CSA Pickup--Tomatoed again!

Have I mentioned it's tomato season here?

This week our CSA decided that instead of packing up our tomatoes for us, they would leave out a selection and tell you how many to take, with the caveat that this week it's ok to be greedy and take more. My husband did the pickup and came back with 10 heirloom tomatoes, plus a box of cherry tomatoes that was in our share already and a salsa kit, which is just what it sounds like--take all ingredients from the salsa kit, put in a food processor, and add salt, vinegar, and anything else you want to add (I added a bit of sugar).

I haven't actually looked at everything we got but I'm pretty sure it included:

10 heirloom tomatoes

1 box of cherry tomatoes

1 salsa kit (it had several tomatoes, 3 small tomatillos, garlic, onion, and 2 kinds of peppers)

a giant box of blackberries

2 small heads of garlic

4 ears of corn

a whole lot of potatoes

onions (not sure how many but my son announced that we had onions!)

1/2 dozen eggs

1 medium sized eggplant

handful of basil (they have a box of "take if you want" stuff and the basil came from there. I asked Adam to get me some so that I can use it with the tomatoes and onion)

Not sure if I missed anything. I already made the salsa and it is fantastic. I'm going to try to contain myself and not make more tomato corn soup because I do know how much my son loves corn on the cob. I guess I can always get him more corn at the market.

I am considering what to do with the eggplant. The volume of tomatoes that we have suggests Caponata, but I know most of my friends would suggest Dusted Eggplant instead (and I do have fresh garlic to go with it). I'll have to think on that one.

Fresh Corn & Tomato Soup, Now With a Kick!

I have been making Fresh Corn and Tomato Soup for YEARS. I mean, so many years that the recipe is actually on my old web site here. But I rarely look at the recipe anymore, and I've found that it has evolved significantly and can use a revisiting.

Yesterday morning I was at the Reston Farmer's Market and talking to The Jam Lady from Crackpot Gourmet. She has recently added a bunch of spice mixes to her inventory, so she is now the Jam and Spice Lady. Anyway, we were talking about cooking and what's in season, and I lamented that there is NO cilantro anywhere this year, because the weather is so hot and muggy that it's all wilting. I was specifically sad because this is one of the few weeks when there are tomatoes and corn and cilantro (usually) and they are all peaking at the same time and therefore make the BEST fresh corn and tomato soup EVER! 

Anyway, she agreed. And then she pointed out that she had a spice mix that used a lot of cilantro--her cilantro jalapeno salsa verde. We gave it a taste and decided that it would be the perfect replacement, to both give the soup a cilantro glow but also to give it a bit of a kick!

So here it is. The revised revised and revised again version of Fresh Corn & Tomato Soup, originally from Laurel's Kitchen but now a new and kicky thing! Of course, if you want to make this, try making your own spice mix with cilantro, jalapenos, lime juice, some garlic, salt, sugar, and oil to hold it all together. Or just do the original version, and chop cilantro to mix in at the very end!

Fresh Corn & Tomato Soup, Now with a Kick!

1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed
2 T Smart Balance
5 ears of corn
5-7 mixed heirloom tomatoes (think 6 medium and go from there)
1 box of vegetable broth
1/2 - 1 t salt

Cilantro-Jalapeno Salsa Verde (for mixing in at the end)

Saute onion, celery, and garlic in Smart Balance until tender. Strip the corn from the cobs, and chop tomatoes coarsely. Add corn, tomatoes, broth, and salt to the sauteed vegetables, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook covered for 1/2 hour. 

Ladle into bowls and top with a dollop of the salsa to be stirred in. Or, stir in cilantro leaves, and it's ready to serve.

Egg Pie

Not really a quiche, not really a frittata, this Egg Pie is something in between. Again, a CSA/Market recipe. 

The general consensus was OMGWTFOmnomnom. In those words exactly :)

Vegetable Egg Pie

1 summer squash (zucchini-like)

1 small onion

6 or so fingerling potatoes (I used the largest fingerlings I had)

4 eggs

splash of milk

handful of shredded parmasean cheese

2 T garlic curl pesto

Some Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt 

As usual, you can replace the garlic curls with your seasoning paste/spice mix of choice. Also, Krazy Salt can be replaced with your favorite seasoned salt, of course.

Slice potatoes length-wise into very thin slices--about 4-6 per potato. Microwave on high for about 3 minutes. 

While they are microwaving and cooling, slice zucchini and onion into very thin slices and saute in cooking spray. 

Mix eggs, milk, garlic curl pesto, cheese, and Krazy Salt in a bowl and whisk well. 

Line a 9" (or whatever you have) greased (with cooking spray) pie plate with the potatoes, covering the bottom and coming up the sides as much as you can. Add the sauteed vegetables and spread evenly over the potatoes. Pour egg mixture over all and pat down any cheese that tries to stick up.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 1/2 hour or until the top begins to brown and the egg is completely set.

Slice and eat. Serves about 3 people (increase number of eggs and cooking time to feed more!)

Leftover Chicken

The other day my husband was on his way home from class, and asked if he should pick up dinner. I suggested a Safeway roasted chicken, and then made some side dishes from our farm share food.

Of course, with a family of 3, we always end up with leftover chicken, usually dark meat. So what to do with it? Since we are in a state of needing quick meals, the answer was either soup or salad, but who makes dark meat chicken salad? 

Well, after making THIS dark meat chicken salad, I think the answer is "us."

So here you go, Leftover Chicken Salad (the dark meat version)

Dark meat pulled from leftover roasted chicken

1 T romesco sauce bought from the Crackpot Gourmet 

2 small ribs celery, chopped finely

2 shallots, diced

mayonnaise to taste

salt to taste

small amount of fresh parsley

Chop chicken, parsley, celery, and shallots together, and mix in sauce, mayo, and salt. Serve on very good bread with a slice of heirloom tomato, and say YUM a lot.

Coming soon: Fresh Corn and Tomato Soup. Now with a kick!

CSA Week I lost Track! But OMG TOMATOES!

We have been Tomatoed! Here was our haul this week. There was so much food!

A BAG of mixed heirloom tomatoes

a BOX of Italian tomatoes

1 bunch of rainbow swiss chard

3 onions

1 quart of blackberries

2 small eggplants

4 small summer squash (green)

2 long cucumbers

1/2 dozen eggs

1 big bunch of some kind of very lemony smelling herb (they say this is thai basil but I think it is more like Thai Lemon Basil).

4 ears of corn

1 bag of pole beans 

1 bunch of parsley

I have no idea what to do with pole beans.

But it looks like this is the week to make Tomato and Corn Soup. It generally calls for cilantro, but no one locally has any because apparently it is too hot to grow right now. Very sad as I like to get as many of my ingredients locally as possible. I might just make it with parsley instead. I learned my lesson about making it with basil last year--it tasted more like pasta sauce than soup! 

Speaking of sauce, I might just have to make some pasta sauce, too. Because I really have no idea what to do with all of these tomatoes. We still have 5 left over from last week! I also think we will have to make the swiss chard pies again, because they have been a hit all around. They reheat out of the freezer really well, and 2 pies seem to make a good lunch (I might just make them bigger this time and then one pie will make a lunch!)

So, any suggestions for what to do with pole beans? And any good recipes that use Thai Lemon Basil?

To start off, here is a great article by Michael Pollan called "Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch" that is very very long but worth the read. I, too, remember when cooking shows were about teaching you how to cook. Pollan never writes anything short, but if you have an hour for reading a good article about cooking and eating and the evolution of the modern cooking show, take a look at it.

Meanwhile, summer chugs along and Fairytale Eggplant season has arrived. If you have never seen Fairytale eggplant, go do a google image search to see the wee cuteness of them! They are itty bitty and are striped white and purple and are delicious for eating. 

Our favorite way to make Fairytale Eggplant is sliced in half lengthwise and simply grilled with olive oil, a little salt and pepper, and some Italian seasoning. If you don't mind turning on the oven, you can also broil it this way and sprinkle with some parmasean cheese for a fabulous side dish. 

Fairytale Eggplant just says summer to me.

Even if you don't like eggplant, this is a completely different flavor. Grilling it gives these eggplant a creamy texture, and the skin is thin enough to eat and has no bitter taste like the skin of your everyday regular giant purple eggplant. I highly suggest you give it a try while they are in season!

Swiss Chard Pastries and Garlic Curl Pesto

One of the things I missed most while on bed rest was the ability to cook! With all of the awesome vegetables coming in every week, I was disappointed that so many recipes never got made. 

One of those was a recipe for "Swiss Chard Empanadas" that came in our CSA's newsletter. I was really excited to try to make them, but they seemed kind of labor intensive. Yesterday, though, with the baby asleep and about an hour on my hands, I went to work. I didn't actually use the recipe in the newsletter but kind of put my own spin on it.

Swiss Chard Pastries

1 package refrigerated pie crusts (2 to a pack)

1 bunch swiss chard, separated into leaves and stems

1 onion

3 T garlic curl pesto (recipe below)

2 T Harissa (pre-made--I got mine at the Reston Farmer's Market but it is available elsewhere)

cooking spray

sprinkle of salt

1/4 cup (give or take) of grated parmesean cheese

Clean the swiss chard really well. Dice onions and chop the chard stems. Break the chard leaves into small pieces. Saute onion and chard stems in some cooking spray with a small amount of salt. When the onion begins to soften, add the chard leaves. When they start to wilt, add the garlic curl pesto and Harissa and mix well. Continue cooking until all of the leaves are wilted down and cooked. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 

Remove from refrigerator and add the cheese.

Take your 2 pie crusts and cut them into 6 even pieces each (12 total). Fill pastries by placing a spoon full of mix onto each crust, folding them over, and crimping them shut. Bake on a stone or cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until they begin to brown.

These are delicious hot or at room temperature (as we discovered when I was putting them away and broke one and decided to just eat it).  If you don't have the energy or materials to make garlic curl pesto, just add some ground almonds and pressed garlic to the mix. 

Garlic Curl Pesto

This one is straight from the farm newsletter, with a small change

1 bunch of garlic curls (also called scapes)

1/4 cup almonds

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup parmesean cheese

Process in a food processor. Use as a topping on pasta, as a spread for garlic bread, or in recipes.