This week’s box included: salad cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, yellow summer squash, garlic, collards, green beans, potatoes, celery, and the first peppers of the year!
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Red potatoes, lots of tomatoes, lots of squash, tons of green beans (look at our green bean recipes for some ideas – there are dozens!), a few cucumbers … I knew I would miss it when it was too hot for lettuce in our boxes.
I am pondering what to do with that big bunch of celery. Our local celery is always a bit more pungent than what comes out of irrigated fields out west. I always like a stalk or two in fresh juices (there’s a recipe for Kale, Celery and Pineapple Power Juice at grassfedcow.com) and since childhood I’ve been a fan of ants on a log – peanut butter spread on a rib of celery and dotted with raisins, so I’ll probably make those tomorrow (since yes, I still have some of the kale from last week). The rest? Well, celery is a good keeper, so maybe it stays in the vegetable bin. I already have a stash of chopped celery in the freezer so I want to use this bunch fresh. There are about a dozen other recipes on the Riverview website.
“Yay” for collard greens in today’s box (at least in ours). I’ve been wanting to try the recipe below for baked collard green egg rolls from the new cookbook out from Atlanta sauce maven and author Natalie Keng. It won’t use all the collards, but it will use some of the cabbage I have stored in the refrigerator and that last green onion from two weeks ago. I love peanut sauce on anything, and while we love egg rolls here, I’m anxious to try these baked egg rolls which I think will be so much easier than frying. Not to mention healthier.
Last week’s squash – both yellow and zucchini – ended up in a no-recipe pasta dish. I roasted all the squash together and cooked some frozen tortellini. Then tossed everything together. It’s the kind of thing my husband considers comfort food and an awful lot of squash was consumed with no complaint. It was a shortcut dinner (with leftovers for at least two days) on a day when I didn’t really have lots of time to cook.
Today I have a little fancier version from Hetty Lui McKinnon. We have some leftover ricotta here from testing Osteria 832’s lemon ricotta pancakes (best pancakes ever) so that’s probably another reason this recipe appeals to me.
I’m trying to adopt the system of Alexandra Stafford in upstate New York who plots out her menus for the week based on what’s in her farmshare box. It’s a bit of a struggle as I have to include the recipes I need to test for the AJC many of which aren’t necessarily seasonal. Here’s the photo Stafford posted of her notes for this week. I’m hoping by summer’s end that I have this system perfected at our house.
Oven-Baked Country Bacon & Collard Egg Rolls
From “Egg Rolls & Sweet Tea: Asian Inspired, Southern Style” by Natalie Keng
Make the egg rolls: Soak the noodles in a bowl of hot water for about 15 minutes, then drain. With a large knife, slice through the stack of noodles 3 to 5 times (to prevent tangling) and set aside.
In a large nonstick skillet, cook the bacon 3 to 4 minutes, just until some of the fat has rendered but it is still soft. Add the green onions, bell pepper, and garlic and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the carrot, cabbage, and collards and sauté for about 2 minutes, until soft. Then add the noodles, making sure excess liquid has been drained. Add the salt and sauté for about 3 minutes.
Immediately transfer the mixture to a large shallow dish to cool completely. (Don’t skip this step—a warm filling will cause steam, resulting in soggy spring rolls.)
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
To assemble the egg rolls, remove 1 egg roll wrapper from the stack at a time, keeping the remaining stack covered with a clean, damp towel to prevent drying.
Lay the wrapper on a diagonal with a corner closest to you. Near that closest corner, spoon 1/4 cup of the cooled filling mixture. Roll the corner up and over the filling snugly, then fold in the left and right sides toward the center to close the ends of the roll. Continue rolling the wrapper away from you. Using a finger, dab the egg or flour slurry as a “glue” to securely seal (like an envelope flap) all the edges. Set the completed roll aside, seam-side down, and repeat the process until all of the egg rolls are assembled.
Evenly place the spring rolls, seam-side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Using a pastry brush, gently brush each roll on all sides with a light coat of oil. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, stopping to turn the rolls every 5 minutes for an even golden color. Transfer to a serving platter and enjoy with sesame dip.
Make the sesame dip: In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter, sesame oil, olive oil, mirin, honey, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and apple cider vinegar, then stir vigorously with a fork until smooth and blended. To make the spread thinner, add more olive or vegetable oil. To thicken, add more peanut butter. Do not add water because the peanut butter mixture will not emulsify properly.
Melted zucchini pasta with lemon and ricotta
From “To Vegetables, with Love” by Hetty Lui McKinnon
4-5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2 pounds yellow squash or zucchini, trimmed and chopped into 1/2-inch dice
8 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
sea salt and black pepper
1 poundshort pasta such as large spirals, shells or rigatoni
1/4 cup lemon juice, plus more to serve
1 teaspoon red chilli flakes, plus more to serve
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
Zest of 1 large lemon
2-3 tablespoon toasted pine nuts
handful of basil leaves, torn
Place a large pot or dutch oven on medium-high flame and heat until it is hot, about 1 minute. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, along with the onion and stir for 1 minute until fragrant and starting to soften. Toss in the squash and garlic and season with about 2 teaspoons of sea salt and a big pinch of black pepper. Cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring often, until squash has broken down.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and add the pasta. Cook for 3 minutes less than package instructions – for example, my pasta package instructions said to cook 9-11 minutes and I cooked for 6 minutes – until the pasta is softened but not quite al dente.
After 12-15 minutes, the zucchini the flesh will have mostly ‘melted’. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for another 5 minutes, until thick and jammy.
When the pasta is ready, using a slotted spoon or spider ladle, drag the pasta into the pot with the zucchini, add 2 cups of the pasta cooking water, lemon juice, chilli flakes and season with another 1 teaspoon of sea salt. Toss for 2-3 minutes, until the pasta is coated with the jammy zucchini sauce. Add half the ricotta, lemon zest and another 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, and toss again to distribute evenly. Taste to make sure you are happy with the flavour – add more sea salt and black pepper, if needed.
To serve, top with remaining ricotta, pine nuts and basil leaves and squeeze over more lemon juice. Serve warm or at room temperature.