Back into the magical world of the CSA

After getting burned (no pun intended--well, actually, it was) by my previous CSA experience, I have stuck my toes back in the water with Desert Roots Farm Summer Survivor Season--just four weeks to see if this one is going to work for me. So far, so good. We purchased a whole share, even though there are only two of us, thinking that, as vegetarians, the more vegetables the merrier. I still don't know if it's too much, considering my crazy work schedule. I have to decide soon, though, because it's time already to sign up for the fall season. Perhaps while I can't sleep tonight, I can figure that one out!

For those of you who haven't heard of, or aren't sure about, CSA's, I'll tell you what I like about mine:

• It's absolutely local and organic eating.
• Things come to me fresh from the farm, so there is no sitting around losing nutrients in the grocery store.
• My CSA farm is run by a womah. I like that.
• My share comes each week with a compostable bag, so all my scraps from the farm (or other organic produce) go in there, and get picked up to add to the farm's compost pile when my new week's worth of goodies is delivered.
  
• It stretches me and forces me to cook, as I really hate to throw food out. Essentially, I nurture myself through nourishment, forcing myself to take time to cook instead of just work all weekend.

That last part gives me the heebie-jeebies a little bit, though. Right now, I have things cooking everywhere, knowing that the weekend may be the only time I really get to do much in the kitchen. Today, for example, I roasted butternut squash. I approached the task with some trepidation, as neither the Husband nor I have ever really been butternut squash lovers. However, they were in the bag and needed to be used, so what'a girl going to do?

I got out a big, giant knife and started working on skinning those varmints. Even though mine were small, the skin was still hard. I started with a paring knife, and quickly graduated to my 9" chef's knife. I hacked off the skin, scooped out the seeds, chopped the flesh into big chunks, then tossed the whole bit with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and tossed into a 450 degree oven. I have to admit to thinking the whole time that this was a total waste, as we don't LIKE butternut squash.

To my surprise, though, it started to smell pretty good. While the squash was cooking, and winning me over with its aroma, I chopped some walnuts and toasted them in a skillet. In a short time, the squash chunks were roasted, with crispy exteriors and meltingly soft interiors. I tossed them with a bit of walnut oil and the toasted walnuts, then took the bowl to DH with two forks. And you know what? We ate it. All of it. Every last, little bit (well, except for the two bites DH gave the dog, who wagged appreciatively.) So, I think we have another winner.

Isn't it crazy how we work ourselves to death sometimes with recipes when really simple preparations are also delicious? While I can see a riff on the plain roasted squash with walnuts being a possibility (sauteed onions, browned mushrooms, delicate frisee of sage?), it was good-really good-just as it was. I have to admit to frantically looking through cookbooks for something to do with that squash, then falling back on our standby of roasting when nothing else sounded all that good.

Speaking of recipes, though, I do have one to share. It started off with a bag of Anaheim chiles from the CSA. I poked around on their website a bit and found a recipe for chiles stuffed with a can of pinto beans, white rice, and salsa. That sounded like a good starting point, but not a good way to finish. So, I borrowed the idea and improvised heavily, and the results were delicious.

I started by blanching the Anaheim chiles in a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes. I almost skipped this step, but I'm glad I didn't. The final recipe doesn't have much liquid in it, and I think the peppers would have been tough and fibrous without their first soak in the Chile Spa. The hot bath was followed by a quick dip in ice water to stop the cooking. I stopped there and bagged the chiles to use one night during the week. I also cooked a generous handful of basmati rice with some salsa added as part of the water, also setting that aside in the refrigerator.

On the night I made this, I got home from work and got into the kitchen. They were in the oven in about 20 minutes. I did use the can of pinto beans from the original recipe, but then went to work on some seasonings: onions, garlic, chopped green chiles, and tomatoes to moisten the mix. And cheese, of course. Hello. Beans and rice without cheese is like Thelma and Louise without a car. (I did have more filling than would fit in the chiles, so I just packed it into a small casserole dish and baked it right along with the stuffed chiles. While they were baking off in the oven, I chopped some tomato to toss over the top. About 30 minutes later, we had a dinner that we both enjoyed tremendously. Another one to go into the rotation, based on what came in my CSA bag. What's not to love?

Mashed Potatoes meets Artichoke Dip

The last few weeks, I've pretty much eaten garbage, albeit vegetarian garbage. It's taken a toll on my wasteline AND my finances, as that Wendy's egg, cheese, and tomato panini with a large diet Coke costs about $5--every day. Lunches have been nonexistant or have come from the school cafeteria, neither of which is a good choice. Dinners have been a boring blur of quick standbys or take out. So, this weekend I decided I really wanted to get some cooking done ahead of time so that I could eat something that at least came from my own kitchen.

Add to that that I've had this weird craving for artichokes. I don't know why. I never had artichokes as a child, and my exposure as an adult has been limited. Nonetheless, artichokes in anything have made my ears perk up. At the same time, I've been craving some of the creamy comfort of mashed potatoes, but when you don't eat meat, it can be hard to find something to serve them with.

It was destiny, I suppose, to find this recipe for Parmesan Artichoke Potato Casserole over on the CLBB. It goes together quickly and uses few ingredients. It makes a large casserole full, so it is even economical. But best of all, it's good. There's something about the piquant tone of the artichokes that offsets the potatoes perfectly. There's just enough tang, just enough creaminess, to make it all work well together.

I put this together this morning, just to take for lunches. Then we had an impromptu gathering of our children and grandchildren. I still tossed the casserole in the oven to finish it off. Frankly, I didn't think they would eat it. Artichokes? Faggidaboutit. Mayonnaise? Their proper raising doesn't always stop them from making gagging sounds. My nice full pan of casserole? Down by 1/4. And I didn't serve it to them, which explains why there are so many spoons and little bowls in the dishwasher. Like little chicks, they just kept going back and pecking at it while we waited for our "real" lunch to be ready. So, I would say this one definitely qualifies as a winner. Sorry I have no pictures yet, but you can see it in your head. My pretty green casserole dish filled with white creamy goodness, with that crispy-cheesy topping of bread crumbs, parmesan, and paprika baked to crackly goodness. Mmmmmm....lunch will be good this week, for sure!

Yes, I'm still here!

I haven't forgotten my blog, not at all. In fact, I spend a little time every day feeling guilty that there is nothing new posted for the past few months. As always, the end of school was very busy, then we were off to Hawai'i the day after. Sixteen days later, our plane landed at home, and eight hours after that, I was on another plane to Baltimore for a conference. A couple of weeks at home trying to catch up on a year's worth of tasks didn't leave much time for cooking, then I was back at work.

There have been a few new things here and there that I will share over the next few days, but we've relied a lot on improvisation and stand-bys. Tonight, I wanted to show you a light dessert that had us pretty much licking the dishes. Since our traveling wings are clipped by the resumption of the school year, we have to rely on food to take us to exotic destinations. For some reason, it is foods of the Mediterranean and the Middle East that most often do that for me. It is those foods that you can sit down with, knowing that you might have a counterpart thousands of miles away, eating the very same type of thing--not in a fancy restaurant, but outside watching a sunset, or around the table with her family.

This recipe was born out of the fact that I had figs--too many to eat out of hand. The figs were the result of an overly ambitious trip to Costco. So were the mangoes, pineapple, grape tomatoes, and oh so many other things, but that's another story. I borrowed technique from a Nigella recipe, then went with my instincts.

The figs are prepared by slicing them almost all the way through in quarters, then fitting them into a buttered baking dish close together, but opened just a little bit. I used about a dozen. Melt about half a stick of butter, and stir in a generous 1/4 cup of sugar and a drizzle of vanilla. Pour it over the figs, especially into the open area. Roast the figs in a 500 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime, spoon some Greek yogurt into a dish, topping it with a drizzle of honey and some chopped almonds. When the figs are out of the oven, let them cool just a bit, then spoon them over the yogurt along with a bit of their syrup. Top with another dollop of honey and scatter some more chopped almonds over the top. (Nigella recommends pistachios, which would also be good. I even like the idea of pignolias.) Quick and low maintenance, and much cheaper than a trip to Greece.

A Sweet Ending

When I was at the grocery store today, I guess my subconscious was working on what to do with all that strawberries sitting in the refrigerator, because my cart was suddenly drawn to a place I NEVER go--the forbidden zone--the cookie aisle. Seriously, why would I go down there? I don't eat sweets at all very often, and when I do, I make them myself. But I knew I wanted to do something with those strawberries and I didn't want to turn on the oven to bake a pound cake. So...this little creation came from a package of Pepperidge Farm Chessmen Cookies. There's not a recipe--just a block of cream cheese blended with some agave syrup (or sweetener of your choice), the zest of one lemon, and a drizzle of vanilla. Strawberries macerated with a bit of sugar. Put the cookie on a plate, spread on some of the cream cheese (chilled back to its original consistency), and spoon on the strawberries. These quickly became addictive, and I'm afraid that we all ate far too many. They were certainly good, though. If I were serving them to company, I think I'd go for nicely sliced fruit and skip the macerating. Perhaps even just setting some raspberries and blueberries into the cream cheese could be nice. I think I see more of these in our future!


While I haven't had much of a chance to cook the past couple of weeks, I did have this photo lying around of a recipe I haven't posted yet. And that's a shame, because this was truly an exceptional, and exceptionally quick, side dish. You start by using a microwave to bake a few potatoes--just as many as you need. I used four medium Yukon Golds. (And for those who know me well--yes, I did use "microwave" and "potato" in the same sentence. You can shut up about it now. Taunting me will not really make your life better.) When the potatoes come out of the microwave, they take a little bath in ice water to spare your fingerprints from being cauterized off of your body. Slice 'em or dice 'em, it really doesn't matter. But get some olive oil in a skillet, heat it up, and throw those babies in there. When they begin to turn golden, add lots of sliced scallions, as much minced garlic as sounds good to you, and a "generous" sprinkling of paprika. I used smoky Spanish paprika, and loved it. I guess I should mention that this is one of the "no recipe" recipes from Vegan Express. I actually have re-planned the menus that I planned on, and shopped for, two weeks ago from this book, so hopefully, that cooking will actually get done this week.

Stay tuned!

More cooking than time

Although I haven't had much time to post this past week, I have been cooking from the cookbook I previously mentioned, Vegan Express by Nava Atlas. I picked this up while browsing through Borders a couple of weeks ago. Actually, I didn't go in to browse; I went in to purchase a specific guidebook for our June trip to Kauai. However, they were out of the book. Never one to waste a coupon, I headed to the cookbook section. Bad. Bad. Bad. This one appealed to me because of the creative-sounding recipes loaded with anti-oxidant rich veggies that could be prepared in (mostly) 30 minutes or less. So far, I have to admit that I'm not loving this cookbook. I don't think it's the cookbook's fault, though. I think we're just not "vegan enough" yet to appreciate it. We recognize that there is a process we must go through to change our taste buds' expectations for dinnertime delights. I think we can also attribute at least a little bit of my dissatisfaction to user's error. I just haven't really fully developed my vegan cooking bag of trips with some of the more popular ingredients.

I do think there's hope, though--both for the book and for us. Different just means different--not bad. We are committed to moving into the vegan camp in the coming months--maybe even years before we're there 100%. And the journey should lead us to new appreciate for flavors, ingredients, and cuisines.


So, what was on the menu this week, and how did it fare? The one I liked the best was Golden Tofu Triangles with Rich Peanut Sauce. Cute little tofu triangles were simply sauteed in olive oil, then topped with a Rich Peanut Sauce. I served these over some coconut rice that was in the freezer from a previous cooking spree. The perfect side was a Bok Choy, Red Cabbage, and Carrot Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing. Even the Husband, who doesn't like cabbage AT ALL was able to eat it (2 helpings, in fact). He did say he didn't love it, but knew it was good for him, and he could tolerate it. That's what I mean about learning to develop new tastes; you've just gotta keep coming back until a new appreciation develops. And I will say that the salad was an absolute stunner on the plate. Beautiful, beautiful colors, especially against the golden browns of the tofu, rice, and peanut sauce. (What I'm trying to say is that the tofu dish would have been B-O-R-I-N-G to look at without the salad!) I did use the optional cilantro, and in my opinion, it added the perfect piquant note to the plate.




Another dish that we need to develop an appreciate for is the Quinoa with Wild Mushrooms and Mixed Squashes. I know that quinoa is a nutritional powerhouse, but I really don't love it. I can eat it, but it will never get me all excited; it's too mushy. This dish, in particular, just didn't hit any major notes of pleasure for us. It's functional, certainly, but there's too much good food to make do with functional. However, it's possible that, again, we just haven't "arrived" at our appreciation for this. Therefore, I've included the recipe for those who might be further along in their vegan evolution--or for those who just love quinoa. In this dish, the vegetables are pan roasted. However, there are so many vegetables that they tend to steam and never develop the rich, dark fond that I love. I wouldn't want to switch them to the oven to roast unless it was done in a pan that would allow the deglazing with white wine, which does add a unique note to the dish. This could also benefit from the addition of something bright--red peppers, sun dried tomatoes--something to wake up the mouth. There really isn't anything here that does that.


I also made BBQ Flavored Roasted Tempeh with Vegetables. I think we might have liked this had I followed my instincts. The recipe called for roasting a mixture of tempeh strips, bell peppers, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, and onions after giving them a light bath in barbecue sauce. However, it called for a roasting time that would merely have softened the vegetables, not truly roasted them. In my heart, I knew I should wait until the vegetables were about half done to add the tempeh to the pan, but I didn't. Instead, I put it all in at once. By the time the vegetables were done to my liking, I had tempeh bricks. I could have built a cute little adobe house model out of them, in fact. They were edible, but barely. However, the vegetables had a nice flavor, and the barbeque sauce as the roasting liquid (replacing oil) was a very nice touch.

One real winner from the book was served alongside my tempeh brick disaster--Pan Roasted Corn with Peppers and Pumpkin Seeds. I didn't have any pumpkin seeds on hand, so I can't vouch for what they would have added, but this dish melded the sweetness of corn and thinly sliced red bell peppers with the smoky hint of cumin and the bite of hot chiles. The recipe called for jalapenos, but I couldn't find the one I thought was still in the crisper. Instead, I pulled some jarred yellow chiles out of the refrigerator, minced up several, and threw them in the pan. This is a keeper side dish, one that will reappear on our menu again. I wish I'd taken a picture, as the colors and varied shapes in the bowl were vibrant.

There's a lot more on the menu this week. I have two more weeks of menus planned from this cookbook, so hopefully, I'll find more winners. If not, we've still at least eaten well and made healthy choices for our bodies. I'm now going to return to cell phone Hell. It was time to resell our souls to Verizon today, getting two new cell phones for us and adding my parents to our account. I'm going crazy trying to figure out how to set the numbers to the speed dial positions in which I want them on mine, and I'm setting up new phones for my parents--their first. I never feel older than when new technology comes to my house. That, and my beautiful baby turning--gulp--30 years old. Happy birthday, honey!

I am SUCH a bad blog mom!

If my blog were a child, CPS would have intervened long ago. Fortunately, it's an e-baby, although I hope none of you have suffered from severe pangs of neglect. There was that week before vacation where I had four 16-hour days in a row, then a 22-hour day of work and travel. Then there was vacation in a charming B&B with no Internet access...and no kitchen, so what's the point, right? Then there was the week of being back from vacation in which I did cook, but didn't blog. Instead, I was trying to put my house/job/life back together. And do my taxes.

However, some cooking did take place, some of it more worthy than some of the rest. Let me start off with the best--tonight's dinner. I felt like I was hanging out somewhere in the Middle East. DH and I cuddled up on the couch with a big, Moroccan-designed platter between us. It was heaped with spicy chickpeas, fresh slices of jalapenos, tomatoes, and onions, a dollop of Greek yogurt, and tiny little lime wedges. A basket of warm, soft naan was there as well. It became an orgy of scoop, stack, and eat. Martha Stewart, from whom the recipe for Spicy Chickpeas with Fresh Green Chiles came, would probably have blushed with embarrassment at our happy sounds--all from the food, I assure you. An added bonus? This is the kind of recipe that you can start one step, then do the next bit of prep while the first part cooks. Dinner made it to the table...or couch...in about 30 minutes. Nothin' to complain about there. This is one of my new favorite meals. I think this one will qualify for the ARF/5-A-Day Roundup hosted by Sweetnicks, too. Be sure to stop over there and check it out.


Just to bring you up to speed, I'll fill you in on a couple of other dishes that came out of the kitchen this past week, although I don't have photos to share. (All of these, by the way, are Martha recipes, from the same cookbook.) Yesterday, we had a fabulous grain salad that could quickly become a summer staple. Farro with Thinly Sliced Zucchini, Pine Nuts, and Lemon Zest went together quickly (I had precooked the barley, which I used in place of farro), is loaded with fiber, and literally explodes with fragrance. There is one step in the recipe in which pine nuts are sauteed in olive oil instead of being dry toasted. Once they begin to brown, you blast the pan with lemon zest. Oh, man, did that smell good! This would be very versatile with other summer veggies such as asparagus, broccoli, or whatever grabs your fancy. It can also be made with whatever grain really floats your boat, so have fun with it.

I also have a couple of bags of Whole-Wheat Pasta with Lentils, Spinach, and Leeks in the freezer after eating a large dinner and a couple of lunches from the original recipe. This is good, earthy peasant food. However, to plow through the rest of it later, I want to come up with something a bit more exciting. I'm thinking of trying the olive oil/pine nut/lemon zest trick on this, with the possible addition of some sun-dried tomatoes. Whaddya think? Sound good? I'm open to other ideas, as well.

The last recipe to share tonight is Jamaican Rice and Beans. In this recipe, almost a cup of dried red beans simmers in a coconut milk bath with crushed garlic and bay leaves. Another winner in the home-fragrance department. Who needs air fresheners? After an hour or so of this, rice and more liquid are added, more simmering ensues, and the result is a beautifully fluffy, light side dish. I did make this as a main dish, but wouldn't recommend it. There just isn't enough substance to it. However, I have plans for this dish in the future, as part of a meal--just not the centerpiece.

There is lots more cooking planned, from yet another new cookbook: Vegan Express. Some of the recipes sound delicious, and I can't wait to try them. I actually have menus planned for the next four weeks, along with my shopping list, courtesy of the hour and a half wait at the carwash yesterday. I may not get the recipes posted nightly, but I'll sure give it a try.

It's good to be back!

A cold winter day

Well, not really--unless you consider 80 degrees cold. It is still winter, though. While other parts of the country were shivering under blankets of snow, we were totally enjoying the springtime weather. Before you hate me too much, though, I will say that I worked 12+ hours on Saturday, then spent all day Sunday trying to get ready to take my tax stuff to the accountant. Still not ready, either. However, when I did get to look out my window for a few minutes, we were delighted to see this pair of cardinals snacking on our quail block. For those not in the know, the male is bright red, and the female is almost all brown, but with the signature crest and yellow beak. This is the first time we've seen the pair in the yard together. They usually take turns. And I have to say, it thrills me every time I see them. They just don't seem to belong in the middle of the desert.


On a more blogger-ish note, we're leaving for San Francisco Friday night. I have work events every night between now and then, so I can tell you that there just won't be any food posts here. Hopefully, we'll be shooting some great photos of great food while we're in SF. I can't wait to get there!