CSA

Rapini, Pea, and Tomato Pasta

May 31, 2011 by Terri · Leave a Comment

I made homemade pasta noodles the other night with a great vegetarian sauce of vegetables straight from our CSA share. It was one of those dishes where you just keep throwing veggies in that you have on hand and then are pleasantly surprised when it comes out great! I used Rapini greens, freshly shelled english peas, and leeks from the CSA. You could easily substitute with onion and frozen peas if that's what you have on hand. I'm sure it would be great with other cooking greens as well: kale, chard or spinach would probably all work. I was in the mood to make fresh pasta that night but store bought will work just as well. Mine is Bucatini shaped. Penne, Rigatoni or macaroni would all work. Rapini, Pea & Tomato Pasta 2 medium leeks, chopped 1 bunch Rapini greens, chopped 1 1/2 cups english peas, freshly shelled 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp italian seasoning pinch red pepper flakes 28 oz can diced tomatoes 1/2 cup white white (water or broth would … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pasta, Vegetarian Tagged With: CSA, English Peas, Leek, Organic, Rapini, Tomato, Urban Recipe

CSA Week 7, 8 and 9

May 23, 2011 by Terri · Leave a Comment

Yes, I'm so far behind. Where does the time go? Week 7: Lettuce, English Peas, Purple Kohlrabi, Garlic Chives, Strawberries, Chantenay Carrots, Spigarello, Leeks. Week 8: Spinach, Sugar Snap Peas, Green Kohlrabi, Strawberries, Lettuce, Baby Carrots (2 shares). This box was supposed to have Cardoon as well but we didn't like the Cardoon last year so I swapped it for some more baby carrots. Week 9: Fava Beans, Spigarello, Chantenay Carrots, Baby Erbette Chard, Purple Kohlrabi, Strawberries, Red New Potatoes, Radishes. It's been such a great spring filled with delicious veggies. We've especially enjoyed the strawberries, new potatoes, spigarello, spinach and peas. The three weeks of kohlrabi we could have done without. I should say we did really like the kohrabi greens in cooking but the roots themselves we aren't fond of. I tried them fresh julienned on salad and they were "ok". We tried a gratin recipe from the farm and thought it was a waste of cheese and cream. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: CSA Weekly Photos Tagged With: CSA, Organic, Urban Recipe

CSA Week 6

April 26, 2011 by Terri · Leave a Comment

Sugar Snap Peas, Calcot Onions, Agretti, Rapini Greens, Radishes, Swiss Chard, Dill, Baby Carrots, Strawberries This was a great week, there were lots of our favorites in this box. The radishes and carrots went into salads. The onions were grilled and served along with mexican dinner. The strawberries were snacks as usual. I must admit I haven't used the greens yet. I am planning to make a pasta dish tonight with the rapini, sun-dried tomatoes and parmesan. I used some of the dill in a fresh salad dressing. There is still some left for another use. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: CSA Weekly Photos Tagged With: CSA, Organic

Sesame Snow Peas

April 26, 2011 by Terri · 1 Comment

The spring peas are coming in! They are tender and delicious at this time of year. This is a really quick and easy side dish. I served it with a roasted chicken from the deli because I was lazy the other night but it would be great with most anything. Just five ingredients in this quick dish: snow peas (snap peas would be delicious too), 1 baby leek (or 1/2 a small onion), 1 stalk green garlic (or 1 bulb garlic minced), sesame oil, honey. That's it! The honey is optional but mine needed a little bit of a hint of sweetness to counter the sesame flavor. I used the leftovers the next day in some fresh thai spring rolls and they were great. Try it if you have any leftovers! Ingredients: 1 pound snow or snap pea pods, trimmed 1 baby leek or 1/2 small onion, diced 1 stalk green garlic or 1 bulb garlic, minced 1 tsp sesame oil 1 tsp honey Spray skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add leek, garlic, and pea pods to pan. Stir fry for 5 minutes or so until … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Side dish, Vegetarian Tagged With: CSA, Organic, Sesame, Snow Peas, Urban Recipe

The CSA season has started and I am drowning in vegetables

April 18, 2011 by Terri · Leave a Comment

Fear not, I have not abandoned the blog. Just busy with life I guess. I will be better! The CSA season started up again a few weeks ago. It's always an adjustment to get into the routine of keeping up with all the fabulous veggies coming in each week. I am getting caught up though and luckily for me this week was a "light" one as the farm had some hail damage and it was a smaller share than usual. I'm certainly not complaining! So here's a catch-up of the first 5 weeks of our CSA from Mariquita Farm Carrots, Cilantro, Purple Top Turnips, Loose Spinach, Calcot Onions, Winter Density Lettuce, Delicata Squash, Collard Greens, Baby Leeks The cilantro I used in cilantro pesto. Carrots, turnips, spinach, lettuce and onions all went into salads and snacks during the week. The collard greens and leeks I used in a soup with white beans and chicken. The squash sat around for a few weeks until I roasted them basted with a mixture of honey, garlic and chile powder. They were … [Read more...]

Filed Under: CSA Weekly Photos Tagged With: CSA, Organic, Urban Recipe

Green Garlic Dressing

March 1, 2011 by Terri · 2 Comments

It's green garlic season! Have you ever tried green garlic? I had never even heard of green garlic until I started getting it in my CSA box. I love garlic and it's appalling I was missing out on something so amazing as green garlic. What is it? Green garlic is simply immature garlic and looks similar to a scallion or green onion with a purple tinge near the root end. It tastes like garlic but with a much milder flavor. It is usually only available in the spring and is all over the farmer's markets at this time of year. I did see it at Whole Foods the other day when I was there as well. I use green garlic in all sort of things at this time of year but my favorite is Green Garlic Dressing. It is simple to whip up in a food processor. I love it in a green salad or better yet a pasta salad. So good! Isn't it a lovely light green color? Green Garlic Dressing: 1-3 stems of green garlic (Depends on how strong you want the garlic flavor to be. I use 3 for pasta salad, 2 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Salads, Side dish, Vegetarian Tagged With: Couscous, CSA, Green Garlic, Spinach, Tomato, Urban Recipe

Whole Lemon Bars

February 20, 2011 by Terri · 3 Comments

Do you read David Lebovitz's blog? If not, you should! I made his whole lemon bars last night and they are amazing! Definitely the best lemon bars I've ever had. I got a vegetable mystery box from my CSA on Thursday and picked up a bag of organic lemons they were offering as well. When David Lebovitz posted the lemon bars recipe the same day, I knew it was fate that I make them. His recipe is perfect as is, I made no adjustments. If you want to make them too, go to David's post for the recipe: Whole Lemon Bars My friend Maura made these at my suggestion and found them to be too bitter after using the whole lemon (pith included). I would just suggest not to use a lemon with too thick of a rind on it. The one I used was fairly thin skinned. The thickness on individual lemons can really vary. If you have a thick one, just use the zest and pulp of the lemon and discard most of the pith. Enjoy! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Desserts Tagged With: CSA, David Lebovitz, Lemon, Lemon Bars, Urban Recipe

CSA Week 36

November 27, 2010 by Terri · 1 Comment

Collard Greens, Romanesco, Escarole, Pumpkin, Fresh Peanuts, Radishes, Fennel, Salad Mix, Parsley. Sadly this was our last weekly share of the regular CSA season. The CSA resumes in March and we'll miss them until that time. This last share of the season also brought big news about our CSA. The two farms that cooperate to do our Two Small Farms CSA are no longer too small to have their own CSA and are splitting the routes next year. We don't know yet which of the farms will handle our pick-up site but I have confidence we will still receive high quality organic produce regardless of which farm is actually providing the box. It's still a bit sad to think of the two farms going their separate ways. It was a challenge getting through the bulkiest veggies in the share last week to clear space for the Thanksgiving feast ingredients! The pumpkin was used for our Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. It was fantastic as always! The fennel went into some spicy sausage and fennel pasta … [Read more...]

Filed Under: CSA Weekly Photos Tagged With: CSA, CSA Photo

CSA Week 35

November 16, 2010 by Terri · 1 Comment

Celery, Spigarello, Red Leaf Lettuce, Cabbage, Bull's Blood Beet "Greens", Cilantro, Chantenay Carrots, Red Butter Lettuce, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes. I'm so sad to see the end of the CSA season quickly approaching. We get our last box this week on Wednesday! Yes, I know I'm behind getting the weekly photo up but I had company in town last week! I was happy to see both potatoes and sweet potatoes. Although my son doesn't like potatoes, I do! I made a great Sweet Potato, Kale, Tomato soup the day after we got the CSA share. The inspiration recipe comes from Rachel Ray a few years ago. It is usually make with regular potoates and spinach. I substituted sweet potatoes the first time I made it. This time I swapped the spinach for Kale. It is even better with Kale! My son even liked it! I will post the recipe in the next few days! The celery will be eaten as is and used with our Thanksgiving turkey! The carrots will be snacks and salad toppings. Actually they already have been, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: CSA Weekly Photos Tagged With: CSA, Organic

Orzo with Tomato, Zucchini and Parmesan

November 6, 2010 by Terri · 1 Comment

This is a quick and easy pasta dish that I whipped up the other night for my mom. It worked well for a light dinner on it's own or could easily be a side dish. We had kind of a late lunch that day and didn't want to eat much so I made this veggie pasta. This simple dish only has a few ingredients: orzo, zucchini, tomatoes, Parmesan, and lemon juice. I used my Mandolineto cut the zucchini into a fine julienne. If you don't have mandoline, I highly recommend you get one. It makes julienned vegetables take no time at all. I had no idea how much I'd love it until I got one. Seriously, money well spent! Ingredients: 2/3 pound of orzo 2 medium zucchini, fine julienne 8 early girl tomatoes (about 2 cups), chopped 3 oz Parmesan, finely grated juice of 1/2 lemon salt, pepper to taste red pepper seeds (optional) Bring pot of salted water to boil. Cook orzo according to package instructions. While water boils julienne the zucchinis into the finest setting on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pasta, Vegetarian Tagged With: CSA, Lemon, Orzo, Tomatoes, Vegetarian, Zucchini