Friday, June 13, 2014

CSA 2014 Week 1

Image from Scotch Hill Farm, Broadhead, WI
Week 1 Bounty:
Nancy butterhead bibb lettuce
Spinach
Norland Red potatoes
Curly cress
Leeks
Spicy greens mix
Oregano
Leaf lettuce mix
Romaine lettuce
Bok choi
Pink beauty radishes



A new season of vegetables!  They are all so beautiful.  When we bring home our bag of vegetables I love to have my kids help inspect them and prepare them for the fridge.  We talk about what we will eat first, what might not last long and what we are really excited to eat.  This week I was most excited about all of the gorgeous salad greens.

We usually embrace many Italian traditions that we learned while living in Italia.  One of these is eating the salad at the end of the meal.  It is supposed to be very good for digestion.  I never have any problem with this, as my family thinks that I am part rabbit, and will grab a handful of lettuce and eat it as is.  However, by the end of the meal the kids usually tell us they are too full for salad.  So we have started serving the salad at the beginning and found a dressing/topping that each likes and guess what?  They actually eat their salads!  It is ridiculously exciting!

The stir fry actually got an "mmmmm" from Greysen.  This kid is so picky that I have actually often wondered why I put so much effort into good food for my family.  But I keep on trying, so these victories, though not frequent, are so important to me.

The other big surprise of the week was the radish dip.  We had to throw something together quite quickly for a dance recital reception and I found with this recipe.  Allen raced to the store for cream cheese and a very delicious vegetable and cracker dip was made.  It was so good that I cannot wait to make it again!


Meal #1: lettuce, cress, sweet potatoes
Pan-fried Sweet Potatoes
Dice potatoes and fry in pan on medium low heat with olive oil until crisp. We add salt and seasonings (sometimes clove, sometimes tarragon or an Italian spice mix).
Hot Dogs
Salad
We use Newman's Own salad dressings.  My favorite is just oil and vinegar, but my family also thinks that I am part rabbit because I will just eat raw lettuce with nothing on it.  We usually have some nuts, seeds or sesame sticks, cress and other toppings available for each of us to create our own salad.  I found that when I make a single kind of salad inevitably someone will not like it.

Meal #2: spinach, lettuce
This slow cooker recipe was an organic creation of Allen's, so I apologize that there are no specific directions.  He just threw things in the crockpot and turned it on.  This would only end in disaster for me, but he can make it work.
  
Slow Cooker Fish, Mushroom and Quinoa
Butter
Prosecco
White fish
Salt
Pepper
Garlic
Mushrooms
Spinach
Truffle oil
Onion
Quinoa
Seasoning salt
Salad (see notes above)

Meal #3: bok choi
Stir-Fried  Bok Choi with Ginger and Garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
8 cups chopped fresh bok choy
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
Salt and ground black pepper
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook 1 minute. Add bok choy and soy sauce cook 3 to 5 minutes, until greens are wilted and stalks are crisp-tender. Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper.  Served with pan cooked pieces of chicken, brown rice and cashews.  * Recipe from Robin Miller at foodnetwork.com


Meal #4: lettuce
Risotto Tartufo
This is risotto with black truffles, a favorite of ours from Italia.  This is a cheat - a delicious box we found at Costco that is the closest we've gotten here to the real thing!

Salsiccia
Northern Italian sausage (with no fennel).  We have them specially made at the local meat market.  I like them best grilled the way our friends did in Italia, butterflied.  So delicious!
Salad (see notes above)

Side: radishes, garlic, spinach 
Radish Dip
4 cloves garlic, peeled
6 radishes, quartered (just used whole bunch from share)

Handful of spinach
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
Creole spice blend
Salt to taste
Place garlic in the container of a food processor, and pulse until finely minced. Add radishes and spinach and mince. Add cream cheese, and mix until well blended. Add spices to taste. Transfer to a serving dish, and chill until serving. * Recipe adapted from kgonier at allrecipes.com


Other: radish greens, spicy greens, oregano, potatoes
radish greens - steamed, pureed and frozen (to use later in sauces, eggs, smoothies, etc)
spicy greens - steamed, pureed and frozen 
oregano - hung to dry
potatoes - leftover

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