Gnocchi with Pecan Sage Butter

2 lbs medium beets, scrubbed (you actually need less, which I'll mention below, but this is what the recipe calls for)

Oil for brushing the beets (I used grapeseed oil)

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 cup (aka 8 ounce tub) ricotta (I had mascarpone, and subbed it; worked fine)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

pinch of nutmeg, preferably freshly grated (makes a HUGE difference)

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiana-Reggiana cheese (3 ounces), plus more for serving

3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (I used pecans)

3/4 cup unsalted butter (stick and a half)

16 small sage leaves

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 375. In a 9-inch square baking dish, brush the beets with oil and season with salt and pepper. Add 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish and cover tightly with foil.  Bake the beets for about 1 hour, until tender. Uncover the dish and let the beets cool completely.

Peel the beets and cut them into 1-inch pieces. Transfer the beets to a food processor and puree.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, combine 1 1/2 cups of the beet puree (reserve any remaining puree for another use;  yeah, that's what the recipe said. I had over a cup of puree left and I'm still not sure what to do with it...it seems the recipe author couldn't be bothered to actually get even close to the right amount of beets.  I'd say, you need closer to 1.25 lbs whole beets, but that's a rough estimate) with the ricotta, egg, nutmeg, the 3/4 cup of Parmigiana, 1 tablespoon of salt, and black pepper to taste and mix at low speed until combined.  Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the side of the bowl.  Sprinkle on the 3 cups of flour and mix at low speed until the dough just comes together, about 1 minute.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently just until smooth but still slightly sticky. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Line a baking sheet with wax paper and generously dust with flour.  Cut the gnocchi dough into 10 pieces and roll each into a 1/2-inch thick rope. Cut the ropes into 1/2 inch pieces and transfer the gnocchi to the prepared baking sheet.

Gnocchi in process.

Lightly oil another baking sheet.  In a large, deep skillet of simmering salted water, cook one-fourth of the gnocchi until they rise to the surface, then simmer for 1 minute longer, or until they are cooked through. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the gnocchi to the oiled baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining uncooked gnocchi.

In a very large skillet, toast the chopped nuts over moderate heat, tossing, until golden and fragrant, 3-5 minutes.  Transfer to a plate and let cool.

Add the butter to the skillet and cook until golden brown, 2-3 minutes.  Add the sage leaves and cook for 20 seconds, then stir in the lemon juice.  Add the gnocchi and cook for 1 minute, tossing gently.  Season with salt and transfer the gnocchi to plates.  Sprinkle with toasted nuts and serve, passing Parmigiana at the table.