Pork Tenderloin with Apples & Onions, Potato Gratin & Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Is there anything worse than being sick on Christmas? Well, sure there is...but it still sucks. What was a low-grade cold a week ago has settled into my chest and ears and is not letting go. It's unpleasant. But, at least I can make and eat delicious food. 

The pork dish and potato gratin are conglomerations of various recipes I found online (as is my way). I had some baby bella mushrooms I was going to saute and layer in with the potatoes, but I decided to make things easier and skip that. I also baked the gratin in my new present of a convection toaster oven (thanks rob!)...our old one got a permanently stuck temperature dial. If your regular oven is big enough you can probably put all of these in together if you time it right. 

We drank Brothers Drake "Ginger Verve" mead with this, which I'd ordered online for xmas gifts (and for me). Also used that in the pork dish. Yum!

This meal serves about 3.

Potato Gratin

- Slice 4 medium potatoes very thinly (I used a mandoline). Grate about 1 cup of Gruyere cheese.

- Butter an 8x8 baking dish. Arrange one layer of  potato slices, overlapping. Season generously with salt, pepper and whatever other spices you want (I used Penzey's roasted garlic powder). Top with 1/3 of the cheese.

- Make 2 more layers (including seasoning), but hold back the last third of the cheese.

- Pour about 1 cup of liquid over, which can be heavy cream, half & half, milk or broth. I used a mixture of cream, half & half and broth. Top with the remaining cheese.

- Cover with foil and bake at 375 for about 1 hour. Remove the foil for that last 10 minutes or so (broil if needed to get the top browned).

Pork Tenderloin with Apples & Onions

- Season 1 pork tenderloin all over with salt, pepper and dried thyme. Heat a Dutch oven or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add some olive oil and sear the pork on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Remove the pork to a plate.

- Cut 1 onion in half, and then into large pieces. Add to the pan and stir frequently. Peel 1 apple & cut into chunks. Add apple to pan and saute a few minutes, until tender.

- Deglaze pan with a splash of mead or white wine, then add about 3/4 cup chicken broth (or just use all broth). Scrape up the browned bits.

- Lay pork back on top of onions & apples, and put in a 375 degree onion until it reaches 150 (mine only took about 20 minutes). 

- Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the onions & apples onto a serving platter and lay the pork on top. Put the pan back over medium heat, add about a tablespoon of dijon mustard, and let the liquid boil/reduce for a few minutes (if I'd had more broth I would have added some to make more sauce).

- Slice the pork and spoon the pan sauce over.

The Brussels sprouts are easy - just trim and halve the sprouts, toss with olive oil, salt & pepper, and roast on a baking sheet until browned - about 15 minutes. I had some cooked bacon so I diced a slice and tossed with the cooked sprouts.

Broccoli Parmesan Fritters

So our CSA's over, and I've been eating kinda crappily. Quelle surprise. Definitely overdue for a grocery trip, too. I bought some broccoli last week, and discovered some spots of mold had started on the head, but figured I could salvage it (I also ate some yogurt today that expired two weeks ago. Livin' on the edge!!). Also had some good parmesan cheese, and I remembered a Smitten Kitchen recipe for Broccoli Parmesan Fritters that I'd bookmarked years ago and never got around to making. Bazing!

Had some leftover quinoa, and I figured it'd be good over that, topped with a runny egg of course. And sriracha. 

Yup - trimmed away the questionable parts of the broccoli, steamed it, mashed a bit and then mixed with some other stuff. Quick pan-fry in a bit of olive oil.

Here's the recipe!

I bet even broccoli-haters would go for these.

Autumn Rainbow Quinoa Salad

The food blogosphere is littered with quinoa salad recipes...I'm almost embarrassed to post one. Almost. I would like to be eating more quinoa, but every time I think about buying it I wince at the price. I probably need to go to the bulk bins at the co-op more often. Anyhoo, I have this family gathering tomorrow and there are plenty of veggies from the Last Week to use, so I thought this would be a good thing to bring. 

We do have almost a full rainbow going on here: red (cranberries & red quinoa), orange/yellow (acorn squash), green (watercress & green onions) and purple (cabbage). And it's got sweet, sour, salty and bitter tastes going on. Some nuts and/or apples would be good in this too, and you can nix the cheese for a vegan salad.

- Cook 1 cup of quinoa in 2 cups salted water. When cooked, toss in a good handful of dried cranberries and let cool.

- Cut an acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Slice into wedges (don't bother peeling). Toss with some olive oil, salt & pepper and about a tablespoon of maple syrup. Roast on a baking sheet at 400 until soft. I broiled mine for a bit at the end. Cool slightly and cut the wedges into smaller pieces (or you could leave them whole and top each serving with a couple of wedges).

- Combine quinoa, squash, 2 chopped green onions, some thinly sliced purple cabbage, a handful of chopped watercress or spinach, and some cubed or crumbled feta cheese.

- Dressing: whisk a dab of dijon mustard, a dab of pomegranate molasses, juice of 1 lime, some pepper and around 1/3 cup olive oil. Pour over the salad and mix well.

Tastes pretty good now and I'm hoping it'll improve in the fridge overnight!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Recent fridge assessment found a lot of odds & ends & leftovers, and two acorn squash waiting patiently. I only used one squash for two of us (and have plans for the other) and ended up with leftover stuffing, but...put an egg on that and it's breakfast!

You can use whatever cooked grains, veggies/fruits and spices you want for the stuffing. This was an odd conglomeration of leftover rice, an onion, half a red pepper, a small carrot, some Russian kale, and a handful of dried cranberries, with some random spices. Saute the veggies, add the grains, moisten with a little stock or water. Some kinda protein would be good too, but I didn't bother.

For the squash: cut in half along one of the ridges (you can microwave it a bit first to soften, but if you use a sturdy sharp knife and go in stages, it works well). Scoop the seeds out. Rub the cut sides with a little oil and bake cut-side down at 400 until softened - mine took a little over 20 minutes.

Turn the squash over, sprinkle with salt and fill with the stuffing. Top with some cheese and bake for a few more minutes, til all is hot and melty.

Curried Sweet Potato Soup with Purple Cauliflower

The CSA keeps going! Turns out we have one more week after this one. Now we are officially inundated with sweet potatoes, so it's time to break out the immersion blender and make soup. We also got a head of purple cauliflower, and I couldn't resist garnishing the bright orange soup with these colorful florets. The cauliflower garnish is entirely optional - or you could use regular cauliflower or broccoli. You also won't use much, but leftover roasted cauliflower/broccoli is a nice thing to have on hand.

The amount of liquid in this soup will depend on how many sweet potatoes you use. I used two huge ones, one medium sized and one tiny one. I also threw in some leftover roasted acorn squash that was hanging around in the fridge. I ended up using a whole box of broth and the whole can of coconut milk, but err on the conservative side and you can always add more if needed.

- Peel a whole mess of sweet potatoes & cut into large chunks.

- Saute 1-2 chopped onions in a large pot with some olive oil. When soft, add a few chopped garlic cloves & cook briefly.

- Add spices: 1 tablespoon (or less) curry powder, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, a bit of garam masala (optional) and some salt.

- Add sweet potatoes, stir briefly, and pour in chicken or veggie broth (or water) to just barely cover.

- Cover the pot and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes.

- Optional: roast half (or a whole) head of purple (or regular) cauliflower: cut into small florets, toss with a little olive oil, salt & pepper, and roast on a baking sheet at 400 for about 20 minutes, until browned.

- Puree soup with an immersion blender or cool slightly & puree in batches in a blender.

- Add most of a can of coconut milk (more if it needs more liquid, or more broth/water) and a splash of lime juice. Taste for salt & reheat if necessary.

- Garnish each bowl with a few pieces of cauliflower and some chopped parsley or cilantro, if you have it.

More cauliflower pics, 'cause it's so pretty:

Roasted Roots Over Spinach Couscous

This is infinitely variable - you can use any mix of roots (in any quantity), any spices, top with an egg or maybe some sausage for added protein. I used all CSA veggies - sweet potatoes, carrots, celeriac (finally using the celeriac!), baby turnips and radishes. I thought it might need a little drizzle of something at the end so I mixed together a tad of olive oil & balsamic vinegar...but I think I could have skipped that. 

Roasted Roots:

- Cut assorted root vegetables into similar-size pieces, and place in a large bowl.

- Slice a couple of garlic cloves thinly and add to bowl.

- Toss with olive oil, salt & pepper and whatever spices you want (I used smoked paprika, Penzey's roasted garlic and Black & Red).

- Roast on a baking sheet (use two if necessary so veggies have room to brown) at 425 for about 20 minutes, or until done. Broil to get extra browned, if you like.

Spinach Couscous:

- Prepare instant couscous according to package directions.

- After adding couscous to the water, toss in some spinach leaves, then cover & let sit for a couple minutes.

- Toss to mix in spinach (it will wilt from the heat) & add some grated cheese if you like.

Sweet Potato, Black Bean, Avocado & Greens Bowl

We were really tempted to be lazy and order pizza tonight, but we have a lot of veggies on hand (I think this is the last week of our CSA), so I decided to be good and make something. I also had an avocado in a perfect state of ripeness that needed to be eaten. I briefly thought about going to the store to pick up things for this - didn't have onion or cilantro, and only half a small Chinese takeout container of leftover rice, which didn't seem like enough. I decided to make do with what I had, and it turned out delicious! Most of the seasoning was from garlic...and bacon. This could be easily vegan without the bacon, of course. Also...all our bowls were dirty so this was really a "plate," not a bowl...whatever!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes:

- Peel two large sweet potatoes & cut into large cubes.

- Toss with olive oil, salt and spices - I used Penzey's Chili 9000, cumin & roasted garlic.

- Roast on a baking sheet at 400 for about 20 minutes. I broiled for a few minutes for extra brown-ness.

Black Beans with Bacon & Garlic:

- Cut two strips of bacon into half-inch pieces and cook in a pan until crispy. Drain bacon pieces on paper towels. Save some of the bacon fat for greens, and leave some in the pan.

- Briefly saute 2 cloves of chopped garlic in the bacon fat.

- Add 1 can of black beans, drained & rinsed. 

- Season with chili powder, cumin & a splash of lime juice. Add bacon pieces back in.

Garlicky Greens:

- Saute 1 clove chopped garlic in a little bacon fat (or olive oil).

- Add chopped greens - I used a mix collards, kale and chard. Season with salt & pepper and cook until wilted & tender. Add a splash of lime juice.

To serve:

- Make a bed of cooked rice or other grains. 

- Pile the sweet potatoes, beans and greens around the rice.

- Add a bunch of sliced avocado.

- Drizzle the whole thing liberally with Cholula Chili Lime hot sauce.

Moroccan(ish) Vegetable Stew

Not purported to be authentically Moroccan, hence the (ish). From our CSA, this used an acorn squash, sweet potato, zucchini, kale and 4 large plum tomatoes. Sub veggies of your choice - any type of hard squash would be good. Vegan! Oh, and I forgot to get a pic. Not that exciting to look at, but tasty!

- Saute 1 chopped onion in olive oil until soft. Add 4 cloves of garlic, minced.

- Add spices: about 1 tablespoon cumin, smoked paprika, a bit of cinnamon, a bit of tumeric, and I threw in the last bit of a jar of Penzey's Turkish seasoning. Add a good amount of salt.

- Add cubed & peeled hard veggies - 1 acorn squash and 1 sweet potato.

- Add 4 chopped plum tomatoes (or used canned) and 2 cups of water or veggie broth. I also added a splash of apple cider.

- Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, until vegetables are soft. Optional: use an immersion blender to puree just a small amount of the stew to thicken.

- Add cubed zucchini, kale & 1 can chickpeas. Simmer until zucchini is tender. 

- Add about a tablespoon of pomegranate molasses (this is great stuff - kind of like balsamic vinegar but fruitier), and some hot sauce.

- Serve over rice or couscous.

Mac & Cheese with Roasted Cauliflower & Tomatoes

Made this to feed the band at practice tonight. It had a truckload of cheese in it, but it DOES have some vegetables...used up 1/2 a head of cauliflower and one of our large tomatoes, plus a store-bought red pepper. You could easily add more veggies to this - a whole head of cauliflower would be fine, some greens, roasted squash...anything. This made a ton of sauce so it could definitely have more "bulk." I also tried adding an egg to this - not sure if it made much difference, but...bit o'protein!

- Cut a half or whole head of cauliflower into small florets. Toss with some olive oil, salt and spices (I used a garlic-onion blend and smoked paprika) and roast on a baking sheet for 20 minutes at 425.

- Grate up a bunch of cheese - I used a package of Cabot extra sharp cheddar, and most of a wedge of gouda. It was probably at least 4 cups grated.

- Make the cheese sauce: in a medium-size pot, melt 1 stick of butter over med-low heat and add 1/2 cup of flour. Whisk and cook for about a minute, then slowly add 1 quart of milk. Increase heat and whisk frequently. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne, and dry or prepared mustard. Cook until thickened but not too thick. Then remove from heat and whisk in most of the cheese - hold back some to top the casserole. Let sauce cool a bit while you:

- Boil 1 package of pasta - I used mini penne, but regular elbows would be fine. Drain when quite al dente as it will cook more in the oven.

- Beat 1 egg and add a couple spoonfuls of cheese sauce to temper it - then whisk egg into the pot of sauce.

- Combine pasta, sauce and vegetables (I also threw in a diced red pepper).

- Grease a 13 x 9 baking dish and pour in pasta mixture. Cut a large ripe tomato into 6 or 7 slices and lay on top.

- Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Then top with reserved cheese and broil for about 5 minutes, until starting to brown and crisp.

Eat Your Greens Soup

This week's CSA haul of kale, collards, chard and cabbage was perfectly timed with my acquisition of an immersion blender. This many greens calls for special reinforcements!! Time to puree them up into a soup. First, prepping and washing them all...love my salad spinner for this. I just put the chopped greens in the basket, fill it up with water, swish & drain, repeat.

(I even took out almost a gallon-size plastic bag's worth before this photo, for rob's breakfast scramble creations.)

- Saute lots of chopped onion and the chopped chard stems in olive oil in a large pot.
- Add 3 cloves chopped garlic.
- Spice to taste - I used Penzey's Mural of Flavor; ended up adding a bit of Black & Red and smoked paprika at the end.
- Add 1/2 head cabbage, chopped. Cook for a few minutes, until wilted.
- Add a load of mixed chopped greens - kale, collards, chard.
- Add 3 medium potatoes, cubed.
- Cover with 2 cartons chicken broth (or vegetable broth).
- Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
- Puree with an immersion blender.
- Add a splash of lemon or lime juice, and optional - a bit of half & half or heavy cream.

The new blender - yes, it's green!

I had a hunk of stale French bread, so I also whipped up some homemade croutons. Though the color is a bit alarming, this was really good. Greens have been conquered!

Pasta with Leftover Brisket, Chard & Tomatoes

I came home from my gig last night with a tub of leftover brisket. It wasn't stellar in the BBQ sandwich I had at the party, but I figured I could turn it into something good. Had some chard and tomatoes from the CSA to use up, so...pasta dish! I would have put an onion in this but couldn't find the one I thought I had, then discovered half of it in the fridge when this was almost done. Ah well, it was still good.

- Saute 4 cloves chopped garlic in olive oil briefly (start with onion, if you have some).

- Add leftover brisket, chopped or shredded.

- Add 2 large tomatoes, chopped (or used canned). Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

- Add a few handfuls of chopped chard leaves and cook for a few more minutes.

- Add salt, pepper & hot sauce to taste...maybe a splash of half & half. I also added a little bit of BBQ sauce that I had with the brisket.

- Use short, chunky pasta like rigatoni, and serve with parmesan.

Kale, Potato, Squash & White Bean Soup

I've returned home from a month-long tour, and though we did have some great restaurant meals on the road, eating out definitely gets old after awhile. Towards the end of the trip, two of the folks we stayed with made us pots of soup, and it was SO good after a spate of eating mostly heavy/fried pub food. Vegetables!! They can be a rarity while traveling. And we've had several days of cold & rainy weather, so that calls for more soup!

Our return coincided with the Thursday pickup of CSA veggies, so we had kale, tomatoes and Delicata squash which went into this soup. I've never used Delicata - it's an oblong winter squash that I read is like butternut, but easier to deal with and you don't have to peel it. Truth! Much easier to cut and chop than butternut.

I find soup recipes a little silly, 'cause soups are good for throwing in whatever you have and improvising. But, here's what went into this one (easily made vegan by leaving out the sausage - probably use 2 cans of beans in that case - and use veggie broth). This was definitely a chop-and-dump, so I prepared things in this order as each one went into the pot:

- 2 Andouille sausages, halved and sliced - saute in olive oil in large pot.

- 1 large onion, chopped

- 4 cloves garlic, minced

- 4 potatoes, cubed

- thyme & smoked paprika

- 2 boxes low-sodium chicken stock

- 1 Delicata squash, cubed (after adding, simmer for 15 minutes)

- 1 can white beans

- 1 large tomato, chopped

- 1 bunch kale, stemmed & chopped (simmer for a few more minutes)

- salt & hot sauce to taste

Garlicky, Cheesy Spaghetti Squash with Spinach

Let me be clear - I don't have anything against good old pasta. But I had half a spaghetti squash to use up, and this happens to be low-carb/gluten free if that floats your boat (top with a fried egg for a complete meal). Don't pretend it's actual spaghetti, just enjoy it for what it is! Spaghetti squash has a pretty neutral, slightly sweet flavor. You can add whatever odd vegetable/meat bits you might have hanging around.

I usually roast spaghetti squash in the oven, but it's 90+ degrees today and I also didn't want to wait 45 minutes for it to cook. The microwave does a pretty decent job - but unless you have a huge microwave, you can probably only cook one half at a time. That of course works out if you only have half a squash! If you want to cook a whole one, I'd probably just do it in the oven.

- Scrape out the seeds from half a spaghetti squash (be careful when cutting and use a sharp knife). Place cut-side down in a glass or ceramic dish and add water to come slightly up the sides.

- Microwave for 6 minutes, carefully flip the squash over and cook for another 6 minutes. See if it's soft when pierced with a knife. I put mine in for another couple minutes.

- Meanwhile, slice a small onion thinly and saute in some butter & olive oil until browned. 

- When squash is done, drain the water and scrape up the flesh with a fork into spaghetti-like strands.

- Add a clove of minced garlic to the onion and cook for a few seconds. Add a couple big handfuls of baby spinach and stir until just wilted.

- Scrape the squash strands into the pan, season with salt & pepper, and mix everything together well.

- Add some grated cheese and let sit in the pan for a bit to melt.

- Optional - top with a fried egg.

Roasted Summer Veggies & Jalapeno-Bacon-Cheddar Grits

More eggplant this week! No PRO-blem! For the veggies, use whatever assortment you have. It'll be delicious. I used our CSA eggplant, green peppers, garlic and tomatoes, plus half a large onion. Chickpeas would be good if you want some more protein (or a fried egg on top, which I think I'll do with the leftovers for breakfast), but it's pretty filling already. I sort of wished this was a little saucier but it was good as-is. For the grits, use quick-cooking if you want (and leave out bacon and/or dairy if you want), but the old-fashioned stone-ground kind are delicious if you have the time. Or use polenta, same concept. I think I'm down to two out of the 10 or so jalapenos we got last week. It's been a spicy week.

Jalapeno-Bacon-Cheddar Grits:

(start these first if using the stone-ground kind)

- Boil 6 cups water in a large, heavy pot. Add some salt.

- Lower heat to medium and pour in 1 1/2 cups of stone-ground grits. Whisk well.

- Cook for about 20 minutes, whisking occasionally. Add 1-2 minced jalapenos* and turn the heat down to low.

- After 30-40 minutes total the grits should be thickened & smooth. Add a couple pats of butter and a splash of half & half.

- Add some grated cheddar cheese and some diced cooked bacon (2 strips)

* if you have the patience to roast jalapenos, that would be tasty - add at the end instead. 

Roasted Summer Veggies:

- Heat oven to 450.

- Cut vegetables into similar-sized 1-inch-ish pieces: eggplant, peppers, onions, squash, etc.

- Toss veggies in a bowl with some minced garlic, 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt & pepper and whatever other spices you want.

- Spread on a baking sheet and roast for about 15 minutes.

- Stir veggies and add a couple of tomatoes, cut into large chunks.

- Roast for another few minutes.

- Tear some fresh basil over the top and serve the veggies over the grits.

Pre-roasted veggies

Cantaloupe-Cucumber Salsa & Spice-Rubbed London Broil

I've never made either of these things before but I thought they would go together well for a potluck I was attending, and the salsa made good use of the cantaloupe, jalapenos and tomato from our last CSA haul. The salsa was good, but the London Broil was GREAT, and I should remember this for the future. It was really easy and not expensive (under $7 and would probably make 4-6 dinner servings), and disappeared pretty quickly at the party. I think more people ate the salsa with chips than with the meat, but it's good with chips too. Also over eggs the next morning.

Cantaloupe-Cucumber Salsa

The essentials in this (according to most recipes online) are the cantaloupe, lime juice, onion, jalapeno and cilantro - but the other veggies are good in it as well.

- Dice half a red onion and add to a bowl with the juice of 1 lime while you prepare the other ingredients (I have a theory this starts pickling/mellowing the raw onion; not sure if that's true but go for it...)

- Cut half a cantaloupe into small cubes and add to the bowl. Dice finely and add: 1-2 jalapenos, seeded* (two made it fairly spicy), half a red bell pepper, 1 large cucumber (seeded), 1 large tomato (if in-season and awesome, otherwise don't bother), and about half a bunch of cilantro. Season with salt and toss well.

*I put a plastic produce bag over one hand when I cut/seed jalapenos to prevent the Dreaded Burning.

Spice-Rubbed London Broil

I've seen recipes for coffee-rubbed steak and thought that might be good, but I only mixed a little finely ground coffee in with this to keep it subtle. 'Twas delicious; coffee's probably optional. I did not measure the spices but there was probably about 2 Tablespoons of the rub total. Use whatever floats your boat. I'm sure this would be good on the grill too, but it's easy in the broiler.

- Take yer London Broil out of the fridge. Might be sold as "top round" depending on the store. I think my piece was between 1-1.5 lbs.

- Mix together the spice rub. I used cumin, smoked paprika, a garlic-onion blend, chili powder and kosher salt. Optional - add a teaspoon or so of finely ground coffee beans.

- Coat the meat with a little bit of olive oil and rub the rub on both sides. Let sit while you preheat the broiler. 

- Preheat your oven's broiler and a broiler pan (or baking sheet with a rack on it).

- Put steak on the pan and broil for 5 minutes on each side which should hopefully be a perfect medium rare.

- Let sit for 10 minutes and slice thinly against the grain.

Beef & Eggplant Stew with Spinach-Feta Couscous & Yogurt Sauce

This was an experiment, but turned out delicious! Wanted to try something different with eggplant and I had some ground beef in the freezer, so I googled "beef eggplant" and kind of improvised this from several recipes I found. Sorta Greek, sorta middle easternish. The eggplant isn't very forthright in this, so if you're not a big eggplant fan, you'll probably like it. Besides 1/2 of a large eggplant, the other CSA veggies were garlic, jalapeno, green pepper, tomatoes and chives. If you'd like the beef mixture to be a little saucier, you could add a can of tomato sauce.

Beef & Eggplant Stew:

- 1 onion, chopped finely

- 1/2 large eggplant (or 1 medium), cut in small cubes

- 1 lb ground beef

- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced (save a little bit for the yogurt sauce)

- 1 jalapeno, minced

- 1 green pepper, chopped

- 2 tsp Penzey's Turkish Blend (or cumin & oregano)

- 1 tsp smoked paprika

- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

- splash of red wine 

- 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped

In a large skillet, saute onion in olive oil until soft. Add eggplant, season with salt and cook over medium-high heat until eggplant browns & softens. Remove mixture to a plate. Cook ground beef in same pan until no longer pink. If there's a lot of fat, spoon off some of it. Add garlic, jalapeno, green pepper and spices (+salt & pepper), and cook for a couple minutes. Add red wine, tomatoes and the eggplant & onion mixture. Lower heat, cover & cook for about 15 minutes. Add a bit of water if it seems dry. Serve over couscous & top with yogurt sauce. 

Spinach-Feta Couscous:

- Boil 2 cups of water with some salt. Add 1 box instant couscous.

- Throw in a couple big handfuls of baby spinach, cover pot and let sit off heat for a couple minutes.

- Stir & add a couple pats of butter and some crumbled feta. Toss until spinach is wilted & taste for salt.

Yogurt Sauce:

Stir together 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt (2%), some minced garlic, chives, salt and pepper & the juice of 1 lime or lemon. If you have mint or other herbs that would be good, and/or some chopped cucumber.

Summer Vegetable Chowder

This was supposed to be corn chowder because I'd been gifted a whole bunch of corn...but all but 2 of the ears were shriveled. Meh. Luckily I had plenty of other veggies on hand to fill it out (all CSA), including some cabbage and a lone pattypan squash that were almost ready to be tossed...almost.

Like any soup this is totally adaptable for what's on hand. Can easily be made vegetarian or vegan, or gluten free if you cut out the flour step (I really don't think that did much thickening anyway). 

- In a large pot, heat some oil or bacon fat and saute some chopped garlic (and onion if you have it; I didn't).

- Add a tablespoon of flour and cook briefly. Pour in a box of chicken or veggie broth (or you could use water) and mix/whisk well. 

- Add cubed potatoes, chopped cabbage and any other long-cooking veggies. If you're using fresh corn, add a couple of the corn cobs after you cut the kernels off. Cover & cook for 15 minutes or so, until potatoes are almost tender. Remove the corn cobs.

- Add quick-cooking vegetables. I used corn, chopped tomatillos, pattypan squash, green pepper and jalapeno pepper. Add more water if necessary & cook until tender.

- Add spices - I used chili powder - and taste for salt. Oh, I also added some turmeric as the color was looking a little blah.

- Optionally, puree some of the soup (if you do this, I don't think you need to bother with the flour step). I added a splash of half & half.

- Before serving, add fresh chopped tomato and chives or other herbs. Basil or cilantro would be great. Hot sauce? Probably. Garnish with bacon? Yes please.

Potato-Veggie Breakfast Hash

I have some variation of this at least once a week for breakfast (or brinner). There's always potatoes, but I'll mix in whatever veggies are on hand...baby spinach, bell peppers, etc. This one was all CSA stuff - red potatoes, zucchini & thinly sliced jalapenos. With the eggs, it's all one pan!

- Heat a frying pan (I use non-stick) on medium-high heat. Cube potatoes fairly small.
- Saute potatoes in olive oil or bacon fat (<--YUM) for...awhile, until browned. Let them sit for a few minutes on each side to cook properly. Season with salt & whatever seasonings you want (I use a garlic/onion blend and/or chili powder and/or smoked paprika).
- When potatoes are pretty much done, add whatever other veggies you want. If they are pretty quick-cooking, proceed to the next step:
- Lower the heat and crack a couple (or however many you want) eggs carefully over the mixture. Cover the pan and cook until the eggs are done to your liking. This always takes longer than I think, even for runny yolks - about 10 minutes. You could probably run it under the broiler to speed up the process...or just wait and drink some coffee. Watch carefully towards the end as there always seems to be a 30-second window where the eggs go from runny to hard. Runny is good.
- Slide (or dig) out of the pan, apply salt & perhaps some hot sauce to the eggs, and eat! I like some fancy black lava salt I got as a gift. And no hot sauce on this one as the jalapenos were plenty!

Tomatillo Cucumber What-Have-You

An exciting CSA haul today! Tomatillos, corn, jalapenos, onion, heirloom tomatoes...and we still had a bunch of cucumbers left. I was thinking...salsa? Gazpacho? Well, I don't have a blender, so this turned into more of a salad...I don't know, it's a what-have-you.

Here are the CSA players (plus a big heirloom tomato):

Everything got chopped small (garlic minced) - corn left raw 'cause it's so fresh. Raw tomatillos are pretty tart, but they get mellowed by the other stuff in the mix.

I added a can of black beans and a bunch of chopped cilantro. Then made a little bit of dressing from the juice of 1 lime, salt, chili powder and olive oil. 

Rob randomly bought some tostada shells and I was like "huh, what are you gonna do with that?" He didn't have a plan, but...ding! Threw some grated cheddar on a couple, warmed in the toaster oven and piled the what-have-you on top. Scooped out an avocado and dotted with some Meier Devil's Envy hot sauce (great folks we found at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival). 

No-cook and tasty! This would also probably be great if you roasted the corn, tomatillos & jalapenos, but no heat is good right now.

Red Cabbage Salad with Avocado

This week's CSA veggies included red/purple cabbage, cucumbers and carrots, which all went in this salad. I also found some romaine lettuce in the fridge that was at least a week old but was magically still good, so I threw that in. You could certainly add other veggies, and if I'd had green onions and cilantro they would have been great here.

Place in a large bowl:
- 1/2 a red cabbage, cored & shredded
- grated carrots
- cucumber, cubed or sliced
For the dressing, whisk together:
- dijon mustard
- lime juice
- honey/maple syrup (I have some fancy "ginger syrup" that I used)
- pomegranate molasses (you can leave out or use some balsamic vinegar)
- salt & pepper
- olive oil
Toss the vegetables with most of the dressing, then top with:
- 1 avocado, cubed
Optional but delicious:
- bacon
- crushed tortilla chips
Nuts would be good too. Put in all the things!
Drizzle with a little more dressing and dig in.

This was still good the next day but had lost some of the punch of the dressing. I used half the avocado the first time and the rest of it the next day.

Mixed Vegetable Coconut Curry

This is not authentic! Nor is it particularly stunning to look at! But it's easy and tasty. And it's vegan + gluten-free if that floats your boat. This used up our remaining CSA haul of 1/2 a cabbage, 1/2 a cauliflower, yellow squash, onion and potatoes. You can really use any vegetables, and play around with the spices. Start a pot of brown rice when you start cooking this and it'll be done at the same time.

- In a large pot, put some vegetable oil and some mustard seeds & cumin seeds (if you're only using ground spices, start with the next step). Turn on the heat to medium and wait for the seeds to start popping.

- Add some chopped onion & saute until soft. Add minced garlic, and after a minute, add ground spices. I used hot curry powder, garam masala, turmeric & ground ginger. Ending up adding ground cumin at the end, so probably add that too! If you have fresh ginger, use that.

- Add a couple cups of water (or veg. broth would be good), and whatever vegetables you're using. Will summer squash be done before cubed potatoes? Yeah. But I just threw it all in together. It's fine. Though if you're using leafy greens, add them later. 

- If needed, add more water to almost-cover (cabbage wilts down a lot, so keep that in mind) and simmer until vegetables are almost done. Taste for salt (if you used water & not broth, it will probably need a good amount). 

- Add 1 can of chickpeas (drained & rinsed) and 1 can of coconut milk and simmer a few minutes more. I thickened with a little cornstarch, but that probably wasn't necessary as it gets thicker when it sits.

- Before serving, add some lime juice and chopped cilantro. Hot sauce? Probably.

Less Fussy/Less Fatty Eggplant Parm

Heh - after I wrote this I realized I made pretty much the same thing back in 2012...

Today's CSA pickup included one ginormous eggplant that I had to cut in half to give to our share-sharers...so I figured I'd better use it up quick. Eggplant parmesan sounded good, but I have no patience for the fussy multi-step casserole versions where you have to salt it, fry it, layer it, bake it, etc. Came up with my own version that was fairly easy and hopefully not as fatty as traditional versions. Exact quantities? Meh! Ain't got time for that! This made two large servings with some extra sauce.

Tomato Sauce:

- In a pot, saute 2-3 cloves chopped garlic in olive oil briefly. Add one large can of whole tomatoes, mash up with a potato masher, and simmer while you prepare the eggplant. Add salt, pepper, hot pepper flakes to taste, maybe some sugar. Fresh basil at the end if you have it.

Eggplant:

- Preheat oven to 400. Coat a baking sheet with olive oil & stick it in the oven to heat up. I line mine with foil first.

- Slice eggplant about 1/2 inch thick. Beat 1 egg with a little water in a bowl. In another bowl, mix together some panko breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese and whatever seasonings you want. Dip the eggplant in the egg and then coat with crumbs. Lay on the baking sheet, drizzle with a little more oil & bake for about 25 mins. Broil if you want to really crisp up the top.

Now cook some pasta, toss with about 2/3 of the sauce and some shredded mozzarella or Italian blend cheese. I put the pasta in a small casserole dish, topped with eggplant, more sauce & more cheese and stuck it in the oven for a couple minutes. Or you could put it on a plate & nuke it briefly to melt the cheese.

Food Fails & Fridge Finds

Got home from a 10-day tour yesterday - we did make a stop at the grocery store at the end of our 6-hour drive, but only for eggs, bread and potatoes, as we were too brain-dead to intelligently shop for other things. This afternoon I assessed the contents of the fridge - which included the remains of last week's CSA veggies - and found Chioggia beets, summer squash, some mostly wilted/brown basil, and some old but still firm celery. The freezer revealed some frozen cod fillets I'd forgotten about. Though another trip to the store was definitely in order, I didn't feel like it, and figured I could wrangle some dinner from what was there.

However I definitely had some food fails for this meal. Don't know if it's because I haven't cooked for myself in almost two weeks, but...ugh. I decided to make potato salad first and started with some hard-boiled eggs. For some reason I thought I needed to look up how long to boil them for (yeah, that brain-dead thing). I turned to the usually-trusty app for Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything," which said to put them in water, then bring to a boil, then turn off and leave them in there for 9 minutes. Sounded about right. Nope - underdone, impossible to peel, not salvageable for other egg eating. However the potato salad turned out fine without eggs (standard mayo-mustard dressing with celery and some chives still hanging around in the garden).

I decided to roast the summer squash and beets in the oven, and though a little voice was saying to me "the beets are gonna take longer than the squash," I cut the beets small and the squash large, and tossed them all in together with oil/salt/pepper. Nope. Had to extricate the squash and put the beets in for another 10 minutes.

Our host in IL sent us home with a baggie of shelled pistachios, so I decided to make pistachio-crusted cod: pulverized the nuts with a rolling pin, combined with panko breadcrums, spices & olive oil (note...use more oil), spread a thin layer of dijon mustard on the fish and pressed the mixture onto it. Baked at 400 for about 20 minutes.

It all came out alright, but the brain was not firing on all cylinders. And I gotta go to the store again.

CSA Reboot - Mess o' Greens & Roasted Roots

Oh happy day; we've rejoined the CSA! Back on board with One Straw Farm for 2015, and we're into week two of the season. Lately I haven't been inspired for new & exciting & complicated dishes, but you don't really need complicated with these ingredients. As before we are getting a bunch of leafy greens in the early deliveries, so:

 

Sauteed Chard, Kale, Turnip & Kohrabi Greens with Garlic Scapes
- Remove the chard stems & chop separately.
- De-stem, wash & chop all the greens.
- Slice the garlic scapes into small diagonal pieces.
- Saute chard stems & scapes in olive oil for a couple minutes.
- Add greens in batches, as they wilt down. Saute until tender, 5 minutes-ish.
- Season with salt & pepper. Add a few dashes of balsamic vinegar & a drizzle maple syrup to taste, maybe some hot sauce.
(I would go back and add some minced garlic to this too. The scapes are super-pungent when raw, but mellow quite a bit when cooked.)

Roasted Kohlrabi, Baby Turnips & Potatoes
- Peel kohlrabi & turnips, cube them and some potatoes.
- Toss with some olive oil, salt & whatever spices you want. I used a garlic/herb blend & smoked paprika.
- Spread on a baking sheet & roast at 450 for 20-30 minutes or until browned.

ilyCHILI

ilyCHILI for Happy Band Practices (vegan!)

Like any good band practice or chili recipe, you should improvise.

- In a large pot, sauté 1 onion, chopped, until soft.

- Add a few minced garlic cloves

- Add spices: I used cumin, Penzey’s Chili 9000, a bit of ancho chile powder. Smoked paprika is good but I’m out.

- Add 1 small can tomato paste, stir for a minute

- Add 1 bottle o’ beer (I used a black lager), and 1-2 chipotle chilis in adobo, mushed up.

- Add 1 large can of diced tomatoes and bring to a simmer.

- Meanwhile, peel & chop a sweet potato into small cubes. Add to the pot.

- Chop a red and a yellow bell pepper & add to pot. Add 1 large can of black beans & 1 can of white beans. Add water to just cover.

- Simmer until sweet potato is soft.

- Can add frozen corn if there is room in the pot!

- When it’s ready to eat, add a bunch of chopped cilantro, lime juice, salt if it needs it, etc.

- Serve with tortilla chips, sour cream, avocado, etc.