Keep it Simple

After a long day at work....

Sometimes all you need for dinner are a few fresh shelled peas and succulent chicken with crispy skin.

Small Bites

Yesterday I was finally able to use up all four bags of salad greens as well as 4 of my Walla Walla onions at a squadron party. Even after eating salads everyday, I still had enough greens to make salad for 30 people! I also made a few appetizers utilizing all my onions, Seth's mother's fantastic fig preserves, and local cherries. Forgive me because I forgot to write down exact measurements, I'm writing this from memory.

Crostini Bites

Crackers or Crostini

1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened

1 cup fresh ricotta cheese

zest of 1 lemon

-Whisk together cream cheese, ricotta, and lemon zest. Spread over crostini and top with one of the recipes below.

Caramelized Onion and Cherry

4 Walla Walla onions (or 2 regular onions), sliced into rings

2 cups tart cherries, pitted and cut in half

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup molasses

1 tsp salt

-Saute onions in the butter until translucent, around 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook another 15-20 minutes until thickened. Let cool. Spoon over crostini.

Fig and Basil Compote

1 cup fig or pear preserves

basil leaves, cut into strips

1 tsp truffle oil

1/4 tsp salt

-Stir ingredients together and spread over crostini.

The Last of My Cabbage

There is no real story behind this soup. I was craving turkey meatballs and needed to use up my cabbage. The picture doesn't look very appetizing, but this soup is bursting with flavor!
Turkey and Cabbage Soup:
1lb lean ground turkey
1 inch cube of ginger, minced
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 gloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped plus more for garnishing
1 cup onion, minced
1/2 head of lettuce, cut into strips
1 cup dry white wine
6 cups chicken stock
2 inch cubes of ginger, minced
1 scallion, chopped
Sriracha, to taste

-In a large bowl, combine the turkey, ginger, sesame oil, fish sauce, soy sauce, garlic and cilantro. Form into golf ball sized balls and sear in a skillet until brown on all sides. Set aside.

-In a stockpot, heat onion and cabbage with a little olive oil for 5 minutes. Deglaze pan with white wine. Add chicken stock and ginger and simmer for 10 minutes. Add meatballs and sriracha and simmer for another 10 minutes. Taste, and if the soup needs more seasoning, add a sprinkling of fish sauce, soy, or sesame oil (I added all 3). Garnish with scallion and cilantro and serve!

Day 7

On Day 7 I was so excited. I thought I was down to a few onions and salads when I came home with my new CSA installment. However, as I was moving things around refrigerator, I found a bag full of rainbow chard and cabbage. How could I have forgotten? This week's basket included fresh garlic and a small bunch of basil. Those ingredients inspired me to make a chard pesto. And with two week's worth of chard, I made A LOT of pesto. Good thing it freezes well!

Chard Pesto:

Makes 2 cups

2 bunches of chard, ribs removed

3 cloves of garlic

1 cup pine nuts

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tsp salt

1/2 cup olive oil, or more

-Saute chard leaves until barely wilted

-Puree all ingredients in a food processor, adding more oil until pesto reaches desired thickness. Spoon into jars and cover with a thin layer of olive oil to prevent browning. Refrigerate or freeze until use.

Day 6

So the week is almost finished, and I still have 2 bags of salad greens left! Really, I'm getting a lot of veggies for our money. Seth should be home in a few weeks, so that will help things along. Anyways, today I decided to use up the kohlrabi, and some of the onions in a puree. I also steamed broccoli and sprinkled with sesame seeds, garlic and chili flakes. Spices are a great way to add flavor without adding too many calories. If you're looking for a lower calorie version of the recipe below, try substituting chicken stock for the heavy cream. Kohlrabi Puree (Hidden in Mashed Potatoes)

1 Kohlrabi, trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 box button mushrooms

1 Walla Walla onion or 1 cup, minced

1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1 cup heavy cream

-Boil kohlrabi and potatoes in boiling salted water until fork tender, approx 20-30 minutes.

-While the vegetables are boiling, saute mushrooms and onion. Add to drained boiled vegetables and whip with a mixer or puree in a blender. Pour into a serving bowl and stir in the cheese and cream. Serve!

Day 5

Fava beans... They've been staring at me since Tuesday. I've been avoiding them all week, hoping to come up with something creative. Everything I could think of required making a puree, and these favas were too fresh to mess with their texture. Just look: I've been wanting to make gnudi for a while (and reminded by last week's gnudi dish on Top Chef) so I thought I'd try it out and just add the fresh favas! Gnudi is a type of pasta made with ricotta cheese and it has the texture of a fluffy dumpling. My gnudi recipe is based on one from Epicurious, with a few tweaks.

Whole Wheat Gnudi, Fava Beans and Bay Leaf Wine Sauce
Serves 2 (with a few leftovers)

Gnudi:
1/2 pound ricotta cheese (strained overnight)
1 fresh egg
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Zest from 1/2 lemon

Pinch of salt and pepper
1/2 cup whole wheat flour, plus additional for coating

1.)Mix ricotta, egg, cheese, salt and pepper in a bowl and sprinkle with flour. Stir to combine and chill 1 hour.
2.)Gently roll a small spoonful of ricotta dough into a ball. Toss lightly in extra flour forming into a log or ball. Place aside and chill.
3.)Boil gnudi in salted water until tender, around 7-8 minutes.

Fava Beans:
2 cups fresh favas, shelled

1.)Blanch favas in boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Shock in cold water and slip favas from their bitter skin.

Bay leaf Wine Sauce:
1 cup dry white wine
2 large bay leaves
2 cloves garlic
2 cups heavy cream
Salt and white pepper to taste

1.) Simmer wine, bay leaves, and garlic until reduced to a syrup, around 15-20 minutes. Add cream and keep warm. Remove bay leaf before pouring sauce over the gnudi and fava beans. Enjoy!

Sorry about the lighting, it was getting dark outside!

Day 3 & 4

We've had record heat up here on the Island, which is actually nice....until your house is 80 degrees at 10am. Its refreshing to nibble on salads, pickled radishes and pate instead of turning on my oven! Here is my go to salad dressing which plays off the peppery greens rather well.

Mustard Vinaigrette

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Zest and juice from 1 lemon

1 Tbsp whole grain mustard

- Combine vinegar, juice, and mustard in a bowl. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Enjoy!

Day 2: CSA Challenge

Today we had some gorgeously sunny and warm weather, so I was really motivated to be creative with my vegetables. Besides the two salads (which didn't even put a dent in the greens I have) with more ginger lemon dressing, I was able to come up with something beyond my normal saute. Last night I marinated radish slices in a combination of rice vinegar and apple cider vinegar, with a pinch of salt and sugar. Toss in a few fennel fronds and some slivered walla walla onions for flavor and let them sit in the fridge overnight. The pickled radishes were deliciously crisp and tangy, great for a hot day! I also made my chicken pate and substituted half the apple for fennel. Combine that with tart Rainer cherries from a fruit stand, salty Gruyere, and a glass of chilled Viognier... perfect summertime dinner!

Community Supported Agriculture

So I have to admit, I've been lazy and not just with my blog! After returning from a crazy house hunting trip, a good friend picked up my CSA and put it in my fridge. I spent a couple days casually making salads, sauteeing up some kale with my Walla Walla onions, and eating raw snap peas like candy. I wasn't really thinking, until I picked up my CSA today and realized that I still have half a share left from last week AND a share to eat this week. All the veggies from the farm can last several weeks so I wasn't feeling the pressure of using everything before they went bad. Its just that my crisper is full and we'll be moving in 2 months so I don't really want to stock my freezer. This week I've decided to use vegetable in my crisper and prepare it in a way that is more creative than a simple saute. If you have suggestions let me know!

Here is my inventory:

2 heads of lettuce

1/4 pound salad mix

1 head cabbage

1/2 pound sugar snap peas

1/2 pound fava beans

1 kohlrabi

1 fennel with fronds

1 bunch kale

1/2 pound broccoli

3 Walla Walla onions

1 bunch golden beets

So far today I've eaten half my sugar snap peas as well as a leafy salad with beets (boiled and chopped) and a lemon ginger dressing. I also blanched and froze the beet greens for use later in the week, maybe a quiche? Washing and prepping all these veggies takes time, but they are so delicious. These vegetables were picked this morning, so think of their nutritional content. Go support your local farmer's market or farm stand!

Update: I've now eaten ALL my sugar snap peas, so delicious!