Carrot Ginger Soup

CSA Member Pooja cooked up a storm last week, making vegetable gyoza, spinach salad and tofu. She was kind enough to share a recipe for a super healthy soup that uses tons of CSA veggies:

This soup contains carrot, ginger and I added bell peppers & tomato from last week...all measurements are approximates

INGREDIENTS:

Carrots chopped up, 1 1/2 bunches

Bell peppers sliced up (cored & seeded), 2 large orange

Tomatoes diced, 1 large

About 1 and a half onions diced, i used both red & white

Garlic minced, 2 pods

Ginger minced, tablespoon

Lemon zest, 1.5 tsp

Lemon juice, 1/2 half lemon

Vegetable broth (entire box - 6 cups?)

EVOO

Salt & Pepper

Soaked cashews - I have no idea how many - maybe about 1.5 cups? (usually I do overnight, but in a pinch, I soak in hot water w/ a dash of lemon juice)

DIRECTIONS:

Medium heat

Sautee onions in a dutch oven w/ the olive oil for about 5 min

Add garlic and ginger, another min or two

Then add the veggies, another min or two 

Add broth

Simmer covered for about 20 min until all veggies are cooked through

Add the lemon zest about halfway through cooking

In a blender (I have a vitamix), blend up the soft cashews with some of the soak water until it's a creamy consistency, add to pot

Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice. 

Once cooled down, use an immersion blender and blend until smooth. 
Add salt & pepper to taste.

Top w/ finely chopped ginger and scallions

Note: I have tried adding soaked cashews directly to the pot, but they never seem to get smooth enough, so I prefer to blend them up separately.

GINGER + VEGGIE RICE BOWLS

This week's recipe comes from CSA member Max:

When I saw the beautiful ginger in this week's share, I knew exactly what to make: delicious Japanese cuisine inspired rice bowls with fresh vegetables and quick pickled ginger. Hope you enjoy this simple, healthy recipe ! And feel free to make any substitutions depending on what veggies you have.

Ingredients:

Ginger root, grated

Spinach (or bok choy or similar green veggie)

Carrots, grated

Mustard greens (or any sprout or similar green), chopped

Tofu, cubed

Rice

Seasoned rice vinegar

Soy sauce and / or ponzu sauce

Vegetable oil

1. Cook the rice.

2. While rice is cooking, prep the veggies.

3. Submerge the ginger in a shallow bowl till it is fully covered in rice vinegar. Salt the mixture and set aside till meal is ready.

4. Make the sauce by mixing soy sauce and / or ponzu sauce. Add a tablespoon or so of oil. Salt mixture.

5. Put cooked rice in bowl and top with various veggies and ginger. Pour sauce over to taste. Enjoy!

Ina Garten's Italian Plum Tart

I was so excited when I saw the Italian plums we got this week. The small, dark purple plums are often grown for prune production, but who wants prunes when you can have cake? Ina Garten's recipe for Italian Prune Plum Tart is easy and fantastic. Note that the below calls for creme de cassis liqueur, which was new to me when I baked this last year. Creme de cassis is a blackberry liquor that can be found in most liquor stores, you can also sub blackberry or currant syrup or raspberry liquor. 

INGREDIENTS 

• 3/4 pound Italian prune plums, quartered and pitted
• 2 tablespoons Minute tapioca
• 2 tablespoons creme de cassis liqueur
• 1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan and place it on a sheet pan. Place the plums, tapioca, creme de cassis, and 3/4 cup of the sugar in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Allow to sit for 15 minutes.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and remaining 1 cup of sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture until it forms small, dry crumbs. Add 1 tablespoon of cold water and continue to beat for about 30 seconds, until the mixture forms large, moist crumbs.

Set aside 3/4 cup of the crumb mixture and pour the rest into the springform pan. With floured hands, lightly pat the dough evenly in the bottom of the pan and 1 inch up the sides. Arrange the plums in concentric circles on the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture evenly on top. Bake for 1 hour, until the fruit is bubbling and the crust is golden.

Cool for 15 minutes, then remove the sides of the pan and serve warm or at room temperature.

Avocado, corn, & tomato salad with cilantro vinaigrette

This week's recipe is from CSA Member Jeremy:

Here's a recipe I got from my friend's mom - she made this for us at a barbecue and we loved it so much that we knew we had to be with it forever. She says she thinks it was a Martha Stewart recipe from the 80's but we copied (took an iPhone pic) from her cookbook.

This quickly became a go-to side dish. Pairs super well with barbecue chicken.

2 cups tomatoes (either halved grapes, or cubed)

1 ripe avocado, diced

2 ears corn

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

For the dressing- whisk together:

Juice of 1 lime

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp evoo

1 tbsp honey

s+p to taste

I prefer to do the corn on the grill, husk on. Once cooked, shuck and cut the kernels off the cob into a large mixing bowl. Scrape the cobs with a spoon to get all the juices.

Add the tomatoes, cilantro, and avocado, and dressing, and mix delicately with a wooden spoon or spatula. You don't want to break the avocado up too much. Once everything's mixed I'll usually add some more lime juice and salt and pepper till it reaches my desired level of tanginess. 

If you want to prepare ahead of time, best to wait till you're ready to serve to add the avocado. 

Peach Breakfast Cake

This week we received both peaches and apples in the fruit share - a pretty clear signal that we will be transitioning into autumn before too long. 

I used two large peaches to make a very simple one bowl cake. Serve it with ice cream and it's dessert. Eat it off a napkin in the morning and it's breakfast. 

• Ingredients: 
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 large peaches, sliced (can substitute any fruit here really)

Cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, then add flour and baking powder. Once mixed a little, add in the vanilla. Pour the batter into the pan and arrange fruit on top. Fruit can also be swirled into the batter if you prefer. 

Bake for 45 min at 325 degrees in an 8" springform /metal pan or 35 minutes at 350 degrees in a glass baking dish. 

Shio-Zuke Pickles (Japanese Quick Salt-Pickled Vegetables)

This recipe is courtesy of CSA member Jay Chen.

You can make Japanese shio-zuke pickles with many types of firm vegetables, but I'm partial to cabbage, broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower.  Sprinkled with salt and pressed, they lose moisture, intensifying their natural flavor and providing an irresistibly squeaky, crunchy texture.  My husband and I eat these straight out of a bowl as finger food, but they're also excellent as a palette cleanser for for oily fish--sort of like ginger for sushi.

The batch in my fridge currently contains carrots and cauliflower from the 7/22 pickup:

•3 medium carrots
•1.5 - 2 cups of cauliflower
•2 tablespoons kosher or sea salt
•1 4" piece of dried kombu (if you have it)

Scrub or peel the carrots, and slice them into diagonal coins with a knife or mandoline. Cut the cauliflower into small florets of approximately equal size. Place all the veggies into a Ziploc bag with the kombu (if you have it), and sprinkle the salt over them.  Seal the bag, and shake to distribute the salt.

After the vegetables are well-salted, open the bag slightly and remove as much air as possible from it.  Put the bag of veggies into a bowl or pot, put another bowl or pot on top of it, and weigh it down with whatever you have on hand; I put a cast-iron pan on top of my second bowl, with some canned food on top as extra.  What you're trying to do is help the salt penetrate the vegetables better, via the added pressure.  Leave your precarious tower of pots on a counter for at least an hour.

The longer you leave the pickles, the saltier they'll get.  Some people are good after an hour; others like to go for multiple days.  I'm happy with mine after about 2-3 hours; I'll periodically take apart the tower to taste test.  Once I'm happy with the flavor, I drain all of the pickling liquid from the bag, and move it into the fridge.  (Note: if your pickles are too salty, you can rinse them a little--but if you rinse too much, the flavor and texture will end up watery instead of crisp.)

Elote (Grilled Corn)

This recipe was provided by CSA member Jay Chen.

I'm meh on corn, but I love elotes.  They have so many layers and textures and flavors--sweet corn kernels, mostly juicy with some burnt rows, creamy mayo and cotija cheese, a hit of spice from the ancho chile powder, a splash of acid from the lime... So good. I could easily and happily make a meal out of them.

Most elote recipes tell you to grill the corn, but I find that it's too finicky: I either always under- or over-grill them, so that they're either alternating strips of raw and cooked, or dried-out. So, instead, I parcook the corn and finish it on the grill for the char.

• 4 ears of corn, shucked
• 1/3 cup of mayonnaise
• 1 lime
• Ancho chile powder (to taste)
• Kosher or sea salt (to taste)
• Black pepper (to taste)
• .5 cup crumbled cotija cheese (feta could work, but come on, we live in Brooklyn, they sell cotija everywhere)
• .25 cup cilantro

Head over to the NY Times site for the instructions!

Onion and Herb Frittata

When eggs are as fresh and delicious as the ones we get from Hearty Roots Farm, they should get a chance to shine! This recipe was suggested and photographed by CSA Member Susan Merriam. It's also a great use for the onions we got in the share last week.

Click on over to Epicurious for the full recipe. 

Quick refrigerator pickles

This is a super quick way to make delicious pickles - the perfect way to use up those cucumbers that are slightly tough skinned. You can add any flavouring to these - simply add to the bottom of the jar before adding the cucumbers. I used Dill, garlic and some peppercorns. These only need 24 hours in the fridge before they are good to go. Don't forget to sterilise the glass jars you are using before you make the pickles. Place them in a 350˚f oven for 15 mins, and allow to cool before using.

This recipe is just a guide - you can adjust the amount of pickling liquid depending on how many cucumbers you have. It is easy to quickly whip up another batch if needed!

---

Quick Refrigerator Pickles
- Makes 3-4 jars, depending on jar size -

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes

Pickles
1 Clove garlic per jar
5-6 peppercorns per jar
a few sprigs of fresh dill per jar
3-4 cucumbers, washed and cut into spears (trim to fit the size of your jar if necessary)

Pickling liquid
3 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 cups white vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar (increase this if you like your pickles sweet)
1 Tbsp salt

PROCESS

Place the garlic, peppercorns and dill in the bottom of your jars. Add the cucumber spears - you want them to be fairly packed in. 

In a large saucepan, combine the water, white vinegar, sugar and salt over medium heat. Bring to the boil, remove from the heat and allow to stand for 5 minutes. 

Carefully pour the hot pickling liquid over the cucumbers, leaving about a 1/2 inch of space at the top. Place a lid on the jar, seal tightly, and allow the jars to cool to room temperature. Once cool, transfer to the fridge. Store in the fridge for at least 24 hours before using.
 

Sour Cherry Muffins

I adapted Smitten Kitchen's Perfect Blueberry Muffin recipe for all of the sour cherries I had left after devouring my blueberries in a single sitting. This worked quite well, I'm sure they are delicious with the blueberries too! 

INGREDIENTS

• 5 tablespoons (70 grams) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces or 100 grams) sugar
• Finely grated zest from 1/2 a lemon 
• 3/4 cup plain unsweetened yogurt 
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (7 grams) baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
• 1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sour cherries, pitted. Cut Large cherries in half or quarters 
• 1.5 tablespoons turbinado (sugar in the raw) sugar

PROCESS

Heat oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Melt butter in the bottom of a large bowl and whisk in sugar, zest, yogurt and egg until smooth. Whisk in baking powder, baking soda and salt until fully combined, then lightly fold in flour and cherries.  Divide between prepared muffin cups and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon turbinado sugar. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick runs dry. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then the rest of the way on a rack.

Grilled Pizza!

If you have a grill, pizzas are a great way to use tons of veggies while keeping your kitchen cool on a hot summer night. Grills can get waaay hotter than ovens, so they are the best way to perfect a crispy crust. I used broccoli and eggplant on mine, plus pureed tomatoes that I canned last year, but anything goes here. 

First, get your grill super hot. At least 550 degrees. This will take about 15 minutes. 

Next, roll out some pizza dough (home made or store bought) to your desired shape and thickness. Use a little flour or cornmeal to keep it from getting too sticky. Brush one side of the dough with olive oil to keep it from sticking to the grates on the grill. 

The secret to this pizza is that you are going to put on the toppings while it is on the grill, so make up a tray with bowls of your desired sauce, cheese and toppings. Thicker veggies (like broccoli) should be slightly precooked. About a minute in the microwave is fine for them. 

Put the dough on the grill oil-side down and close the lid. Let it cook for a couple of minutes. Use tongs, a big spatula or both to flip the pizza dough over once it feels cooked a little and is sturdy enough to flip. 

Very quickly arrange your desired toppings on the pizza. Close the grill again and let it cook for a few more minutes. Once the cheese is melted, start lifting the pizza up to check how done the crust is underneath. When it reaches your desired color, take it off the grill. 

Pesto Pasta With Radicchio

This recipe is courtesy of Elena Zeller and has been adapted from Bon Appetit

It's a great way to use pesto made from last week's basil as well as this week's radicchio and white onions!

8 ounces of pasta of your choice
4 cups thinly sliced white bulb onion
1 small head radicchio thinly sliced
¼ to ½ cup homemade pesto
grated parmesan

Cook pasta al dente according to package directions.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in skillet over medium high heat and add onion.  Season with salt and pepper and cook onion until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.  Turn off heat and add radicchio and pesto, to taste.  Add extra parmesan as garnish and toss with pasta.  

Leftovers also go well in omelets.  

Rainbow Chard Spicy Shakshuka

photo by Katherine Martinelli

This recipe is by Francis Lam for Gilt Taste. It is no longer available online, so we can't link to the original version. 

This is one of my favorite recipes because it's super healthy but tastes really creamy despite having no dairy.  If you leave out the eggs and add pasta, it's a big hit with vegans.

You will need an immersion blender or cuisinart to blend the cooked chard stems into the sauce. The chard greens can bee cooked separately and served on the side.

6 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil,

1 bunch red swiss chard, stems stripped from leaves. Chop the stems into 1 inch long pieces

24 ounces crushed tomatoes

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

Salt, to taste

Red pepper flakes, to taste

1. In a large saucepan over low heat, heat the ¼ cup of olive oil and garlic, being careful not to burn the garlic. You just want it a little toasty. 

2. Stir in the stems and season salt and red pepper. Sweat the stems for 8 minutes. Add the stock and reduce by half. Add the tomatoes, bring to a boil and turn down to a gentle simmer.

3. Cook the sauce until chard stems are tender then puree the sauce in a blender or with a handheld blender.

4. Add the sauce back to pan, and either reduce or add water or stock to get the texture of thick pasta sauce. Season to taste with salt, red pepper flakes, and (optional) a little bit of sugar.

5.  Make little wells in the sauce and gently crack an egg into each well. Simmer on very low heat until eggs are cooked to your liking. 

6. Optional: add feta cheese, sprinkle some parsley and serve with crusty bread and sauteed chard leaves on the side. 

Brown Butter Zucchini Streusel Bread

From CSA member Erin, who blogs about food and takes the most amazing photos over at Cloudy Kitchen.

This recipe comes together in one bowl, and is super quick to throw together with ingredients you will most likely have on hand. I elevated the flavour of this bread a little by browning the butter - totally not a necessary step, but the toasty nutty taste it imparts on the bread is lovely. I then totally ramped it up by dumping an oaty brown butter streusel on the top. Again not necessary, but there are few baked goods that don't taste better with a solid whack of streusel on the top. Leave it off if you like, but it's extra awesome with it added. 

• If you want to keep this dairy free, replace the butter in the zucchini bread with a neutral flavoured oil, and the butter in the streusel with melted margarine.

Brown butter zucchini streusel bread
- Makes one loaf -

Zucchini bread adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Streusel
4 Tbsp (60g) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (100g) raw sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup (75g) flour

Zucchini bread
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup (200g) raw sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cup grated zucchini (about 220g zucchini, or 2 smallish)
2 cups (300g) flour

- PROCESS -

STREUSEL

Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat until melted, then continue to cook, whisking occasionally, until it goes the colour of caramel and begins to smell nutty. Watch carefully to ensure you do not burn it. Pour into a medium bowl.

Add the sugar and salt, and stir to combine. Add the oats and flour, and mix well until it begins to go clumpy. Set aside while you prepare the zucchini bread.

ZUCCHINI BREAD

Preheat the oven to 350˚f / 180˚c. Grease a 9"x5" loaf pan and set aside.

Place the butter in a small pan, and brown following the method above. Pour into a large bowl and allow to stand for 5 minutes to cool slightly. 

Add the sugar and eggs, and whisk well to combine. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, and whisk again. Fold in the grated zucchini. Add the flour and mix until just combined.

Scrape the mixture into the prepared loaf pan, and smooth down with an offset spatula or back of a spoon. Sprinkle over the streusel. 

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Serve thick sliced, with butter.

STALKS & STEMS...

Did you know that the stalks and stems from most of your greens are edible? And in many cases, they tend to be more nutritious than the leaves they're holding up.

Go ahead and de-rib the leaves, then slice the stalks and add them to the sauté pan with some chopped garlic, sweating them over medium-low heat until they begin to turn soft and translucent. Chop up the leaves, add them to the pan, and saute until the greens are cooked through. Finally, toss the sautéed greens with some pasta, drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil and shave a little Parmigiano-Reggiano and you've got yourself a tasty little meal.

So, before you decide to chuck those stems from your Kale, Swiss Chard, Collard Greens, Broccoli, Spinach or any of your dark greens, try making something delicious out of them.

GARLIC SCAPES

So, this past week we received garlic scapes and many of you are probably wondering what they are and what you can do with them. 

Garlic Scapes are the flower bud of the garlic plant. The bud is typically removed from June through July allowing the bulbs to thicken up. Garlic Scapes taste just like garlic and are delicious to eat!. They can be used in exactly the same way as garlic in any recipe. 

One easy and delicious way to use garlic scapes is to make a tasty pesto.  Try making this great recipe from seriouseats.com.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped garlic scapes*
• Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• A few generous grinds of black pepper
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

*Or use half scapes and half herbs such as basil, dill and chervil

Directions

1. In a small, dry pan set over very low heat, lightly toast the pine nuts, stirring or tossing occasionally until just beginning to brown, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes.
2. Combine the scapes, pine nuts, lemon juice and zest, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse about 20 times, until fairly well combined. Pour in the olive oil slowly through the feed tube while the motor is running. When the oil is incorporated, transfer the pesto to a bowl and stir in the grated cheese. If you plan to freeze the pesto, wait to add the cheese until after you've defrosted it.