Fusilli with Italian Sausage, Zucchini, Kale and Carrots

What a special treat to get locally-made artisan sausage in today's CSA box! And this sausage is truly special. It was made just two weeks ago from a locally-raised sow bred from award-winning stock. The sausage is very fresh, and pretty lean as sausage goes. You can really taste the pork in this finely-balanced and subtly-spiced product.

This recipe uses several of the vegetables in today's box as well as the sausage to make a delicious pasta entree. You can use either the sweet Italian or the hot Italian sausage, or you can omit the sausage entirely if you prefer. You'll still end up with a flavorful dish.

1 lb Italian sausage
1-2 T olive oil
1/2 red onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1-2 zucchini, washed and sliced
4-6 oz kale, washed and chopped
1 lb fusilli pasta
1/2-2/3 C pasta cooking water
1/2 C heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
parmesan cheese, optional

1. Heat 1 T olive oil in a large skillet. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up into bite-sized chucks (or smaller), until done. Remove the sausage from the skillet and set aside.

2. If necessary, heat a little more oil in the skillet. Add the onions and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.

3. Add the sliced carrots to the skillet. Turn down the heat, cover, and cook for 3 minutes, stirring once or twice.

4. Add the zucchini, cover again, and cook for 3 minutes more, stirring once or twice.

5. Add the kale, cover again and cook for 1-2 minutes, until the kale just wilts. Turn off the heat.

6. Return the cooked sausage to the skillet. [You can do everything up to this point ahead of time if you wish. Cool the skillet and its contents and refrigerate until you're ready to cook the pasta.]

7. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fusilli. Cook according to directions. [You can substitute spaghetti, linguini, fettuccini, or practically any pasta shape you prefer.]

8. Just before the pasta is done cooking, turn the heat on again under the sausage and vegetable mixture.

9. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 C of pasta water.

10. Add 1/2 C pasta cooking water and 1/2 C heavy cream to the skillet with the sausage and vegetables. Stir and cook for 1 minute.

11. Add the cooked, drained pasta, and stir to combine with the sausage and vegetable mixture. Stir constantly as the liquid begins to reduce, becomes very thick, and sticks to the pasta. Add a little more pasta water if necessary.

12. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot with parmesan cheese, if desired.

Today's bounty included:

Sausage from Nancee Siebert's sow prepared by Fryer's Meats and distributed by Jennie Cook;

French fingerling potatoes from Weiser Family Farms;

From Sage Mountain Farm: organic siberian kale, red sails lettuce, spinach, and radishes;

From JR Organics: organic celery, chard, and red leaf lettuce;

From Jaime Farms: Cauliflower, free-range eggs, hot-house zucchini, carrots, and cilantro; and

From Rancho Santa Cecilia: Navel oranges.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Crunchy Kale Chips

I never met a salty snack I didn't like and kale chips are no exception. However, unlike many deep-fried salty snacks that have little nutrional value, kale chips are loaded with fat-soluble vitamins A and K, and the small amount of oil used in this recipe actually makes it easier to absorb these vitamins.

Making kale chips is simple. Wash and dry a bunch of fresh and sturdy kale leaves. Remove the stems. Break into bite-sized pieces. Toss with oil. Add salt and pepper, if desired, as well as any other flavorings. Spread on a baking sheet and bake until crispy.

Some recipes call for baking the kale in a hot (400 degree F) oven. However, I find it's much easier to control the doneness of the chips in a moderate temperature oven. It will take a little longer, though. If you have a food dehydrator, you can skip the oven altogether and simply dehydrate the chips. I think you get the best product using a dehydrator, but the oven works just fine if you don't have a dehydrator.

Kale chips are addictingly delicious and since they are rather delicate, they don't do particularly well as dippers. However, they're wonderful crumbled onto salads or fresh-popped popcorn. And keep in mind, they can get soggy, so use them quickly or store them in a air-tight container.

1 bunch kale
1 T olive oil
1 t salt, or to taste
pepper to taste
flavorings to taste (see below)

1. Preheat oven to 325-350 degrees F.

2. Wash and dry the kale. Remove the stems and break into bite-sized pieces. You should have 6-8 C of loosely packed kale leaves. Place in a large bowl.

3. Drizzle the oil over the kale and toss gently until the oil is well-distributed. Add the salt and any other flavorings you prefer. Toss well to distribute evenly.

4. Spread kale in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until crisp, 20-30 minutes.

5. Remove from baking sheet and serve.

It's best to avoid any liquid flavorings that are not oil-based. However, once you coat the kale with the oil, you can add a small amount of liquid such as a squeeze of lemon juice or lime juice, or a few drops of balsamic vinegar. Be sure to toss well to distribute the flavorings evenly.

If you want to get a little fancy, you can try Master Food Preserver, Amy Goldman's recipe: Blend 1 C cashews, 1/2 bell pepper, juice from 1/2 lemon, 1/2 C nutritional yeast, red pepper flakes and salt to taste. Toss this mixture with the kale and dehydrate or dry in the oven.

Today's bounty included:

From Massa Organics: CA-grown organic brown rice;

From Sage Mountain Farm: Red sails lettuce, shiraz beets, red Russian kale, and green onions;

From Underwood Family Farms: Japanese turnips, Easter radishes, bok choy, fennel, Zutano avocado, purple kale, Romesco cauliflower, broccoli, yellow carrots, and romaine lettuce;

From Weiser Family Farms: Red thumbs potatoes;

From Jaime Farms: cabbage, red onions, brown onions, hot-house red bell peppers, hot-house zucchini, cilantro, dill, free-range eggs, and hot-house Better Boy tomatoes;

From Rancho Santa Celicia: navel oranges.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Creamy, Cheesy Polenta with Creamy, Cheesy Vegetable "Ragu"

Polenta, or corn meal mush, is true comfort food. It's soft and warm and a great base for many wonderful toppings, both savory and sweet. It's easy to prepare, too. You simply pour corn meal into boiling liquid and stir. You can use yellow or white meal and any level of coarseness from finely ground to extra coarse. Of course, the better and fresher the meal, the tastier your final product.

I like cooking up corn meal for breakfast, adding some butter, maple sugar, and salt to the boiling water and serving it with more butter, maple syrup, and milk.

Today's recipe is a savory rendition of polenta made with broth instead of water. But you can use water, if you don't have any broth. I've added freshly grated parmesan cheese and paired the polenta with a creamy and cheesy vegetable "ragu."

I put "ragu" in quotation marks because the Italians consider ragu to be a tomato-based meat sauce, and there's neither meat nor tomatoes in my topping. Nevertheless, it's thick and rich and loaded with tasty vegetables from today's CSA box.

You might want to make (or start) the vegetable ragu first, as it can sit while you cook up the polenta. Polenta hardens as it cools and may reach a point at which it will be difficult or impossible to turn it back into a creamy mush. However, polenta is often allowed to firm up and then cut into pieces. So you can serve it this way, if you prefer.

Creamy, Cheesy Vegetable Ragu

1 T butter or olive oil
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/4 lb. shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2-3 C broccoli florets
4 C chopped kale
1 C cream or whole evaporated milk
1-2 T sherry wine, optional
1/2 - 1 C finely grated parmesam cheese, or to taste
salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt the butter or heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute, covered, until the onions are translucent.

2. Add the carrots and shiitake and continue to cook covered for 3-5 minutes, until the carrots are not quite tender.

3. Add the broccoli and kale and continue to cook covered until the broccoli and kale turn bright green and the kale has become soft, about 2-4 minutes. The vegetables should exude some moisture while cooking, but if the pan is too dry, you can add 2-4 T water or broth.

4. Add the cream and the sherry. Turn up the heat to medium. Remove the cover and cook until the liquid is reduced by about half.

5. Add the cheese and stir until the sauce is creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste. You can reduce the sauce even more if you'd like it to be thicker. When it's the desired thickness, cover the pan and turn off the heat.

Creamy, Cheesy Polenta

1 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 t salt
4 C broth of water
1 C corn meal
1 C finely grated parmesan cheese, or to taste
more salt and pepper to taste

1. Put the butter, olive oil, salt and broth or water into a medium saucepan and bring the water to a rolling boil.

2. Gently add the corn meal, stirring constantly to break up any lumps.

3. Turn the heat to low or medium-low and stir constantly until the polenta begins to thicken. Then lower the heat and cook the polenta, stirring occasionally for 20-30 minutes.

4. Stir in the grated parmesan cheese until melted and combined.

5. Turn off the heat and stir in more salt, if needed, and lots of black and white pepper to taste. Although you don't have to stir constantly, stir regularly until the polenta reaches the desired thickness, such as when it holds its shape spooned onto a plate or bowl.

To assemble: Re-heat the vegetable ragu, if necessary. Spoon the polenta onto a plate and top with the vegetable ragu. Serve hot. Makes 4 servings.

If you'd like, you can add a sprig of rosemary to the polenta as it cooks. Take it out before serving.

Today's bounty included:

From Underwood Family Farms: Artichokes, green cabbage, green kale, turnips, purple carrots, broccoli, butter lettuce, spinach, and escarole;

From Weiser Family Farms: Parsnips, French Fingerling potatoes, and rutabagas;

From Jaime Farms: Cauliflower, celery, red beets, Persian cucumbers,carrots, zucchini, red romaine, oregano, marjoram, tomatoes, and eggs;

From Rancho Santa Cecilia: Zutano avocado.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Kati's Frittata

Missing Shelley's Friday recipes?

Shelley is traveling around South East Asia (lucky lady) so the wonderful Kati Stazer sent us this recipe.

Kati, an LAUSD schoolteacher, was one of my first customers at the Silverlake farmers' market. She loves sweet pea flowers. Thank you so much Kati for all your support and encouragement over the years. You are an amazing lady.

Here is Kati's recipe:

Hi Tara,

Here's a recipe for a thick Italian omelet using chard or kale, full of vegetables, herbs and cheese. Unlike many other egg dishes, frittatas can be made ahead and reheated or served cold or at room temperature. This dish reheats in the microwave and can keep in the refrigerator, in a tightly sealed container, for up to one week. By cutting back on the amount of cheese used, you have a lower-fat version.

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. butter or butter substitute
1 medium-sized onion, peeled
1 tsp. salt
2 or more large stalks of ruby chard or kale
2 medium-sized potatoes, scrubbed, unpeeled and thinly sliced
1-2 tsp. dried rosemary crumbled
1/2 tsp. dried sage
2 tsp. fresh minced garlic
8 large eggs
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup finely diced Gruyere cheese

1. Remove and mince chard or kale leaves and cut stems in 1/2 inch long pieces. Place leaves and stems in separate containers and set aside.

2. Heat 1 tsp. olive oil in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat. Add butter, and when melted, toss in onions. Cook, stirring frequently over medium heat until they just begin to brown, at least 5 minutes. Then reduce the heat to low, add 1/2 tsp. salt and cover skillet. Cook about 15 minutes more, or until onions are soft.

3. Stir in potatoes and herbs. Cover and cook about 10 minutes, stirring intermittently, or until potato slices are tender.

4. Add chard or kale stems and saute about 2 minutes more. Stir in chard or kale leaves and garlic and cook another minute, or until leaves are wilted but still bright green. Remove pan from heat.

5. Break eggs into large bowl, add remaining 1/2 tsp. salt, and beat well with a whisk. Add vegetables, black pepper to taste and cheese. Stir until evenly distributed. Clean and dry skillet and return to burner over medium heat. Preheat broiler.

6. When skillet is hot again, add remaining olive oil, wait about 30 seconds, and swirl to cover pan. Pour in vegetable-egg mixture and cook undisturbed over medium heat, 3 to 4 minutes, or until bottom of eggs have firmed.

7. Transfer skillet to broiler, and broil about 3 minutes, or until frittata is firm in center. Remove from broiler, and run knife around edges to loosen frittata. Slide or invert onto large, round plate, and serve hot, warm or at room temperature cut into wedges.

Here is the bounty list from 2/10:

From Sage Mountain Farm: loose leaf greens such as Red Russian Kale, spinach, mustard greens.

From Rancho Santa Cecilia: Bacon avocados, Satsuma Mandarins

Japanese Turnips, Golden Beets, Napa Cabbage, Navel oranges, Round Carrots, Purple Kale, Red Leaf Lettuce, Escarole, Butternut squash, Brussels Sprouts, Arugula and Mizuna from Underwood Family Farms.

And from Weiser Family Farms: Watermelon radishes, parsnips, Red Thumb potatoes, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, DeCicco Broccoli.

Enjoy!

Mixed Squash Galette

A galette is like a pie or tart only not as fancy. Most people think of galettes as dessert, but they can just as easily be made with savory ingredients like the one I made today.

I love that there's no wasted dough with a galette, and you can made it whatever shape you like. You just roll out the dough, arrange the filling, fold up the sides, and bake. Also, you can put almost anything you want inside, so long as it isn't too wet. So it's a great vehicle for creativity in the kitchen.

You can use any pie crust dough recipe you're comfortable with or you can buy an unbaked, frozen crust. You can even substitute filo dough and produce a similar product.

For my galette, I used slices of zucchini, butternut squash, onion, and tomato, as well as two leaves of kale. I sauteed all of the vegetables, except the tomato, to soften them a little. However, with the exception of the kale, this step is not necessary if you like your vegetables crunchy.

For the crust:

1-1/2 C flour
1 t salt
1 stick very cold butter, cut into small pieces
3-4 T ice water

1. Place the flour and salt in the work bowl of a food processor and process for 1-2 seconds until combined.

2. Add the butter and process until the butter is evenly distributed in small pebbles throughout the flour.

3. Add 2-3 T ice water and process just until the dough will hold together. Test this by pinching a small amount of dough between your fingers. If it sticks together, it's been processed enough. If not, process in a little more ice water and test again.

4. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and press the dough together. Wrap and refrigerate until you're ready to fill the galette.

For the galette:

1-2 T olive oil
1-2 medium zucchini, sliced in 1/4" slices
1/3 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and sliced in 1/4" slices
1 medium onion, sliced crosswise in 1/4" slices
2-3 leaves kale, sliced crosswise 1/4-1/2"
1 large tomato, cut crosswise in 1/4" slices
salt and pepper to taste
1 recipe pie crust (see above)
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.

2. In a large skillet, heat the oil and briefly saute the zucchini, butternut squash, and onion slices in a single layer on both slices until barely tender. Sprinkle them with a little salt while they're cooking. Cook slices in several batches, if necessary. Remove from the skillet and cool.

3. In the same skillet, adding a little extra oil if necessary, saute the kale until wilted. Season with a little salt and pepper while cooking. When done, remove from the skillet to cool.

4. Remove the pie crust dough from the fridge and roll out on a floured pastry cloth or cheet of wax paper. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet.

5. Layer the slices of zucchini, butternut squash, and onions, slightly overlapping each other in the center of the dough, leaving about 2" of dough all the way around. Mix in the wilted kale. Top with a layer of sliced tomatoes.

6. Carefully fold up the edges of the dough. It's fine if the dough pleats a little.

7. Beat the egg in a cup and brush the dough with the beaten egg. Sprinkle a little kosher or large grain salt on the dough, if desired, and back at 425 F for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 375 F and bake until the crust is golden, above 30-40 minutes longer.

Serve hot, warm, room temperature, or cold. This recipe makes 4 generous servings.

You can sprinkle in any herbs you like when you're arranging the vegetables. You can also sprinkle grated cheese over the vegetables for more protein and flavor.

Don't hesitate to experiment with fillings of your own. It's all good.

Today's bounty included:

From Sage Mountain Farm: Hybrid tomatoes, sweet candy onions, Fingerling potatoes, Rainbow Swiss chard, and garlic.

From Underwood Family Farms: Galia melon, zucchini, Brandywine tomatoes, green cabbage, kale, yellow zucchini, butternut squash, green leaf lettuce, Blue Lake beans, round carrots, golden beets and candy beets.

From Rancho Santa Cecilia: Hass avocados and lemons.

And from Silver Lake Farms: mustard and arugula microgreens.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Massaged Kale Salad

Jennie Cook, a local caterer who catered our July 4, 2010 party for the Food & Flowers Freedom Act, recently introduced me to Massaged Kale Salad. What a revelation it was! By simply spending a few minutes literally playing with your food, you can create an amazingly delicious raw kale salad which serves as a blank slate for any number of additional ingredients.

A little crumbled blue cheese, toasted walnuts, and diced fresh apple or pear adds up to one tasty version. Vegans might prefer chopped sun-dried tomatoes and toasted pine nuts. Sprinkle in a bit of garam masala and toss in peeled and sliced mango and a handful of raisins and you've got something with Indian flavors. Whatever you decide to do, it won't take more than a few minutes to pull the whole salad together.My recipe uses another of today's CSA bounty - grapes.

Their sweetness is a nice counterpoint to the tartness of the lemon juice and the slight bitterness of the kale.

1 bunch kale (6 large leaves or more)
2 t extra virgin olive oil
scant 1/2 t salt
1 generous t lemon juice
1/2 C halved grapes, or more to taste
3-4 T shelled toasted pistachio nuts
pepper to taste

1. Wash and dry the kale leaves. Remove the leaves from the stalks. Slice the leaves crosswise in approximately 1/2 inch pieces. [This is called a chiffonade.] Compost the stems.

2. Turn the kale leaves into a large bowl. Add the olive oil, salt, and lemon juice. With clean hands, gently massage the salt, oil, and juice into the kale leaves for 1-3 minutes, until the kale is approximately half the volume it started out. You can massage a little more or less to your taste.

3. Toss in the sliced grapes and nuts. Grate in a little fresh pepper. Add the salt, if necessary.

That's it! You can add a little crumbled goat cheese if you'd like. This recipe makes 2 very generous servings or 4 smaller ones.

Today's bounty included:

From Underwood Family Farms: Romaine and red leaf lettuce, red and purple bell peppers, Brandywine tomatoes, green cabbage, bi-color corn, kale, Easter radishes, Galia melons, round carrots, and raspberries.

From Sage Mountain Farm: Cucumbers, collard greens, Cherry Belle radishes, heirloom melons, and mixed heirloom tomatoes.

From Sweet Tree Farm: Red Flame grapes, white nectarines, and yellow peaches.

And from Silver Lake Farms: Mustard and basil microgreens.

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

Kale and Cannellini Bean Soup

Kale and cannellini beans are a great match. The creamy beans balance the mild bitterness of the kale; and the two contrasting colors - light and dark - make for a visually attractive combination. This hearty soup, based on a Tuscan soup called Ribollita, makes a delicious one-dish meal.

A little advanced planning is needed if you want to start with dried cannellini beans, but the enhanced flavor is worth the extra effort. Canned cannellini beans are a fine, time-saving alternative. Once you've prepared the beans, the soup is a cinch to make.

To start with dried beans: Place 1 C dried cannellini beans in a pot large enough to cover the beans with 3 inches of cold water. That's 3 inches over the beans. Bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Cover and let stand 1 hour. Then drain the beans and return them to the pot. Add 5 C water, 1/2 C chopped onion, 2 whole garlic cloves (peeled), 1 bay leaf, and 1/2 T salt. Bring to a simmer and cook until the beans are tender, about 1 hour, maybe a little longer. Drain the beans, but keep the cooking liquid.

For the soup:
1 T olive oil
1/2 C chopped onion
2 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 C chopped celery
1 C chopped carrots
2-3 C cooked cannellini beans
3 C cooking liquid from the cannellini beans or stock
1 C canned diced Italian tomatoes in juice
1 bay leaf
1 t dried oregano
2-3 C chopped kale
1/4 C grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large stock pot, heat the olive oil and saute the onion and garlic for about 1 minute, being careful not to burn the garlic.

2. Add the celery and carrots and cook for about 2 minutes.

3. Add the cannellini beans, cooking liquid or stock, tomatoes, bay leaf, oregano and kale. Simmer partially covered, stirring occassionally, for about 30 minutes or until the soup thickens.

4. Add the cheese and stir until melted and mixed well into the soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a grainy bread.

I like to smash some of the cannellini beans when stirring to thicken the soup. Omnivores might like to add some crumbled Italian sausage, but it's plenty hearty without meat.

Here's what this week's harvest brought us:

Young radish and chard micro-greens from Silver Lake Farms
Satsuma mandarins and Mexican white guavas from Rancho Santa Cecilia
And from Underwood Family Farms: celery, iceberg lettuce, purple kale, white carrots, leeks, French radishes. golden beets, Japanese turnips, and butternut squash.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Silver Lake Farms CSA Quinoa Salad

Quinoa is a delicious and nutritious grain with a slightly nutty flavor. By itself, it's a great side dish. However, you can toss it with all kinds of vegetables to make fabulous salads. This week's CSA box has just what you need to make a super tasty quinoa salad.

Start with 4-5 C of cooked quinoa, fluffed and cooled. Cook the quinoa according to the directions of the package. Like rice, quinoa approximately doubles in size when cooked.

Then take:
1 C peeled and thinly sliced carrots
3/4 C thinly sliced celery
1/2 C chopped onion
2 C chopped kale or chard

You can add these ingredients raw to the quinoa, but I like to cook them briefly, both to soften them and to bring out their flavors. To cook: Heat 1 T olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion first, cook for 1 minute. Then add the remaining ingredients. Stir to coat them with the oil. Sprinkle on a little salt and pepper, if desired. Then cover and cook until they reach the desired softness, about 1-2 minutes.

Add the vegetables to the quinoa and stir to combine. Then make the dressing:

1/2 C olive oil
1/3 C rice vinegar
juice of 1 satsuma tangerine
1/4 C finely chopped fresh parsley (or any combination of herbs that you like)
2 T finely sliced green onion
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk all the dressing ingredients briskly until well-combined. You should have about 1 C of dressing. Pour as much dressing as desired over the quinoa and toss to coat. Unused dressing will keep in the refrigerator for a few days. I like to add mashed roasted shallot (or garlic) to this dressing. It deepens the flavor of the dressing. Sometimes, I add a pinch of sugar or 1/4 t agave syrup to cut the sharpness.

Enjoy!

Shelley

And here's what was in our box this afternoon:

bunch red beets or butternut squash
bunch carrots or delicata squash
Napa cabbage or rhubarb
white cauliflower or tuffy acorn squash
butter lettuce or bunch chard
1# broccoli or 1# onions
celery or cilantro + parsley
2 leeks or 1# parsnips
bunch purple kale or bunch dill
SLF mustard and radish microgreens
Russian banana spuds
1# satsuma mandarins
2 black Hass avocados

Kale and Onion Quesadillas

Pictured left is a perfectly perfect Romanesco cauliflower from our pickup today, courtesy Weiser Family Farms.

Quesadillas are one of the easiest things you can make for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I just love filling a flour tortilla with freshly scrambled eggs and grated cheese and frying it in a hot cast iron skillet (my substitute for a comal) until the tortilla is golden and slightly crisp and the cheese is oozing out the sides. Sometimes I add crisp, crumbled bacon or sauteed red onion, or mushrooms and peppers - whatever is fresh and in season.

For lunch and dinner, I usually skip the eggs and turn to savory vegetables. The combination of kale and onions is wonderful in a quesadilla. Slice the onion thinly lengthwise and saute it in a little oil until the onion is translucent. Chop the kale in thin slices and add it to the onions. Cook until soft. In the meantime, grate some jack cheese. You can use pepper jack if you'd like some spice, or try asadero cheese, which is a Mexican cheese available in most markets.

You can use flour or corn tortillas, but for this quesadilla, I prefer corn tortillas. If you have access to thicker, hand-made style tortillas, even better.

To cook the quesadillas: Heat a cast iron or heavy-duty skillet (or a comal, which is essentially a cast iron flat griddle pan) over medium-high heat. Brush the pan with a small amount of oil. Place a tortilla on the pan. Let it warm up for a moment. Then put some kale-onion mixture on the tortilla and sprinkle a generous amount (or to taste) of grated cheese on top. When the tortilla is soft, fold it over, being careful not to spill out the ingredients. Brown it on one side, then flip it over and brown it on the other. The cheese should be fully melted when the quesadilla is browned on both sides. If the tortilla is browning too quickly, then turn down the heat a bit.

You can make as many quesadillas at a time as your pan will hold. They're best served hot, but be careful to let the cheese cool down a bit before biting into it so you don't get burned.

Another wonderful addition to this basic recipe is potatoes and our Weiser Farms spuds are perfect for this dish. It's best for the potatoes to be slightly par-boiled before adding them to the skillet with the onions. And they should be diced no larger than 1/4 inch or thinly sliced. I really like seasoning them with a little smoked paprika, too. Make sure you cook the potatoes until they're nearly done before adding the kale to the pan.

Omnivores might enjoy adding some browned and crumbled sausage, too. Quesadillas offer endless possibilities for creativity so have some fun and enjoy this recipe. By the way, you can substitute chard for kale if you prefer.

A few words about cherimoyas: Don't cut into that cherimoya until it softens a bit. It should yield to slight pressure like an avocado when ripe. If you've never tasted a cherimoya, you're in for a treat. When ripe, this exotic fruit has a sweet and slightly tropical flavor. It best enjoyed sliced in half and scooped out (sans pits) or peeled, pitted and chopped in chunks. There are quite a few pits.

I like cherimoya best as is, but you can do a few things with it other than adding it to a fruit salad. Try it with yogurt and a little honey. Puree the peeled and pitted fruit and make a sorbet or use it in ice cream, add it to your favorite custard recipe, mix it into a smoothie or a cocktail, or use it as a base for a salad dressing. Slices or chunks of cherimoya can adorn a fruit tart along with other seasonal fruits.

This week's bounty included the following:

Either 1 butternut squash or a delicata and a Tuffy acorn squash
Either a bunch of yellow carrots or a bunch of red carrots
1 # parsnips
4# navel oranges or 1 cherimoya
1 bunch purple kale or 1 bunch chard
1 bunch Easter radishes or 1/2 # Jerusalem arichokes
1 red leaf lettuce or 1 bunch dandelion greens
1 bunch candy beets or a Romanesco cauliflower
lemons or herbs (cilantro and parsley)
1 # Russian banana potatoes
1 # satsuma tangerines or 2 black Hass avocados
1 # medium onions

Enjoy!

Shelley

CSA Recipes From the Lovely Jodi

Tara and Willow and your lovely friend Sophia,

Thank you so much for distributing all of the delicious produce today!
I was thrilled that I was the recipient of an extra bunch of zucchini flowers.
I used the recipe on the blog, amended it by stuffing the flowers with mozzarella and gave the second batch to my neighbors next door.

Motto for the day - One good turn deserves another!

X Jodi

sauteed kale w/hot red pepper, cumin seeds + coriander

organic cornmeal crusted zucchini flowers
stuffed with mozzarella - ready for the frying pan...

frying the mozzarella stuffed zucchini flowers

fried zucchini flowers draining

arugula w/french blue cheese, baby zucchini
(from the stem of the flower), lemon peel, lemon + olive oil

Thanks Jodi! You Rock!

Tara

Beachwood Canyon + Kale Chips

Heather and her girls at pick-up



Russian Kale

Dear Tara,

We absolutely love our Tuesday Veggie pickups. I do have to admit that sometimes all these gorgeous vegetables are a bit daunting. I successfully made it through nettles: soup, pesto, tea, steamed...

My most recent challenge is KALE. I know that it's one of the healthiest vegetables around, loaded with Vitamins A & C and calcium and iron. Here's a way to make them crunchy, salty and still healthy!

KALE CHIPS

Generously drizzle chopped leaves with olive oil.
Roast at 350 degrees until crispy (15-20 minutes).
Sprinkle with sea salt.

Thank you for enhancing our lives,
Mary Kay Patrick

Thank you Mary Kay!

Here's what Farmer John had for us at the Beachwood Canyon pick-up today:

Red leaf lettuce
Butter lettuce
Arugula + flowers (edible flowers make a lovely garnish for salads)
Fresh garlic
ORANGES - yay!
Beets
Russian Kale
Baby Bok Choi
Turnips
Celery
Green Chard

Enjoy!

Tara

Beachwood Canyon CSA pick-up & Panade Recipe

Vollies John and Laura with CSA shareholder Fran at the Beachwood Canyon pick-up.








Here's what Farmer John had for us at the Beachwood Canyon pick-up today:

turnips (pictured left)
arugula
Russian Kale
red & golden beets
curly mustard (pictured below)
japanese cucumbers
celery
adolescent romaine (red & green)
fresh garlic
mint
butter lettuce

Meanwhile, Mars, who happens to be launching a unique neighborhood school in Beachwood Canyon, sent in this amazing recipe for Panade - a savory bread casserole.

Make Panade with greens (kale, mustard, beet tops, turnip tops) and bread - even if it's old, stale bread - it doesn't matter. Mars brought some Panade to the CSA pick-up for us to taste and it was DELICIOUS. Here's her recipe, dapted from Judy Rodgers’s recipe from The Zuni Café.

Panada - a savory casserole

Choose a 2 quart soufflé dish or cast iron dutch oven, The size will be a gauge as to how much bread etc you will need.

2-3- thinly sliced yellow onions
mushrooms of all kinds
Garlic cloves peeled, as many as you like
ham
Salt
1 lb green Swiss Chard, thick ribs removed, or any bitter green (kale, mustard or beet green) cut into ribbons
Day old chewy bread (not sandwich bread) cut into cubes-enough to fill your casserole
Big box of chicken stock or vegetable broth
Fontina or Gruyere or swiss cheese coarsely grated (2 cups loosely packed) or more!

HEAT ¼ cup of the olive oil, add the onions and garlic, cook 3 minutes, stir and repeat.

When golden, add garlic, reduce heat to low with a few pinches of salt.

Stew, stir occasionally -- 15 minutes. Onions should not be mushy. Remove from pan.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees so as to cook for 1 hour 45 minutes.
Heat oven to 250 degrees so as to cook 2 hours 45 minutes.

In same large pan as you cooked the onions, wilt the chard with a drizzle of water and oil. Add a few pinches of salt.
3-4 minutes. It will taste bitter—ignore that. Toss in the bread with few T of olive oil and some stock.
Arrange layers of bread and greens with handfuls of cheese and a grind of pepper. Place cheese on top.

Bring the stock to a simmer and taste of salt.
Add stock to dish, nearly to the brim (1 inch below) Wait till it is absorbed.

BAKING THE PANADE
Cover the top with parchment paper then loosely wrap the top and sides with foil--With dull sides out.
Place a piece of foil on the floor to catch the inevitable drips.
It will rise a little, lifting the foil with it.
The top should be pale golden in the center and slightly darker on the edges.
Not really necessary but you can finish by uncovering the panade and raise temp to 375 for 10-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Excellent the next day. Great for freezing.

Thank you Mars! tara