A Bounty of Tomatoes!

I am back! I wish I had an excuse, but I have really just been lazy about posting. I was out of town for to weeks, then just fell behind.

Today's post I want to dedicate to tomatoes. I have recently started eating tomatoes.  I used to be firmly in the camp that loves tomato soup and ketchup, but can't stand the actual solid food. I have found that I am able to tolerate them in small doses, and for the most part, raw.  Of course, I love them accompanied by mozzarella cheese and basil, which lead to my first food experiment.

I didn't know that caprese sandwiches were an actual food item. I encountered them at a UW campus convenience store, on the recommendation of a coworker.  It was amazing, so I couldn't wait to try my own version when I got tomatoes in my CSA.

I used a yummy, chewy, ciabatta bread, fresh mozzarella, and pesto (I know, Mom, I could have made my own). The tomatoes came from the box, and I wish I could remember the variety, but I am pretty sure that they were heirlooms. I mixed the pesto with some mayonnaise to make it more of a spread. The sandwich was AMAZING. One thing I could have added was some balsamic vinaigrette, for a little punch of extra flavor.  Also, I would recommend cutting it in half and sharing it with a friend. It was huge, and I could only finish about half. 

Several weeks later, I was getting a little behind in my tomatoes. I decided to try something my sister suggested. This is a pasta sauce that is completely fresh, and extremely quick to make. I actually made the entire sauce out of items from my CSA. 

(Pardon my thumb in the pic... my phone is still new to me!)

Chop up 4-5 small tomatoes, one medium sized zucchini, fresh basil and garlic to taste (I put in lots of both!). Throw all ingredients in the food processor with some olive oil and chop it down fine. 

At this point, you could serve it cold on your choice of pasta. I chose to cook mine by just putting it over medium heat for about five minutes. It brought the flavors down a bit, and catered to my husband, who would much rather eat cooked vegetables. 

After cooking, I added salt and pepper to taste. I forgot to add parmesan cheese, which I think would be really tasty, but it was good (and probably healthier) without. I put the sauce over cheese tortellini and chicken ravioli (husband's choice). 

(Sauce after it was cooked)

Next time I make the sauce, I want to put it on grilled chicken breasts. I think that it would be really tasty like that too.

More later, but please comment with your favorite tomato recipes! I still have more to use, and get more each week! 

Oops! Comments fixed (I think!)

If you tried to post a comment but couldn't without an account, I think I have fixed it, so you can now comment. Thanks to my sister for pointing that issue out to me! Comment away!

Making a change, and Week 7 (July 16)

So, I have decided to switch things up a bit. I have been uninspired for what to cook using my box, so I am looking to my readers for help! What I am going to do from here out, is I will post a picture of what I get in my box each week, with a description of what is in it. What I want from you is suggestions for what I should cook! Then, I'll post the outcome later each week. So, enjoy, and I hope to learn some new recipes and share the outcomes!

Here is this week's box:

It includes: Salad, summer squash, heirloom salad tomatoes, eggs, beets, broccoli, and Italian flat leaf parsley.

I was sure that the parsley was cilantro (one thing that I won't even try cooking with), but now that I know it is parsley, I need to figure out how to use it. I assumed that the squash was zucchini, and thought about making some zucchini bread, but now I'm not sure how that will work out. I have an idea for some of the tomatoes... the beets are my big stumper this week... All these root veggies are really stretching my imagination!

I look forward to reading your recipes. Also, I would love to hear what you think of the new format, or any suggestions for improvement. I will post again soon with recipes (just a few) from the last two weeks. 

Week 4 (June 25)

I will be catching up again soon, but here is a post written by my awesome sister. I was out of town the week of the box she is blogging about, so enjoy! She has some awesome recipes share, so I hope you enjoy!

I teach environmental science, so of course I'm all about the farmer's market and eating as local and organic as possible. I was really excited that my sister decided to get a CSA box for the summer, especially since it was from one of my favorite growers. I would love to do something like this, but since I have a substantial garden, my family supplements with food from the market instead.

That being said, my sister was out of town and asked me to pick up her box and eat it! Of course we would do that. In our box was salad greens, red russian kale, beets (various colors), strawberries, and sugar snap peas. It was beautiful and colorful, but I wasn't quite sure what to do. See, my garden HAD kale 2 years ago and it went to seed, and then it wasn't maintained at all the following year. What resulted is a garden FULL of kale. Everywhere. I also had a lot of peas and salad greens. However, my strawberries were only producing about 5 berries per day and my beets weren't ready, so those gave me some change from what I had. Here is what I did with each thing:

salad greens & peas: chopped the peas, added them to the greens with cabbage and had chicken salads.
kale: Co-Op Kale Salad (recipe below)
strawberries: homemade ice cream (recipe below)
beets: beet chips!

A friend of mine gave me this wonderful book called Grow Cook Eat (http://www.digginfood.com/about-the-book/) and there was a recipe for "Co-op Kale Salad." I didn't have all the ingredients, so I made some changes to it, but it seems to be pretty good.

Co-Op Kale Salad
1 bunch kale (I used a combo of red russian and nero di toscana from my garden)
1 large, or a couple smallish, carrots, grated
1 ripe avocado (tip for picking a ripe avocado here:http://www.nwedible.com/2012/05/never-buy-a-rotten-avocado-again.html)
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. paprika
1/2 t. salt
red pepper flakes
top with: sunflower seeds

Wash and then cut the kale into small strips. I cut them about 1/8" wide. Mix the kale and the carrot. In a separate bowl, mash the avocado, add everything else. I sprinkled the red pepper flakes in to taste, just a small bit, but you could add more. Add the avocado mixture to the kale/carrot mixture. Now, here is where it gets messy: mix it with your hands to make sure all the kale leaves get covered. You want a good sauce to kale ratio. The recipe says to refrigerate for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight, we didn't wait because it was so good already! Before you serve it, top with sunflower seeds - I used raw unseasoned seeds, but I bet it would be good with a different type too.



One pint of strawberries ended up as ice cream. I have an ice cream maker, so I don't know how this would work without that. I followed this recipe (Strawberry Ice Cream Like Ben and Jerry's), but I did make changes to fit my family (not going to feed my family, especially my 2 year old, raw eggs) and my fridge (I had a lot of whole milk, but not as much cream). Verdict: awesome.

Change #1: I used 1 cup of cream, and 2 cups of whole milk.
Change #2: After mixing the eggs with the sugar, 1 cup milk, and vanilla, I cooked it over a medium-low heat to boiling, and then let it cool, before adding the strawberries.
Change #3: I added whipping cream and the remaining 1 cup of milk at the end.

Remember to mash the strawberries well. If you don't, you get big chunks of frozen berries that are hard on the teeth. I left enough so it was still chunky, but small enough to eat.



CSA box success! I learned how to prepare more foods with that I have in the garden too, and will be able to try these foods again later in the season. I'll take your box anytime!

I made the ice cream today, only with raspberries from my current box... yum! Another post soon! Remember to leave comments with your favorite recipes, or if you have tried one of the recipes.

Week 2 (June 11) and Week 3 (June 18)

I am posting these two weeks together, since I am trying to catch up.

The Week 2 share contained: salad, hakurai turnips, sugar snap peas, red russian kale, and tzan garlic. The salad and peas, I once again ate raw. It was such a treat to have the peas for my last few days of work... just what I needed to give me a little burst of fresh energy (I don't know if that is a real scientific thing, but I definitely felt it).

My feature recipe for week two involved the kale. Let me start by saying I have had kale before. My mom makes an amazing zuppa toscana with winter kale in it. However, I have never used it myself, so there was a bit of a learning curve. I put some of it in my smoothies (just rip them up, sans stems, and toss them in the blender). I could taste it a bit more above the fruit than the spinach (it also didn't grind down as small), but it was still a nice addition.

With the rest of the kale, I made kale chips. A former college dorm-mate suggested I do so, and I loved it! Just cut or rip the leaves into pieces (again, leave the stems out), then toss it in olive oil. Lay out in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them, though, they cross over into burnt pretty quickly. When you take them out, sprinkle them with seasoning (I did half with salt and half with Johhny's Seasoning Salt). Don't put this on before baking, since it will dry the chips out too fast. And be careful not to over season them... they are not very substantial, and it is easy to overdo it.

The verdict: These are a tasty treat! They are good for fulfilling a salty tooth (is there such a thing?), without the extra unhealthy bits you get from chips. The husband loved them too, and even took some to work to share! These will be fun to experiment with and try different seasonings. I don't think that it matters what variety you have either, though the red russian kale has a very pretty shape. I was also thinking that it would be good to saute some of the garlic from this box to toss with the olive oil, to give it a little extra kick.

Week 3 contained salad, carrots, radishes, chard, and strawberries. 

I LOVE fresh strawberries! With many of these, I indulged in a weekend treat, strawberry shortcakes (my first weekend of summer I always have ALL this energy, so I put it into baking not only these shortcakes, but also an angel food cake to share with my family). The recipe is nothing special (taken from the Bisquick box), and I used Cool Whip (much to my mom's shame), but it was tasty. The strawberries I just sliced and mixed with a little sugar. And I took pictures, so enjoy!

Next, the chard. I didn't actually cook this, but my mom did, and she threw in some of the chard. I think that chard would be great in any sort of stir-fry situation... it sure was yummy in this (and added a pop of color!).

Note that my sister grew those pea pods... because she is awesome like that! Anyway, if you are interested, you can find it here, on my mom's blog: Soy Sauce Lime Chicken. As far as I know, she just chopped it up and threw it in with the other vegetables. It cooked down pretty far, so put in more than you think would make sense. 

And finally, radishes. This is another root vegetable that I don't remember ever eating before. I didn't have very high hopes, after my struggles with the turnips. HOWEVER, I used a simple recipe suggested in one of my sister's farmer's market cookbooks. Apparently this is the French way to eat radishes. I sliced them thin and put them between pieces of buttered bread, with a little bit of salt. I thought it was really good! The radishes give a little crunch, and had a mild enough flavor that it didn't overpower the rest of the sandwich. If anything, I would put less butter on it. It was a refreshing sandwich to eat yesterday, when it was about 85 degrees inside the house. Unfortunately, no picture for this one... but just picture radish slices with bread and butter. 

That is all, and gets me officially pretty close to caught up! My sister will be guest posting for the next blog entry-- she picked up my Week 4 box, since I was out of town for a work training. She made some tasty stuff, so I can't wait for her to share the recipes!

Oh My Turnips!

Since it is too hot right now to do anything else, I figured I would write about my adventure with turnips. So far, I have gotten two boxes with turnips. I am pretty sure that I have never eaten them before, so I was eager to try them out.

I started with a suggestion from my mom. First, peel the turnips. Then coat them in olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette (not as easy as it seems, since they separate... or maybe that's just me). Sprinkle with salt, pepper and rosemary to taste, then bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes (or until tender... some of my bigger turnips could have used a few more minutes in the oven). The outcome:

I served up two bowls when it was done. The husband gave me a resounding "no" after one bite (I can't win them all!). I liked the pieces that had more vinaigrette on them, but I can't say that I would want to eat them all the time. The bitter flavor (I think that is what it is... it is hard to say) was a bit strong for me. 

So, when they came in the next box, I tried again. This time, I wanted to eat them raw, so I tried this: Grated Turnip and Apple Salad. It was pretty labor intensive, for a small amount of food. I think if I were to try it again, I would shred the turnip and apple, because it because a strange applesauce looking creation, rather than a salad. I am not ashamed to admit it either: I googled the difference between grating and shredding. FYI, grating is little pieces that sometimes turns powdery (like parmesan cheese), and shredding is larger pieces, if you ever need that in the future. 

So this is how the salad turned out:

I let it chill for about thirty minutes, then had it with my dinner (including a strawberry, blueberry, banana, spinach and kale-from-my-box smoothie, which was delicious!). Again, I was not really sold. Between the lemon juice and the turnips, it was extremely sour. Maybe I should have added more apple, but then again, it was tart green apples, so I am not sure if it would have helped. So, if you like sour, refreshing salads, you will probably like it. As for me, I will probably not have it again.

The verdict on turnips: I am not a huge fan. I will probably not seek them out in the future, but if they come in my share again, I won't give up on them. I am thinking if I don't try to eat them alone, and have them with other flavorful ingredients, I might have some success.

What is your favorite turnip-inclusive recipe? Don't forget that I welcome comments. And keep an eye out for another post soon... I am almost caught up!

Week 1 -- June 4th

Hello, readers! I am back and have my first recipe for you!

The picture above is of my first CSA share. It contained: salad, hakurai turnips, spring onions, sugar snap peas and bok choy. It had exactly what I was looking for; there were some items familiar and known to be delicious (salad and snap peas) and some unfamiliar ( bok choy and turnips). I ate the familiar raw and as snacks. There is nothing quite as wonderful as fresh pea pods. 

The onions I still haven't used ( at risk of being wasteful) because neither the husband nor I really like them. I have an issue with the texture, but I know more will come as the season goes on, so I am searching out ways to use them. My sister has suggested pureeing them. We will see what I come up with. 

And now to the main feature of this post --- BOK CHOY! This is a veggie that if youn asked me what it even looked like before I got this box, I would have had no clue. Being thus completely clueless, I asked for some help. My wonderful, personal chef friend recommended this recipe: Spicy Beef with Shrimp and Bok CHOY

She made it the week before and told me to use the whole head ( is that what it is called?), stalks and all. I used the recipe pretty much exactly, but with one big change. I don't eat much seafood, so I left out the shrimp. It could be a good addition and dimension to those who like it. 

The bok choy was easy to use. It is a little hard to wash thoroughly, but I would recommend cutting off the bottom of the bunch, then washing out any dirt that collected there. 

Here is the result:

I poured (dumped?) mine over rice. I bought rice noodles, but my timing, as always in cooking, was off. I was delicious anyway. 

My verdict about bok choy: I like the mild flavor. It was a good addition without overpowering the whole stir fry. I was a little disturbed by how much it looks like, but doesn't taste like, celery. The flavor most reminded me of pea pods (which is probably why I liked it so much in stir fry). 

I love bok choy and I can't wait to try it in more recipes. It was the first new veggie I tried, and definitely started this whole experiment off with a bang! If you have a favorite bok choy recipe, please share! 

Next post: the saga of the turnip --- coming soon! 

My Summer of CSA

I am challenging myself this summer. In this challenge, I am going to use new, fresh, local ingredients to cook new recipes and try to be healthier. To do this, I bought a CSA.

I have had lots of people ask, "What is a CSA?" So, I figure that is a good place to start. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It allows the common person (like me) to buy a share into a local farm. In exchange for making this purchase up front, the farmer provides the person with a box of fresh produce each week (at least in my case). This benefits the farmer (they get money up front to put into the farm, and they can sell the shares during the off season) and it benefits the CSA shareholder (they get yummy, fresh produce on a regular basis). This website explains it a little better: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/ 

In addition to what I mentioned before, I also get the added bonus of trying new foods! Anybody who knows me, knows that I am probably the least adventurous eater in the entire universe. I have bought non-traditional CSAs before where I got coupons to spend at the farm's stand each week. This seemed like a great plan until I realized that when I was in control, I wouldn't buy ANYTHING I wasn't familiar and comfortable with. So this year, I decided to go completely traditional and get prepacked boxes from the farm of my choice. That way, I am forced to try these new vegetables, which is exactly what I need.

I picked Around the Table Farm. They have the prettiest, most varied stand at the market every week (even in the middle of the winter; it is amazing!). The owners are also extremely nice. If you live in the Poulsbo area, check them out at the market.

To the purpose of this blog: I want to share my adventure this summer. I am not pretending to be an amazing cook or extremely creative when it comes to cooking. I feel like I am already learning so much through this experience, and want to share it with others.

I also have an ulterior motive. I am going to encounter lots of new veggies with which I am not familiar, and I will need suggestions for how to use them. Feel free to comment and share what you know!

Happy reading!