The Suburban Herbivore

Full share from April 28, 2010

Wow! This is my fifth year as a CSA member! I’m super-excited about the coming season for several reasons.

One, my feeble attempt at a vegetable garden last summer was pretty much a fail. I only had a 4X4 plot, and though it was in the sunniest part of our yard, it just wasn’t enough. I got a few tomatoes and cucumbers, and some basil, but it wasn’t a particularly productive garden. The hot peppers that I planted in pots on the back desk did pretty well, though.

The second reason I’m looking forward to my weekly shares is that we’ve had some changes in our family’s financial situation. Getting in a batch of produce each week that was paid for a long time ago is going to be a huge plus in meal planning and saving on groceries – something that I’m planning to start blogging a little more about in general.

I have to say, I wish there were more strawberries this week. As in previous years, we are splitting this share with another couple, and half a pint of strawberries is pretty much just a handful. (But they were delicious!) Here’s what we received: one big bunch spinach, one pint of strawberries, two baby bok choi, one big bunch turnips, one bunch French breakfast radishes, and two enormous heads of lettuce – one Romaine, one red-leaf.

Full share from September 9, 2009

In week 19, we received one large acorn squash, one bunch of turnips, one bunch of French breakfast radishes, one pound of cucumbers, and one pound of Japanese eggplant. I still have the turnips from last week, so I think I’ll cook up some White Bean and Root Vegetable Gratin.

Last week at this time (week 20 of 20), we got three pounds of tomatoes (!), one pint of Sungold tomatoes (!!), a pound of eggplant, and one quarter pound of basil. Though I guess it’s not really too surprising that there were tomatoes. Second plantings can bear tomatoes into October around here, and farmer’s markets still have plenty.

Full share from September 2, 2009

I haven’t been tracking how far along my CSA is, but this is week 18 of 20. And it’s officially the end of the tomatoes for the season. It’s been a pretty good crop this year, though we didn’t receive as much variety as in years past – very few Cherokee Purple and no Orange Blossom. Though, on the other hand, I did really enjoy the colorful and yummy cherry tomatoes.

This week, we got three pounds of tomatoes, one cantaloupe, one quarter-pound of basil, one and a half pounds of green beans, and nine small turnips. I’m glad to get the green beans – I know exactly what I’m going to do with them: Thai-Spiced Tofu and Green Beans.

Last year at this time (week 19 of 20), we received a half pound of basil, two and a half pounds of tomatoes, one pound of Japanese eggplant, and two small acorn squash. My photo is nowhere to be found, unfortunately.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

More greens this week, and some left over from last week. I’ve got to get a jump on that, because the beets will start soon, and then I’ll be completely overrun with greens. Fortunately, they cook down quite a lot, so you can have a giant mess of greens that reduces to a relatively small mess of greens.

Full share from May 13, 2009

This week’s haul: two pints of strawberries, two heads of lettuce, one bunch of scallions, one bunch of baby turnips, one bunch of dill, one bunch of Swiss chard, and the magical, once-a-year kohlrabi. Last year’s kohlrabi, I believe, went into a dish of roasted root vegetables. Let’s see what I can come up with for this year’s…

I’ve got some catching up to do. Not only am I way behind on updating for this year’s shares, I would still like to at least include the lists and photos from the rest of last year.

For 2009, we are with the same CSA as last year: Elysian Fields Farm. And again, we are splitting a full share with friends. I like to include the entire share in the photo to fully illustrate what we receive. But I am only responsible for cooking half of it!

Full share from May 6, 2009

The year was off to a great start with three pints of strawberries! We have to eat the strawberries right away as they spoil pretty rapidly. But generally, this is not a problem. We also got one bunch of red Russian kale, two heads of Boston lettuce, one bunch of French breakfast radishes (I don’t know what makes them “breakfast”, but they are long, pointy, and will be eaten at supper), one bunch of baby turnips, two baby boc chois, and one bunch of scallions.

Though it was the first squash of the year, I still felt compelled to pull out my old stand-by, Squash Casserole… despite the fact that there were far better/healthier things I could have made with these cute little yellow squash and zucchini, and also despite the fact that I had less than half the amount called for by the recipe. Fortunately, I had a great idea. It seemed perfectly reasonable that I could replace some of the missing squash with turnips. And so it was. I sliced up and used all the turnips that I had, and added some extra carrots to make up the rest. The casserole turned out great and I had the bonus of polishing off one of my problem vegetables.

This was another banner week. Nearly all of the produce so far has just been exceptional. And, thankfully, we have a week off from lettuce, as I still have an entire bunch left from last time. We received several new items: yellow, orange, and purple carrots, as well as sugar snap peas. And, of course, broccoli, kale, cabbage, onions, turnips, boc choi, and the best batch of strawberries yet.

I already have plans for the broccoli, in the form of a tofu stir-fry. But I think I’m going to need to cook up another mess of greens this weekend. And probably some beet risotto. And maybe I can make some soup somewhere in there, too.

I had a bunch of greens that needed to be used up, so I looked around for a recipe that would disguise them as much as possible, because <confession> I really don’t care that much for greens.</confession>. So, here’s my version of Saag Paneer. You can, of course, use spinach, which is the traditional way of preparing this dish. I used greens from kohlrabi, radishes, turnips, and beets, plus kale. You can make the paneer ahead of time and refrigerate it for up to five days.

Ingredients

1/2 gallon of milk (preferably whole)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp water
2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin seeds or ground cumin
1 tsp coriander or garam masala
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp vegetable oil
16-24 oz greens
1/2 cup coconut milk

First, get the milk and 1 tsp salt heating in a large saucepan on medium heat. Stir it every couple of minutes. Once the milk is boiling, stir in the lemon juice, and stir every minute or so for about five minutes while the curdling takes place. Place three layers of cheesecloth or a towel in a strainer, and if you want to save the whey, put the strainer on top of a pot or other container. After enough milk has curdled that the surface doesn’t have any gaps in it, pour it into the strainer. Twist the corners of the cheesecloth or towel to squeeze out as much liquid as possible and let it drain for either an hour (if using cheesecloth) or half an hour (if using a towel).

While the paneer is draining, make the spice puree. Mix the water, ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander or garam masala, red pepper, paprika, turmeric, and the remaining 1/2 tsp salt in a blender until pureed. (I had a hard time finding something that would blend such a small amount, so just do the best you can. A mortar and pestle might do the trick.) Set it aside when blended.

After the paneer is drained, wrap it in plastic and press it for at least half an hour, and preferably an hour. I put it between two cutting boards and placed a heavy book on top. During this time, you can steam the greens. Make sure they are pretty soft – you don’t want your saag paneer to be crunchy. Let them cool a bit, then chop finely.

Now you are ready to pull it all together! Cube the paneer into bite-size pieces. Heat the oil in a deep skillet or large saucepan on medium-high heat. Fry the paneer for about five minutes – until it turns a nice golden brown on at least a couple of sides. Remove it and drain it on paper towels. Add the spice puree to the pan and let it saute for one or two minutes. Then add the greens, paneer, and coconut milk, and heat through. If needed, add some warm water a tablespoon at a time until you are pleased with the consistency.

Serve with basmati rice. Makes 2 or 3 servings, depending on how hungry you are.