Guacamole

When we were in Belgium this summer, Kendrin’s cousin Laurens hosted a guacamole competition and the results were pretty delicious. The competitors were Laurens, Kendrin, and Zoé. I might be biased in that I voted for Kendrin because that is the recipe I also use! Kendrin is very popular on my blog lately!

Fierce competition

Guacamole – Gold medal
Source: Kendrin Sonneville

Ingredients
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 ripe avocados, mashed
Tortilla chips

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients and mix well.
2. Serve with chips.

Just add chips

Guacamole – Bronze medal
Source: Laurens Sonneville

Ingredients
2 avocados
2-3 limes
1/2 large red onion
1 clove of garlic
Handful of cilantro
Salt and pepper
Cherry or grape tomatoes

Directions
1. Put everything except the tomatoes in a blender.
2. To serve, first add a layer of chopped tomatoes to your bowl, top it with guacamole mixture, then repeat the layers.

Cabbage soup

I love to make soup, and cabbage soup seemed like a great way to use some green cabbage that I got in the last week of my CSA. I found a recipe for “Healing cabbage soup” on allrecipes.com. I can’t speak to its healing properties, but I can say that I was pretty impressed with the result. This recipe (with my usual adaptations) is definitely a keeper. I might even make it again with the other half of the cabbage.

I used a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles to give it a little kick. The original recipe suggested using “Italian-style” tomatoes. This can also be made vegetarian by using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.

Big pot o’ soup

Cabbage soup
Adapted from allrecipes.com (JGCASE)
Serves: 8

Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 head cabbage, cored and coarsely chopped or shredded
2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 tsp black pepper
Fresh or dried herbs, to taste
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

Directions
1. In a large stockpot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Stir in onion, garlic, and carrots; cook until onion in is transparent, about 5 minutes. Stir in cabbage and saute until just starting to wilt, about 3-5 minutes.
2. Stir in broth, pepper, and other herbs. Bring to a boil, then simmer about 10 minutes.
3. Add diced tomatoes. Return to a boil, then simmer 15-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Enjoy!

Yum!

CSA Week 20

And then we come to the end…the last week of my CSA was this week. Since I’ve been so behind in veggie maintenance, it’s a bit of a relief that I won’t keep adding to the stock in my refrigerator. I also won’t be adding to my guilt for not having time to do something fun with it.

This is the first year with Red Fire Farm that I’m not doing the November/December shares. The pickups for those months are a little tougher to coordinate (Friday evenings), and honestly I just can’t eat that many potatoes. But ask me in a month, after I have to resume shopping for produce at the regular grocery store, and I might have a different attitude about it. Either way, I’ll be sending in my deposit for the 2013 season soon!

The leftovers from the previous weeks have all kind of blended together, but the main things I had left were kale, lettuce, and beets. Since we got more beets this week, it looks like I might have to host a little beet roasting party in my oven.

Week 20
My half

 Until next year…

Red cabbage

I had an unexpectedly free evening today so I decided to spend it with this beautiful red cabbage. I know…if red cabbage excites me, perhaps I need to find some new hobbies.

Pretty red cabbage

I pulled a recipe out of my potluck recipe box, from a “Family Favorites” potluck circa 2007. I didn’t have plain white vinegar, so I decided to make my best guess among three options I did have on hand: white balsamic vinegar, tarragon white wine vinegar, or cider vinegar. I went with cider vinegar since it seemed like it would go well with the apples in the recipe. I also wasn’t sure if I should boil or steam the cabbage (aka, how much water to put in the pot). I hedged my bets and probably covered about half of the cabbage and onions.

Red Cabbage
Source: Kendrin Sonneville
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients
1 large head of red cabbage, shredded
2 large onions, chopped
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 large apples
1/4 cup sugar

Directions
1. Cook cabbage and onion together in water until fork tender (10-15 minutes). Drain water. Add vinegar and stir (dark purple color of cabbage will turn magenta).
2. While cabbage is cooking, peel, core, and dice apples. Cover apples with sugar, and saute until tender (only a couple of minutes). Add to cabbage.
3. Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

Apples ‘n’ sugar

By cooking the apples separate from the cabbage, I really liked that they didn’t get all mushy. I do like it a little more vinegar-y so I would probably add a bit more next time (or maybe I should try it with plain white vinegar).

Voila!

CSA Week 18 and 19

Wow, how is it October 10th already? The last couple of weeks have been quite a whirlwind. Last week I made a quick trip to Chicago for the American College of Surgeons conference, and then did some serious carb loading (Antonio’s) and glycogen refueling (Soundbites) before and after the BAA half marathon. I did not run, but cheering is hard work! I had several friends who ran, and they all did great.

Kendrin at mile 9

Unfortunately all of that means that my kitchen and I have been total strangers and I’ve used none of my CSA share. Yes, you heard that right…zero…zip…zilch. Thank goodness for the great cafe at work, and the stash of my mom’s pea soup that I pulled out of the freezer! I’ve had to sacrifice a few things to the compost collection, but one of the benefits of local produce is that it lasts longer. Hopefully I will get to spend some QT in the kitchen soon. And if now, my other strategy is to donate to anyone who is willing to give the apples and vegetables a good home.

I wasn’t able to pick up last week, so I got last week’s and this week’s share today, which is a bit overwhelming!

Week 18

I’m not exactly sure what a sweet dumpling squash is, but I think it’s going to become a nice fall decoration on my desk at work. It is too cute to eat.

Week 19

My half times two weeks

September RC – Vinny’s Ristorante

September RC was a little bittersweet as we had to wish one of our founding members and dearest friends a bon voyage as she heads off to Las Vegas.

As usual, we started out with several appetizers for the table:

  • Caprese salad
  • Chicken meatballs ($2 a ball)
  • Littlenecks in white wine, garlic, and olive oil
  • Arancini
  • Stuffed artichoke

My favorite appetizers were the arancini and the littlenecks, and I think that was because the sauce with each of these dishes were so fantastic. Definitely worth saving some room for dipping bread into both the marinara sauce and the white wine, garlic, and olive oil. The stuffed artichoke was confusing to eat (as artichokes usually are), and the chicken meatballs were an odd color.

Littlenecks


Arancini

For dinner, I ordered the chicken bracciola with homemade fusilli (chicken breast stuffed with prosciutto, Swiss cheese, and homemade sun-dried tomatoes). The fusilli was my favorite part of the dish, so next time I should probably just order pasta. We also heard that the fried mashed potatoes were delicious so we ordered a few side orders to really put us in a food coma.

Chicken bracciola

Fried mashed potatoes and veg

Some other comments from the RC’ers included

  • “cheap beer”
  • “don’t get the stuffed veal chop”
  • “chicken marsala was fair”
  • “sturdy to go bags” (I can’t make this stuff up)…helpful since the portions are huge

Great pick Paetra…we will miss you! Here’s hoping for a RC reunion in Vegas sometime soon!

The damage:
$43 per person, including gratuity (and we did have a $50 Groupon)

The rundown:
Vinny’s Ristorante
76 Broadway, Somerville

CSA Week 17

As promised, I did make big salads twice over the weekend while my parents were visiting. I also made eggplant parmigiana and roast beef with carrots, onions, potatoes, and turnip in the slow cooker. I’ve been eating a lot of good leftovers this week. I have yet to deal with the one gallon bag of edamame…sounds like a good weekend project.

Here’s how I did this week:

  • Turnip: 100%
  • Tomatoes: 100%
  • Salad mix: 100%
  • Lettuce: 100%
  • Bell peppers: 50%
  • Apples: 20% (I’m not a big fan of the kind of apples we got last week)
  • Potatoes: 0% (I used some potatoes this week, but I think they were leftover from a previous week)
  • Onions: 0% (same thing as the potatoes)
  • Hot peppers: 0%
  • Edamame: 0%

It is just my luck that I also gave Bobbie and Charlie the rest of the lettuce to take home and then we didn’t get any lettuce this week. But I am excited about the acorn squash and the honeycrisp apples!

Week 17
My half

Sliders potluck

My friend Claire hosted a sliders-themed potluck, which was such a fun idea. She provided the slider rolls and the grill and everyone brought sliders to share (or side dishes to go with the sliders). Without much prior knowledge of what other people were bringing, we put together a great meal. Somehow that always seems to happen.

The menu included:

  • Green chile cheeseburger sliders
  • Buffalo chicken sliders
  • Codfish cake sliders (with cod from a fish CSA)
  • Lamb sliders
  • Fresh mozzarella, pesto, tomato, and eggplant sliders
  • Green salad
  • Rice, bean, and feta salad
  • Ambrosia
  • Watermelon
  • Cookies
Beef, lamb, and Buffalo chicken sliders on the grill

Codfish cakes on the stove

I made the vegetarian ones, but I think the Buffalo chicken was my favorite…and Claire was nice enough to share her “recipe”.

Buffalo chicken sliders
Source: Claire Blais
Makes: ~8 sliders

Ingredients
1 pound uncooked chicken breast, cut into pieces
1/3 packet ranch dressing mix
2 Tbsp Frank’s hot sauce
2-3 Tbsp crumbled blue cheese
4 scallions, chopped
2 Tbsp panko bread crumbs

Directions
1. Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined.
2. Transfer to bowl and add scallions and bread crumbs.
3. Chill in refrigerator for ~1 hour, then form into 8 patties.
4. Grill until chicken cooked all the way through.

Buffalo chicken sliders ready to eat!

Lentil and Tuscan kale soup

This week I was in search of a recipe for collard greens, but it turns out what I really needed was a recipe for Tuscan kale. Whoops. I wish I had taken a photo of them to share with you all to see if you’d be able to tell the difference. I was in the middle of sauteeing the “collard greens”, and I thought they smelled like kale, and that’s when I had my epiphany.

I’m writing the recipe as I prepared it, but also added a link to the original. Maybe I’ll have to try it again next time I get collards.

Lentil and Tuscan kale soup
Source: allrecipes.com recipe for lentil and green collard soup)
Serves: 4

Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium leek, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup dry red lentils, rinsed and drained
4 cups water
1 bunch Tuscan kale, rinsed and thinly sliced
1 Tbsp ground cumin
Juice from 1 lemon

Directions
1. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Stir in onion, leek, pepper, garlic, and salt; cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in lentils, and cook for 1 minute.
2. Pour in water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 15 minutes.
3. While lentils are cooking, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in large saute pan over medium heat. Add kale, and cook until wilted. When the lentils are tender, stir in the kale and cumin; simmer for 10 more minutes.
4. Stir in lemon juice just before serving and enjoy!

CSA Week 16

I’ve had a bit of salad overload lately, thus my poor showing in lettuce consumption this week. Yes it’s true, even  dietitians can get tired of salad! It’s a good thing I will have some visitors this weekend…there will definitely be salad on the menu when Bobbie and Charlie come to visit. I’m also planning to make eggplant parmigiana while they are here. The eggplant slices are baking as I write this and I’ll post the recipe soon.

Here’s how I did this week:

  • Lettuce times two: 25%
  • Collards aka Tuscan kale: 100%
  • Eggplant: 100%
  • Tomato: 100%
  • Apples: 80%
  • Bell peppers: 75%
  • Leek: 75%
  • Carrots: 50%
  • Hot peppers: 0%
  • Okra: 0%
  • Cilantro: 0%

Because I’m such a good friend, I offered to take all of the edamame this week. I said this before I realized we were getting two bunches of the stuff (what looked like a small tree). I kept my word though…

Week 16

The edamame deserve their own photos…pre- and post-debranching. For context, that is a gallon size ziploc bag in the second photo. This is definitely the most edamame we’ve ever gotten in a season.

Two bunches…

Post de-branching

Other than that, pretty much the yuge stuff for this time of year. Hopefully I will get over my anti-salad phase soon!

My half!