About 4 Weeks Left of the CSA

So it's winding down. About 4 more weeks of fresh farm produce. So glad I canned some veggies this year for the winter!

We received some yummy eggplants the past 2 weeks and I've been doing all sorts of things with them. I made a sort of deconstructed eggplant parmesan. I followed one of my favorite food writers (Melissa Clark), from the NY Times recipe, loosely.

Peeled, sliced and salted the eggplant, let drain in a colander for 20 minutes. Then patted dry. Placed in a baking dish, covered the eggplant with a dollop of ricotta, then some homemade sauce, then some panko crumbs I had browned in butter. Drizzle with olive oil and cover with mozzarella, then bake.

Today I made a quick pasta sauce with eggplant and tomatoes, some garlic and basil all thrown over whole grain pasta, which has become the norm now in my house. No more plain pasta if I can help it. I don't get the whole wheat, I get the Barilla PLUS. It's got all sorts of grains in there and a ton of protein.

I sauteed the cubed eggplant, added garlic and chopped plum tomatoes, some capers and basil.

This is the yummy Barilla whole grain pasta

This was dinner tonight along with a kale salad. I got a handful of dinosaur kale, also called Tuscan kale or lacinato kale in my CSA share. You could make this with regular kale or collards, I'd just make it early in the day instead. With the Tuscan kale, you can make it and eat it right away.

I chopped the kale and put it in a bowl. I literally had enough kale for a 1 person salad, which is fine because my husband took the kids to his mother's and I'm solo for dinner.  So then dressed it with this yummy dressing. Finely chopped 6 dates, put in a smallish bowl. Chopped 4 anchovies. DON'T be afraid of anchovies! They have this amazing flavor, not fishy and totally have a unami thing about them! Put the anchovies in the bowl, zest one orange and 1 lemon into bowl. Use a rasp zester, it's the only way. Then grate in 1 garlic clove with the zester, watch your fingers! Add about a tbsp of red wine vinegar and about 2 tbsp of olive oil. pour over kale and seaon with salt and pepper. AMAZING!!

salty, sweet, citrusy, tangy

I've been trying to come up with all of these creative salads since we've been getting loads and loads of lettuce. A few weeks ago there was an article in the Times about chicken skin. They were calling it Jewish bacon. So I thought I'd make some and crumble it over a salad, like you would with bacon bits. I took the skin off of some chicken parts and lined them on a grate over a cookie sheet, salted them and baked until it was crispy. It was so yummy! I'm never buying skinless chicken again!

Chopped lettuce with tomatoes and chicken skin, with a vinaigrette dressing. Kids loved it!

Another Melissa Clark recipe I made was a salad with clementines (totally in season, but not from the CSA). This had a melted butter dressing instead of olive oil. It was velvety smooth and complimented the buttery lettuce and sweetness from the clementines.

A few weeks ago we got some lovely broccoli. we sauteed the florets and they were delicious. But I also saved the stems and made a broccoli stem kugel. It was more of a crustless quiche I guess. I steamed the stems, then put them in the food processor with eggs, cream, cheese, garlic, scallions (because I had toms), salt, pepper. Then baked it in a baking dish for about an hour.

broccoli stem crustless quiche/kugel

One thing I have to comment on is the white cabbage I got last week. I couldn't believe how fresh it was. When I cut into it, it made this sound, this squeak, like I was just picked and I'm so fresh and yummy. That night I made a chicken broccoli stir fry, and then I made an Asian slaw with the cabbage. Simply shredded the cabbage, added a dressing of rice vinegar, a bit of sugar, toasted sesame oil and some grated ginger. I then sprinkled on some furikake. If you don't know what that is, it's a Japanese condiment that is typically sprinkled over rice. There are so many different kinds. I have one that the kids love from Mrs. Greens and it's just toasted sesame seeds, seaweed and salt. I think the brand is Eden Farms or something. I also have some from Japanese groceries that have dried fish eggs in them. If you go to a Japanese grocery store, like Daido, in White Plains, they have an entire section of just furikake. It's fancy salt!

All I have left from last week now is some lettuce, the green tomato which has turned orange, but I think I'll still cook it rather than eat it raw. They tend to be mushy this late in the season. I also have tons of scallions and I've been dying to make a scallion kimchi. I hope I have a chance this week before they go bad. I did use a bunch of scallions in some chicken broth I made on Friday. And Arielle loved smashing garlic for that. But seriously, I've used up all of my garlic and there was tons of it! Oh well, keeping those vampires away.