Warm Butternut Squash Salad with Chickpeas, Cilantro, and Tahini Dressing

I mentioned this in last week’s Recipe Roundup, but am just getting around to posting pictures…

Barley Salad with Eggplant, Tomato, and Zucchini

This recipe, originally inspired by a recipe of one of my favorite blogs, Smitten Kitchen, is an amped-up version of the grain salad posted in the most recent CSA newsletter. The recipe requires a fair amount of chopping work up front, but your hard work will pay off in the end. 

New Recipes in This Week’s Recipe Roundup

Did you realize there are three places to find great tasting recipes on the Central Brooklyn CSA blog?

1. Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday our blog turns into a “Weekend Cooking Blog” as our Food Education Team posts tested recipes (and tasty-looking photos) on the home page.
2. Every Wednesday we post a Recipe Roundup (which you can access by clicking the “Recipe” tab on the top of this page), which is an aggregation of scrumptious ideas from cooks we trust, using the vegetables we expect to get in that respective week’s share.
3. Every day our community members post and comment on new recipes of their own in our CSA Forum/ Recipe section (which can alwaysbe  found by clicking the “CSA Forum” tab on this page).

There are a whole lot of great places to find recipes here, just as there are a great many ways to prepare our amazing CSA produce.

Eat well.

Fresh Herb Quesadillas

(Note: Check out more recipe ideas on our new weekly feature, Recipe Roundup, which will be posted in the Recipe section every Wednesday.)

These delicious quesadillas are a simple and fast way to use herbs. The quesadillas pictured are filled with a mixture of chopped epazote, mint, and oregano, but feel free to play around and use whatever herbs you have in the fridge! Pair them with a simple salad of greens dressed with oil and vinegar for a light dinner.

Fresh Herb Quesadillas

The proportions for the herbs, onions, and cheese are approximate. Feel free to adjust according to your own preferences.

On a whim I decided to compress the tortillas while cooking by putting a small sauce pan on top along with a can of tomatoes, as you see in the photo. The weight helped them to cook fast and evenly. Eventually I realized the can was not needed because the sauce pan alone was heavy enough. This is reflected in the directions below.

(makes 4 quesadillas)

Corn Potato Cakes

This fantastic recipe comes courtesy of Delissa Reynolds, who assisted with the cooking demo at tonight’s distribution.

Ingredients

- 1 lb. potatoes 
- 1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
- 1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels including the pulp scraped from the cobs (cut from about 2 ears of corn)
- 4 scallions, chopped fine
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons sour cream for serving

Directions

Pink Beans in Sauce with Epazote

Recipe by John-Thomas Crockett

I love beans. Black, pinto, kidney, red, pink, garbanzo, it doesn’t matter: beans are my thing. For the past couple of years I have been in charge of the food at my brother’s Super Bowl Bash ( a fact I am quite proud of), and last year I was actually commissioned to make a couple of pots of beans. Think about that for a moment. More than chicken wings, tacos, ribs, or pizza, folks thought beans, my beans, would take the party to higher heights. With humility, I make a mean bean. It is, in fact, a family thing. After decades of bean dominance, my mother is the undisputed Queen of Beans. After years of studying her techniques and stealing glances at her seasoning selections, I think I am ready to challenge for the title “Bean King.”

I take this bean thing seriously, so when we got epazote in our CSA share and I learned it was often used as a bean seasoning, I took it as a personal challenge to incorporate the herb in my next  iteration of legume goodness.

Zucchini Soup with Beaten Eggs

Courtesy of Emily Nickerson

Adapted from the Cucina di Magro cookbook by G. Franco Romagnoli

This is a vegetarian variation of stracciatella, an Italian soup traditionally made by stirring beaten eggs into a meat-based broth. This version highlights the soft flavor and texture of zucchini and is enriched by the addition of eggs, butter, and a bit of cheese. Bonus: From start to finish this soup took about 30 minutes to prepare, a perfect option on a night when you’re craving a hot meal and don’t have much time or energy to cook.

Cooking Demo Week 7: A Success!

Thank you to all who came and learned how to make Shredded Veggie Pancakes from Emily, our Community Chef! For those who missed the exhibition or simply would like to learn more, we will be having another cooking demonstration at next Wednesday’s ( 4Aug 2010) share distribution.

Check out our Recipe Tab for more recipes recommended by the Food Education Team and visit the CSA Forum to sneak a peak at members’ recipes or add your own.

Find out how to get this...

....from this

Thank you Joe Wirtheim for the photos!

Kale and Potato Recipe

Member Lorin sent over a great recipe to use for your kale!

Recipe:
(adapted from The Country Cooking of Ireland by Colman Andrews)

serves 8

5 or 6 russet potatoes
2 tbsp butter, plus additional pats for serving
3 cups chopped kale (leaves only)
1 1/3 cups whole milk
4 green onions, chopped
salt and pepper

Put the potatoes in a large pan and cover about halfway with water.
Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 40 minutes,
or until potatoes are tender. Pour out the water but keep the potatoes
in the pan and let stand, covered, for about 5 minutes.

Melt the butter in a wide skillet and add the kale. Cook until wilted,
about 5 minutes.

Bring the milk and green onions to a simmer in a saucepan and add a
few pinches of salt and pepper. Stir in the kale, turn off the heat,
and keep covered.

Peel the potatoes and put them in a large bowl. Add the milk and kale,
and mash until nearly smooth, seasoning with additional salt and
pepper to taste.

Divide among bowls and top each serving with a pat of butter.

(I used two cups of milk and skipped adding butter to each serving,
and I chopped up two scapes and simmered them with the milk and green
onions.)

1st Meals of the CSA

Member Sean Rosvold sent out this e-mail to his friends and family after cooking up their first share.  It was posted by our friend’s at Nostrand Park too!

We joined a CSA group and received our first weekly allotment of veggies and eggs straight from the farm. Laurie proceeded to make a wonderful dinner using some of the ingredients.

Romaine lettuce and radishes