Fennel and cabbage slaw

We tried a new slaw recipe the other night and since it was loved by all AND used some of our fennel, I have to share! Fennel is our last veggie to conquer...its strong flavor has not been a favorite with the kids.  

I started with a recipe of the same name from Food Network and then changed it up just a little to work for us. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/fennel-and-cabbage-slaw-recipe.html

4-6 cups shredded cabbage (we used our Napa cabbage)

2-3 scallions, thinly sliced

1 fennel bulb, cored and thinly sliced

3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

For the dressing: 

1/4 cup mayonnaise 

3 tsp red wine vinegar

1-2 tsp sugar

3 tbsp fennel fronds, finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste 

Wash and chop the vegetables and toss together. Mix the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and toss with the vegetables. Add crumbled bacon to the top and adjust seasonings to taste.  

Note: If you don't like to use bacon, 1/4 cup of roasted, salted sunflower seeds would be a great substitute.  

Zucchini Brownies

Zucchini Brownies (from Simply in Season)

1-3/4 cup flour  (I used 1-1/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup wheat germ)

2 TBSP ground flax seed

1/3 cup baking cocoa

1/2tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

combine in large bowl

2-3 cups Zucchini shredded

Stir this into above

1 egg

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla

combine in separate bowl and beat with a fork. Stir into zucchini mixture. Spread evenly into greased 9x13 pan

1/2-1 cup semisweet choc chips

1/2 cup nuts chopped (optional) -I omitted these as my family is strange about nuts!

sprinkle on top of batter. 

Bake in preheated oven at 350 until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean 35-40 min

Enjoy!

Farmers' Market pizzas

We really can't get enough of homemade pizza around here. These were actually made in June with asparagus and spinach from the Minneapolis Farmers' Market.

This is the pizza dough recipe I used this time. It gave a nice, cracker-like crust. A good change-up from our go-to dough which is the basic recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

Do you have a favorite pizza recipe?  A special dough or favorite combination of toppings?  Please share!

July 17

           

We're getting more color in our veggies as summer progresses! This week in addition to the green of our kale, napa cabbage, lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini, parsley, basil, garlic scrapes, sugar snap peas, broccoli, and green beans, we have our first tomatoes and potatoes! Yum! 

Here are a few meals/snacks we'll be having this week:

Salad Nicoise

Green Pasta 

Zucchini Brownies (recipe to come in a couple of days)

Zucchini Bites

Stir Fry with Crispy Tofu and Peanut Sauce

Asian-style Slaw

Kale Chips

Green Smoothies

Quick Pickles

Zucchini Pickles

(We have a bit of a zucchini back-up and it's not even August!)

What are you eating these days?

Keeping it simple

I know I've written about this before, but I have the best luck with the CSA when I keep it simple. When I grocery shop I buy meat and fruit (we aren't doing the fruit share this year) and whatever else we might need. Tonight I was planning on pasta and chicken and a salad for the kids and I sautéed some chard and scallions with bacon for me- I made them try it, too. I topped it off with a little Parmigiano reggiano. Pretty darn good. And I'm sure I will keep bacon in the fridge for the rest of the summer!

Spicy Greens Over Polenta

The kids were out of town with their Grandparents a couple of weeks ago.  I used the opportunity to make a dinner that Neal and I love, but the kids don't care for.

Spicy Greens over Polenta

4 cups water

1/2 cup each stone ground cornmeal and quinoa

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 thinly sliced onion

2 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced

crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)

6 to 10 cups of washed, chopped greens (spinach, chard, kale, collards)

1 cup green onions, chopped

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

eggs

1. In a small bowl whisk together 2 cups water with the cornmeal, quinoa and salt. Bring the remaining 2 cups water to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Stir the cornmeal mixture into the boiling water, and continue stirring. Be careful! The polenta may spit and sputter and the hot bits of polenta can burn. Turn the heat to very low and cook the polenta for 40 minutes; stirring with a wooden spoon every 10 minutes.
2. Make the spicy greens while the polenta cooks: Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the onions. Cook the onions for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until they have softened. Stir in the red pepper flakes and the garlic, saute for 3 minutes. Then add the greens.  Saute until the greens have cooked down, adding a tiny bit of water if needed (with tougher greens like kale and collards) to get the greens to soften and cook down.  
3. When the polenta has cooked for 40 minutes, sprinkle the green onions and grated cheese into the polenta. Stir well. Mound the polenta on plates, make a well in the center of each mound and top with greens and a sunny side up or poached egg.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and additional chili flakes to taste.

adapted from the book Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons

Grilled Napa Cabbage and what was in our box this week

In our box: swiss chard, scallions, napa cabbage, lettuce, lactino kale, green beans, sugar snap peas, cucumber, zucchini, fennel, dill, and summer savory

This week was a good one!  (Aren't they all though?)  In addition to our veggies, we got our delivery of cherries from the fruit share, and lots of rhubarb, from my generous share partner.  We have started getting more than just greens and herbs, but there are still lots of greens rolling in and we need to use them up.  

A quick way to use a lot of napa cabbage quickly is to grill it.  We cut the head of cabbage in half, leaving it intact at the bottom.  To get the dirt out, I soak it gently in a sink full of cold water and swish the dirt out, leaving the cabbage leaves attached to one another.  Then I dry it with the cut side down on a kitchen towel.  When you are ready to grill, brush it with olive oil and add a bit of salt and pepper.  Put it on the grill and keep a close eye on it.  It can burn quickly, so keep it moving and it should be ready, a bit softer, warm, and with a few charred bits around the edges after about 7 to 10 minutes total.  You can eat it just like that, but we prefer to make it into a quick salad.  I make a quick dressing in the bottom of a bowl with 3 parts olive oil to one part cider vinegar.  Then add 1 part coarse ground or dijon mustard and one part honey.  Whisk all ingredients together and then add 3-4 chopped scallions (whites and greens) to the bowl.  Chop the grilled cabbage into bit sized pieces and mix in.  Add more salt and pepper to taste.  Easy and a little something different.  Having the warm "salad" makes it feel a bit different than the salads and slaws that we are having regularly at this time.  A bit of crumbled bacon or blue cheese would elevate this to something easily served to guests.