Summer Squash & Corn Casserole

I mentioned earlier that J. surprised me by saying he's never liked squash. This casserole is something I tried to make the squash seem less, well, squash-y. It must have worked because he liked it. It's also toddler approved.

The squash, potatoes and corn are all from our CSA box. The goat cheese is from a local farm. I used a knife (newly sharpened by J.) to slice the squash and potatoes as thin as I could, around 1/8-inch. A mandoline would probably be easier and faster but I don't have one. Bacon might be good in this, but it might be over-kill.

Summer Squash and Corn Casserole
2 medium yellow squash, sliced very thin
2 smallish waxy potatoes, sliced very thin
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 ears corn, kernels sliced off
3 ounces goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease a 2 quart casserole dish.
Combine the squash, potatoes, oil, salt and pepper.
In the casserole dish, layer a third of the squash mixture, followed by half of the corn and cheese. Repeat layers and finish with the remaining squash mixture. Bake, covered, for 45 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Pickles

Our CSA comes with an incredible quantity of cucumbers and besides eating them in salads, there is really only one thing we enjoy about cucumbers. Pickles. Each year I try to make enough to last through the winter.

There is also a lot of summer squash in the share. And each year I make a variety of dishes with them that I thought tasted good. Well, this year J. tells me he doesn't like summer squash unless it's in the form of bread or cake. He's been eating it all this time because he it is there and has to be eaten. Why he only comes up with these sorts of revelations after years of being served the same thing, I have no idea. He did the same thing about couscous, winter squash, and basic salads. Still, I take it as a challenge.

So I made squash pickles. He loves them.

This first batch was just a simple refrigerator pickle using the same recipe as the cucumbers. Next time I may can them and add a little more crushed red pepper. Made like this, there's really no heat at all. I frequently add onions to the cucumber pickles.

Pickles
5 pints sliced vegetables (cucumbers or squash sliced approximately 1/4" thick)
1-1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1-1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
10 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 cups white vinegar
1 to 2 cups sugar (I find the 2 cups a bit sweet but others really like them)
2 Tablespoons kosher salt

Divide the vegetables, mustard seed, peppers, and garlic among pickling containers. If canning, use very clean or sterilized glass canning jars.

Bring the vinegar, sugar and salt to a boil. Cook 1 minute. Pour over vegetable mixture.

For refrigerator pickles, let cool, then cover and chill for at least 4 days.

For canning, use a chopstick and poke about gently to release air bubbles in the liquid. Put lids and rings on jars, not too tightly. Place in a pot of simmering water, making sure the water is at least 2 inches up the sides of the jars. Bring water to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Remove from pot and place on a towel to cool for 12 hours. Check seal before storing.

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.

CSA week 4 - ravioli salad

Nothing new in the box this week and not a lot of creativity. We had several days with temperatures in the 90-100 range and so much humidity you could see the air. That really does not inspire cooking.

lettuce - salad
arugula - salad
cucumber - salad
chard - simple saute with garlic & red pepper
kale - Chicken, Kale & Potatoes (Food & Wine, online)
zucchini - Zucchini Bread (The Best Light Recipe by Cook's Illustrated - modified this week)
yellow squash & zucchini - Ravioli Salad
blueberries - on cereal & yogurt

This time I made a couple changes to the zucchini bread and it turned out well:
reduced sugar to 3/4 cup (was 1 cup)
replaced cake flour with whole wheat pastry flour
omitted the lemon juice but added lemon zest

Ravioli Salad

When I found out we were getting a heat wave, I decided to make some meals in advance that could be eaten cold on those days it's too hot to cook. Pasta salad with some of the veggies and some kind of protein sounded perfect but there wasn't much meat or cheese in the house. Digging through the pantry, I found these little dried ravioli from Trader Joe's, left over from last summer when my sensitive stomach could only tolerate cheese ravioli, fruit, and crackers.

These particular ravioli tasted terrible when eaten in typical ravioli fashion so they sat in the cabinet all this time. But I thought they might work in a salad with lots of other flavors, where they weren't the star. It turned out great! The salty, kind of parmesan-like taste, really complemented the veggies.

3 medium summer squash, diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 medium carrot, grated
1 small sweet onion, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar, divided
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 Tablespoon dried basil (or 1/4 cup fresh)
1 teaspoon dried oregano (or 1 Tablespoon fresh)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 cups mini ravioli, cooked, drained and cooled
1/2 cup grated parmesan

In a large bowl, gently mix together the squash, tomatoes, carrots, onion, salt and 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar. Let sit for 20 - 30 minutes.

Whisk together the remaining 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar, olive oil, mustard, garlic, herbs, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Add the dressing, ravioli, and parmesan to the marinated vegetables. Gently mix to combine well.

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.