CSA week 3 - beet green ravioli, squash carbonara, kale & hot pepper vinegar

Week 3 pick up was actually July 11 since our CSA skips the 4th of July. You can tell more things are starting to be ready to eat. We got:

lettuce - salad
cucumbers - Easy Refrigerator Pickles (Cooking Light, August 2007)
arugula - scrambled tofu with arugula, tomato & sweet chili sauce
kale - Sauteed Kale with Hot Pepper Vinegar (with a fresh ham roast from the meat CSA)
beet greens - Ravioli with Beet Greens
beets - baby food
zucchini - Zucchini Bread (The Best Light Recipe by Cook's Illustrated)
yellow squash - Squash Carbonara
blueberries - washed : )

For the baby food, I just steamed the beets then pureed them with enough apple juice to get them to a fairly fine texture. She tried them with bananas and avocado and seemed to like it but not love it.

The pickle and zucchini bread recipes are my favorites, I go back to them every year. This bread uses an entire pound of zucchini in one loaf and isn't too sweet - you actually taste zucchini. I do add a little lemon zest if I have it around.

Sauteed Kale with Hot Pepper Vinegar

1 cup white vinegar
1-2 small hot chile peppers, sliced into thin rings
1 Tablespoon oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 large bunch kale, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water

Combine vinegar and peppers in a small pot. Heat until the vinegar comes to simmer. Let stand for at least 30 minutes. The vinegar can be stored in the refrigerator for a few weeks.

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion, cook until the onion starts to turn translucent. Stir in the kale and salt. Cook until the kale starts to wilt. Add the water, cover, and cook for 20 minutes. Serve with the hot pepper vinegar on the side for people to add to taste.

Ravioli with Beet Greens

1/2 pound cheese ravioli
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1/8 teaspoon red chile pepper flakes
1 large bunch beet greens, chopped
1/2 cup grated parmesan

Cook and drain the ravioli.

While the ravioli cooks, heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and pepper flakes, cook for 1 minute. Stir in the beet greens, cook until wilted. Add the drained ravioli to the pan, stirring gently to combine. Remove from heat and stir in the parmesan. Add salt to taste. The parmesan will give quite a bit of saltiness by itself so you may not need any.

Squash Carbonara

I saw a show where Jamie Oliver made a zucchini carbonara but used cream which I don't think should be in carbonara. But I thought it was a great idea for using a lot of summer squash, so came up with this. The hard part is not scrambling the eggs.

4 ounces rotini or ziti
2 slices thick bacon, chopped
2 medium yellow squash, cut into pieces about the size of the pasta
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1/2 Tablespoon fresh)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup grated parmesan

Cook the pasta. When you get it in the boiling water, start cooking the bacon.

In a large pan over medium heat, cook the bacon until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy. Add the squash, thyme and pepper, cook until the squash is starting to get tender. Remove from heat.

Hopefully, the pasta is done about now. Working quickly, drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water. Add the pasta to the squash. Add the hot water to the egg slowly, beating the whole time (temper the egg, don't scramble it), then pour into the pan with the squash, stirring to make it all creamy. Stir in the cheese.