Notes from Debbie's Kitchen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome back everyone - I hope you all had a delicious, wonderful Thanksgiving! I know we have a few new members starting this winter, so I welcome you to our CSA as well. As everyone else knows, I like to provide more than just recipes; I like to provide you with ideas and inspiration for how to cook and eat with the goodies you get in each week's box. And if you don't find inspiration below, you can always go to my recipe database and for sure find something there ;-)

 - Debbie

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

New this week: parsnips! I think based on what's in this week's box that the time is ripe for a nice winter veggie roast (the outdoor temperatures certainly are... brrr!). I'd put in parnsips, and winter squash, and red onion, and Brussels sprouts. Maybe even add some apples after the veggies were partly done, that'd be good! There's also the crushed dry-farmed tomatoes... yum! Those'll be easy to use - lots of different ways, or save for another time (they're preserved, so you don't need to refrigerate them until after you open them). Okay, let's see...

Roasted Winter Veggies with Apple
Parsnips
Brussels sprouts
Red onion
Winter squash
Apples
Olive oil
Rosemary (optional)
Salt and pepper

Scrub and/or peel parsnips and cut into chunks. Trim Brussels sprouts as needed (cut off bottoms, remove any loose outer leaves). Peel and quarter red onions. Depending on which winter squash you decide to use, peel or not (don't need to peel sweet dumplings or kabocha), remove seeds and cut into chunks of similar size to the parsnips. Basically you want things to be more or less the same size for even cooking, but some variation is fine - no need to be too finicky about it.

Preheat oven to medium (325 to 350 degrees). Toss veggies with some olive oil to coat; spread in pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mince up some fresh rosemary leaves and scatter over all (or if you have dried, try to chop them, or crush them in a mortar and pestle with some of the salt before sprinkling). If you have a roasting type pan with a lid, use this (put the lid on), otherwise, cover with foil.

Bake the first half hour covered; this helps steam and soften the harder veggies. Remove lid and test with a knife; if the veggies are still firm, cook covered a little longer.

Quarter and core some apples (leave skin on), then maybe cut the quarters into halves or thirds (depending on how big your apples are). Toss these with a little olive oil too (I'd even sprinkle them with a touch of salt as well) and then add to the pan with the partially cooked veggies; stir and toss together to combine. Remove lid and return pan to oven for, oh, another 20 minutes maybe? Enough time to allow the veggies to brown a bit and the apples to cook. Might be longer. It's okay to peek and poke and decide for yourself.

Timing with roasted veggies is very general... there's a lot of slop in there. If they are close to done but you don't have other parts of dinner ready yet, turn off the heat and leave them in the oven. They'll continue to cook... things like squash and apples and onions will just get softer and sweeter. If you're afraid they're going to get dried out, put the lid back on; they'll moisten themselves back up in their own steam.


Here's my latest favorite way to prepare kale, especially the Red Russian!

Aromatic cilantro-kale with lemon and olive oil
Kale (Red Russian preferred, but any will do; could even make with collards!)
a generous handful of cilantro
flavorful olive oil (the best you have)
a fresh lemon
sea salt

It is the heat from the just-cooked kale that volatilizes the cilantro and olive oil, so you want to work the last steps while the greens are still warm.

Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil (think 'seawater' - the salt in the water really brings out the flavor of the kale). Meanwhile strip kale leaves from stems (hold stem in one hand and zzzip off the leaves with the other) into a pile of some sort; compost the stems - we're using the leaves only here ;-)

Drop all leaves into the boiling salted water; poke 'em down in there so they all are submerged, turn down heat (doesn't have to be boiling hard - gently simmering is fine) and boil for, oh, maybe 2 minutes... 3 is plenty.

While kale is simmering, chop the cilantro, leaves, stems and all (lots of flavor in the stems!). Have standing by.

When kale is done, drain and squeeze out the water (I use a wooden spoon and a colander). You will be amazed at how small the volume of greens becomes at this point. Dump the lump of greens onto a cutting board, spread the chopped cilantro on top of it, then using a big knife, chop the kale and cilantro together. It's gonna smell great.

Now either plate individually or put all in a serving bowl, but either way, you'll want to squeeze fresh lemon juice over the cilantro/kale mixture, and then drizzle on the olive oil. Lastly, sprinkle to taste with additional sea salt and that's it! This is a delicious side dish with sweet winter squash prepared any way. It is also wonderful for breakfast - yes, breakfast! I'll make a plate of kale and have it with my eggs in the morning. With a side of toast. Major yummo!


Just one more recipe this week -- how about something for that cabbage? This is a recipe I ran originally back in 2006; I'd found it online originally, and the website credits the recipe to Terra Brockman, the director of The Land Connection Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving farmland and promoting small-scale, diversified, organic agriculture in Illinois.

Cabbage with Cashews
(Original recipe was for "Chard and Cashews," but said it was also 'good with kale, shredded cabbage, or other greens' so I modified it accordingly - Debbie)

One head cabbage, shredded
1 tbsp. butter
2 tsp. honey
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cinnamon or nutmeg
1/4 C cashews, chopped
Salt & pepper to taste

Saute shredded cabbage in butter for 5 minutes. Add honey, cinnamon, and cashews and saute until cabbage has softened, and/or cover and steam until tender, about 5 - 10 minutes. Season as desired and serve. [If you are making this with chard, chop the stems and leaves separately, and saute the stems in the butter first, adding the leaves later, with the honey et al.]

Variation for an oriental flavor: Instead of butter, use good lard, unrefined coconut oil, or olive oil. Instead of spices and cashews, splash soy sauce on the sauteing greens and add sesame seeds to taste. Mandarin orange sections [or tangerine or similar] add a nice touch.

Variation with an Ethiopian flavor: Use chopped onion and saute in butter until crispy tender. Season generously with turmeric, a very healthful spice, and toss to blend seasonings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~