Po-TAY-tow, Po-TAH-tow, Tow-MAY-tow, Tow-MAH-tow

German Butterball Potatoes

As I mentioned in my most recent post, last week's box contained:

• Green Beans
• Spigariello
• German Butterball Potatoes
• Yellow Onions
• Tomatoes
• Strawberries
• Summer Squash
• Mixed Sweet Peppers - Mix of young tender sweet Romanian, Cubanelle and Green Pimiento peppers

I had been in China the prior week and didn't have much energy immediately on my return; however, early this week it was a joy to have this food on hand. Such gorgeous produce. Sadly, the strawberries and the spigariello did not make it, but the rest has been or will be put to good use.

Tomatoes

It is tomato season here in California, so all that's needed is a knife and some good salt.  My favorite is Maldon Sea Salt, which you see pictured above. I simply sliced the tomatoes, drizzled them with white balsamic vinegar, and sprinkled them with salt. Beautiful.

I steamed the potatoes with some broccoli and tossed both with a mustard butter made from PIC Dijon mustard. Again, beautiful and so simple.

The green beans found their way into Sichuan-style green beans. Again ... beautiful and simple.

This week was a good reminder of how amazing food, in season, can be served all by itself. For the zucchini, onions, peppers, I'm planning a veggie fajita with fresh salsa from the tomatoes, jalapeños, and tomatillos from tomorrow's box:

• Bull's Blood Beet Greens
• Celery
• Summer Squash
• Chantenay Carrots
• Jalapeno Peppers
• Monica Tomatoes
• Tomatillos
• Strawberries
• Red Leaf Lettuce

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.

Summer Italian Meal

This week's box contains:

• Padron Peppers (traded for more russet potatoes)
• "Walla Wallita" Onions
• Gold Chard
• Strawberries
• Tomatoes
• Melons
• French Breakfast Radishes
• Russet Potatoes

Lots to love this week, especially given the swap for more baby russet potatoes.  Don't get me wrong, the Padron peppers are fantastic; just not something I want to eat week after week...

I decided to to go with an Italian theme.  Last night's dinner included:

• Insalata Caprese with burrata
• Focaccia with Onions, Genovese-style
• Potato Gnocchi with Gorganzola
• Sorbetto di Melone al Pepe Nero
• Arancello 

The recipe for the focaccia is from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan ~ a must have for anyone who loves Italian food.

Potato Gnocchi

Adapted from La Cucina Italiana, May/June 2001 by J. McKimmie

Place 2 1/4 pounds of potatoes with the peel still on in a 3-quart pot. Add cold water to cover and 1 tablespoon of salt. Cook until tender. While the potatoes are still hot, pass them through a ricer onto 1 3/4 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour. You can peel them first if you like. Cool the potatoes to room temperature, then combine the potatoes and flour until a dough forms, helping yourself with a dough scraper.

Add a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg for flavor, and gather into a dough. Add 1 egg only if the dough fails to come together (adding eggs makes gnocchi less delicate). Cut the dough into 8 pieces, roll each into a finger-thick log, and cut into 1/2" pieces with a sharp knife or a dough scraper; you can line up 2 logs to speed up the process. Roll each of the gnocchi over a fork, a grater, or a gnocchi paddle to obtain grooves. The gnocchi are ready to cook.

Here's a really simple video on how to roll the gnocchi:


Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Drop in the gnocchi and add 1 tablespoon of salt. Stir the gnocchi once very gently with a slotted spoon, being careful not to crush them in the process.

When the gnocchi rise to the surface, remove with a slotted spoon to a heated serving bowl. Remove the gnocchi little by little as they are ready. Continue adding gnocchi to the bowl as they rise to the surface, draining them well first with the slotted spoon.

Cook's Illustrated has a great video on the entire gnocchi making process; their recipe varies from the one listed above.

 

Eggplant Caviar

Roast Eggplant & Garlic for Eggplant Caviar

This week's box contains:

• Red Potatoes
• Strawberries
• Mixed Tomatoes
• Summer Squash
• Red Gem Lettuce
• Red Beets
• Nadia Black Italian Eggplant
• Chives

More squash.  This is the part of CSAs that gets tough.  Eating seasonally, especially when dependent on one farm, can be repetitive.  Tonight we're going to try Pasta with Zucchini and Mint as a main course, served with Eggplant Caviar and herb ciabatta, made with this week's chives plus some basil and rosemary we had on hand.

Ciabatta

As usual, the strawberries will be frozen for smoothies.  My tried and true smoothie recipe is as follows:

Breakfast Smoothies
Serves 1

1c frozen fruit
1c low fat, unsweetened soy milk
2c water
2 scoops Vega Smoothie Infusion

Add all ingredients to the Vita-Mix and blend well.

The potatoes were added to a Tempeh Curry. Later this week I plan to make the following with the beets and tomatoes:

• Beet, Citrus and Avocado Salad
• Pasta With Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula
• Wheat Berry and Tomato Salad

A Trio of Seasonal Cannelloni

This week's box included:

• Romaine lettuce
• Summer squash (zucchini)
• Carrots
• Spinach
• Broccoli
• Strawberries
• Yellow potatoes
• Oregano

We've actually got quite a backlog going, especially with the zucchini and carrots.  With zucchini in mind, I started digging through cookbooks for a recipe that would help work through that backlog.  Happily I stumbled upon a series of recipes for cannelloni, whose fillings cover several of this week's vegetables; the cookbook: Simple to Spectacular: How to Take One Basic Recipe to Four Levels of Sophistication by Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman.

Tonight's menu:

• Hearts of Romaine with Dijion Vinaigrette
• A Trio of Seasonal Cannelloni
• Braised Carrots with Capers (from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan)

Recipe for the cannelloni included below. Other ideas on getting through this week's box included:

• Zucchini: Lemon Rosemary Zucchini Bread 
• Carrots: Baked Carrot Oven Fries
• Potatoes and Greens: Skillet Potatoes with Greens, adding some Field Roast sausages
• Broccoli: Noodles with Stir-Fried Tofu and Broccoli
• Strawberries: eaten out of hand
• Oregano: dried for future use

A Trio of Seasonal Cannelloni
Adapted from Simple to Spectacular by Jean Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman

One pound fresh pasta dough (to be shared across the following fillings), shaped into 4 x 6 inch rectangles, boiled for ~3 minutes, then cooled in a ice water bath.  Pat dry before filling.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.  Prepare fillings and fill cannelloni as described below.  Bake until golden brown on top, about 10 minutes.

Potatoes and Arugula

1/2 pound potatoes
salt to taste
1.5 T extra-virgin olive oil (evoo)
1 clove garlic, minced
red pepper flakes to taste
1/2 pound arugula, trimmed, washed and dried
1/2 c freshly grated pecorinio Romano
1/2 c stock

Boil the potatoes in salted water until soft, drain and set aside. Sauté the garlic, salt, and pepper, till garlic begins to color; add 2/3 of the arugula, stir for a few minutes, then cover and remove from heat allowing to steam for 5 minutes.  Chop the remaining arugula with the sautéed arugula.  Add potatoes, olive oil, and 1/2 the pecorino; mash and mix well.  Stuff 1/3 of the cannelloni shells, placing them in a single layer in a baking dish, such as an oval gratin.  Drizzle with stock, a bit of olive oil, and the remaining cheese. 

Greens and Herbs

2 T evoo
1 pound spinach, trimmed, washed and dried
1/4 pound arugula, trimmed, washed and dried
1/2 pound mesculun, , trimmed, washed and dried
2 cloves garlic, minced
fresh basil, 10 leaves, chiffonade
egg yolk
1/2 c Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c stock

Sauté the spinach, arugula, mesculun and garlic in 1 T evoo until the greens are tender, about 5 minutes.  Set aside to cool, then finely chop. Stir in the basil, egg yolk, 1/2 the Parmesan, and the nutmeg.  Season with salt and pepper.  Stuff 1/3 of the cannelloni shells, placing them in a single layer in a baking dish, such as an oval gratin.  Drizzle with stock, a bit of olive oil, and the remaining cheese.  

Scallops and Zucchini

1 T evoo
1 zucchini, washed, trimmed and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1/2 T fresh thyme1/3 pound scallops, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1/2 c cream
2 T butter
2 t fresh lemon juice
cayenne, salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c stock

Sauté the zucchini, a large pinch of salt, and 1/2 the thyme in olive oil over medium high heat till just tender. Toss the zucchini mixture with the scallops and cayenne. Stuff 1/3 of the cannelloni shells, placing them in a single layer in a baking dish, such as an oval gratin.  Drizzle with stock and a bit of olive oil.

Deglaze the sauté pan with the cream, 1/2 water, and the remaining thyme; simmer till reduced to 1/4 cup.  Lower the heat and whisk in the butter; season with lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Set aside.

This week's box contained:

• Yellow Potatoes
• Lacinato Kale
• Baby Arugula
• Summer Squash
• Fresh Garlic
• Chives
• Strawberries
• Broccoli
• Carrots

The potatoes were immediately turned into a potato salad from Epicurious, Warm New Potato Salad with Grainy Mustard.  Very easy to pull together with fantastic flavor.

The chives and the squash, which is the first of what I'm sure will be *many* batches this year, served as our 4th of July appetizer: Garlicky Zucchini Bruschetta from The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook by Jack Bishop and Ann Straton.

The rest of the menu included:

• Chilled Watermelon-and-Cucumber Soup
• Grilled and Roasted Beets
• Grill-Roasted Cauliflower
• Grilled Asparagus

All of the linked recipes are from the New York Magazine and all three were winners.  I would recommend slightly reducing the cooking time on the beets and cauliflower.

As for the rest of the box, I'll likely sauté the kale and arugula with a bit of salt, olive oil, and garlic.  The strawberries were cleaned and frozen for smoothies and the garlic and carrots will be used as recipes require.  The broccoli is slated for Warm Broccoli and Barley Pilaf for dinner one night this week.

Favas, New Potatoes, and Dill

This week's box contains:

• Strawberries
• Lettuce (swapped for more dill)
• Baby Spinach
• New Potatoes (Yellow)
• Carrots
• Dill
• Fava Beans
• Red Scallions

Perhaps needless to say, but a near perfect box this week, excepting the lettuce of course.  I love this time of year.

One of my all-time favorite recipes is dill-walnut pesto. With two bunches of dill on hand, and a great set of complementary vegetables, we're all set. The strawberries will be frozen for smoothies and the dill promptly converted to pesto to be served with the remaining vegetables.  I'll sauté the spinach, baby carrots, and favas, and will roast the scallions and new potatoes.  Nothing else required, except perhaps a glass of wine.  Dill can be tricky in pairings, so best to stick with a Sauvignon Blanc, Soave, Marsanne, or Viogner depending on the accoutrements; lean towards Marsanne or Viogner if adding salmon to the mix.

If you've not dealt with favas before, take a look at this blog entry.  They are a lot of work, but well worth the effort.

[Herb of your Choice]-Walnut Pesto
... makes 25 - 2 tablespoon servings
Printable Recipe

3/4 cup walnut pieces, toasted
1 bunch herb of choice, ends trimmed
1 large garlic clove, pressed
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon mellow barley miso
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender, adjust salt and pepper and use or freeze.

A Look at Menu Planning

This week's box contains:

• Desiree Potatoes
• Red Cabbage
• Lettuce (traded for more potatoes)
• Strawberries
• Chantenay Carrots
• Sweet Corn
• Walla Walla Onions
• Heirloom Tomatoes

Great box, especially with the lettuce traded for more potatoes.  Like last week, this proved to be a busy weekend.  I have a lot going on at work, so don't expect to have time to get creative during the week.  Next weekend I'm out of town.  Same sad story ~ great food, desire to eat well, not enough time...

One way I manage situations like this is through planning.  There is no one "right" way to plan a menu for the week and I use several.  This week I'm going for my fast and easy method:

1. Pick some generic preparation methods and map them to the days of the week.
2. Take a look at the ingredients I have on hand and align them with the selected methods.
3. Scan recipes as needed to determine what other ingredients will be needed, then build a grocery list.

Do you plan your meals for the week?  If so, what's your method?   Here's how it went for us this week:


Step One: Preparation Methods

This is as simple as listing the days of the week on which you plan to cook and picking a method or meal type that will fit in the amount of time you expect to have available.  Grilling (with charcoal anyway) takes more time and is a leisurely meal for us, so I chose that for Sunday.  All the rest are quick and easy assuming ready made ingredients or pre-preparation of those that take time (more on this later).

• Sunday: grilling
• Monday: risotto
• Tuesday: wraps
• Wednesday: stir-fry
• Thursday: pasta

Step Two: Ingredients on Hand

A quick scan of the pantry, refrigerator, and the freezer gave me a solid list of ingredients to work with.  Here's what I found that looked promising or time sensitive:

• onions
• potatoes
• tomatoes
• ginger
• garlic
• bread
• vegan sausage
• Thai curry cubes
• pesto
• chipotle tofu
• black beans
• whole wheat tortillas
• salsa
• frozen spinach
• carrots
• cabbage
• fennel
• parsley root
• turnips
• green onions
• veggie stock
• asparagus stems

After that, I just matched the list of ingredients to the list of meal types.

• Sunday: grilling (vegan sausages, green onions, fennel, corn, potatoes, bread, tomatoes
  
• Monday: risotto (sweet corn, tomatoes, onions, vegetable stock, salsa)
  
• Tuesday: wraps (whole wheat tortillas, chipotle tofu, salsa, black beans, onions)
  
• Wednesday: stir-fry (red Thai curry, potatoes, carrots, turnips, frozen spinach)
  
• Thursday: pasta (pesto, vegan sausages, carrots, fennel)

Step Three: Choose the Recipes, Build Grocery List

As I sorted out the ingredients, likely dishes came to mind:

• Sunday: Grilled Sausages with Vegetable Kabobs and Grilled Farmer's Market Bruschetta
  
• Monday: Sweet Corn Risotto with Salsa
  
• Tuesday: Black Bean Burritos
  
• Wednesday: Thai Vegetable Curry with Jasmine Rice
  
• Thursday: Whole Wheat Pasta with Pesto and Sausage and Roasted Vegetables

By dish, I referenced cookbooks and websites to find recipes that I could follow or adapt.  By looking at the recipes, I was able to build a grocery list to fill the gaps.  After a quick trip to the store, we had everything we needed on hand.

One final note.  As the saying goes, the best laid plans ... often go awry.  I know that in order to be able to prepare these dishes, I'll need to do some prep work today.  I'll clean and chop the vegetables we'll use this week, cook the rice and store it in the refrigerator, etc.

Fast & Easy Meals

This week's box contains:

• Chantenay Carrots
• Bianco di Maggio Onions
• Basil (traded for more fennel)
• Green Beans
• Lettuce (traded for more fennel)
• Fennel
• Strawberries
• Mystery (Desiree Potatoes)

Great box this week.  Given that I have a bunch of basil on hand and am not a lettuce fan, I swapped both for additional fennel.   Despite the wonderful options, we had our 4.5 year old goddaughter this weekend, so time to research and cook was simply not available.  For fun we made an "all orange" meal, composed entirely from food the color orange; turned out to be an excellent way to make eating healthy food fun.

Perhaps the biggest deterrent to cooking at home, at least for me, is the time it takes to prepare and cook a good meal.  While it is always worth the effort, you may not have the time (as was the case for us this weekend) or may not feel like doing a lot of work.

Two of my favorite cookbooks that offer sound advice, and excellent recipes, for fast and easy meals are Fresh Food Fast by Peter Berley and Vegan Express by Navas Atlas.  I've also accumulated a mental list of dishes that are fast and easy to prepare, but delicious to eat.  Of course there's always searching the web as well.

For lunch today we quickly whipped up the following for a fast and easy summer meal that worked through the carrots, green beans, fennel, and potatoes from this week's box:

• Baked Carrot Fries
• Sauteed Green Beans & Cherry Tomatoes
• Roasted Potatoes & Fennel

What are your tips for quick meals?

As for the rest of the box, the strawberries were cleaned and frozen for smoothies and the onions are standing by for a meal this week.

Nutrition Myths: the Humble Potato

This week's box contains:

• Italian Parsley
• Chantenay Carrots
• New Potatoes
• Loose Spinach
• Strawberries
• Red Beets
• Mystery (zucchini and yellow crookneck squash)

I love potatoes despite their bad rap.  Last summer I wrote a blog entry that contains all the details; I'll repeat a few of them here:

Turns out potatoes are nutritious, sufficiently so that “Humans can subsist healthily on a diet of potatoes and milk; the latter supplies Vitamin A and Vitamin D.” [1] Potatoes are starchy, but their glycemic load is manageable, they are a good source of fiber, protein, potassium, vitamin C, fiber, and a bevy of phytochemicals. The urban legend about all the nutrition being contained in the skins is not true; most nutrients are evenly distributed throughout the potato. They are easy to grow in a number of climates. Not that one would thrive on a diet of potatoes and milk alone or would choose this path, but it should be no surprise that potatoes are heros in some parts of the world.

Interestingly, potatoes -- along with tobacco, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers -- are members of the nightshade family, which can be toxic to humans. It is true that green potatoes are poisonous, though you'd have to eat quite a few to feel any ill effects. Other interesting potato facts include:

• Potatoes are the forth largest food crop worldwide.
• The United Nations named 2008 the “International Year of the Potato”
• The average person, again worldwide, eats 73 pounds of potatoes a year.
• There are over 5,000 varieties of potatoes, all seeming to genetically originate from southern Peru.

Visit the following sites for more info on the mighty potato, including recipes:

• Centro Internacional de la Papa (International Potato Center)
• Nutrition Data on red potatoes, raw, with skin
• Washington State Potato Foundation (love the URL: http://www.potatoes.com/)
• Idaho Potato Commission
• Colorado Potato Administrative Committee
  

"New" Baked Potatoes
An amuse-bouche

baby russet potatoes (1-2 per serving)
specialty finishing salts, such as Halen Mon Smoked Sea Salt or Cyprus Black Flake
butter

Clean the potatoes and wrap individually with foil. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from foil, slice and pinch to create opening, and top with butter and finishing salt. Serve immediately.

These were very small russet potatoes; these pictures give you an idea of scale.  Given their size, this was delicate work but well worth the extra effort.

Now for the rest of the box...

No doubt the parsley will be turned into pesto.

[Herb of your Choice]-Walnut Pesto
... makes 25 - 2 tablespoon servings

3/4 cup walnut pieces, toasted
1 bunch herb of choice, ends trimmed
1 large garlic clove, pressed
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon mellow barley miso
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender, adjust salt and pepper and use or freeze.

The carrots and strawberries will be eaten out of hand.  The spinach will likely be cleaned, chopped, and folded into whatever we make this week.  The beets will be roasted and tossed with balsamic vinegar and salt.

I must admit I'm sad to see that zucchini season is already here.  These are prolific plants and we're sure to have mountains of them throughout the summer.  While I don't dislike zucchini and the related types of squash, I'm not a big fan.  I will have to spend some time digging through my cookbooks to find was to enjoy this first pile and make some plans for those ahead.  I would love to hear your ideas ~ if you've got interesting ways to use zucchini, please let us know.

[1] Wikipedia, Potato, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato (August 2009).

Box Contents: April 2, 2010

This weeks' box contains:

• Cauliflower
• Fennel
• New Potatoes
• Rapini Greens
• Lettuces (abandoned to swap box)
• Leeks
• "Baby" Nantes Carrots
• Butternut Squash

Easy box this week ~ full of good things.

The cauliflower, fennel, and carrots are in the process of becoming giardiniera, Italian pickled vegetables.  The new potatoes were roasted with Celtic sea salt.

The leeks and butternut squash, from this week and last, gave us enough to make both of the following recipes:

• Butternut Squash & Leek Soup
• Risotto with Butternut Squash & Leeks

I was actually able to make the stock I needed for these recipes from the trimmings of the fennel, carrots, leeks and squash.  This is the first time I'd tried this ~ it worked incredibly well.  Not only was the meal completely self sufficient, the flavor of the stock was perfect for the recipes.

Box Contents: March 26, 2010

This week's box contains:

• Lettuces (just left these in the swap box)
• Carrots
• Chard
• Red Cabbage
• Green Garlic
• Rutabagas
• New Potatoes
• Rosemary
• Mystery (red beets)

It was an unusual box this week. While most of the vegetables were in good shape, others were less so. By no means were they spoiled, but the carrots and potatoes were covered with dirt and the beet greens were too dried out to be edible. This is a first in the 5 years I've been a subscriber, hope it does not continue.

Last week was a sad week for us, losing our 3 year old rescued beagle, Sam.  I was happy to have so much produce on hand and no plans for the weekend.  Cooking can be comforting, and certainly eating can be as well.

Though he never stopped stealing food, including veggies like the raw potato pictured above, he was a lovely dog and will be sincerely missed.

So, what did I cook?

With the carrots from this week's box and last, I made a batch of pickled carrots, modifying the recipe slightly by adding 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes.  One jar went into the refrigerator for immediate consumption and I canned the rest. If you choose to can, follow the process for canning high acid foods processing for 10 minutes.

After a good scrubbing, I roasted the potatoes and the rutabagas with salt, olive oil, and Piment d'Espelette. In general I chop vegetables to a 1 inch dice and roast them at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  If you are not a rutabaga fan, please try roasting them ~ they are fantastic.

With the red cabbage, I started another "experiment" -- this time it was homemade sauerkraut.  Since the cabbage was red, just like the beets, I tossed them both in.  The process looks pretty straightforward, let's hope it works.  You can find a good explanation of how to make sauerkraut here.

I used the new bundle of kale for Kamut Elbow Hoppin' John.  This recipe is from Eden Foods, a long time favorite.

I made a vegan version of this rosemary pesto, substituting miso for the Parmesan cheese.

The green garlic, a rare treat only available in the spring, will become Green Garlic Risotto from Michele Anna Jordan's Cook's Tour of Sonoma.

Box Contents: March 19, 2010

As expected, this week's box included:

• Savoy Cabbage
• Adolescent Lettuces (swapped for more turnips)
• Butternut Squash
• Fennel
• Leeks
• Portuguese Kale
• Red Spring Onions
• Baby White Turnips
• Chantenay Carrots

The first dish of the year was roasted vegetables, using ingredients from the box and a few we had on hand:

Roasted Vegetables

1 cup Brussels sprouts
1 cup baby white turnips
1 cup new potatoes
1 cup Chantenay carrots
1 cup red spring onions
small handful peeled garlic cloves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Dice all vegetables to an even size and toss with salt, pepper and olive oil.  Roast for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

We also made Savoy Cabbage and Sausage Soup from Every Night Italian: 120 Simple, Delicious Recipes You Can Make in 45 Minutes or Less. Of course the sausage we used was vegetarian, but my omnivore husband Sean was quite happy with the result.

Other dishes planned for this week include:

• Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup
• Butternut Squash and Leek Soup