Not my Most Successful Dish!

I have to admit I wasn't overly thrilled with my dinner this evening but I think I may have tried to be too healthful. Or perhaps my previous aversion to greens is catching up with me.  In any event, I made some brown rice which I will admit has been something only in the last two years I've been able to consume without yearning for the empty calorie, white version. 

Over the brown rice I had sauteed young garlic with chard, spinach and some julienne of yellow bell pepper.  I also sprinkled a little Thai Red Pepper sauce over the greens for some heat.  I enjoyed maybe the first 6 bites and then it started to lose me.  My inspiration as I mentioned in an early post was a friend saying she did a similar dish over wild rice and I think that may have been key. The wild rice would have added more flavour and texture which was sorely missing in this dish.  What I do have to say is that I once again really enjoyed the flavour from the young garlic - it's a mellow, sweet garlic flavour and it's very yummy.

Oh and I'm now regretting handing over the entire bunch of kale to my Mom!  A friend suggested fried kale chips and I've seen Melissa D'Arabian makes those and swear by them. She says her kids request them!  So I may have to get back some of that kale and give those a try.

Week Three!

Just got back from the farm and picked up this week's haul.  It includes:

Garlic Scapes
Radishes
Komatsuna
Kale - which I gave all to my mother
San Po Sai
Lettuce
Scallions
Escarole
Lavender
Pea Tenderils
Peas

I almost ate all the peas on the car ride home - nothing like fresh, crisp peas.  I have the lavender in a vase on my desk already and the smell is intoxicating. 

I'll be cooking lots of greens later today . .I'm ashamed to say some of them still leftover from last week but I will use them up for dinner later. 

And I finally released my blog to some family and friends yesterday and it was so great to hear back from all of you. Especially the growing number of people taking advantage of CSA's all over the country and your experiences. In fact one friend said she made a stir fry of swiss chard and boy choy over wild rice which will be my inspiration for tonight's dinner. 

Keep the comments coming!

Fish Tacos Oh My!!

I have fallen in love with fish tacos over the past 2 years.  I was excited for today's as I was really eager to use the bunch of cilantro as well as the scallions & radishes.  I used the cilantro like lettuce on the tacos with the crunch from the radishes and shredded carrots and the creaminess from the avocado.  I am also not a huge fan of jar salsa for the most part. But I really like the Roasted Salsa Verde from Archer Farms that I can get at Target so that is what I used on the tacos.  These were by far my favorite fish tacos - the fish was light and flaky with that smokey flavour from the cumin and pepper. The toppings were perfect for that great bite!

To accompany the tacos I made a quick black bean salad.  It was a very light lunch for a hot day and really tasty!!  Give these recipes a try.

Black Bean Salad
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained (I prefer Goya)
1/2 jalapeno, minced - I do not remove the seeds as I like the spice
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 handful of grape tomatoes, halved
1 handful of cilantro, finely chopped
1 glug of olive oil
juice of 1 lime
salt & pepper



Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss until veggies & beans are coated in oil and juice.  Serve at room temperature to let flavours come through.

Fish Tacos
12 oz cod fillets
cumin
Chipotle pepper, ground
salt
1/2 lime

6 soft, flour tortillas
1 avocado, halves sliced into 3
juice of half of lime over avocado
shredded carrots
3 radishes, sliced thin
bunch of cilantro, leaves removed from stem but kept whole
1/2 lime, cut into wedges
Your favorite salsa

I sprinkled the cumin, chipotle pepper & salt over the fish and let it sit for a few minutes while I prepped the veggies.  I heated olive oil in a saute pan and added cod while squeezing lime over fish. The fish cooks in less than 5-7 minutes depending on thickness.  Just before the fish is done I heated the tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds.

To assemble: lay tortillas on plate and then add fish.  Top with radishes, carrots, cilantro leaves, avocado slice and salsa. Serve with lime wedge on the side. 

New Plan

Well the summer festivities caught up with me and it's been quite a few days since I've been able to cook - let alone post.  I have been making use of a lot of this week's veggies in fresh salads when I've had time to grab a bite at home. Once again I have to tell you how much I am enjoying fresh mint in my salad - it really makes all the other flavours pop and it's a hint of sweet that makes the salad so refreshing.  My new plan is that I expect to post 3 meals a week - this is more realistic a goal and I won't feel guilty for not doing everyday and I'll be much more likely to keep up with this blog. 

Today my goal was to use the rhubarb that has been staring me in the face every time I open the fridge.  A friend of mine who is also part of the CSA mentioned she made rhubarb muffins over the weekend. I decided to go with the classic strawberry and rhubarb pairing, especially since the strawberries are in season right now.  I am not a baker so I bought the rolls of pie dough at the store and when I got home I could not find my pie plates. I think they are at my Mom's for when she makes her 15 pies over Thanksgiving (no that is not an exaggeration).  So instead I decided to make two free form tarts.  They came our pretty good and taste even better.  Of course I probably picked the hottest day of the year so far to have my oven on but I did them early enough in the day that it wasn't too bad.

Check out my "recipe below"

1 box easy to roll pie dough
2 lbs strawberries, cut into 1" slices
1 lb rhubarb, cut into 1/2" slices
1 c white sugar
1/2 c flour
1 T minute tapicoa
1 t salt
1 egg, beaten

I rolled the two pie crusts out a little and then put them on parchment paper on a sheet pan.  I placed those in the fridge to keep cold while I made the filling.

I tossed the strawberries, rhubarb, flour, sugar, tapioca and salt until combined.  Then I piled 1/2 the filling into the middle of each pie crust leaving about a 1 inch edge.  I lifted the edges up over the filling and layered on top of each other. If any dough split I pinched in back together.  I put the tarts in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Before putting in oven I brushed the edges of the tart with the egg. Baked at 400 for 30 minutes.  Removed to wire rack to cool.

Week Two!

I just picked up this week's vegetables and am SO excited. We got a big bunch of fresh cilantro!!!  I am trying to grow some of my own but have never had much luck because I've been told it doesn't get hot enough here but this bunch looks beautiful. I am a sucker for cilantro . . I am not one of those crazy people who think it tastes like dirty dish water.


Here is this week's lists:
Spinach
Young Garlic
Radish
Komatsuna
Cilantro
Kale
Chard
Panisse Lettuce
Scallions
Rhubarb

There will however be no cooking today - I have to leave work a little early to go into Boston to the Pop's so I won't be taking time away to work. There is also a chance I won't be able to cook tomorrow as I am going to my office in Connecticut and that is a long day with a 3 hour trip each way. Maybe I'll be in the mood when I get home but we'll have to wait and see.

A quick tip - I find storing the greens much like herbs in a plastic bag with a bit of paper toweling in the bag keeps them fresh longer.

Moroccan Inspired Pork, White Bean & Yukina Savoy

The last remaining item I had from this week's haul was the Yukina Savoy and the bulb of the young garlic.  I wanted to use leftover pork from yesterday as well and I felt like incorporating some beans into today's dish.  I ended up finding an Moroccoan Red Quinoa and Yukina Savoy dish that I used as inspiration for my one-pot meal that I just whipped up for our mid-day meal.  Once again tasting the raw green and am so surprised by the flavour. As someone who really doesn't profess to like greens a lot I have enjoyed every single one I've cooked this week.  I am betting it's because they taste like they are suppose to and it's the preparation.  I am going to try and remember what I threw into the pot to come up with today's lunch and list it as a recipe below.  Tomorrow is my second pick up of the season and I'm excited to see what we get!

Moroccan Inspired Pork, White Bean & Yukina Savoy

Olive oil
Onion, chopped
Carrots, I used a handful of baby carrots cut into thirds
Fresh ginger, minced
Young garlic bulb, minced

Zest of one lemon
2 T cumin
1 T paprika
1 T crushed red pepper
salt

Juice of one lemon
Chicken Stock, 1/2 carton
White beans, I used one large can of Progresso - rinsed & drained well

leftover pork tenderloin cut into strips
1/2 c dried apricots, roughly chopped
1 bunch Yukina Savoy

cashews, chopped
fresh parsley, chopped

In large skillet heat olive oil, add onions & carrots and heat until onions are softened. Add ginger and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes more.  Add zest, cumin, paprika, red pepper and salt and cook until flavours are developed (1-2 mins). 

Add lemon juice, stock and beans and bring to a simmer and cook for 10 mins. Taste sauce and adjust seasoning if necessary.  Add pork and apricots and cook until pork is heated through. Add greens and cook until wilted - I didn't cook for very long as I wanted greens to keep some of their integrity.


Top with chopped cashews & parsley before serving.

Lunch for Dinner

It's a new week and there is baseball tonight so we just had our big meal of the day for a late lunch.  My dog, Sadie, eats her one meal a day around 2 or 3 pm. She's spoiled that she can do that because I work from home.  When she was a puppy she ate two meals a day and then slowly stopped eating in the morning so I started to only feed her once at night. But then she would get hungry earlier so now she eats mid-afternoon and it looks like for the summer we'll be joining her. In fact we all just ate out on the deck since it is a beautiful day!

Today we tried to the young garlic and broccoli rabe - I simply sauted most of the stalk of the garlic and saved the bulb for later in some olive oil and then added the broccoli rabe.  A lot of recipes called for parboiling the green before sauteing but once again I decided to skip that step. I have had broccoli rabe before and disliked it greatly but when I tasted it today in the raw form is didn't have as pungent a flavour as I remember.  I may have cooked it a little too long because most of the greens had wilted too much and it was a lot of stalks.  I sprinkled a little freshly, grated Parmesan cheese on top that I'd seen in a recipe. Overall I enjoyed the greens and certainly felt good about the amount of greens I'd been able to incorporate into my diet this week.

The greens accompanied a grilled, teriyaki pork tenderloin that I did on the outside grill and it came out perfectly cooked.  I love those pork tenderloins because they cook up so quickly and are tender & juicy.  And for a starch today we had mashed, sweet potatoes that I added a small bit of brown sugar and some ancho chili pepper powder for a little spice.  They were very good but next time I'd add a little more pepper - they had the flavour but I'd like a bit more kick.

This was an easy, quick meal but if I were putting all my thought into it I've had added some crunch for a little more texture.  But yummy nonetheless!

Everything but the kitchen sink . . in the salad bowl!

I spent the entire day visiting nurseries all over the Cape with my Mom and a friend today.  Then I put in an hour or so in my Mom's garden. We're putting in a whole new garden at her house so it's been taking up a lot of my time this spring.  Anyway I got home starving but in no mood to light up a stove.  I saw the bunch of spinach and arugula in the fridge so I decided to make a huge salad for myself.  I rough chopped both so they were in bit size pieces.  I added the french bell radishes, chive blossoms and from my garden parsley and mint.  From my produce drawer I also threw in some grape tomatoes, red bell pepper slices, shredded carrots and blueberries.  Shredded carrots are one of my new discoveries - so easy to keep in the fridge and add a salad for crunch.  And yes I put blueberries in my salad - try it and you'll love it.  I also added some chick peas to the salad for protein and tossed it all with a vinaigrette.  My favorite part of this salad was the mint and how it heightened the flavours of everything else. 

Late Night Dinner of Leftovers

It was a rain shortened baseball game tonight so I ended up at home looking for a light, late night dinner.  Last night's leftovers were just the ticket. I had some salad left and shredded up some cold salmon and used the Mustard Dill sauce as salad dressing. OMG - so yummy!! The sauce was even better the second day and I love cold salmon.  The salad kept it's crispness and I have to say is that I really enjoy the French Bell radishes.  I'll be snacking on those over the weekend. Here is hoping the weather cooperates for baseball tomorrow!

Dinner . . err Lunch #2

As I mentioned I typically spend most summer nights at a baseball field so I decided on those days that I'd make lunch my big meal of the day. This is easier for me to do than most as I work from home.  Today's dish was Red Curry Haddock with Joi Choi.

Once again started by going to Google and looking at several recipes.  Most recipes were using Bok Choy and suggested boiling the bok choy ahead of putting them into the stir fry.  I was planning on following their lead but when I tasted the raw joi choi I abandoned that idea as I found it very mellow and knew is would taste great in the stir fry.  It reminded me of a water chestnut and had that very clean flavour. I have learned two things from my thousands and thousands of hours watching the Food Network - season every step of the way and TASTE everything.  The tasting everything may sound so basic but I'm not sure we all do it and certainly not along the entire process of a recipe.  Or even more importantly tasting, what you can, in it's raw form so you really understand the flavour & texture.


I love curry for not just the flavour but I also like spicy, hot curry.  Most recipes I saw called for brown sugar in the sauce with the coconut milk and curry which I did add. I think I'd omit or back off in the amount next time as the dish was a little more sweet than spicy for my taste. 

The other addition to today's meal was the Thai Basil from my garden - yummy!!  I added it to the stir fry when I was cooking the vegetables and then some fresh in a chiffonade over the dish just before serving.  I served the dish over some brown rice so it was a very healthy lunch.

Back to work and here is hoping the rain clears up so we have baseball tonight!


Red Curry with Haddock and Joi Choi

1/2 onion (I used vidalia and maybe closer to 1/3), chopped
peanut oil
1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled & grated
1 can coconut milk
1 heaping T red curry paste (I added a little more)
1 T brown sugar
salt

peanut oil
2 filets of haddock

1 bunch Joi Choi
1/2 yellow bell pepper, sliced
4 oz crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 lime, juiced
1 bunch Thai basil
salt & pepper

Brown rice

I softened the onion in some oil (I use peanut oil in most of my Asian cooking) and then added the grated ginger and only cooked for a minute or so.  Add coconut milk, curry paste, brown sugar (if using) and some salt. Stir and bring to simmer until it thickens.

In saute pan, cook seasoned haddock fillets in peanut oil for a few minutes on each side until done and then remove to plate. I covered with foil tent to keep warm. In same pan, I added a little more oil and then joi choi, peppers & mushrooms along with juice from lime & seasoned.  I only cooked for a few minutes to keep them crisp but I did add some of Thai Basil just before taking off heat.

To serve I put brown rice in bottom of bowl and topped with a little curry sauce.  Then added vegetables and topped with haddock before ladling more sauce over haddock and sprinkling with some Thai basil. You could also squeeze a little fresh lime over the finished dish.  Or if you don't have Thai Basil use cilantro. 

Dinner #1

Well we're off to a very good start and tonight's dinner was fabulous!  However in the summer I also volunteer for a Cape League baseball team, the Bourne Braves, so most nights I'm at a ball field.  Not a bad way to spend your summer but it doesn't typically allow for leisurely nights in the kitchen to make dinner.  Today was an off day so I had the time.  Tonight I managed to incorporate the panisse lettuce, French Bell radishes, chive blossoms and pea tendrils.  The other aspect I plan to incorporate into my cooking this summer is the abundance of fresh herbs I have growing in pots all over my yard. I planted flat Italian parsley, rosemary, cilantro, mint, basil, tarragon, thyme, sage, Greek oregano, Thai basil, lemon verbena and dill.  I know probably a little over kill but hey what is better than fresh herbs to spice up your cooking.

Back to tonight's dinner- I had a beautiful piece of salmon that I planned on having for dinner.  Since it's still cool out I decide to roast it instead of firing up the grill.  I love salmon simply roasted with some fresh lemon but tonight I decided to make a Mustard Dill sauce and wow am I glad I did.  It was yummy and really enhanced the salmon.  Like most new things I make I Google the recipe, read lots of them and then take a little bit from each and make my own.  I will list the recipes I make at the bottom of each post but as you will see I don't measure things so it will be a list of ingredients and in some cases a rough idea of how much.

To accompany the salmon I made a lovely fresh salad with the panisse lettuce, the chive blossoms, slivers of the radishes and I added some yellow bell pepper, shredded carrots and a handful of roughly, chopped parsley.  I topped it with a simple vinaigrette.  I love onions and the flavor they bring to things and was so surprised by the sweet, oniony flavour of the chive blossoms. I've had chives before but never the blossoms and there had a floral flavour not surprisingly.  The radishes were not as sharp as some radishes I've had so I enjoyed them much more than I thought I would.

The pea tendrils were the biggest surprise of the night.  I decided to make Israeli Couscous and add the pea tendrils and some frozen peas as well  . . . but while I was cooking dinner the bag of tendrils sat on the counter.  I really like the flavour of peas and freshly cooked peas but if they sit for too long and get mushy or are overcooked I am not at all a fan.  When I tasted the tendrils I was so surprised by the pea taste.  So as the bag sat on the counter we snacked on the tendrils . . and snacked until we realized our tongues were turning green - yikes!  In the future I know that the pea tendrils are delicious raw but in the couscous with whole peas it was a pea-apooloza.  I added lemon & tarragon which totally enhanced the pea flavour  - and just so you're forewarned I am a nut for the lemon tarragon combo, the only flavour profile I love more is cilantro lime. 

Hope you try some of tonight's dishes!


Mustard Dill Sauce
2 T grated onion
1/2 cup sour cream
2 T dijon mustard
juice from 1/2 of lemon
lots & lots of fresh chopped dill, maybe 2-3 T (I didn't add enough in the beginning and went back to the garden for more)
a squeeze of honey (I noticed this in several recipes and added it after I tasted the sauce and it was a little too tart - this addition made it perfect)
salt & pepper

Mix all ingredients together. Serve over roasted salmon.

Israeli Couscous with Peas and Pea Tendrils
1/2 cup onion, diced
olive oil
1 cup whole wheat Israeli couscous
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 lemon, zest & juice
1 c peas
handful pea tendrils
fresh tarragon, chopped
salt & pepper

Saute onion in olive oil until translucent.  Add couscous and toast for 1-2 minutes.  Add zest of lemon and then stock, cook couscous according to package directions.  Add juice of lemon, peas and pea tendrils and cook until peas heated through and tendrils wilted. Add tarragon just before serving. Remember to season with salt & pepper along the way.

Here we go!

This summer my Mom and I are participating in a Community Supported Agriculture program at our local, organic farm.  We are splitting a share of the vegetable subscription program at Bay End Farm. Yesterday was our first pick up of the season and let's just say I'm not sure I made the best debut.  Pick up day is Wednesday and I have a standing appointment at my personal trainer's on Wednesday that takes me right by the farm so it will be easy for me to stop each week to pick up.  However I had another engagement yesterday that I needed to get to so I was rushing (as usual).  I did take a minute to introduce myself to Erin, whom I'd communicated via email over the winter, but I was in and out pretty quickly.  When I got back to the parking area someone had parked beside me and so it was a tight squeeze to get out.  And as I looked around I noticed all the other vehicles were smaller and much more gas efficient. The irony of my gas guzzling SUV unable to maneuver in the parking lot of an organic farm stand was not lost on me.  But I had places to be so I quickly sped away.

It wasn't until this morning that I was really able to look at the treats I received in my bag of goodies. My mom split them up yesterday for us and put mine away so I didn't even get to look at them for a minute.  Here is what our bag contains this week:

Arugula
French Bell Radishes
Joi Choi
Yukina Savoy
Spinach
Panisse Lettuce
Broccoli Rabe
Pea Tendrils
Young Garlic
Chive Blossoms

I already had to Google some of them so I could identify what was what and they are now labeled in my fridge.  Certainly some things were easily identifiable and I already know how I'll use them - chives, radishes, arugula, broccoli rabe.  But others are presenting more of a mystery - joi choi, yukina savoy and even pea tendrils.  I know in a lot of cases the best preparation will be either none or a very simple one as to really savor the flavours of the vegetable.  But I am excited to try different things and different recipes that feature some new ingredients. 

That enthusiasm and the journey I hope to be taking every week when I get my bag of veggies is what led me to start this blog.  We all need to be more cognizant of not only what we eat but where it comes from and certainly eating "in season" would help with our personal health and our planet's health. So maybe you (the mystery you that will somehow find your way to my blog) will be inspired by my efforts to explore different vegetables and menus - or at least you'll be entertained by my escapades!

You can learn more about Bay End Farm at http://www.bayendfarm.com.  While the CSA is subscription based and I believe full for this season they do have a farm stand that is open to the public on Thursday and Saturdays. For more information please visit their website.