CSA Week 7 - Ratatouille

No lettuce this week! That almost never happens.

arugula - salad
tomatoes - salad and sandwiches
potatoes - cellar
cucumbers - salad
corn - grilled
yellow squash - Ratatouille
zucchini - Ratatouille
eggplant - Ratatouille
chard - sauteed with garlic
blueberries - on yogurt & cereal

Ratatouille

Another group over for dinner this week so, again, I made a veggie side by tossing a bunch of things we got into a pot. There was only one tomato left so I used sauce instead.

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium eggplant, chopped
2 medium zucchini, chopped
2 medium yellow squash, chopped
1/2 cup chopped roasted red and yellow bell peppers
1 cup garlic and herb pasta sauce
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a large pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion. Cook until onion starts to soften. Add eggplant and squash, cook until they just begin to soften. Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer until vegetables are soft and the dish has the consistency you like.

CSA Week 6 - Calabacitas & Baby Food

Peppers have started. I tend to choose hot peppers over green bell peppers.

lettuce - salad
tomatoes - salad
cucumbers - salad
potatoes - Grilled Salt & Vinegar Potatoes (101cookbooks.com)
corn - grilled and Calabacitas
yellow squash - Calabacitas
zucchini - Calabacitas and baby food
hot peppers (poblano and yellow) - Calabacitas
chard - sauteed with garlic
blueberries - on yogurt & cereal

For the baby food, I cubed and microwaved the zucchini. Half was pureed alone and half was pureed with microwaved frozen peas. I also made some baby rice which was a bit of an oops. I grabbed the brown sweet rice by mistake and didn't notice until it was pulverized and cooking on the stove. As the texture started to turn into mochi I started to worry. Fortunately, without pounding it is just sticky, not totally adhered together. Some good mashing/stirring with fork into the zucchini-pea mixture and it was only a bit like weird mochi. She liked it, though. She also like beets and pear with the rice. Shouldn't be a surprise my daughter likes mochi any way she can get it!

I modified the Grilled Salt & Vinegar Potatoes by using half white vinegar and half water to simmer the potatoes. These potatoes took much longer to cook than the recipe suggests, more like 15 minutes than 5. Turned out great.

Calabacitas

We had a good sized group of people over for dinner this week. For a veggie side, I tossed all the summer squash, corn, and peppers we had left into one dish.

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium yellow squash, chopped
2 medium zucchini, chopped
2 medium Poblano peppers, roasted and chopped
1 small hot yellow pepper, minced
kernels from 3 ears corn
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a large pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion. Cook until onion starts to soften. Add remaining ingredients. Cook until everything is softened to taste.

CSA Week 5 - Muffins, Roasted Squash, Cucumber Salad

Corn, potatoes and tomatoes have started!

lettuce - salad
tomatoes - salad
potatoes - put in cellar
corn - grilled
zucchini - Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
yellow squash - Roasted Squash with Parmesan Panko
cucumbers - Cucumber, Black Bean & Pineapple Salad
green beans - Szechuan style (Sam Choy Woks the Wok)
blueberries - breakfast

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

I had been wanting a cupcake all week but knew if I got one at the grocery store I would be disappointed. So I made these which are somewhere in between a muffin and cupcake, letting me feel better about eating them!

340 g shredded zucchini (12 oz, about 2 cups)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1 teaspoon instant coffee
130 g all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
120 g whole wheat pastry flour (about 1 cup)
44 g unsweetened cocoa (about 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 12 muffin cups.

Combine zucchini and salt in a colander and let drain for 30 minutes. Squeeze out liquid. Stir in yogurt and instant coffee.

Whisk together flours, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each to combine. Beat in vanilla extract. Add flour mixture alternately with zucchini mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, stirring after each addition just to combine. Scoop into prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 15 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Remove from pan immediately and cool on a rack.

Roasted Summer Squash with Parmesan-Panko Topping
Tasty, fast, and uses a lot of squash.

2 medium summer squash, sliced in 1/4 inch rounds
1/2 small onion, sliced thin
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup panko
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a baking dish, toss squash and onion with olive oil and thyme to coat. In a small bowl, combine panko and parmesan. Sprinkle over squash. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

Cucumber, Black Bean and Pineapple Salad

2 medium cucumbers, diced, seeds removed if large (about 2 cups)
1 cup diced pineapple
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed well
1 small avocado, diced
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Gently toss together all ingredients in a large bowl.