CSA Basket- Week Thirteen

This week we received a bunch of collard greens, a spaghetti squash, an eggplant, a bunch of leeks, a bag of small German potatoes, an acorn squash, two red peppers, two purple peppers, a butternut squash, four red ripe tomatoes, and two heirloom tomatoes. I'm excited for all the squash, it means fall is almost here!

Mediterranean Couscous Bake

I'm a huge proponent of meal planning. I think it saves time and money, and helps keep one organized. It also involves making lists, which is something I'm strangely addicted to. However, I usually meal plan on Saturday for the following week and we go grocery shopping on Sunday. Having our CSA pick-up on Mondays sort of throws me for a loop. Since I don't know what we are going to get ahead of time, I am sometimes stuck trying to come up with a way to use something I totally wasn't expecting. And that is exactly how this dinner came about.

I have to admit that I'm particularly proud of this recipe. I wasn't going off of anything, just combining the vegetables that I needed to use up and keeping my fingers crossed. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. The vegetables have great flavor without much added to them, and it is great as leftovers as well. I might have to try this one again! 

Mediterranean Couscous Bake
(serves 6 as a side, 4 as a main course)

2 green peppers, sliced
1 medium eggplant, peeled and chopped
drizzle of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 cup of dry couscous
1 Tablespoon of butter
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of dry oregano
1/2 cup of feta cheese

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 x 13 pan with a bit of olive oil.

Cook peppers and eggplant in a large pan with the olive oil and garlic until eggplant is cooked and peppers are soft. Put them in the greased pan, and add the chopped tomatoes. Stir to combine. Cook couscous according to package directions, with the butter and salt in the water. When couscous is done, add it to the pan. Add the oregano and feta, and stir to combine. Sprinkle a bit more feta on top, cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil, and bake for 10 more. Enjoy!

Peach Bars with Crumb Topping

It's hard to believe I had these peaches sitting around the kitchen for almost a week before I could decide what to make with them. I thought about pie, I thought about jam, I thought about peach shortbread cookies, but nothing seemed right. I finally decided on these peach crumb bars, and I am certainly glad I did!

I actually added a couple plums to the peaches in the filling and they gave it a bit of a tangy kick. They are the perfect combination of flavors and texture- a buttery, almost shortbread-y crust, sweet peach filling, and a nice, crumbly top. They went fast!

Peach Crumb Bars

1 1/2 cups of sugar, divided into 1 and 1/2 cup portions
1 teaspoon of baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
zest of one lemon
16 Tablespoons (2 sticks) of cold, unsalted butter cut into 1/4" pieces
1 large egg
5 cups peeled, chopped peaches- about 5 peaches (I used 4 peaches and 2 small plums)
5 teaspoons of cornstarch
juice of one lemon
1/4 teapoon of nutmeg

Directions: Preheat oven to 375.  Grease a 9 x 13 pan with butter, and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of the sugar, the baking powder and flour. Add the salt and lemon zest, and stir together with a fork. Mix in the butter and egg with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Place about half of the dough mixture in the greased pan and press down to cover the bottom of the pan.

In a separate bowl, stir together the remaining sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and nutmeg. Gently mix in the peaches and stir lightly until combined. Using a slotted spoon, spread the fruit evenly over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining dough with over the top of the peaches.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is slightly golden brown. Cool completely before cutting and serving. Enjoy!

Adapted from Annie's Eats, original recipe here.

CSA Basket- Week Twelve

We had a break from our CSA pick-ups last week, but it resumed this week. I was slacking though and forgot to snap a picture- it was just one of those days. I was held up at work and barely got to the pick-up in time, H had his first night class this semester so he couldn't go for me, it started pouring just as I pulled into the driveway, and the phone started ringing as soon as I got in the house. Oye! That night definitey called for a glass of wine :)

It was quite a haul despite the lack of picture- two yellow tomatoes, three red ripe tomatoes, one pint of heirloom mini-plum tomatoes, two bunches of collard greens, one pint of small German potatoes, two yellow peppers, three Italian roasting peppers, a spaghetti squash, two bunches of sage, and an eggplant.

Zucchini and Spinach Gratin

As soon as I saw this recipe, I knew I wanted to make it as soon as possible. I am one of those people who loves bacon a little too much, and I loved the veggies in it as well. I just had a feeling this one was going to be a winner!

It ended up being a great side for chicken and roasted tomatoes, and it worked great as leftovers too!

Spinach and Zucchini Gratin
(serves 6)

2 large zucchinis
pinch of Kosher salt
drizzle of olive oil
6 cups of fresh spinach

4 slices of thick cut bacon
1 handful of fresh parsley
1 white onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced

3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, shredded
drizzle of olive oil

Directions: Grate zucchinis in a food processor, and place grated zucchini in a strainer over a bowl. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible, sprinkle with Kosher salt, and allow to sit over the bowl for 30 minutes. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan, and add spinach. Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until spinach is mostly wilted. Place in another strainer over a bowl, squeeze out as much liquid as possible and allow to sit for 30 minutes as well.

Meanwhile, heat saucepan to medium high and add bacon. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side and remove. Pulse the bacon and with the parsley in a food processor until it's well chopped and set aside. Add sliced onion to the heated pan with bacon grease and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add minced garlic, and cook for another 5 minutes. Place cooked onion and garlic in a large bowl, and add the bacon and parsley. Preheat oven to 350.

After zucchini and spinach are drained well, place them in the large bowl with the onion, garlic, bacon, and parsley and stir to combine. Add beaten egg and half of the Parmesan to the bowl and combine. Grease bottom and sides of a gratin dish with olive oil. Press vegetable mixture into bowl, and sprinkle the rest of the Parmesan cheese on top. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Enjoy!

Adapeted from Simply Recipes, original recipe here.  

CSA Basket- Week Eleven

I can't believe it's been 11 weeks of farm fresh goodness already! Where did the summer go? I'm really going to miss the fresh produce and lower grocery bill in the winter...

This week's bounty includeda canary melon, red kale, a kohlrabi, two beets with greens, two white peppers, four green peppers, an eggplant, a red ripe tomato, a pint of raspberries, and a watermelon.

Tomato, Sausage, and Basil Marinara Sauce

Our CSA had plum tomatoes for sale this past week, in addition to the tomatoes we got in the regular basket. Since I had been itching to try my hand at homemade tomato sauce lately, we decided to buy some. And by some, I mean 25 pounds. Go big or go home, right?

Well, it turns out that 25 pounds is a heck of a lot of tomatoes. I didn't even use half in my first big stock pot full of sauce. But the plan was to make a ton and freeze most of it for the winter, so I'm sure it'll be fine. The first batch I made was a Tomato, Sausage, and Basil Marinara. Of course, we had to try a bit for dinner before freezing it. It was really good, and definitely a nice twist on the standard red sauce. I'm glad we'll be enjoying this all winter!

Tomato, Sausage, and Basil Marinara Sauce

(makes roughly 15 cups)

30 plum tomatoes

1 (28 oz.) can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes

2 (28 oz.) cans of tomato sauce

1/4 cup of red wine (I used merlot)

3 Tablespoons of dried basil

3 Tablespoons of dried oregano

1 Tablespoon of ground fennel seed

6 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon of Kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

5 bay leaves

6 links of Italian pork sausage (I used mild, as a preference, but hot would work too)

1 Tablespoon of olive oil

1/2 cup of chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup of chopped fresh oregano

Directions: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. 

Fill a large bowl half way with iced cubes and cold water, and set aside. Lightly slice an "x" in the skin of each plum tomato. When water is boiling, place the tomatoes in (I did about 6-8 at a time). Let them boil for a couple minutes, until skin starts to peel back from the sliced areas. Using a slotted spoon, place in the iced water to cool for a couple minutes and halt the cooking. When they have cooled somewhat, the skin should peel right off. Peel and dice them, and place them in a large bowl. Repeat until all the tomatoes are done. 

Place fresh diced tomatoes, canned sauce, canned diced tomatoes, red wine, dried basil, dried oregano, ground fennel seed, garlic, salt, pepper, and bay leaves in a large stock pot. (I couldn't find ground fennel seed, so I used whole fennel seeds that I ran through an empty pepper-mill.) Bring to a light simmer, cover, and allow to simmer for 1.5 hours. 

After 1.5 hours, heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high. Squeeze sausages out of the casings into the saucepan. Brown the sausage, breaking up the pieces with a fork. When the sausage is browned, add it to the sauce, give it a good stir, re-cover, and allow to simmer for another 2-3 hours. Sauce should be reduced down a good amount from where it started.

Remove from heat, and stir in the fresh basil and oregano. Allow to cool before freezing. Enjoy!

Adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen, original recipe here.