Ah, yes, the big reveal: those were hakurei turnips in my previous post the launched my 2014 CSA Adventures. On to the recipe now …. So when I’m left with a new and intriguing ingredient, I don’t want to hide it in something. Yes, that might be more artful like the Belgian truffle I had…
CSA Adventures … Mystery #1
No, that’s not a typo — I didn’t mean CSI. That is CSA as in “Community Shared Agriculture” aka “community supported agriculture.” And perhaps this year, we can even think of it as “community shared adventure.” This is my third year having signed up for a CSA — you can read about my CSA Confession to learn…
Roasted Cauliflower and Cheese Soup
We are definitely into a season of comfort foods … and it’s a time for soups to steal the show. As part of my final CSA share last month, I received two cauliflower. One came with a forlorn and sleepy traveler attached and the other was a beautiful bright orange. Both heads were looking a…
Rum-Kabocha (Pumpkin) Risotto
Risotto is comfort food. Yes, you can make “healthy” versions of it as I did when I developed my Tuscan Kale Risotto earlier this summer. However, risotto is best prepared when it can just be, let its warm, sensuous, snuggling personality reach out, when it can comfort the soul and light a warm fire in…
Potato Leek Soup — Inside Out
I find it fascinating how our meals change through the course of a year as the things in season change, from the new tender veggies of spring to the hardy, substantial offerings of the fall. Nothing better describes this change in seasons than the emergence of potatoes and leeks … and nothing, if not this,…
Farfalloni with Grilled Chicken and Swiss Chard
My quest to find great ways to use chard that keeps showing up in my CSA shares has continued all summer. It’s produced a few excellent side dishes (see recipes: Chard with Bacon and Cranberries and Chard with Meyer Lemon) and an awesome minestrone soup with prosciutto. However, I wanted to see how far I…
Chocolate Zucchini Cake (Gluten-Free)
As mentioned in my last post, three staples of my CSA shares have seemed both constant in their delivery and therefore a constant challenge to use too. The inspiration of what to do with my last batch of zucchini came through my ruminations in September as I prepared to share a “cherished Canadian recipe.” In…
Minestrone with Chard and Prosciutto
My CSA shares have given me three challenges related to the regularity and volume of certain bounties: zucchini, kale, and chard. The first of these veggies I’ve managed very well; the kale is getting used as well, but with less imagination; the chard, however, has been a harder test. Zucchini is ‘easy’ by comparison because…
Stuffed Spaghetti Squash with Black Bean Ragù
There is nothing complicated about this creation. It takes a bit of chopping and nothing more than a bit more time for cooking. Having said that, I did employ a couple of techniques that are a bit atypical of spaghetti squash which is usually baked, scooped with a fork to create the tell-tale sinews of…
Pickled (Shishito) Peppers …
Confessions: my name is not Peter and I don’t pick peppers. However, hypothetically, if Dale received a quarter of a peck of Shishito peppers in his CSA share, how many pickled peppers could he make? Well, it turns out the answer isn’t very straight forward because it depends on how you prepare the peppers and…