Breaking my fast at Bagels & Company.
January 14, 2012
Breaking my fast at Bagels & Company.
CSA Box 7
Week 7 share from the Little River Market Garden CSA
CSA Share 7
Bunch pretty, fat carrots with a huge jungle of carrot greens attached
Loose assorted radishes (watermelon, black spanish and breakfast)
1 huge bunch kale
1 bunch mustard greens
1 bunch Chinese leeks
2 bunches Yukina Savoy
3 stalks lemongrass
Leftover hon tsai tai and papaya from last week
What I Made With My Share
Gnocchi with toasted garlic, walnuts and hon tsai tai, which wasn’t half bad.
Another pho-ish bowl incorporating carrot, radish, yukina savoy, lemongrass and Chinese leeks. Yum.
A kale, lentil, apple and onion salad with pomegranate molasses vinaigrette, which was light and tasty.
A mostly inedible dish involving mustard greens, a chickpea mash and the remaining Chinese leeks.
The Best Thing I Made This Week
The pho-ish. I’m not going to bore you with another faux pho dish so soon, so no recipe this week. I’ve been busy attempting to work out while mulling a possible move over this week, so haven’t remembered to write any recipes down.
Up Next Week
I still have the dreaded papaya hanging around my fridge, and rumor has it we’re getting more next week. I spent this week ignoring the papaya to deal with the sudden greens jungle that had taken over my fridge. Ok, and I just don’t want to deal with it.
I also have some errant carrots, a ton of carrot greens and some assorted radishes left over to deal with at some point.
New To Me Veggies
Yukina Savoy
Yukina Savoy is a brassica, similar to bok choy or tatsoi (but larger). I think it’s even tastier than its more familiar counterparts and hope to get this green again.
January 13, 2012
Devita’s
January 12, 2012
The only part of dinner that worked: chickpeas.
January 11, 2012
A particularly nice sunset in Miami.
January 10, 2012
Rogue Squadron leader ready for duty.
January 9, 2012
Obsession.
CSA Box 6
Week 6 share from the Little River Market Garden CSA
CSA Share 6
1 bunch green Swiss Chard
1 bunch mustard greens
1 bunch flowering hon tsai tai
5 Asian eggplants
1 stem Italian basil
1 ripe papaya
2 star fruit
What I Made With My Share
Mustard green caesar salad with anchovy croutons
This starfruit soba dish
A pasta dish featuring chard, aged balsamic, parmesan/romano cheese, cherry tomatoes and caramelized onions
The Best Thing I Made This Week
The pasta dish was nice, but what really took this week’s cake was the starfruit soba dish. Something about the sweet tartness of the starfruit mixed with the vinegary punch of the dressing just really did it for me this week. I’ll have to make the eggplant from this recipe again, too.
Up Next Week
I have papaya and hon tsai tai left over from this week. I had planned on serving the greens with whole wheat gnocchi, toasted garlic and walnut, but we shall see.
I still have zero idea what to do with the papaya, and really hope it doesn’t become this CSA’s version of strawberries (I got strawberries in every single share last year). I’ve got to find something to do with this papaya.
New To Me Veggies
This week there was nothing terribly new, though I hadn’t had Asian eggplant in awhile and forgot just how much tastier they can be (as opposed to the Italian style big huge eggplants).
Soba with Starfruit
Soba with Starfruit
Adapted from Ottolenghi Soba Noodles from 101 Cookbooks
1/2 c. rice vinegar
1/3 c. brown sugar
large pinch kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 big pinches red pepper flakes
1 tsp. sesame oil
zest and juice of 1 lime
canola oil
5 small Asian eggplant
soba noodles (2 bundles or enough to serve 3)
2 star fruit
Red onion
Handful Italian basil
Handful cilantro
Prep your eggplant by trimming the ends and cutting into a small (about 1/4 inch) dice. Set aside.
Prep your starfruit by cutting into 1/4 inch slices and quartering.
Put a large sautee pan on medium high heat and a large pot of water on to boil. Add a good glug or two of canola to the large sautee pan (you want the bottom covered).
While your pan and pot are coming up to temperature, combine the vinegar, sugar and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved fully (about 1 minute). Set aside. Add the pressed garlic, red pepper flakes and sesame oil.
Your oil should be just getting up to temperature (you’ll know it is hot enough when a drop of water sputters when added to the pan). Add half of the eggplant and fry until nice and browned. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle with salt. Add the second half of the eggplant and repeat.
When the water comes up to a boil, add the soba noodles. Cook according to package directions until al dente (about 3 mins). Drain and immediately rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. Knock as much water off as possible. Add a little olive oil to your hand and toss the cooled noodles around in the colander to coat. This will help the noodles from clumping all together into a gluey mess while they sit.
Prepare the rest of your ingredients.
Slice the onion into wafer thin slices (you only need a handful or so).
Sliver the basil.
Chop the cilantro.
Zest and juice the lime and add to the dressing.
In a medium sized bowl, combine all ingredients. Toss with the dressing and let sit an hour to give the flavors a chance to marry.
Toss again just before serving & enjoy.
Serves 2 for dinner with enough left over for a nice-sized lunch.
January 8, 2012
Don’t be fooled by this cute little face: he was after my snack of eggs and sourdough.
Gastography 