Recipes

Spicy Sweet Potato Soup with Garlic Rye Croutons

Published at In Category Blog, Recipes, Sweet Potatoes, Vegetables Tags:

Sweet potatoes! I’m very excited. Sweet potatoes! (Did I already say that?)

Last year I think it was the end of October before we had sweet potatoes in our box. This is truly the vegetable that says “fall” to me. I got home too late tonight to do anything with these beauties, but I’ll be making my traditional start of fall meal tomorrow just in time for the autumnal equinox at 5:05am on Friday morning. (I think I’ve made the calculation about the time right …)

I’ll be sautéing my sweet potatoes with some of those beautiful apples in a little bit of butter, and then adding honey or maple syrup, depending on my mood. This is a fall favorite in my household. Sometimes I add some sausage, sometimes I add some greens …. however it’s fixed we absolutely love it. And the smell of those sweet potatoes cooking tells me fall has arrived.

The complete contrast will be the cold salad of steamed spaghetti squash tossed with olive oil, a little lemon juice and lots of chopped tomatoes, then seasoned with plenty of salt and pepper that I’ll also be making. It’s that time of year when what you want to eat can go in any number of directions.

Just on the chance that more sweet potatoes are in our future (and maybe another cool snap), here’s a soup recipe from “Sara Moulton’s Everyday Family Dinners” (Simon & Schuster, $35). The recipe calls for 4 sweet potatoes, but if your box, like mine, had just 3 sweet potatoes, that will work fine as well. And feel free to substitute a jalapeno or two for the chipotles. Chipotles are just ripened, smoked jalapenos so you’ll still be getting the heat but not the smoky flavor. If you substituted bacon for the Canadian bacon, it would all even out. If you have an immersion blender, this recipe is even easier. Not a fan of rye bread? Just make plain croutons.

Miso Harissa Delicata Squash

Published at In Category Blog, Delicata Squash, Recipes, Vegetables Tags: , ,

With the nice cool weather we are having this week it just makes sense to open up your box and find two of my all-time Riverview fall favorites inside – Delicata Squash and Apples!

This little squash gave me all kinds of trouble trying to figure out what to do with it the first year I was a subscriber, but since then I can’t wait to see it every year. Contrary to its name – the delicata squash is not so delicate and can keep for several months. I’ve actually had some that kept for over 2 months on the counter. It is fantastic baked or steamed and served as a side dish with butter and herbs.

To bake: halve the squash lengthwise on the oblong side. Place the squash cut side down or up (depending if you want to put a little butter in the well), cover and bake for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees. Brush with a little butter or evoo some salt and your favorite herbs.

To microwave: halve the squash, place in a dish and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Microwave for about 10 minutes. If you put a little liquid in the dish with the squash it will stay nice and moist.

One of my favorite websites to find delicious recipes for our CSA boxes is Heidi Swanson’s www.101cookbooks.com – she is a fantastic vegetarian cook and her recipes are always delicious. Sometimes they may sound a little out there – like combining Miso and Harissa – but trust her, they work! For the Curried Apple Couscous, I’m going to use some of those pretty red bell peppers from our box this week for a splash of color and flavor with the fall apples.

From www.101cookbooks.com

Serves 2 to 4.

Prep time: 10 min – Cook time: 30 min

Squash with Feta, Walnuts and Dill

Published at In Category Blog, Recipes, Vegetables Tags: , , ,

And finally, an idea for turning that squash into a salad.

Raw zucchini is wonderful when sliced very thin, carpaccio-thin. In this recipe it’s topped with feta, dill, and walnuts for a Greek spin, but it would be equally delicious with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano, basil, and pine nuts. Don’t be tempted to save time and toss the zucchini with the other ingredients in a bowl—it will turn watery, and won’t be nearly as pretty.

This recipe comes from the food blog, Once Upon a Chef.

Serves 4

Garlic Dill Pickles

Published at In Category Blog, Cucumbers, Recipes, Vegetables Tags: ,

Refrigerator dill pickles could not be easier to make. Last year when my garden was producing a huge crop of cucumbers, I made up the brine and refrigerated it. When I came in with my cucumbers-of-the-day, I would rinse them and put them into quart jars, add dill, etc. and fill the jar with brine. Tucked into the spare refrigerator to “ferment”, these pickles make half sours in a day or two, and full sours in a week. They’ll keep for a month or so, but really not much longer since they’re not processed. The nice thing is that you can just make up a jar or two. So if you want to give it a try, don’t worry about needing 3 pounds of cucumbers. Make up the brine and fill your jars with as many of this week’s cucumbers as you want to pickle. We’ll cross our fingers that there are more cucumbers in our future.

Roasted Sweet Peppers

Published at In Category Blog, peppers, Recipes, Vegetables Tags:

When I see a bouquet of peppers like those in this week’s box, I’m so excited. You can eat them fresh, sliced into salads or stuffed with rice and cheese or grilled alongside a few links of Riverview brats. But that’s not my plan for those peppers.
I’m going to roast them. It’s a matter of a few minutes to turn those peppers into an ingredient that will flavor our meals for many weeks to come.