I am very seldom daunted by food. That said, when Sara picked me up from my volunteer gig a couple weeks ago complaining that her hand hurt from handling the nettles in our CSA box, I was concerned. She was ready to chuck the whole bunch, but I couldn’t let them go. I got out my tongs to handle them and successfully created the sunchoke and nettle soup featured in the Harmony Valley Newsletter (with skim milk instead of cream). Sara looked skeptical when I served up the steaming bowls of green, but I can now say that they do not sting once cooked. Look how benign they are pureed to hell with a side of bread:
Maybe next year I’ll get more adventurous.
I also tried making this sorrel pesto last week. I can only imagine how much better it would have tasted if I could have used pine nuts instead of walnuts. I just can’t justify the cost of pine nuts right now, though.
I have three whole weeks off school before Summer classes start. This is exciting for a lot of reasons, one being that I get to cook more than once a week. I’ve got plans for several nights this week to use up the ingredients of our CSA box.
Here’s what we got:
Spinach
Arugula
Parsnips
Sunchokes
Sorrel
Nettles
Rhubarb
Chives
Red Radish
Hon Tsai Tai
Green Garlic
And here’s the plan:
Soup: nettles, sunchokes, chives, green garlic
Green curry: hon tsai tai, green garlic
Pesto: sorrel, arugula
Veggie burgers: spinach, radishes, chives
Pie: rhubarb
Side dish: parsnips (roasted)
I’ll post recipes throughout the week.
I love having a plan.
One great thing about our CSA is that they send a newsletter every week that includes recipes. Being new at this, I appreciate having something to help me start thinking about how to use everything (not that I ever stop thinking about food. To diverge, here’s a typical Megan/Sara conversation: M-”why do you have that look on your face?” S-”I was just thinking about how much I love you” M(ashamed)-”Oh, I was just thinking about potatoes”). This week’s newsletter featured a frittata recipe that I adapted to use even more vegetables.
Kale & Sunchoke Frittata
8 eggs
4 Tbsp parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 bunch chives chopped
1 tsp butter
1 bunch of ramp bulbs sliced
1 bunch red kale leaves chopped
3 sunchokes sliced into 1/2-1/4 inch slices
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together eggs, 3 Tbsp parmesan cheese, salt, and chives. Set aside.
3. Melt butter in a large cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Add ramps and saute until soft (about 3 minutes).
4. Add sunchokes and saute for 4 minutes more.
5. Add kale and saute until wilted (the kale I used was small and tender so this only took a couple minutes. Saute longer if you’re using a heartier kale).
6. Pour egg mixture over the vegetables and remove from stove.
7. Put the pan in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, until middle is fully set.
8. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining Tbsp parmesan cheese, and more chives if desired.
Our first CSA box came from Harmony Valley last week, and it was everything I dreamed of. It was all I could do to not sprint the 3 blocks to our pickup location (I definitely would have had Sara not been walking with me). Upon returning home with our bounty, I immediately put some asparagus in the oven to roast for dinner.
Figuring out what to do with the rest was more of a challenge, but I made a master plan for using everything and we’ve done pretty well so far — especially since it’s finals time. There’s a lot to cover, so I’ll have to do these posts in installments. Here’s a recipe I came up with to use up a good portion of our vegetable abundance:
Lemony Lentil & Spring Vegetable Salad
3/4 C French lentils
3/4 C pearl barley
2-3 C parsnips chopped in 1/2-inch pieces
5 sunchokes peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
6 garlic cloves, peeled
6 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 bunch ramp bulbs sliced thin
4 radishes sliced
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 large or 2 medium lemons
salt
black pepper
1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add lentils and barley and boil until tender — but not mushy (about 20-30 minutes). Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.
3. Toss parsnips, sunchokes, and garlic cloves with olive oil, spread on a rimmed baking sheet, and roast in the oven, stirring occasionally (or, not at all if you’re forgetful like me) until partially browned (about 20-30 minutes).
4. In a large bowl, combine cooked lentil mixture and roasted parsnip mixture with ramps, radishes, lemon zest & juice, remaining 4 Tbsp olive oil, and salt & pepper to taste.
Never heard of a sunchoke? Neither have most people. This was the first time I’d cooked with them and I think roasting is the way to go — it seems to bring out their artichokey flavor. They’re hell to peel, though — look at all the nubs:
Time: 45 minutes
