Grilled veggie sandwiches

A lot of produce to use up this week!  A huge zuchinni from last week, and the eggplant is starting up again, along with the bell peppers.  Plus we got a good bunch of basil (not to mention the plants in my yard going crazy) and the red onions are starting to pile up.  Time to grill some veggies!  Slice up whatever veggies you like about 1/4" thick or a little less, spray or brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Grill on a HOT grill about 3-4 min per side.  One exception, for peppers, slice into planks and grill the skin side until blackened and charred a bit, transfer to a bowl, cover tightly with foil and let cool.  Once cooled, peel the skins off.  After all that you get a nice looking collection of veggies:

Get yourself some nice crusty rolls (I used some square ciabatta rolls from Lowes), slice in half, then spray or brush with olive oil and toast.  Spread the bottom half with some basil pesto (2-3 tsp). Pile on whatever and however many of the veggies you like (eggplant, peppers and onions are my fav), then top with sliced fresh mozzarella and run it under the broiler until the cheese is good and melty.  Spread the top half of the roll with some basil pesto (2-3 tsp), smash on top of the sandwich and eat!  In retrospect it might be good to sprinkle the roasted vegetables with some balsamic vinegar as well.

Here's the pesto recipe I use, it's an old Cooking Light recipe from September '95, I can't find it online and they killed my favorite magazine so I reproduce it without guilt here:
Basil Pesto (makes about 1 cup)
2 tbs pine nuts
2 large garlic cloves
3 cups packed fresh basil leaves
2 tbs grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp lemon juice
3 tbs olive oil

If you can do it w/o burning them, toast the pine nuts in a dry pan.  If you're like me and you've burned them and you just want to get the damn recipe done and have dinner,  substitute untoasted, they'll be fine.  You can also try other nuts - I want to check out pistachios some day.  Anyhow, once you've resolved whatever nut crisis you might be having, fling them and the rest of the ingredients into some kind of food processor and process until it's a smooth paste.  Keeps a few days in the fridge and can be frozen (ice cube trays work great!).

Blackeyed Pea Posole with Pork and Collard Greens

This is one of my favorite recipes for collard greens.  It's a great, hearty soup that uses lots of greens.  This is from Cooking Light (RIP) and I make a few substitutions.

 As printed:

• 1 poblano pepper (I sub a can of roasted green chiles -that is, unless there is a poblano in the CSA box)
• 3/4 lb boneless pork shoulder (also called country style ribs) cut into 1-1/2 inch chunks (I usually try to use 1 lb of bone in)
• 3 cups fat free, low sodium chicken broth (I usually use 2 cans of chicken broth)
• 4 cups loosely packed bagged, prewashed, chopped collard greens (OBVS I subbed collard greens from the farm)
• 1 cup chopped red onion (ooh, I had one of those from the farm, also a yellow onion)
• 1 cup chopped tomatillos
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro (if you hate cilantro, I bet you could leave this out)
• 2 tsp finely chopped jalepeño pepper (I used chopped Thai chiles from the CSA box)
• 1/2 tsp oregano (preferably Mexican)
• 2 garlic cloves chopped (I have SO MUCH GARLIC from the farm right now).
• 1 15 oz can of black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
• salt
• pepper

If you're using a poblano, roast in according to the directions.  Otherwise just get going w/ a can of chopped green chiles is just fine!

Heat a 5qt dutch oven over medium heat.  Add 1-2 tsp olive oil.  Add  pork, and cook for 4-8 minutes until browned.

Add 1 cup of chicken broth to the pan, and stir to scrape up browned bits.

Stir in remaining 2 cups broth,  canned chiles, greens, and next six ingredients (through garlic).  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 40 min or until pork is tender.  Stir in peas, salt and pepper, simmer 5 minutes until heated through.

This freezes well.  Also, once you've got the pork browned and deglazed the pan with broth, you can just chop and dump stuff in the pan.  I bet you could do this in a crockpot for 4-6 hours or so on high (until the pork was tender), then add the peas and heat through.

A few pics:
Browning the pork:

I had at least half a red onion left over from a previous CSA as well a yellow onion...

No poblano in the CSA - and these are easy and nice - just drain them!

Throw in the chopped collard greens:

 Bring to a boil, cover and simmer 40 min, add the drained and rinsed blackeyed peas and it dinnertime!

Week 5 CSA Share beauty shot

I've been remiss about posting what we get each week, so here you go Iain:

What's in this week's basket?

• The triumphant return of SALAD MIX! (0.5 lbs)
• Kale (0.5 lbs)
• 1 bunch mustard greens
• 2 bell peppers (I got a green and a red)
• Eggplant (1 lb)
• Okra (2/3 lb)
• 1 head garlic
• Broccoli (1lb)
• Sweet potatoes (2 lbs)

Chopped and washed the greens, but didn't make anything with the basket tonight.  I can tell you to look for a sauerkraut post soon, though!

HOT Pepper Jelly- habañero and basil

Haven't made this in awhile, but I've run out and we've been getting a huge supply (ok, maybe just a pint) of habañero and Thai chiles in the CSA.  This pepper jelly has lots of uses: you can put it over cream or goat cheese and spread it on crackers, use it as a condiment with meats such as lamb or pork.  Put it on a sandwich, lick it off a spoon, it's pretty damn good. Search the internet - get creative!

The recipe is adapted from various spots on the internet that aren't around anymore, along with adaptations from the Sure Jell insert.

Thai Basil Pepper Jelly
1 cup packed fresh basil (Thai is best, Italian will do), chopped
2 cups chopped red and yellow bell pepper
1.5 cups vinegar (3/4 cup apple cider, 3/4 cup rice wine)
5 cups granulated white sugar
1 tbs lemon or lime juice
5 habeñero chiles (yellow or red) finely chopped (this is plenty hot...you can always add more, but be careful!)
1 tsp butter (optional).
1 package Sure-Jell powdered pectin.

Prepare jelly jars according to directions (wash with hot soapy water, sterilize lids by pouring boiling water over).  I use the 1/2 cup (4 oz) jelly jars.

Chop the bell peppers.  Chop the basil.

CAREFULLY seed and stem the habañero peppers (I recommend wearing gloves and possibly a mask).  Chop finely.

Measure sugar into a bowl. Place the chiles, chopped peppers, lime juice, chopped basil, dry pectin, vinegar and butter in a large non-reactive (stainless steel or teflon lined) pot.  Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly and add sugar all at once.  Return to a rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and fill prepared jelly jars to 1/4" of the rim.  Wipe rims with damp cloth or paper towel, cover w/ sterilized lid and screw on band tightly.

Invert jars for 5 minutes, the turn over and allow to cool slowly.  After jars are cool, check seals by pressing top of jars.  If lid springs up, jar is not sealed, but it can be kept in the fridge.

As they are cooling, you can shake them occasionally to distribute the peppers so it looks nice.  If you forget you can stir before serving and it tastes just as good.

You can substitute 1/4-1/3 cup chopped fresh rosemary for the basil.  That's what I'll make with this week's batch of peppers!

Some pics!  The habañeros:

.  Chopping them...carefully:

All the peppers:

All the ingredients in the pot:

Heating to a boil:

Packed in jars:

More Casserole - Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables

Here's another great casserole to use all the veggies from the box.  It's based on this recipe from Giada de Laurentis on the Food Network. I use a variety of vegetables depending on what I have.  I also vary the cheese, and the amount of pasta.  Here's what I did this week:

2 red or yellow peppers cut into 1" strips.
2 zuchinni,quartered lengthwise and cut into 1" cubes
2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1" cubes (I substituted eggplant for squash this week)
8 oz sliced mushrooms (basically one package)
1 yellow onion, peeled and cut into 1" pieces.
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbs herbs de Provence
8 oz penne pasta
4 oz mozarella or Italian blend shredded cheese (1 cup)
2 oz (1/2 cup) shredded smoked cheese (mozarella, provolone or gouda)
3 cups marinara sauce (a jar is good here - Trader Giotto's is convinient)
1 oz parmesan (1/4 cup)
2 oz mozarella (1/2 cup)

You'll need a 13'x9" casserole dish sprayed with olive oil.  (Pam or similar)

Preheat oven to 450°F
Line a baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil.  Spray with olive oil spray (Pam or similar)
Put all the vegetables in a large bowl and add olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs de Provence and toss to coat.   Spread out on the the baking sheet and put it in oven for 15 (too short) to 30 min (30 is prob too long).  Once the vegetables are roasted, you can save these in the frig and assemble the casserole later.  But if not, while the veg are roasting, you can...

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, the inside should still be a bit hard.  Drain.

In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce and 
4 oz mozarella or Italian blend shredded cheese (1 cup) and 2 oz (1/2 cup) shredded smoked cheese until everything is well combined.

Pour into the casserole and top with the parmesan and mozarella cheese.  Bake until top is golden and cheese melts, about 25 minutes.

I only took one pic  - here's what the vegetables look like after roasting:

And we're back!

So today was the start of the 10-week fall CSA.  And a lovely start it was:

According to the note we had:
peppers (both hot and sweet)
potatoes
onions (one red and one yellow)
eggplant (Thai and purple)
okra
onions
garlic

Tonight I used some leftover roast chicken and made tacos with one of the peppers and onions from the CSA basket. Very easy and quick, and I forgot to take a photo.  I cheated a bit and used  one of the pouches from Frontera.  I also add a little bit of salsa and some of this ancho adobo sauce (easy to make and keeps for months!)

Since I forgot to take a picture of dinner, I thought you'd enjoy some of these pictures of animals at the Guilford College Farm:

This is Polly - she belongs to Nick and Audrey (Nick is the farmer).  She's a big sweetheart.  Glad her days of bounding across New Garden Road seem to be behind her.

And this is Oliver, one of the barn cats.  He's a feral rescue (from the Feral Cat Assistance Program), and also a big fuzzy sweetheart.  Unless you're a mouse in the barn.  Then he's a stone.cold.killer.

SRSLY DONT MESS WITH OLIVER.

Shrimp Tacos

Ok, one more post tonight.  I made shrimp tacos using the onions from this week's box.  Here's the mise:

Yes, don't judge me, I used a package of Rick Bayless' Frontera Key Lime Taco Skillet Sauce.  That ish is delicious, dammit. Add some beautiful onions from the Guilford College Farm, a poblano pepper and some shrimp it's a super fast dinner.  I add avocado and queso fresco, but other than that it's pretty much the recipe on the back of the package...saute some onion and pepper, then the shrimp, then add the sauce.

And it will make good leftovers too!

Not much progress on greens today, but I did have a nice salad for dinner:

Mixed greens dressed w/a little olive oil and vinegar, steamed potatoes, grilled flat iron steak and sauteed onions and peppers.  Could have used more salad.

Yesterday I was in a workshop all day so hard to use up CSA items.  I was determined to tackle the worlds largest bag of salad last night for dinner.  Grilled chicken salad w/ vegetables it is!  But then of course I discovered that my grill was out of gas....

Ok, I just spent way too much time looking for a "sad trombone" gif.  And I don't even know how to put a gif on this blog.  Back to food.

Fired up the charcoal grill (because that's how I roll) and dinner was saved.

Grilled Chicken Salad
 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, sprinkled with Goya Adobo and marinated in Goya Naranja Agria.
2 red bell peppers, sliced
1 vidalia onion, sliced
2 small yukon gold potatoes, cubed
Zesty Avocado Cilantro Buttermilk Dressing from SkinnyTaste
Salad greens, as much of that giant bag of lettuce from the CSA as you can fit in your bowl.

Grill chicken, about 6 min per side.  Let rest for about 5 minutes before you dice it up.

Saute bell peppers and onions (were supposed to be grilled, but ended up sauteed in a little olive oil)

Steam the potatoes until tender

Make the dressing

Plate it up!

Learn to to arrange food more artfully!

And then sometimes a friend comes by and relieves you of some greens:

 And now the giant bag of salad is officially 75% done (Yes, I weighed it. I'm a scientist).  To recap, what was in the box this week:

• 1 bunch swiss chard
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 pound salad mix (mixed lettuces) 75% gone!
• 1 bunch spring onions used 1 to make dressing
• 1 bunch radishes
• 1/2 pound spinach
• 1/2 pound mustard greens
• 1 bunch mint

Obviously there's  some work to do, but it the weekend and I've got ideas...