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.

Using Those Veggies

So what did I do with my CSA veggies?

While rummaging through the freezer, I found a couple of bratwurst and I remembered a popular dish I made a few months ago. So I sliced the batch of carrots, chopped the leeks, minced some garlic, sauteed them with the bratwurst. Then I added the head of cabbage (chopped), a little water, and let it steam until the cabbage was tender. I served it with a dollop of mustard and horseradish on the side.

We have leftovers, but I can freeze those for later use.

This left me with a batch of Tokyo Turnips and the chard, which I used yesterday. I had a lot of lamb in the freezer. I'd roasted a leg of lamb back in November and frozen the leftover slices of meat. I got it all out and braised it in a ginger-garlic sauce with lots of Indian spices. I steamed the chard and added it to the stew, serving it with whole wheat naan and the steamed turnips on the side.

I've got leftovers of that, too. Back into the freezer for another easy meal when I don't have time to cook!

Just in time, too. I've got another CSA box coming today.

Cooking at Home

Today was a waffle day.

The batch in the freezer was getting low, and I had some baked butternut squash that really needed to be used. So into the waffle batter it went, along with walnuts and cinnamon and cloves. I had two squares for breakfast, with a bit of butter, powdered sugar, and half a Meyer's lemon squeezed over it all.

A very nice breakfast.

Yesterday, I made a batch of yogurt, which I'll probably mix with the applesauce I made a few days ago, or top with tangerine sections. That will be good over future waffles, or as a light lunch one day.

My crisper drawers are full of good CSA vegetables, and I must decide what to do with them before I get another box on Wednesday. I've got a cabbage, a bunch of carrots, two leeks, broccoli and chard. I already used the spinach, serving it sauteed with olive oil and salt, along with leftover turkey pot pie. And of course, the tangerines were in the box, too. And it's also where I got the lemon.

I'm tempted to serve simple vegetarian meals for a couple of nights, to use everything up. I need broth, too, so I'll probably use the leeks, cabbage, and some carrots to do that. My freezer is actually brothless, at the moment. I'll wander back downstairs to figure things out, eventually. I have writing to do, first.

An Idea I've Endorsed

Did you see the "Victory Gardens" logo off to the left? I think this is a great idea and I've given my official endorsement for it. We need an organic garden at the White House - one that is used by the First Family for their own meals and also for state dinners. Beyond that, we need these gardens in cities and towns all across America.

It doesn't get more American than that!

Here's the link to official idea. Or just click on the logo. Please go vote!

http://www.change.org/ideas/view/green_the_white_house