Sunday, June 28, 2009

Polenta with Sauteed Kale and Pearl Onions

Well, here I am posting another recipe and not a race report. Who am I?

I'm not entirely sure about that yet, but what I do know is that although we've never had polenta before, we will most certainly be having it again.

In the CSA pickup on Friday, we got kale and red pearl onions (among other things). I wasn't sure what to do with them, but then remembered that I had a recipe for Polenta Rounds with Steamed Greens & Leeks from my vegetarian cooking class. Although it wasn't exactly right, I hoped it might work.

Instead of using pre-cooked polenta from a tube (like frozen cookie dough), I decided to try to make polenta from scratch. I followed the directions on the package, and it was great!

Here's the recipe for the kale & red onions:

4 red onions, both bulbs and greens, thinly sliced
one bunch kale, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
olive oil
red pepper flakes

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add red onions and saute 5 minutes or until soft. Reduce heat to low and cook 10-15 minutes until they start to caramelize.

Add kale, garlic, and red pepper and continue sauteeing until kale starts to wilt.

To serve, place a mound of greens on a slice of polenta. Optional: top with grated parmsean cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

Tomorrow Geoff & I are going to make Herbed Couscous with Garlic Scrapes and Hakurei Turnips!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Kohlrabi, Scallions & Garlic Scrapes

Ok, maybe I do have something to say after all.

Geoff and I have purchased a half of a farm share (we're splitting it with Catherine). For those of you who don't know, Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a way for us city folk to get farm-fresh food without it being picked raw and shipped halfway around the country. It's also a fun way to try new food, since you have no control over what will be in your CSA box each week - you have to figure out what to do with whatever you end up bringing home with you.

Our first week of the CSA gave us strawberries, green garlic, turnips, beets, lettuces and spinach. Neither Geoff nor I had ever cooked turnips or beets before (although we both like beets a lot), but the farm's website had a recipe for Beets, Carrots and Hakurei Turnips in a Lime Vinaigrette, which I made, but used a raspberry vinaigrette marinade which I got at the cider mill store in Vermont. It turned out pretty well. The turnips didn't really have a lot of taste on their own and took on the flavor of the beets and carrots. I also sauteed the green tops of the beets and turnips with green garlic and olive oil, and that was scrumptious.

This week (2nd pickup) we got some new items - kohlrabi, garlic scrapes and dill - along with strawberries, turnips, carrots, scallions, lettuce, and spinach.

Last week I didn't know what green garlic was, and this week I didn't know what kohlrabi or garlic scrapes were. The kohlrabi we got were purple and looked like little sputniks with leaves attached. I was a little taken aback and unprepared. The farm website didn't have any recipes for kohlrabi so I turned to the world wide web for assistance. I found a recipe for roasted kohlrabi which I modified to use some of the other items from the CSA. (That vegetarian cooking class I took this spring is paying off!)

This is my made-up recipe:

2 kohlrabi, peeled and diced
4 tiny farm-fresh scallions, diced
2 garlic scrapes, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
dash salt

Mix ingredients in a bowl, transfer to oven-safe casserole dish and bake at 450 degrees for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes (approx) after first 20 minutes.

It was absolutely delicious! I highly recommend it.

For the record, the kohlrabi was very tasty raw as well. One could easily slice it and add it to salads for a bit of extra crunch and flavor.

I also sauteed the kohlrabi leaves with turnip and beet leaves and the last of the green garlic from the previous week.

I'm not sure what to do with the dill, but Catherine said she has a potato salad recipe that uses it, and if the sun ever appears, then that would be a nice thing to have out on the deck on a warm, sunny evening.

Can't wait to see what's in our pickup tomorrow!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Blank

I haven't felt like saying anything recently. It's been raining for the last three weeks, I miss my kitty friend, and I have no interest in racing right now.

Time will heal all, hopefully.

Since I have nothing new to say, I'll try to post up the last batch of photos from Maui and also from the Memorial Day weekend cycling trip in Vermont.

If not this week, then the next one. Maybe it'll stop raining by then...

Friday, June 5, 2009

Lister (1992-2009)

Rest in peace, my love.

You are greatly missed and will never be forgotten.