All posts for the month July, 2009

July 1 CSA Share

Whoops. Just as I was getting back in the blogging groove, work intervened, and I spent three weeks doing practically nothing but. Working, that is. Hopefully things will slow down long enough for me to catch up a bit on what I’d wanted to post several weeks ago.

Full share from July 1, 2009

Full share from July 1, 2009

Anyway, here is what we received on July 1. Since we took the entire share last week, our friends got the full box this week, so I’m not on the hook for dealing with the first of the eggplant. Though I’m sure there will be plenty more later on… We (i.e. they) got: 1.5 pounds of Big Beef tomatoes, 3 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes, 1 pint of Sungold tomatoes, 1 pound of Japanese eggplant, 1 cantaloupe, 1 pound of green beans, and 1 pound of lemon cucumbers. I was sad to miss out on the sweet, sweet Sungolds this time. I grew Sungolds a few years ago, and I absolutely loved having them on-hand all summer.

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by Ryn on July 26, 2009  •  Permalink
Posted in Community Supported Agriculture
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Posted by Ryn on July 26, 2009

http://suburbanherbivore.com/2009/07/26/july-1-csa-share/

June 24 CSA Share

Tomatoes are here! We received two varieties this week: Big Beef and Early Girl. Growing up, I’d always heard that it’s unusual to have tomatoes before the 4th of July, so I remain impressed when they show up before that. Certainly, the ones I’m growing won’t be ready for quite a while. A few years ago, I grew Sungolds, which are little, orange, sweet, and delicious. Since our CSA supplies those, I’m devoting my tomato space to ones that can be used for sauce and/or slicing. I haven’t written about my garden yet… I’ll do that soon.

Full share from June 24, 2009.

Full share from June 24, 2009.

This week, we received two pounds of tomatoes, three pounds of Red Pontiac potatoes, one yellow squash, one zucchini, one bunch of basil, three onions (two yellow, one red), two cabbages (one green, one red), and three cucumbers (two green, one lemon). Since our friends are out of town this week, we are keeping the entire share for ourselves. Time for another cooking challenge!

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by Ryn on July 4, 2009  •  Permalink
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Posted by Ryn on July 4, 2009

http://suburbanherbivore.com/2009/07/04/june-24-csa-share/

June 17 CSA Share

Cabbage starts this week. Somewhere in my giant pile of clipped recipes, I’ve got a couple for cabbage that I want to try. Though I’m not that big of a fan of coleslaw, this recipe (which I linked to last year) is pretty good. Of course, that is for red cabbage, and we received green cabbage this week. I once tried making sauerkraut, but my lackadaisical approach and faulty memory made it somewhat of a disaster. I ended up tossing the entire pan, complete with towel and National Geographics (for weight) into the trash – what a waste!

Half share from June 17, 2009.

Half share from June 17, 2009.

This week’s photo may look a little sparce. It is just half of the produce, as I was not able to get a photo of the full share. We actually received two cabbages, one bunch of baby turnips (so double what’s in the photo), two pounds of cucumbers, two heads of lettuce, and three onions (two white, one red). Additionally, what looks like parsley in the photo is actually cutting celery, an herb that I’ve never used before. It smells and tastes like celery. Above the onion is a lemon cucumber. This is one of my CSA’s specialties. It tastes like a normal cucumber, but is round and yellow instead, so it would yield nice big slices for a cucumber sandwich.

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by Ryn on July 3, 2009  •  Permalink
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Posted by Ryn on July 3, 2009

http://suburbanherbivore.com/2009/07/03/june-17-csa-share/

White Bean and Root Vegetable Gratin

Root Vegetable Gratin

White Bean and Root Vegetable Gratin

I know this is going to make it sound like I never cook, but I prepared a very tasty gratin way back on May 17. Yes, this is another catch-up post. (As opposed to a ketchup post.) (Sorry… I think I’m hilarious, but my husband tells me that I’m really not.) Based off a method in Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, the gratin turned out wonderfully, and is a great way to utilize those random root vegetables you may have lying around. It calls for Parmesan cheese on top, but is vegan without that.

Sauteed Greens

Sauteed Greens

I also sauteed the radish, kohlrabi, and turnip greens and swiss chard that I’d been accumulating. This was a wonderful accompaniment to the gratin. The photo makes it look like I’m stir-frying a salad, though.

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
1.5 lbs root vegetables (I used turnips and kohlrabi)
1 onion
2-4 cloves garlic, chopped finely (depending on how much you like)
3 cans white beans
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp rosemary
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel and chop the root vegetables and onion. Heat most of the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the vegetables until they begin getting soft. During this time, you can drain and rinse the beans, but reserve about half a cup of bean liquid. Also prepare a shallow casserole pan by rubbing it with a towel (paper or otherwise) dipped in olive oil.

White Bean and Root Vegetable Gratin, plus sauteed greens and bread.

White Bean and Root Vegetable Gratin, plus sauteed greens and bread.

Add a little salt and pepper, plus the onion and garlic, and cook until the onion is soft. Turn down the heat if necessary to keep the vegetables from browning too much. Once done, remove from heat and add the rosemary and the beans. You can add some or all of the reserved bean liquid at this point if the vegetables are too dry. It should be stew-like. Add more salt and/or pepper if needed.

Pour the mixture into the casserole pan, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Bake for at least 40 minutes, and then until the edges and top are browned and the sauce is bubbling.

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by Ryn on July 3, 2009  •  Permalink
Posted in Recipes, Vegetarian Cooking
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Posted by Ryn on July 3, 2009

http://suburbanherbivore.com/2009/07/03/white-bean-and-root-vegetable-gratin/

June 10 CSA Share

We received some broccoli this week along with a sizable number of cabbage worms. The weekly newsletter included a tip on deworming the broccoli (shudder): soaking it in salt water until the worms detach and rise to the surface of the water. I grew broccoli one summer a few years ago and had the same infestation. It’s particularly insidious because the worms are the exact same color as the broccoli stem. It was actually enough to put me off trying to grow broccoli again because ewwww.

Full share from June 10, 2009.

Full share from June 10, 2009.

Here’s the full list of what we received this week: one pound of green beans, two heads of lettuce, three onions, one bunch of orange carrots, one bunch of beets, one pound of broccoli, and one bunch of radishes. The white onions are a variety called Candy, and the red one is Candy Apple. These are said to be sweeter than the average onion, though I don’t know how they will compare to Videlias. We are a little overwhelmed with beets!

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by Ryn on July 3, 2009  •  Permalink
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Posted by Ryn on July 3, 2009

http://suburbanherbivore.com/2009/07/03/june-10-csa-share/

Farmers Market Contest

Durham and Carrboro are neck and neck in the Farmers Market contest sponsored by LocalHarvest and Care2. The contest goes until September 17, so you’ve got a while to cast your vote. The winner gets $5,000, and there are prizes for the rest of the top five vote-getters as well. I’ve been keeping an eye on this contest since it opened, and Durham has been #1 off and on the entire time, but always in the top five. Check it out, and please consider voting for your favorite farmers market.

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by Ryn on July 2, 2009  •  Permalink
Posted in General

Posted by Ryn on July 2, 2009

http://suburbanherbivore.com/2009/07/02/farmers-market-contest/

Restaurant Review: Cuban Revolution

Hooray for a new restaurant at American Tobacco! I was fortunate enough to get invited to the Tuesday night opening party at Cuban Revolution, and though they just had a what I would describe as a sneak peek of their food, I was definitely intrigued. Much of the food was standard finger food – cheese, fruit, and veggies – but there were two vegetarian items that were clearly from the menu: a tomato and cheese sandwich, and a little bitty wrap with maduros (fried plantains), rice, tomatoes, and cheese. Based on this, I was hoping that the full menu would be vegetarian-friendly. After going there today for lunch, I can tell you that it surely is.

Maduros Vegan-Sushi Rolls

Maduros Vegan-Sushi Rolls - not actually vegan. Or sushi. But still very tasty.

The most interesting food on the menu comes in the form of tapas. There is fried cassava with garlic dip, roasted red peppers with feta and olive oil, pepperdews stuffed with goat cheese, two types of empanadas (spinach/cheese and portabello/cheese), black beans and rice, and sweet potato fries. One particularly delicious-sounding offering is fried green beans with remoulade dip.

Additionally, there are several sandwiches made with Cuban bread available: tomato and cheese, and hot peppers and cheese. (These come with the usual condiments and add-ons.) The maduros wrap is what I had for lunch today, and was a more expanded version of what I tasted last night. The plantains were yummy, though I wished there had been some kind of sauce for the wrap. They also serve a Gardenburger.

I must report that there are some inconsistencies printed on the menu surrounding vegetarian and vegan items. The most glaring is that the maduros vegan sushi wrap mentioned earlier is not, in fact, vegan since it contains cheese. At least the fact that it contains cheese is clearly printed on the menu. The Gardenburger is listed as being vegan as well. Since there are multiple varieties of Gardenburger, it may well be that the one they serve is vegan. If this is a concern of yours, though, I would suggest verifying it before ordering. The chicken quesadilla being marked as vegetarian is just laughable. I spoke with one of the owners about this issues (as well as the others), and he said that on previous menu versions, it was simply a quesadilla and it was accidentally left as vegetarian when the name (and ingredients) changed. It is, of course available without chicken. He also confirmed that the Caesar salad, marked as vegetarian, does NOT contain anchovies in its dressing.

All in all, Cuban Revolution is a welcome addition to American Tobacco and to Durham, and I look forward to going back there again soon!

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by Ryn on July 1, 2009  •  Permalink
Posted in Restaurants

Posted by Ryn on July 1, 2009

http://suburbanherbivore.com/2009/07/01/restaurant-review-cuban-revolution/