Farm Break

This is too much fun: my CSA has a blog. This is the farm from which I get a box of vegetables every week.

Wait - they have two blogs, and here are the links:

http://riverdogfarm.blogspot.com

http://riverdoghog.blogspot.com

I realize it's probably not as exciting to you as it is to me, but I wanted to share anyway. Everybody needs a farm break once in a while.

Winter Smoothies

My CSA box has included a bunch of oranges or tangerines lately. I may have mentioned (once or twice) that I'm not real big on citrus. I like to cook with it - it lends a "mmm" flavor to so many dishes, or can add gorgeous color and flavor to a salad with walnuts sprinkled on. And I insist that my margaritas be made with real limes.

But peel and eat an orange? Dipped in chocolate, maybe.

So what am I going to do with all these oranges every week?

Make smoothies. Oh yeah, that works.

It also gives me something to keep me eating yogurt most days. I tend to alternate with the seasons - in spring and summer, I eat my yogurt with granola and fruit for breakfast. But when the weather turns cool, I long for hot, comforting oatmeal made with whole milk. The yogurt gets ignored.

But I like to eat yogurt as a defense against yeast infections. The idea of going all winter without having any just doesn't seem right. Plus, with the smoothie, I'm also eating some fruit every day, another thing that falls by wayside in winter.

My Winter Smoothie:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 large orange or 1 tangerine
1/2 banana
1/4 cup crushed ice

Put all ingredients in a blender and mix.

This makes one glassful, maybe a little more. Calories? About 100, since I use whole milk yogurt.

Chinese Night

Last night's dinner used nearly all my vegetables. I made egg rolls and hot & sour soup.

The egg rolls were a hodge-podge of cabbage, carrots, smoked bacon, ginger, garlic, and scallions, all pulsed in the food processor until they were minced. This was all sauteed with a sauce of cornstarch, sesame oil, and soy sauce, then wrapped in egg roll wrappers. A quick spray of oil on the rolls, and then they were baked until golden brown.

We ate them with easy, at-hand sauces - mustard & horseradish, or rice vinegar & hot chili oil.

The soup - oh goddess, I love this soup. I've had the recipe for a few years, but lost it, somehow. I finally found it again, online here.

I used oyster mushrooms (all I could find except for crimini and button), and the rest of my CSA cabbage instead of bok choy. I also quadrupled the soy sauce, vinegar, and chili oil. I guess I like a lot of punch in my hot & sour soup.

Anyway, it was good. I love the addition of spinach to this soup. It just seems to add the perfect touch of color and nutrition. There's nothing better if you have a cold (which I don't, but the soup was perfect, anyway).

Leftovers? Plenty of both soup and egg rolls. That meal will feed us for a while.

Tonight's Dinner

It's a Leek-Gruyere Tart, based on a recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine. I added beet greens to mine, in the spirit of using up my CSA vegetables.