Showing posts with label asparagus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label asparagus. Show all posts

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Still Dealing with Zucchini: Garlicky Zucchini Bruschetta


This week's box contains:
  • Lacinato Kale
  • Bacon Avocados
  • Parsley
  • Mystery (more summer squash and ZUCCHINI!)
  • Strawberries
  • Lettuce (traded for more parsley)
  • Mystery (Red Norland potatoes)
Oh yes, more zucchini. Well, more green summer squash. While technically different I suppose, to me at this point they are all the same.

The themed dinner idea worked so well for us this time we repeated it this week.  Flipping through my cookbooks I stumbled upon "Garlicky Zucchini Bruschetta" in The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook by Jack Bishop and Ann Straton. Given the capability of this recipe to work through another 2-3 zucchini, I was sold.


Italian was the theme, here was our menu:

Appetizers:
  • Garlicky Zucchini Bruschetta
  • Vegetarian Bagna Cauda with Bread, Carrots and Asparagus

Main Course:
Dessert:

The meal worked incredibly well.  Caution: there were lots of leftovers from the bagna cauda.  However, we found a fantastic way to use them up: panzanella.  We cubed the left over bread, chopped the leftover carrots and asparagus into bite sized pieces, added a pint of cherry tomatoes (halved), and tossed with the left over bagna cauda.  Amazing!



Vegan Bagna Cauda

1/2 cup large salted capers, drained and rinsed
10 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 bunch whole carrots, cleaned, trimmed and quartered length-wise
1 bunch asparagus, cleaned and trimmed

In a saucepan, combine the capers, garlic and oil. Simmer over moderately low heat until the garlic is very soft but not colored, about 30 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a blender and let cool for 10 minutes. Add the butter and lemon juice and puree until the bagna cauda is smooth. Place into serving dish and set aside.

Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add the carrots and cook until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate and let cool. Repeat with the asparagus.

Slice loaf of crusty Italian bread and serve alongside the bagna cauda and blanched vegetables.



We were able to work through the Lacinato kale, zucchini, strawberries at dinner. as for the rest of the box contents:

Bacon Avocados: eaten out of hand. I literally sliced the avocados in half, removed the pit, salted them heavily, and ate them with a spoon. Incredible!

Parsley: made two batches of parsley-walnut pesto for the freezer.

Red Norland Potatoes: roasted and tossed with, you guessed it, parsley-walnut pesto.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Waste Not ~ Want Not


Dealing with leftovers can be challenging and is often boring at best.  Eating the same thing day after day can be trying regardless of how fantastic the original meal.  Sometimes the opportunity presents itself to make a new dish from the remnants of another, which is what we did today.  The leftover grilled asparagus from last night's dinner was the centerpiece of a spectacular spring risotto.
 
Lemon Asparagus Risotto
Serves Four

2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 cup arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
~5 cups vegetable stock
 1 bunch asparagus, grilled, chilled and diced
1 T freshly grated lemon zest
1/4 cup Parmesan, finely grated
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat; add onions and saute till golden.  Add rice and stir till well coated.  Add wine, stirring frequently, till all the liquid is absorbed.  Add the stock one cup at at time, stirring frequently, till all the liquid is absorbed with each addition.  After you've added 3 cups of stock, stir in the lemon zest, the Parmesan and the asparagus.  Continue adding stock (stirring frequently, etc.) till rice is al dente.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot topped with shaved Parmesan.


This recipe is loosely based on Risotto alle Punte di Asparago from Riso: Undiscovered Rice Dishes of Northern Italy by Gioietta Vitale, page 74.

We paired this risotto with a 2007 Trimbach Riesling ~ gorgeous.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Box Contents: April 23, 2010


This week's box contains:
  • Strawberries
  • Salad Mix (traded for more tarragon)
  • Broccoli
  • Butternut Squash
  • Snap Peas
  • French Tarragon
  • Fennel
Strawberries
We'll eat these out of hand for breakfast tomorrow.  We've found the strawberries from the farm don't keep as long as those from the store.  No sacrifice of course as they are much, much more flavorful.

Broccoli
I chopped this up for use in a stir fry or simple steaming later this week.  The stems were steamed for adding to the beagles kibble throughout the week.  My good friend Teresa,  a fellow Two Small Farms CSA member, may post a recipe for a dish she made with pineapple, coconut milk, and a few other ingredients ~ it sounded delicious.

It is worth mentioning Evert-Fresh bags here; they really extend the life of produce.

Butternut Squash
No idea, thankfully it stores well for quite some time.  Highly likely this will be come soup if we are lucky enough to get another cold snap.

Sugar Snap Peas
I'll take this for snacks this week, served with hummus.

French Tarragon
Too much tarragon. My absolute favorite use for tarragon is Bearnaise sauce, which is absolutely not vegan.  Getting through two bunches will be a challenge...

Fennel
No problem!  We love fennel.  One bulb will go into tonight's dinner and the other will be roasted and served on a tartine.

Grilled Spring Vegetable Platter
Serves 2 generously

1 bulb fennel, cut into wedges
4 medium sized turnips. trimmed and quartered
1 artichoke, trimmed and halved
1 head of cauliflower, sliced into "slabs"
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed
1 red onion, trimmed and quartered leaving a small portion of the root end intact
fresh tarragon vinaigrette

Steam artichoke for 15 minutes prior to halving; remove choke.  Toss all vegetables with salt, pepper, and olive oil.  Cook over hot grill, cooking about 8 minutes per side for all of the vegetables.  Serve with fresh tarragon vinaigrette.