Veggies Galore

While I had no problem with my summer CSA, I am not able to keep up with the winter one. I guess I don't *have* to keep up, most of the stuff we're getting now keeps more than what I was getting this summer. But it's still making me feel bad.

For instance, I still had the pac choi from week #1 left, and finally cooked it up tonight. Most of the outer leaves needed to be tossed, but it was alright. I made pho, using tilapia instead of the beef (I think I liked it better!), added a pinch each of 5 spice powder and ground ginger to the broth, and since I didn't have enough pac choi, I chopped enough savoy cabbage to make up the difference. The result was my favorite batch of pho ever.

I also sauteed the shiitakes. I have a bad history with shiitakes. When I was a kid, my friend and I made this authentic Chinese dinner that used a bunch of dried mushrooms. I was 12 then. The next day, I could not get the smell of the mushrooms off my hands. It made me ill. To this day, I can't handle the smell of them.

So the shiitakes are all him. Which is sad, because these were the most beautiful mushrooms I've ever seen. I sliced them all up and sauteed them for Dan. He added a bunch to his soup tonight and he can use them the next few days.

So tomorrow, this is my plan: make pesto with sorrel and the rest of the basil I bought for the pho, use that instead of red sauce to top a pizza that will have delicata squash and fresh mozzarella on it. Maybe some sauteed chard too? I'll probably use that beautiful head of lettuce to make my new favorite salad: greens, pomegranate seeds and pine nuts with champagne vinaigrette.

Now that I know what I'm doing with the sorrel, I need to look for cabbage recipes...

Wednesday's Dinner

Last night was all about keeping it simple--but it was so stunning and colorful. At the cabin last weekend, I pulled up some basil and made pesto. I grilled a couple summer squash and chopped tomatoes from the CSA, supplementing with some from our own pots. I tossed all that with ravioli and served it with grilled Mad River Grain bread (the.best.bread.ever). The yellow squash, green pesto and red tomatoes was picture-perfect (of course I didn't take a picture...)

Frost threatened last night but I was hopeful we wouldn't get any. I did harvest any close-to-ripe tomatoes and tomatillos and pulled up the basil from the tomato pots. We were able to bring our herb pots inside, but wanted to protect the spinach, chard and kale seedlings (we just replanted our boxes a few weeks ago). On our porch was an egg crate mattress topper I had posted on Freecycle. The guy had missed 3 pick-up times and Dan and I looked at each other and knew that it would provide awesome insulation. Dan cut it in half and we covered the 2 larger boxes with the pieces, strapping it to the boxes with our canoe straps (my, aren't we handy?) A recycling bin went over another box and a fleece blanket over another.

But the tomatoes--we have like 8 or 10 tomato and tomatillo plants in pots and there was no way we were covering them, let alone hauling them in the house at their present height. Super pysched that the frost skipped our town last night, thanks frost!