Potato leek soup

Since I could basically start my own root cellar right now with the number of potatoes I've got stockpiled in the fridge, I decided to make some of them into soup. I'd also gotten some leeks in the past week's box, so thought potato leek soup would be a good option (thanks to Amanda for the suggestion!).

One of the great things about getting recipes from the Internet is you can basically keep browsing until you find a recipe that calls only for the things that you have on hand and not for things you don't have. A lot of potato leek soup recipes include cream, which I didn't have at the time (not something I tend to keep on hand). A lot of them also called for only using one leek, and I had three. So, I kept browsing the Google results until I found a recipe that called for three leeks and no cream!  Here it is: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/potato_leek_soup/.  (I also didn't have any marjoram or thyme, but I never let the lack of certain herbs stop me from making something... I just throw in whatever I have at the time.)  The soup was delicious, so much so that we ended up having the leftovers later the very same evening...

Farm share week 17

In this week's box:

• Corn: 4.25 lbs
• Onions: 1.25 lbs
• Squash: 3 lbs
• Apples: 2 lbs
• Leeks: 1.25 lbs
• Kale: 1 lb
• Salad greens: 0.5 lb
• Raspberries: 6 oz.

This was the first week where all the items didn't actually fit in the box! The ears of corn came separately, in a bag. (The woman who gave me my share at City Feed told me that each person was getting 6 ears of corn, and I only got 5, but considering we still have 3 ears in the fridge from the last time we got corn, I'm okay with being shorted an ear...)

It's exciting to get some more things that herald the coming of fall -- leeks and a squash, as well as a different variety of apples. According to this week's newsletter (PDF), these are Shamrock apples, which they say are similar to Granny Smiths. I don't generally like GS apples because the skin is very tough, and they can be a bit tart for my taste. But these are delicious -- they really taste just like apple pie, with a great combination of sweet and spicy (I don't know how an apple can taste like cinnamon, but these do). We've had a tradition of going apple picking in the fall for the past couple of years, but I'm not sure if we'll do it this year -- not only are we getting great apples from the farm share (and in manageable quantities, I might add), but I don't know where we'd store the picked ones this year, given that all our crisper space is otherwise occupied. (But I do love apple picking, and the place we go has the most incredible Golden Delicious apples...)

And these golden raspberries were really delicious. Please note the use of past tense... they didn't stick around too long!

Farm share week 16

In this week's box: 

• Carrots: 2 lbs
• Green peppers: 1.5 lbs
• Potatoes: 3 lbs
• Apples: 1.5 lbs
• Tomatoes: 1.25
• Callaloo: 0.75 lb
• Basil: 0.5 lb

These early Macintosh apples are really good -- the ones we got last week didn't hang around long in the fridge... And more basil means more pesto, hurray!  (Now that I know how easy it is to make pesto in the food processor, I want to make it all the time.)

The tomatoes we got this week are beautiful -- previously we'd been getting what they call "field tomatoes," which are your common alleycat tomatoes, but these are obviously heirloom (as confirmed in this week's newsletter). The red one is almost too pretty to eat!

Farm share week 15

In this week's box:

• Corn: 5 lbs
• Rainbow chard: 1.25 lbs
• Eggplant: 1 lb
• Tomatoes: 1.5 lbs
• Green pepper: 0.75 lb
• Apples!: 2 lbs
• Beets: 1 lb
• Onions: 1.25 lbs
• Carrots: 2.5 lbs
• Parsley: 0.5 lb

This was the biggest shipment to date -- 16.75 pounds! I haven't gotten around to cooking last week's corn yet, and now we have TEN ears of corn. That's a lot of corn, even for two people who really like corn!  Thinking of making a creamed corn dish.  Still with the eggplant and green pepper, although I notice that this week's green pepper is ripening into orange, which perhaps signals that the green pepper shipments will be ending soon.

I'm really excited to get the first of this season's apples -- they're early Macintoshes, according to this week's newsletter (PDF). I used to buy apples at the store every week and had an apple for an afternoon snack every day at work, but this year I've been trying to be more conscious about buying things that are in season. In case you thought apples grew on trees all year round in North America, keep in mind that most of the apples marked USA that you see in the stores have been sitting around in special climate-controlled warehouses for most of the year. (And also why you see apples from New Zealand for a lot of the year; you know, their fall is our spring and all that.)  So, this is all to say that I haven't had an apple in a while.  Abstaining from things not in season does make one appreciate them more when they ARE in season, I think.

Farm share week 14

In this week's box:

• Corn: 4 lbs
• Watermelon: 2.75 lbs
• Green pepper: 0.5 lb
• Tomato: 0.75 lb
• Garlic Onions: 0.5 lb
• Eggplant: 1.25 lbs
• Kale: 1 lb
• Bok choi: 0.5 lb
• Arugula 0.5 lb

I thought the shallots were actually garlic until I cut one open -- they have multiple small bulbs contained within the paper. But they're definitely onions.  (This week's newsletter [PDF] actually gives two possibilities -- red onions or shallots. But aren't shallots longer and narrower?)


Happy to see some corn again -- it's been a while.  But really, could do without MORE eggplant and green pepper, since Carl doesn't like them. I love both, but it's hard to eat it all myself! What I've been doing is slicing them up and roasting them while I'm cooking dinner, and then eating them as snacks. And earlier in the week I gave some green peppers to a work friend...

Pasta with chicken, pesto, and tomatoes

I've made pesto only once before, the summer after my first year of college when I first discovered Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook. I was living in an apartment off-campus with a big kitchen and spent that summer making a lot of things from that cookbook (ratatouille, pita bread, pesto...) that were not part of my food experience growing up. It was a lot of fun, but a LOT of work to chop up all this stuff by hand.  Now that I'm all grown up and have a food processor, I'm finding that these recipes I tried once years ago are SO MUCH EASIER. I made this pesto in about 10 minutes; no chopping required. 

I used this recipe from the Food Network.  (I tend to use online recipes a lot for two reasons: I don't have to make a shopping list because I can just refer to the recipe on my iPhone while I'm in the store, and I like reading users' comments and suggestions for improvements/variations.)  I sauteed the chicken in some olive oil in the cast iron skillet (and used a tad less olive oil in the pesto to balance it out). When it was cooked, I added the cooked and drained pasta and the pesto, stirred to coat everything with the pesto, and added some chopped tomatoes. (The tomatoes don't need to be cooked -- just let them sit in with the pasta for 5 minutes to warm up if they've been in the fridge.)

Farm share week 13

In this week's box:

• Watermelon: 3.25 lbs
• Beets: 1.25 lbs
• Cucumber: 1 lb
• Green pepper: 0.75 lb
• Tomato: 1 lb
• Salad greens: 0.75 lb
• Eggplant: 1.25 lb
• Callaloo: 0.75 lb
• Basil: 0.25

Here's this week's newsletter (PDF).

It turned out that keeping the basil with the stems in a container of water in the fridge did NOT keep it fresh any longer, so I think a big meal of something basil-related is in our future...

Happy to get another watermelon -- they're the perfect size to cut up and eat the whole thing standing over the sink. Only complaint is that they're full of seeds.

I now have FIVE green peppers to use up. Halp.

Farm share week 12

In this week's box:

• Watermelon: 4.5 lbs
• Eggplant: 2 lbs
• Green peppers: 1.25 lbs
• Lemon cucumbers: 0.75 lb
• Tomatoes: 1.5 lbs
• Collard greens: 1 lb
• Green beans: 1 lb
• Avocado: 1.5 lbs

 This week's newsletter (PDF) alerted members about the inclusion of avocados in the box -- avocados are certainly not native to this area, but the farm did some kind of tradeoff with a farmer in Florida for some of their own produce that is now out of season there. They asked for feedback and I'm sure they will get some negative responses from the hardcore locavores.  Myself, I love avocados, and this keeps me from having to buy one at the store. Also, this is the largest avocado I've ever seen! I'm used to getting the dark-skinned Haas variety that are about half this size (from California, I guess) -- these seem more similar to the ones I see at Latino markets and restaurants.

Happy to get collards this week instead of kale (the collards seem to last longer in the fridge, and it's a nice change, as much as I love kale!).  Also pleased to get a baby watermelon!  (And you'll notice that they didn't skimp on the rest of the stuff they put into the box because of the weight of the watermelon -- the total box weight is 13.25 lbs by my calculations.)

As you might remember, we got bunches of celery the past two weeks. I chopped them up the other night and as a result had a huge pile of celery greens. I posted a photo of them on Facebook and within a few hours had connected with a coworker whose two bunnies were more than happy to take the greens off my hands. Waste not, want not...

Farm share week 11

In this week's box:

• Corn: 1.75 lbs
• Celery: 1 lb
• Cucumbers: 1.75 lbs
• Eggplant: 1.5 lbs
• Green pepper: 1 lb
• Tomatoes: 1.5 lbs
• Tomatillos: 0.75 lb
• Canteloupe: 2.5 lbs
• Parsley: 0.5 lb
• Basil: 0.5 lb

This week's newsletter (PDF) announced the inclusion of another new item for me -- tomatillos.  They're used a lot in Mexican cooking, so I guess that means some enchiladas are in our future. :)

I learned this week that I've been storing my fresh herbs incorrectly. I thought they should go in perforated bags in the crisper like the other leafy things we get, but according to Joy of Cooking, that's only the case for herb leaves that aren't on the stem. If they're bunches of herbs still on the stem, they should be stored with their stems in water (like a bouquet), outside the crisper. Hoping this means that this parsley and basil will last longer... I'll keep you posted.

Remember last week, when I got a ton of stuff that I knew Carl wouldn't eat?  Well, it happened to be the annual picnic at work this week, and everyone was tasked to bring a salad or a dessert.  I love baking, so usually that would be a no-brainer for me, but I decided to veer off course this year and roast up some veggies instead. I sliced up beets, zucchini, squash, eggplant, and green pepper; marinated them on baking sheets in some olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and roasted them at 375° for 30-40 minutes.  Cooled 'em, dumped 'em in a Tupperware, and brought to picnic. Came home with empty Tupperware, hooray!

Spanikopita

Okay, this is really kale-ikopita, because we don't have spinach, but we sure have kale. I figured one leafy green could be substituted for another without too much trouble. I think the kale definitely gives it a stronger "greens" flavor, but it was still really good! And I used up two entire bunches of kale, which is such a satisfying feeling. :)

I used the recipe for spanikopita in The Joy of Cooking (my first stop for recipes). It was my first time working with phyllo dough sheets, and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. It's time-consuming, though -- I don't see this dish making it into the regular rotation, but it's great for "special."  It certainly gives me respect for the cooks who make tons of this and cheese pies on a daily basis in all those cafes in Greece. (And some of them probably make the dough by hand, too, which boggles the mind...)

...Think I'm going to go finish off the leftovers of this now!