Contents of this week’s box, clockwise from top L: daikon radish, turnip greens, purple grits (!), butternut squash, purple turnip, apples, sweet potatoes, peppers.
Hope everyone is having a safe holiday week.
I don’t know what was in your box, but we got the world’s biggest butternut squash. It’s got to be 10 pounds. So this weekend, I’m making butternut squash soup. I see temperatures around here are scheduled to drop to the upper 20s. Soup weather for sure. I’m partial to this farmhouse soup recipe from Moore Farms and Friends. It incorporates butternut, peppers, greens …. everything’s in today’s box. Then again, that butternut is so big, I can make that soup and a big pot of pureed butternut squash soup as well!
I’m not sure if those peppers though are poblanos or something else. I’ll be cutting off a small tip to figure it out. I love poblanos, but for that farmhouse soup, I’m not interested in adding that kind of heat.
And there’s that daikon. These are frequently a challenge. We’ve made daikon fries our go to here, another recipe from a local farmer figuring out how to enjoy what they’re growing. Depending on how the weekend goes, though, I might end up making kimchi with one of the Napa cabbages and this daikon. We shall see.
And one large turnip. I may end up putting it into the farmhouse soup …. or downsize this recipe for Roasted Turnips with Maple and Cardamom. It’s so delicious …
What a special Thanksgiving surprise, Riverview’s pretty new packaging. I will miss the brown bags of grits, but these new packages look great.
You’ve probably got your Thanksgiving menu planned, but if not, here’s a recipe I saw in Epicurious today. I have two delicata still sitting, so I’m making this for Thanksgiving here (definitely cutting this recipe way, way down for our downsized dinner). The tart of the cranberries with the bite of red wine vinegar and the sweetness of sugar – this sounds like a dish that’s right up my alley. If there’s no delicata squash left at your house, butternut would work great.
Roasted Sweet Potato and Delicata Squash with Cranberry Agrodolce
4 delicata squash (about 4 pounds total), halved crosswise, seeded, sliced into 1/2″-thick rings
3 pounds sweet potatoes (about 7 small or 5 medium), cut into 3/4″-thick rounds
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
15 small sprigs thyme, divided
8 ounces fresh cranberries
2 cups red wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Toss squash, sweet potatoes, and oil in a very large bowl. Add red pepper flakes and 2 teaspoons salt and toss to combine. Arrange on a rimmed baking sheet with 12 thyme sprigs. Roast, tossing once halfway through, until squash is golden brown and fork-tender, about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, cook cranberries, vinegar, sugar, and remaining 3 thyme sprigs and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until cranberries are soft and sauce is thick and syrupy, about 35 minutes.
Transfer vegetables to a platter, then drizzle some agrodolce over. Serve remaining agrodolce alongside.