CSA 2013 Week 18

Week 18 Bounty: 

Bright lights chard
Assorted specialty tomatoes
Kale
Bok choi
Norland red potatoes
Melons
Red peppers
Garlic
Radishes

*Image from Scotch Hill Farm, Broadhead, WI

Meal #1 (bok choi, carrots, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro)

Chicken Tikka Masala

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, cut in 1 inch cubes
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoons ground red pepper
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala (buy in Indian market)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (8 ounce) can tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
I made a quick version of this recipe and threw everything in the food processor, cooked chunks of chicken in a pan, heated the sauce and served over basmati rice.

Meal #2 (tomatoes, chard, carrots, peppers, radishes, garlic)

Pasta Bolognese

Another night of "cheating" with my food processor.  I threw in tomatoes, chard, carrots, a bell pepper, radishes and greens, garlic, basil, some other Italian spice mix, olive oil and added it to ground beef and served over pasta.

Meal #3 (kale)

Risotto Tartufo
A delicious box (I know, we cheated) we found at Costco that is the closest thing we've found to the real thing!

Baked Chicken
Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Brush both sides of chicken with oil. Sprinkle both sides with desired seasonings. Place in baking dish. Bake uncovered 25 to 35 minutes or until juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut. Cool chicken 10 to 15 minutes. 

Baked Kale Chips

1 head kale, washed and thoroughly dried
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt, for sprinkling
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Remove the ribs from the kale and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Lay on a baking sheet and toss with the olive oil and salt. Bake until crisp, turning the leaves halfway through, about 20 minutes. Serve as finger food. * Recipe from Melissa d'Arabian at foodnetwork.com

Side (melon)

Enjoyed by all as a snack.

Leftover (potatoes)

Apples!
We picked 75 pounds of Jonagold apples from Door Creek Orchard and have used 50 pounds so far for apple sauce and apple pies.  Applesauce is just sweet apples, cored and put through food mill - the kids love the pink applesause!  I add cinnamon to taste.  I will share the pie recipe next week, but this crust was a great new find.

Whole Wheat Pie Crust Recipe
Makes 2 Pie Crusts
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
2/3 cup softened coconut oil or softened butter
Approximately 1/2 cup cold water
In a mixer (or by hand if you are daring enough), mix dry ingredients and coconut oil/butter together. Once you have good looking crumbs, slowly start to add your water. You should start to have a pliable ball of dough. Once you reach that consistency you can stop adding water. Depending on your flour, you may need to add more/less water. If you add too much, don’t worry! Just add some more flour to the mixture until you reach the right consistency. On a sheet of wax paper, roll out your dough with a rolling pin. Use extra flour on your rolling pin, wax paper and hands so that the dough doesn’t stick. Once you have a nice flat and round pie crust area, pick it up – wax paper and all. Use the wax paper to turn your crust over and place it in your greased pie pan. Remove wax paper, and shape your pie crust. Trim the ends around the edge of the pie plate. Bake your pie crust at 450 for about 10 minutes until you have a pretty golden brown. * Recipe from thethriftymama.com

Recent Favorites

 These are the best of what we've made lately.  The pot roast was to die for.  The wedding soup is yummy (I did double the pasta and added more liquid).  The fruit salsa sounds weird, but it won us second place in an appetizer competition (for the second year in a row!). 

V's Crock Pot Bottom Round Roast 
3 lbs boneless bottom round roast  
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 
1 tablespoon brown sugar 
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 
1 cup dry red wine 
2 cups beef broth 
1 large onion, coarsely chopped 
2 large carrots, coarsely chopped 
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
Place chopped onion and carrots in bottom of crock pot. Season all sides of the roast liberally with the kosher salt and ground pepper. Place roast on top of onions and carrots, fat side down. Combine mustard, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth and red wine in a separate bowl and pour over roast. Set crock pot to low and cook for 3 hours. After 3 hours, turn the roast onto one side and cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn the roast on the next side and cook 20 minutes, repeat until the roast has the fat side on the bottom again.  Cook for about 2 more hours usually 6 hours total. The roast is done when it shreds easily with a fork. (Cook time can vary depending on size of roast and size of crock pot.)  You can remove meat, add a bit of cornstarch to thicken sauce to gravy.  Also, mushrooms are a wonderful addition.

* Recipe by VLizzle at Food.com.


Crock Pot Italian Wedding Soup
1 lb lean ground beef
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup breadcrumbs  
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped  
1 teaspoon oregano  
1 teaspoon basil  
1/2 teaspoon salt  
1/2 teaspoon pepper  
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated  
6 cups chicken stock  
1 cup boneless cooked chicken breast (baked or boiled and chopped into shreds)  
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped  
1/2 cup carrot, finely chopped  
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped  
2 cups escarole or 2 cups spinach, torn into small pieces  
2 bay leaves  
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder  
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper  
1/4 cup pastina pasta or 1/4 cup acini di pepe pasta  
parmesan cheese, for serving
Meatballs: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together. Form into very small balls (I get approximately 90 meatballs from 1 pound ground beef. I bake mine on a nonstick cookie sheet and turn them half-way through the cooking time). Bake about 10-15 minutes, until the meatballs have browned but are still soft (watch closely). Remove from oven and drain on paper towel, if necessary. Soup: Place all of the ingredients, except the pasta and escarole or spinach, into the crock pot with meatballs. Cook on low for 8 hours (Add pasta and escarole or spinach during the last hour of cooking and salt to taste, if necessary). Remove bay leaves. Top each serving with grated parmesan or romano cheese.Note: The meatballs must be prepared before being put into the crock pot (make them the night before and put them in the refrigerator, or even keep a batch in the freezer. I basically prepare as much as I can in advance so all I have to do is just put it all in the crock pot in the morning).
* Recipe by Lainey6605 at Food.com.

Annie's Fruit Salsa & Cinnamon Chips
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and diced (I did not peel)
8 ounces raspberries
1 pound strawberries
2 tablespoons white sugar (I did not add this)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor (I used apricot)
10 (10 inch) flour tortillas (whole wheat)
butter flavored cooking spray
2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar  
In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, Golden Delicious apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray. Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.
* Recipe by Ann Page from allrecipes.com.