Panzanella

This week's box contained:

• Yellow Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Spigariello
• Strawberries
• Lettuce (traded for more spigariello)
• Walla Walla Onions
• Cucumbers
• Padron Peppers

With a left over loaf of bread and some capers on hand, and the tomatoes and cucumbers in this week's box, we had to go for panzanella, Italian bread salad.

The potatoes (which were gorgeous) and a few of the onions made a fine, and quick, adapted version of the Spanish tapas classic: patatas bravas, that worked out really well.  Here's the recipe:

1 pound yellow potatoes, baked but still firm
1 small Walla Walla onions
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon piment d'Espelette (can substitute hot paprika)

Cut the potatoes into a large, irregular dice and coarsely chop the onions.  Add to a saute pan over medium high heat with salt, olive oil and piment d'Espelette; toss frequently to mix in the seasonings and to ensure even cooking.  Once nicely browned, top each serving with spoonful of crème fraîche; enjoy.

 The strawberries were eaten out of hand, the spigarello added to lentil stew, and the padron peppers left for pizza later in the week.

Spanish Tapas

Oyster Mushroom

This week's box contains:

• Cilantro
• Red Butter and Red Leaf Lettuce (traded for more squash)
• Strawberries
• Summer Squash
• Chantenay Carrots
• Loose Spinach OR Loose Baby Chard
• Oyster Mushrooms
• Arugula

Uninspiring mix of food this week.  Sometimes the contents of the box calls out for something in particular, making it easy to decide what to make.  Sometimes, like this week, it does not.  Don't get me wrong, it all looks great.  However, to get through it all I need an inspired plan.

In situations like this one, I'll often pick an ingredient, Google something that comes to mind, like "baked oyster mushrooms" and see what piques my interest.  With that in hand, I'll pick a theme and back into a meal by finding recipes for the remaining ingredients that fit that theme.  Over the past 5 years this has turned out to be a great way to work through the box or ingredients we have on hand.  It also has the side benefit of being an easy way to plan a dinner party.

Today I landed on this recipe, a tapas dish.  I adopted tapas as my theme, browsed a few tapas sites, hit my favorite recipe sites looking for tapas recipes, and the rest is history.  We easily had enough food for six ~ enough for a simple party.  Another great thing about tapas is that most of the dishes can be served a room temperature, another strong feature for entertaining.

 

Spanish Carrots and Olives

Spanish Tapas

• Spanish Carrots and Olives
• Patatas Bravas
• Baked Oyster Mushrooms
• Cauliflower al Ajoarriero
• Garbanzos con Espinacas
• Zucchini Fritters
• Grilled Chorizo

As I'm a vegan, I went for the Field Roast Chorizo sausages, an excellent choice.  We followed the recipes linked above and adapted a few others to our taste.

Patatas Bravas

Patatas Bravas
1 pound of new potatoes
olive oil
salt and pepper

1 can diced tomatoes
1/4 c tomato sauce
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 t Piment d'Espelette
1/4 t cayenne pepper
2 T olive oil
1 t salt

Dice the potatoes and toss with salt.  Add olive oil to coat and roast at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.   Remove from oven and set aside.

Saute the minced garlic in 2T olive oil till golden.  Add Piment d'Espelette, cayenne pepper, and salt; stir.  Add tomatoes and tomato sauce and bring to a boil.  Cook till slightly thickened and set aside.

Place the potatoes in a serving dish and top with bravas sauce.  Best served warm.

Garbanzos con Espinacas

Garbanzos con Espinacas
1 can garbanzo beans
1 bunch fresh spinach
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 t Piment d'Espelette
1/4 t cayenne pepper
3 T olive oil
1 t salt

Clean the spinach and shake off excess water.  Add to a saucepan over medium with the salt and cover; cook till wilted and set aside.  Heat the olive oil in the saucepan over medium heat.  Add garlic, Piment d'Espelette, cayenne pepper and salt, mix well. Add garbanzo beans and heat through. Press and chop the spinach, then add to the sauce pan. Mix well.

Zucchini Fritters

As for the cilantro, strawberries, and arugula...  The cilantro will become cilantro chutney and stored in the freezer for our next Indian meal.   The arugula and strawberries will be combined in a salad later this week.

Cauliflower al Ajoarriero