Week 21: Southwestern Veggie Casserole

A busy weekend of friends visiting and not much cooking. This week we got sweet potatoes, mustard greens, kale, lettuce, green cabbage, bok choy, dill and cilantro. Maybe some green peppers...or maybe they were leftover from last week. We usually get green peppers!

Today I got to have Sunday brunch for the first time in many years. Took the day off and friends and I went to Great Sage, a vegan restaurant I've wanted to try that's gotten rave reviews from vegan and meat-eating friends. One of my visiting friends is a vegetarian, and the other had been on a bit of a "bacon bender" while here, so this seemed the logical choice. Their brunch was yummy. I had the "Baltimore Benedict:"

Artichoke "crabcake," tofu poached "egg," tomato and Hollandaise sauce with roasted potatoes. There were a lot of quotation marks on the menu! Really tasty; the "crabcake" had a nice Old Bay flavor and I think quinoa was involved. Curious about how they make vegan Hollandaise.

Anyway, not sure if I was inspired by that, but I made a vegetarian casserole for dinner (+ lots of leftovers). Not vegan--I wanted cheese in it--though it could have easily been.

Still had all the sweet potatoes from last week (a double portion as Sharif & Joanna were away), and those plus this week's were getting a little moldy. So I peeled them all, cut off the bad bits, boiled until soft and mashed them. Froze about half the mash and used the rest in the casserole. Went a little something like this:

- 2 cups cooked brown rice
- 1 cup mashed sweet potato
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 small green peppers, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- chili powder, cumin, salt & pepper
- 1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
- 1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo, mashed
- 1 small bunch kale, thinly sliced
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 2 cups grated cheese
- 1/2 cup sour cream

Saute the onion in olive oil until tender. Add green pepper & garlic; cook a few minutes & add spices. Add black beans, tomatoes & chipotle, simmer for a few minutes. Add kale & cook until wilted.

Preheat oven to 350. Combine rice, sweet potato & vegetable mixture in large bowl. Add cilantro, 1 cup of cheese & sour cream; mix well. Grease a 9 x 13" baking dish with a little olive oil; add mixture & spread evenly. Bake for 20 minutes. Top with remaining cheese & broil until cheese is bubbly.

Very good. The sweet potato adds a creamy texture and balances the heat of the chipotle.

Stir-Fried Purple Broccoli & Bok Choy

This was a nice side dish with Trader Joe's crab-stuffed flounder (which are affectionately known as "toads" in our household):

According to The Internets, purple broccoli seems to be popular in the UK, where it's called "PSB" (Purple Sprouting Broccoli). Tastes just like regular broccoli, and the purple florets are more evident when raw.

Very simple: stir-fried the broccoli and bok choy stems, adding a little water to help them steam. Then added chopped scallions, the bok choy leaves, hot pepper flakes, a little soy sauce and lemon juice.

Greens, Sausage, Potato & White Bean Soup

This used up a whole mess o' greens!

That's 1 1/2 bunches of mustard greens and 1/2 a bunch of Swiss chard. Took awhile to wash & chop all this!

To make the soup, I cooked 3 links of Italian sausage, breaking it up in the pot. Removed sausage to a larger pot and then sauteed an onion and garlic in the drippings with a little olive oil. Added a whole bunch of cubed potatoes and some smoked paprika. Then this went in the large pot with 2 boxes of chicken stock. Simmered about 20 minutes, until the potatoes were done.

Then I added a can of white beans, and the greens. Had to add some more water too. Cooked a few minutes until the greens were tender. Taste for salt at the end...and I added some hot sauce.

Sort of like a Portuguese caldo verde. Made a huge pot...we've got lots of leftovers, and some for the freezer.

Massaged Kale Salad

Made this amazing salad again yesterday and the recipe was requested. Realized I drifted enough from the original recipe my sister sent me that I should just post my version. This still remains possibly my favorite dish I've made since the CSA started! It also keeps a few days in the fridge - this pic was taken of leftovers the next day and it's still nice and fresh. Super-healthy and really tasty. If you have never tried kale (especially raw), I guarantee you'll like this!

Massaged Kale Salad: Quantities don't have to be exact. I like the "handful" approach.

-1 large bunch kale (can augment with other greens such as Swiss chard, spinach and even lettuce. Kale should be the main thing though. This will make short work of a huge bunch, so don't worry about buying too much!)
-3/4 tsp kosher salt
-1 apple (I like a tart Granny Smith)
-2 Tbl. cider vinegar
-3 scallions, chopped
-2 handfuls dried cranberries
-2 handfuls chopped walnuts, lightly toasted in a dry skillet
-4 Tbl. extra virgin olive oil
-Crumbled goat cheese

Wash the kale thoroughly, remove tough ribs. Stack leaves, roll up and slice. Put kale in a large bowl and add salt. Rub the salt into the kale for a couple minutes. Let sit while you prepare the other ingredients.

Core & chop the apple (no need to peel unless the peel's waxy or icky). In a serving bowl, toss the apple with the vinegar (this will stop it from turning brown). Add the scallions, cranberries and walnuts.

Add the kale, drizzle with the olive oil and toss thoroughly. Then crumble in the goat cheese. Salad should sit for at least a few minutes before serving.

Week 20: Back to the beginning?

So here we are at week 20...4 more weeks to go in the CSA. And apparently we have a return to the beginning with greens, greens and more greens. To make it even more challenging, Sharif and Joanna are away this week, so I think rob and I have to tackle this all ourselves:

Let's see...kale (I think this is "dinosaur kale"), mustard greens (haven't used last week's!), swiss chard, two heads each of red romaine and green leaf lettuce, bok choy and green peppers (still have a green pepper stash). And sweet potatoes there in the back! Not green!

Well, perhaps we will see a return of the amazing kale salad. And maybe some type of soup with greens & sausage. And...salads.

Now for my next trick...stuffing all this in the fridge. Sigh.

Braised Red Cabbage with Apples

 

-Saute 1/2 a red onion in a bit of butter until tender
-Add 1/2 head red cabbage, thinly sliced. Season with salt & pepper; saute for a few minutes.
-Peel & thinly slice an apple. Add to pan along with 1/4 cup apple cider.
-Cover & cook for about 10 minutes, til cabbage is tender.
-Add a splash of cider vinegar.

Served this with roasted potatoes and some pork chops similar to the recipe I made a couple of weeks ago. Pan sauce with some red onion, splash of mead to deglaze, cider, chicken stock & dijon mustard.

Was tired & ready to eat so I didn't get a pic of the whole meal! I think this is my favorite cabbage dish so far.

Penne with Roasted Butternut Squash & Chard

A variation on one of my favorite pasta dishes, using last week's butternut squash and this week's chard. I'll actually provide a recipe and step-by-step for a change!

- 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded & chopped in ~1-inch pieces*
- 1 Tbl olive oil
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 4 slices bacon, diced (can easily be made without, if that's how you roll)
- 1 red onion, halved & thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- pinch crushed red pepper
- 1/2 bunch ruby chard, stems chopped, leaves sliced (or use spinach or other greens)
- splash of apple cider, wine or broth
- freshly grated nutmeg, optional
- 1/2-1 cup half & half or heavy cream (optional but recommended)
- 1 box whole-wheat penne or other pasta (the whole wheat is nice here)
- Parmesan cheese

First, roast the butternut squash (this can be done ahead of time):

*This time, I learned and wore rubber gloves while peeling and dicing the squash. Apparently raw butternut squash has some compound that can make some people's skin feel like it's covered in dried Elmer's glue that won't wash off. I discovered I'm one of those people.

Toss the squash in a large bowl with the olive oil, sage, and some salt & pepper. Spread out on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast at 375 for 20 minutes, or until tender.

Cook the diced bacon in a Dutch oven or large pot until crispy.

Drain the bacon pieces on paper towels; reserve. While bacon is cooking, chop onion, garlic and the stems from the chard:

Saute onion in the bacon drippings over medium heat until soft and caramelized, about 15 minutes.

Add the garlic, chard stems and red pepper flakes. Saute for a couple minutes. Deglaze the pan with a splash of apple cider (or wine or broth):

Grate in some fresh nutmeg (if you don't have fresh, I wouldn't bother). Add the chard leaves. They'll cook down!

After the chard has cooked down, reduce the heat to low and add in the butternut squash.

Add half & half or cream and simmer for a couple minutes. Toss in cooked penne and let sit for a few minutes over low heat - the liquid will thicken and coat the pasta.

Add the bacon bits and parmesan cheese...and enjoy your Pasta of Awesome!