Creamy (Spicy) Avocado Dressing

Guacamole is such a delicious treat, it's easy to forget how many other uses there are for avocados.  One of my favorites is a creamy salad dressing that turns the simplest of salads into something special.  It's super easy to make, too, especially if your avocado is nice and ripe.

I put the (spicy) in parenthesis because while I like to put chipotle in this dressing, but it's entirely optional.  You'll still get a delicious dressing without the heat.  Likewise for cilantro, if you're not a fan, feel free to substitute parsley.

I mix up this dressing in a bowl with a fork, but you can use a blender or a food processor if you prefer.  The recipe below uses one avocado, but you can double or triple the recipe.  However, just like cut avocados, this dressing will brown even in the fridge, so it's best to eat it the same day you mix it up.

Creamy (Spicy) Avocado Dressing

1 medium ripe avocado
1/2 C buttermilk (or a little more to taste)
juice from 1 small lemon
1-2 green onions, minced
1-2 T minced cilantro or parsley
2 T mashed chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (optional)
salt and pepper

1.  Cut the avocado in half lengthwise.  Remove the pit and scoop the avocado flesh into a bowl.  Mash with a fork until creamy.

2.  Mix in the buttermilk and lemon.  Stir until well-combined.

3.  Stir in the minced green onions, cilantro or parsley, and chipotle pepper.

4.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately or refrigerate.

You can find small cans of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce at most Mexican markets as well as many grocery stores.

I put my Creamy Spicy Avocado Dressing on a simple salad of Red Sails lettuce and thinly sliced radishes.  It's also great on an iceberg wedge or on grilled romaine with crumbled bacon bits.

This week's bounty included:

From Sage Mountain Farms:  Strawberries, Red Sails lettuce, zucchini, and arugula;

From JR Organics:  Carrots, parsnips, and baby leeks;

From Jaime Farms:  Tuscan kale, radishes, free range eggs, hot-house on-the-vine tomatoes, green onions, parsley, and baby dill;

From Weiser Family Farms:  Russian banana potatoes; and

From Rancho Santa Cecilia:  Avocados.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Tomatillos are making their first appearance in our box this week; and if you've never had them, you're in for a treat. These pleasingly tart fruits make a wonderful salsa that's great with chips and as a condiment for grilled fish or meat. I like to serve it with carne asada, grilled chicken, and grilled salmon or mahi mahi. It's also wonderful with all kinds of Mexican foods such as tamales, enchiladas, chiles rellenos, and taco

I like to roast a couple of serrano peppers for this recipe, but I don't always use both of them. Unless you really like it hot, start with about 1/2 serrano pepper when you mix up the salsa. Then add more to your taste until you achieve the desired level of hotness.

1 lb tomatillos
1 medium onion
2 serrano peppers
1 T olive oil
1 bunch cilantro (about 1 C loosely packed leaves)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Remove the papery skins from the tomatillos and set aside for the compost. Wash and dry the tomatillos and place them whole in a large bowl.

3. Remove the papery skin from the onion and set aside for the compost. Quarter the onion and place in the bowl the the tomatillo.

4. Wash and dry 2 serrano peppers. Add to the bowl.

5. Drizzle olive oil over vegetables and turn out onto a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until the skins of the tomatillos are slightly blistered and the edges of the onions are slightly browned.

6. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.

7. Place the roasted tomatillos, onions, and about 1/2 serrano pepper in a blender or food processor and process for about 15-20 seconds. Taste and process in more serrano pepper, if desired. Then add cilantro and process until salsa gets to the desired thickness.

8. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve or store in the fridge.

If you're firing up the grill, you can roast the tomatillos, onions, and serranos in a grill pan over a charcoal or gas flame. In fact, I think it's even better this way. But the oven is fine, too.

Today's bounty included:

From Underwood Family Farms: Seedless yellow watermelon, red leaf lettuce, green romaine lettuce, golden beets, Easter radishes, Brandywine heirloom tomato, bi-color corn, Blue Lake green beans, summer squash, yellow bell pepper, and Hass avocado.

From Sage Mountain Farms: tomatillos, green scallions, Cherry Belle radishes, Russian kale and mixed heirloom tomatoes.

From Sweet Trees Farms: White nectarines and pluots.

From Silver Lake Farms: arugula, basil and mustard microgreens.

And lemons from the garden of Silver Lake Farms farmhand, Susie.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Spinach, Kale and Feta Pie

It's high season for leafy greens, and today's box was over-flowing with many beautiful examples. You just may want to enjoy a lovely salad made from red leaf lettuce, mizuna, spinach, parsley, radish, carrots, and one of last week's avocados that may be ripe by now. A squeeze of fresh lemon juice, a sprinkle of fine olive oil, some crusty bread and a glass of wine might be the perfect dinner this evening.

If you you'd like to have a little more adventure in the kitchen, try this Spinach, Kale and Feta pie based on Spanakopita, a traditional Middle Eastern dish. It's a little bit of a production, but well worth the effort.

2 T olive oil
1 large onion finely chopped
1-1/2 lbs spinach and kale, washed, mostly dried and chopped
1/2 C chopped green onion
1/4 C chopped fresh parsley
1/3 lb crumbled feta cheese
1/2 C ricotta cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
freshly ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
melted butter (about 1/2 stick, more if necessary)
10 sheets (12" x 18") phyllo*

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9" x 12" baking dish. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the chopped onion in olive oil until translucent, about 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Don't let the onion brown.

3. Add the chopped spinach and kale and saute until well-wilted. Add the green onions and parsley and continue cooking, turning the heat down, if necessary, until all or most of the water has evaporated. The mixture should still be moist, not completely dry. Cool slightly.

4. Add the crumbled feta, ricotta, and eggs. Season with freshly ground nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Stir well to combine. Set the filling aside while you prepare the phyllo.

5. Take 10 12"x 18" pieces of fresh phyllo dough. Cut them in half to make 20 12" x 9" pieces, and stack them. [Or cut phyllo to fit your pan. Whatever size, you'll need 20 sheets cut to fit.] Phyllo dries out easily, so work quickly and keep the phyllo stack covered with a dish cloth while you work.

6. Line the buttered baking dish with 1 piece of phyllo. Brush some melted butter on the phyllo, then stack another piece of phyllo on top and brush it with butter. Repeat until you've put 10 sheets of phyllo in the pan.

7. Spread the prepared filling on the buttered phyllo. Smooth the top, then cover with the remaining 10 pieces of phyllo, brushing more melted butter in between each piece and on top.

8. Bake at 350 until the top is golden brown and the center is cooked through about 30-40 minutes. Cut into squares and serve hot, room temperature, or cold. Leftovers, if there are any, make a nice lunch; or they freeze well, too.

**Phyllo, also called filo dough, is available frozen in most markets and fresh in some Middle eastern markets. If you are using frozen dough, be sure to defrost it thoroughly in the refrigerator before you use it.

At the pick-up this afternoon, I heard that some avocados are taking a long time to get ripe. That's normal. However, you can hasten ripening by putting avocados in a brown paper bag with a banana. Ripening fruit gives off ethylene gas which is a ripening agent. Bananas are picked unripe, so they emit a fair amount of ethylene gas while they ripen in your fruit basket. You can capture this natural ripening agent and put it to good use with your avocados. It'll still take days to ripen a hard avocado, but you can cut the ripening time by a third or even in half.

This week's bounty included:

From Underwood Family Farms: red leaf lettuce, kale, spinach, mizuna, baby bok choy, napa cabbage, Easter radishes, yellow carrots, Cilantro, parsley, tangerines and a Zutano avocado.

From Rancho Santa Cecilia: those divine satsuma mandarines and 2 Haas avocados.

And from Silver Lake Farms: radish shoots and 2 kinds of chard shoots. Yum!

Enjoy!

Shelley

Minted Quacamole

Hey Tara,

Been meaning to write this quick note to you before Round 2 began to say how life-enriching (not to mention taste bud-enriching) the Beachwood Canyon CSA program has been for me and my family. Tuesdays have become quite the event, chasing our four-year-old, empty shopping bags waving in the wind, over to your makeshift stand each afternoon and seeing the look of delight on his face every time Farmer John's bounty includes his faves--carrots, celery, cucumber and/or broccoli.

Can't wait to see what the spring session brings!

In the meantime, I've forwarded this tasty little recipe (originally from a Canadian food and drink magazine) that makes good use of a couple of this past week's items.

Bountifully yours,

Mike, Kim & Nicky

MINTED GUACAMOLE

2 ripe avocados
2 tbsp lime juice
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint

1) Mash peeled, pitted avocados, leaving some chunkiness. Stir in remaining ingredients until combined. Serve with tortilla chips.