Our relatively small haul for the week: 1 cucumber, 1 summer squash, a bunch of small beets with greens, a quart (?) of turnips sans greens, a bit of lettuce mix, scallions, a pint of sugar snaps, 2 small stalks of broccoli, and parsley.
I was also supposed to get an arrowhead cabbage, but somewhere in the boys’ discussion of who was putting what into the bag, it was left behind. (I am almost amused by how very annoyed I am by this. Almost.) I was disappointed to not get another bunch of radishes this week, especially had discovering how delicious they are with a little bleu cheese.
I know the super-rainy weather has not been kind to the farm. J.’s small garden has been similarly swamped, and I’m not sure we’ll get anything out of it this year. I’m thankful to get what we did this week. My parsley is piling up. I may need to make some tabouleh.
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July 1st, 2009
G. insisted he had tried this dish before, and therefore didn’t have to try it because he knew he didn’t like it. When I gently suggested that was not the case, since I’d just made it up tonight, it became his mission to try to convince me I was wrong. It was all he talked about at the table tonight, even though I let the subject drop right away. A. asked for plain spaghetti, plus some “Mommy spaghetti” on the side because “it doesn’t look too bad.” I think G.’s yammering spooked him out of trying it, though. I was still happy he was open-minded enough to ask for a taste. They’ve both been in a particularly difficult period of eating lately, although A. has been more open to different fruits.
This was a quick and easy way to use produce from my CSA — the parsley, scallions, and broccoli rabe (an enormous bunch!) are all from this past week’s share. In the past, I’ve actually peeled most of the broccoli rabe stems with a paring knife, which is how Lidia Bastianich in Lidia’s Family Table does it. This bunch was almost entirely beautiful, thin stalks so I skipped that step entirely. The prep is much faster that way.
Broccoli Rabe, Olive & Turkey Spaghetti
1/2 lb. whole wheat spaghetti
3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
4 large scallions, sliced thinly
1/2 lb. ground turkey
1 large handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 large bunch broccoli rabe (leaves & stems), chopped
1/4 c. sliced black olives
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (or more)
salt & pepper
Prepare spaghetti according to the package directions and set aside.
In a large saute pan, heat 1 Tbsp. of olive oil. Add scallions and turkey to the hot pan, cooking over medium-high heat until turkey starts to brown. (It won’t brown much, but try to get as much color as you can.) Use a spatula to break the turkey apart into small pieces.
Layer parsley, broccoli rabe, and olives on top of the turkey mixture, then cover pan for a few minutes to allow the broccoli rabe to steam and soften (it will release a bit of water). Remove the cover and allow mixture to cook until there is no water left in the pan. Season with red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.
Add drained spaghetti and remaining 2 Tbsp. of olive oil into the pan, and toss until the broccoli rabe/turkey mixture is well incorporated. Serve hot.
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June 30th, 2009
Summer is here! Camp starts for the boys this week, and I hope to be getting to the pool with them in the afternoons. That means fewer meals with long prep times, and also more meals that I can make in the crock pot or toaster oven (without turning on my main oven). I’m looking forward to getting our new routine established this week.
Monday: Egg salad (with eggs G. gathered during his trip to Hull-O Farms with my parents!), bagels, romaine lettuce with bleu cheese dressing
Tuesday: Pasta with broccoli rabe & ground turkey sauteed in olive oil and garlic
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Teriyaki chicken, farm share veggies, challah
Friday: Slow Cooker Ratatouille (from the freezer), whole wheat spaghetti (carried over from last week)
Saturday: Fourth of July BBQ here! We will probably do burgers (J. makes great ones) and hot dogs with all the fixings and my Dad’s potato salad
Sunday: Order in
For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie.
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June 28th, 2009
On Thursday I had my first CSA veggie storage issue: I’d washed and spun dry the lettuce mix I received on Wednesday, packing it loosely in a Ziploc bag. I tossed it on the very top shelf of my fridge, and somehow it froze. When I went to make a salad the next day, I had a bag of what looked like slimy dark green (very cold) seaweed. I can’t fit everything I receive in my produce bins, but clearly I need to be more careful about where things are being stored in the refrigerator.
Instead of salad, I quartered all the turnips from this week and last week, throwing them with salt and olive oil into a hot frying pan. These are young, tender turnips, so after cooking for only about 5 minutes I added in two small summer squash and a few scallions and continued sauteing until everything was caramelized.
Turnips are not my favorite veg — I find them a bit watery no matter how I prepare them. But for a quick side dish, this combination worked nicely. A. was even happy to eat the squash, but only if we could find a piece that was plain, without any “brown spots” (the caramelized bits) on them.
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June 28th, 2009
This week’s haul included two small heads of broccoli, a large bunch of broccoli rabe, a head of romaine lettuce, mixed loose lettuce, two summer squash, a bunch of young turnips, a bunch of radishes, a pint of plump sugar snap peas (not pictured — they were already in the kitchen being washed for dinner!), scallions, cilantro, and parsley. There was some arugula available, too, but it was yellowish and pale and just didn’t look good, so I didn’t take any.
I made a chopped Greek salad with last week’s romaine last night, and it was very good — this hearty lettuce holds up to the heavy feta, tomatoes, cucumbers, and so on. I’ll probably make something similar with this week’s romaine, though when I was washing the last head I had an urge to eat it with tuna salad. So maybe I’ll do that instead.
The loose lettuce is so delicate I need to use it immediately. I’ll make a salad with it tomorrow night. I’m also going to roast last week’s and this week’s turnips with some chicken tomorrow. No ideas for the rest of it, yet, though A. is thrilled to get the sugar snaps. These are the good kind, with many huge, round peas inside each shell — he likes to pop the the peas out and eat them individually.
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June 24th, 2009
I often make some kind of noodle as part of dinner, serving them plain to the boys with the sauce or whatever on the side. I was looking for udon in my store but couldn’t find any, so tonight I cooked up some Ka-Me Wide Lo Mein Noodles to go with the stir fry. Hello, totally plain noodles. Neither boy would touch them! I don’t get it. Even A. wasn’t willing to try the stir fry tonight — they were both tired and I didn’t press the issue.
I really liked the stir fry: I sliced the farm share bok choi and let it cook in a frying pan over high heat for a few minutes, then added some fresh, sliced shitake mushrooms. The veggies released enough liquid so that they cooked quickly. Then I added about a quarter cup of Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki. Wow, is that stuff delicious! Merrie recommended it to me a while ago as a chicken marinade, but it worked perfectly as a sauce for this stir fry. I loved the sesame seeds in it. The only problem is it’s pretty high in sodium (20% of your RDA in one tablespoon, although a little goes a long way), and I found myself needing liters of water afterward. Still, I will happily use it again.
I mixed the lo mein noodles in with the stir fry and had a fantastic dinner in less than 15 minutes. If only I could get the kids to eat it…
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June 22nd, 2009
We had a great Father’s Day today — I am always happy to have a big group of family over to celebrate and eat. I think J. felt like it was a special day, too. Rather than a barbecue, which is our go-to type of entertaining in the spring and summer, we did bagels and lots of smoked fish. I also made some egg salad and hummus using garlic scapes, which were both yummy.
Looking forward to an easy cooking week this week — the last before camp starts and we start getting used to our summer schedule.
Monday: Bok choi & shitake stir fry with Soy Vay, udon noodles
Tuesday: Greek salad (using the romaine from my farm share), whole wheat pita
Wednesday: Spaghetti and baked meatballs (from the freezer), farm share veggies
Thursday: Lemon-Roasted Chicken, roasted turnips & farm share veggies, challah
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Eat out
Sunday: Slow Cooker Ratatouille (from the freezer), whole wheat spaghetti
For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie.
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June 21st, 2009
I had intended to make a White Bean and Garlic Scapes Dip, but forgot to buy white beans. Thankfully, I had an extra can of chickpeas in my pantry, so I turned my garlic scapes into a successful hummus instead. I loosely followed my usual hummus recipe, adding the scapes to the food processor first to get them to just shy of a puree. Then the chickpeas (reserving the liquid), tahini, salt, and lemon juice. I wanted to showcase the garlic flavor, so I didn’t add any other spices like I would otherwise (cumin, cayenne, and red pepper flakes).
I didn’t notice that much of a difference in the flavor of the scapes versus a regular garlic clove. Perhaps a faint grassy, more herbal flavor. I even tried a piece of the garlic scape alone before it went into the hummus, and again didn’t taste much of a difference. Considering the number of devout scape worshippers I have found online, this seems like some kind of allium-ental blasphemy — but I just report it like I taste it.
If I get garlic scapes again this week, I’ll try stir frying them. I’ve read that they have a similar consistency to green beans or asparagus when cooked this way.
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June 21st, 2009
This was a quick and delicious dinner, based on a spice packet from Arora Creations (I’ve seen them at Mrs. Green’s and my kosher butcher).
Punjabi Chhole is basically spicy Indian chickpeas. Ginger, onions, fresh diced tomatoes, and a couple of jalapenos are quickly cooked with a can of drained chickpeas. I also added a huge bunch of roughly-chopped braising greens from my farm share. They bulked up the recipe, but otherwise didn’t really add to or take away from the flavor — just how I like my greens!
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June 21st, 2009
This week we received: salad mix, a head of romaine lettuce, bok choi, broccoli rabe (a huge bunch!), braising greens, arugula, cilantro, garlic scapes, radishes, tiny turnips, and scallions.
I have not had any success with the garlic scapes in the past. Last year I made the effort to chop and freeze them, but I never wound up using them. This year I am resolving to make something delicious out of them — they are too beautiful to waste. While poking around online for something other than scape pesto, I came upon Barbara’s ode to garlic of all kinds, including scapes. She makes their prep sound so effortless, that I feel less stumped by them after reading her post. Everyone seems to be cooking a White Bean and Garlic Scapes Dip recipe from the NY Times this year, so I’m going to try that one on Father’s Day, when I’ll have lots of guests around to sample it with their bagels.
Two notes from tonight: I chopped all of this week’s CSA scallions and last week’s parsley finely, and added them to the chop meat I made into meatballs tonight with a couple of eggs and some breadcrumbs. They were incredibly flavorful — definitely something to do again. I sauteed the broccoli rabe in a little olive oil with some kosher salt as a side dish, and it reminded me that no one in our family loves it plain like that. Toss it in some pasta, make a frittata, or our favorite Broccoli Rabe & Potato Salad, and we’re happy.
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June 18th, 2009
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I'm Dara, the chick in the kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two boys, ages 3 and 5, and husband. Trying to feed my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Reach me at .