CSA Week 12

Week 12 arrives. The squashes and apples are coming out at the farmer's markets, the air's getting a little cooler, and I'm already thinking ahead to Halloween candy and waaay ahead to Christmas shopping. It's now after Labor Day, so it's unofficially the end of summer, even though fall doesn't 'officially' begin until September 22. Fall is my favorite season by far - the gorgeous leaf colors, bundling against the chill with scarves and boots, pumpkin and apple everything, cider, Halloween, Thanksgiving, it's when you start stockpiling coziness to ward off winter's chill later.

With that said, the arrival of fall also reminds me that my CSA with Silverbrook Farm will be ending soon. But not to worry! I've purchased a bi-weekly winter CSA share from The Kitchen Garden Farm in Sunderland, Massachusetts. Every other week from November through May I'll pick up, in the words of the farm, "tons of fresh greens like spinach, kale, lettuce, salad mix, herbs and bunched roots - all from our greenhouses - as well as stored garlic, onions, potatoes, carrots, beets and other roots, plus occasional treats from neighboring farms such as apples, pears, cider, yogurt, flour, cheese, jam, etc." So I'm definitely looking forward to that!

This week saw:

Mixed greens, a head of lettuce, 3 ears of corn, apples, pears, a green pepper, tomatoes, potatoes and an onion.

I started the week out pretty lazily, and slapped together some corn, tomatoes, onions, lettuce and beans with avocado and cheese in a tortilla. Gotta love quick, dirty Mexican-esque food!

(The pic uploader sometimes rotates my pictures and I can't correct them, blargh, sorry!)

I put more of the tomatoes into this recipe for spicy kale lasagna. I also replaced the ricotta cheese with a vegan tofu version, which I found here. While not spicy in my opinion, it had all the warm appeal of classic lasagna.

Next, the lettuce and potatoes went into a quick salad topped with salmon, inspired this Martha Stewart recipe.

To celebrate Acorn Squash Day on the 7th, I made this amazing recipe for Acorn Squash and Roasted Garlic Strudel from The Kitchn. I've never eaten or made strudel before, and was surprised how relatively easy it was to make something so fancy looking (admittedly, mine was a bit rougher than the website pictures). The one thing I will say, however, is that I hate working with phyllo dough. It was the first, and if I have anything to do with it, the last time I worked with the stuff and it was a nightmare. Beyond paper-thin sheets of soft dough that tear and disintegrate when your're just trying to separate them, much less use them in your recipe. I pulled it off - barely, but I plan on finding a way to substitute puffed pastry for phyllo whenever I can from now on. Anyway, the strudel was fabulous, and I served it with the mixed greens and fresh cranberry beans, braised in garlic oil.

 And lastly, the inevitable question: what do I do with all this corn?! I had been toying with the idea of 'corn pie', but how to execute it? Filling a double pie crust with corn seemed too heavy, but I eventually found what I was looking for in this recipe for Pueblo corn pie. Once I had constructed it, I felt a more fitting title would be 'Mexican shepherd's pie'. It's a warm, gooey mixture of corn, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions and pinto beans baked between sheets of creamy cornmeal. This was delicious, and I'm kind of desperate to make it again.

Next week - I may finally be conquered by corn!

CSA Week 11

This week's haul included:

Pears, lettuce, mint, 4 ears of corn, green beans, peaches, onions, green peppers and tomatoes.

First up, the lettuce, peppers, some onions and some tomatoes went into a big green salad with cannelini beans.

For dessert, I followed the recipe provided by Silverbrook for individual peach 'cobblers'. I made a bed of homemade granola with dried cranberries following this recipe, then warmed the peaches in a mixture of butter, brown sugar and lemon juice. Topped with mint, it was crunchy, sweet and yummy! 

 In a desperate attempt to keep using up all the corn I receive, I started stuffing random vegetables with it. There were a few large green pattypan squashes at the farmer's market, and they were too cute to pass up. I made a seasoned mixture of corn, tomatoes and onions, stuffed it into the squash and baked everything, then garnished with parsley. Veggies galore!

Next came a big messy amateur homage to chiles rellenos - or stuffed chili peppers. I also saw some gorgeous mole and poblano peppers at the market and snatched them up. I made another mix of corn, tomatoes, onions and black beans and seasoned it with taco seasoning and lime juice. Then I sliced open the peppers, stuffed them with the corn mixture and baked them. Everything went on a brown rice tortilla with guacamole and cashew lime cream (a nice vegan substitute for sour cream, just blend cashews with lime juice). These were awesome, messy and filling and totally vegan.

 Lastly, the green beans and remaining tomatoes topped a dinner of penne, with parmesan cheese and pine nuts based on this recipe. I'm starting to develop a taste for pine nuts, which I never really liked before. 

That's all for now, more next week!