Winter Squash Stuffed with Wild Rice, Kale, and Yumm! Sauce

This week's meal uses the Sunshine squash from last week's CSA. I thought it would be fun to experiment and see how Yumm! Sauce and winter squash would go together. As I expected, they go together quite nicely. If you've been reading this blog for awhile you know this girl likes her Yumm! (See examples of my obsession here, here, and here).

For this recipe, I baked the squash until tender, then scooped out the flesh and tossed it together with a mixture of cooked wild rice and sauteed veggies (kale, red bell pepper, shallot). I mixed in a generous portion of Yumm! Sauce, then stuffed this mixture back into the shell of the squash and baked it a little longer. Before serving I drizzled on a bit more sauce. Filling and delicious!

CSA Week 22:

In the box: 1 lettuce, 1.5 pounds Sweet Girl tomatoes, 1 head cauliflower, 1 1/4 pounds broccoli, 1 Delicata squash, 1 bunch kale, 1 bunch fresh ginger, 1 pound grapes.

It's great having friends who hunt and are generous enough to share a small piece of their bounty with us. A friend from work gave us a couple packages of elk and venison steaks, and another friend brought over some venison from recent hunting trip and together we made Jacques Pepin's recipe for venison steaks in sweet-sour sauce. The sauce went perfectly with the steak. The recipe called for current or raspberry jam, but we substituted apricot because that's what we had. To go with, I roasted some miscellaneous veggies (one potato from a previous week's CSA, a couple remaining carrots from last week, and the broccoli from this week).

Tomatoes: we wanted to make that tart again, but they were starting to get pretty ripe and it didn't look like I would have time to fit it in, so I roasted and froze them for later. Looking forward to lots of pasta topped with chunky tomato sauce for dinner this winter.

The lettuce was used for side salads for lunch and dinner. Grapes for snacks.

We used up a whole mess of CSA veggies in one night with these two delicious dishes: Red Lentils and Kale with Coconut, Ginger, and Crispy shallots and Curried Skillet Cauliflower with Cilantro. I love recipes where I can just tick off the ingredients I want to use up right in the title. Both of these dishes were really good, you should check them out. I'm a little picky when it comes to cauliflower, so it's a good sign when I recommend a recipe that uses it.

Winter Squash Stuffed with Wild Rice, Kale, and Yumm! Sauce
serves 2-4

Note: I chose a squash that looked like a small pumpkin so I only sliced off the very top to make a deep bowl and stuffed the squash that way. But if you have other shapes of squash it would work just as well to slice them in half lengthwise and fill them - it will be more open but just as delicious.

1 large (or a few small) winter squash (such as Sunshine, Delicata, Acorn, Butternut, etc.)
1 cup uncooked wild rice (or brown or white or whatever you have)
2 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch kale, chopped
1/2 cup Cafe Yumm! Sauce, more or less to taste, plus more for drizzling.

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Depending on you and your squash, you can either slice the top off and scoop out the seeds and stringy flesh before baking, or bake it whole and do that step after it's tender. The first way is a little more difficult since you are trying to cut something that is very hard, but the second way involves working with a hot squash. Either way, place it in a baking dish and bake until tender and a fork pierces the skin easily, which could be 30 minutes, or it could be an hour, depending on the size of your squash.

Meanwhile, cook the rice according to package directions, which is probably something like 2 1/2 cups water or broth, plus 1 tablespoon oil or butter (optional), brought to a boil and then simmered, covered, for about 30 minutes.

In a large nonstick skillet, saute the shallot in the oil for a minute or so, then add the bell pepper and garlic. After about 5 minutes, add the kale, and cook until wilted. Add to the pot with the rice. Don't bother mixing it together, you are just moving it for now so you can use the skillet in the next step.

When the squash is tender, remove from the oven and let sit until cool enough to handle. If you haven't already, slice off the top of the squash (or slice in half lengthwise if using an oval-shaped squash), and scoop out the seeds and stringy flesh. Once you've done that, scoop out most of the remaining flesh, without compromising the stability of the shell, and place it in the skillet. Add a bit of oil and saute for a few minutes, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Add the rest of the veggies and rice to the skillet and toss to combine. Add a heaping portion of Yumm! Sauce (I did about 1/2 cup). Season with salt and pepper.

Scoop the rice mixture into the squash shell(s), packing it down and overflowing over the top a bit. Bake for about 20 more minutes.

Just before serving, drizzle with more Yumm! Sauce.

Sesame-Soy Meatballs

We loved these little meatballs. They were a little sweet, a little garlicky, slightly spicy, and were very easy to make. We made a double batch so we'd have plenty for lunches during the week. You can serve them with rice, or nestle them into lettuce leaves or flatbread. We decided to serve them over a bed of rice noodles tossed with red curry paste - a sort of Asian twist on spaghetti and meatballs.

Sesame Soy Meatballs
adapted from Cooking Light - November 2010
serves 4 (5 meatballs per serving)

Notes: The original recipe suggests serving with steamed snap peas and two cups cooked rice tossed with 1 tablespoon of chile paste. This method works for rice noodles as well. I've read that rice noodles don't make very good leftovers though, so I only cooked what I would use that night, about 1 ounce of dry noodles per person. I soaked the noodles for 30 minutes in hot water, drained, then tossed with about 2 teaspoons dark sesame oil and 2 teaspoons of red curry paste (or more to taste, and it helps to mix the paste with a little water or oil first). Right before we were ready to eat I stir-fried the noodles in a dry skillet, just to warm them up and toast the curry paste a bit.

1/3 cup minced green onions
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon chile paste (red curry paste works too)
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 pound ground sirloin
Cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

In a large bowl, combine the green onions, brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, chile paste, salt, and garlic. Add the beef and gently mix together until all ingredients are evenly distributed. With moist hands, shape the mixture into 20 (1 1/2-inch) meatballs. To make sure I made the correct number, I divided the mixture into quarters, and made 5 meatballs out of each quarter.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add about half the meatballs to the pan and cook for about 4 minutes, turning them occasionally to brown on all sides. Transfer to a  jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray, spreading them out into a single layer. Repeat with procedure with the remaining meatballs. Once all the meatballs are browned and arranged on the jelly-roll pan, bake at 400 F for about 7 minutes. We baked them until a randomly sampled meatball reached an internal temperature of 160 F, so ours had to stay in the oven a few minutes longer.

Southeast Asian Fried Rice

I love turning fried rice into a full meal! By adding lots of filling veggies, you can take a small amount of rice and a small amount of chicken and turn it into something very healthy and satisfying.

I have already posted recipes for fried rice, a "clean out the fridge" version and a tempeh version, both stemming from Mark Bittman's recipe. This time, I came across a Cooking Light version that I wanted to try. Instead of pork, they call for just two strips of bacon, which gives you a lot of bang for your buck in terms of flavor. It also calls for fish sauce and chili paste, two more efficient ways to add flavor.

By the way, I'm really loving Cooking Light right now. I have subscribed to them for years, but sometimes their recipes were very bland, and they relied on things I didn't buy, like light butter and condensed soups. This past year though, I feel like they have made some major transformations. First of all, I love the photography now. Second, their recipes revolve around whole foods and fresh, natural ingredients. They even have recipes from Mark Bittman, calling for "less meat, more flavor". If you had cast them aside a few years ago, it might be worth checking them out again.

Southeast Asian Fried Rice
adapted from Cooking Light - January 2010
serves 4

Notes: We didn't have fresh ground chile paste, but we did have a huge tub of red curry paste, which I figured would achieve basically the same effect (it tasted great to us!). For the chicken, instead of the exact amounts of white and dark meat that the recipe called for, I just had a wing and a breast, so I used that (we were working our way through a whole chicken and that's what we ended up having available for this meal).

Also, rather than cooking and crumbling the bacon separately like the recipe says, I cooked the bacon in the pan I planned to cook the rice in and used the bacon grease in place of some of the oil. If you happen to already have cooked bacon (leftover from breakfast, perhaps), use two teaspoons of oil in the first step (where you add the rice) instead of just one.

Feel free to get creative with the vegetable additions; chopped tomato, green beans, carrots, and bean sprouts would all be good here. I added a handful of shredded carrots along with the broccoli and red pepper because I had a big bag of them on hand.

1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce (lower sodium or regular)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste), divided (we didn't have that, so we used red curry paste)
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 small bunch green onions
 2 tablespoons peanut oil, divided (we were out, so we used grapeseed oil)
2 bacon slices (cooked and crumbled, or not, see note above)
2 1/2 cups cooked and cooled brown rice
1/4 cup vertically sliced shallots
2 (4 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 (6 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup julienne-cut red bell pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
Cooking spray
4 lime wedges

In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon chile (or curry) paste, and 1/8 teaspoon salt.

In another small bowl, whisk together the eggs and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon chile (or curry) paste.

For the green onions, slice off the green tops, thinly slice diagonally, and set aside. Take the thicker, lighter green parts of the onion and chop into 1-inch pieces, set aside. Discard the very bottoms.

Lay the uncooked strips of bacon in a large nonstick skillet. Turn the heat to medium-high. Cook the bacon, turning every so often, until crisp. Remove the strips and drain on a paper towel. When cool enough to handle, crumble into small pieces. Try not to eat too many.

Check the volume of bacon grease in the skillet. Add peanut oil as needed until you have about 2 teaspoons of grease/oil total. If you are starting with precooked bacon, just add 2 teaspoons to a large nonstick skillet and heat over medium high.

When the oil is hot, swirl to coat the pan, then add the rice. Stir-fry for about 1 or 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Transfer rice to a large bowl. Add two more teaspoons of oil to pan. Add shallots, stir-fry for about 30 seconds, until tender. Add the chicken and cook until lightly browned, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the brown sugar mixture to the pan and bring to a boil. This will cook the inside of the chicken pieces. Reduce heat and simmer for about a minute, stirring occasionally. After the liquid has thickened slightly, transfer the contents of the pan to the bowl with the rice.

Wipe the skillet clean with a paper towel, and return to medium-high heat. Add 2 more teaspoons of oil and swirl to coat. Add the broccoli and bell pepper, stir fry until the vegetables are tender, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, the 1-inch green onion pieces, and the garlic. Stir fry for just another minute or so, until fragrant. Return the chicken/rice mixture back to pan and stir to combine, cooking for a couple of minutes, until the mixture is thoroughly heated. Put the whole thing back into the bowl again.

Return the skillet to medium-high heat and coat with cooking spray.  Add the egg mixture to the pan and stir gently to scramble. As the egg cooks, break it up into small pieces. Add to the large bowl, along with the bacon, and gently mix everything together.

To serve, scoop about 1 1/2 cups of the rice mixture into each bowl. Top with the thinly sliced green onion tops and garnish with a lime wedge. We needed to add a bit more salt to our portions.

Stuffed Bell Peppers with Rice and Ground Beef

These stuffed bell peppers were made with the batch of peppers that I froze back in October. Turns out, frozen bell peppers make excellent stuffed peppers, in case you were wondering.

I had read that you could bake them from frozen, but mine had some ice crystals that I wanted to remove, so I rinsed them under tepid water until they were pretty much thawed and all the ice came off. Before I added the filling I made sure I had dried them off really well with paper towels.

Are you wondering why my peppers had ice crystals on them? Well, funny story. I was rearranging some appliances in the kitchen, which required the unplugging and rearranging of cords. Turns out, I forgot to plug the chest freezer back in! I didn't notice until two days later when I opened it up to take out some ground beef. Luckily, the three tightly packed boxes of beef were still frozen solid. The peppers were near the top and sitting in a basket by themselves so they had thawed a bit. I'm so glad I opened it when I did; what a huge loss that would have been if the beef had gone bad! It made me jealous of the freezers in my lab; they have an alarm that sounds if the temperature gets too high.

Anyway, there are lots of different recipes for stuffed bell peppers. We liked this one a lot. About a year ago I made a vegetarian version that was really good as well. They are nice because you basically just assemble and bake. We made the full recipe for the filling, but we actually only had two bell peppers left in the freezer, so we baked the extra filling in a couple of small oval baking dishes on the same tray with the peppers. It made awesome burrito filling for other meals later in the week!

Stuffed Bell Peppers with Rice and Ground Beef
adapted from Cooking Light - August 2006
serves 4 (2 pepper halves per person)

Notes: The recipe calls for 1/3 pound ground turkey and 2/3 pound ground sirloin. I didn't want to buy a package of ground turkey just to use 1/3 of it, so I just used all ground sirloin. You could use all ground turkey instead too if you wanted (or get wild and crazy and try ground buffalo!).

4 large green bell peppers (or any color)
Cooking spray
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced (remove seeds if you don't want it very spicy)
1/2 cup uncooked long-grain rice (such as jasmine)
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth (we just used homemade, which I'm guessing is not fat-free)
2 cups tomato sauce, divided
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 pound ground meat, such as sirloin, turkey, buffalo, or a combination

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Wash peppers and pat dry. Cut in half length-wise, discard seeds and white membranes. Try to leave the stems intact if possible (it makes a nice presentation, but other than that I don't think it matters). Place the peppers on a foil-lined jelly-roll pan, cut side up.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with cooking spray. Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeno to the pan. Cook, stirring often, for about five minutes, or until the onion is lightly browned. Add the rice and cook for another two minutes, continuing to stir frequently. Next, add the broth and bring to a boil. Cover the pan, reduce the heat, and let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. It's frustrating to have to wait, but if you add it to the rest of the ingredients when it's still hot you might scramble the egg, and that's not what you want.

In a large bowl, add 1 cup of the tomato sauce, 1/4 cup of the cheese, the black pepper, the egg, and the meat. When the rice mixture is cool enough, add it to the bowl, and gently stir the mixture together with a spatula until well blended. Spoon about 1/2 cup of this filling into each of the pepper halves. Pour the remaining 1 cup of tomato sauce evenly over the peppers.

Cover the pan and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese, then bake uncovered for another 3 minutes or so until the cheese melts.

Fish Fillets in a Curry Sauce with Gulf Coast-Style White Rice Pilaf

I love Indian food, but some recipes can be really time consuming.  This dish, however, is perfect for a weeknight.  We got the recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's Quick and Easy Indian Cooking.  All the recipes in this book are designed to be prepared in about thirty minutes.  I like Indian side dishes, so I often make those to go with plain baked chicken or tofu.  That way I am still making something cool but not expending a ton of effort.  In this case, I guess I paired an Indian main dish with a Mexican side dish.  The rice is from Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless.  Plain white rice would have been fine too, since you have a curry sauce to soak it up, but Joe wanted to make this rice.  It has a really nice flavor that seems to complement just about everything we've made it with so far. 

Fish Fillets in a Curry Sauce

adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's Quick and Easy Indian Cooking

serves 4-5

Ideally, you would use dark, oily fish fillets from bluefish or mackerel, but any fish fillets - cod, haddock, halibut - will work.  We had a bag of frozen cod fillets from Costco so we used those.  Use the thickest fillets you can find, and it's optimal if the skin is removed.  I thought the curry sauce was quite spicy, so if you are a wuss about spice like I am, use half the amount of cayenne.  We used bread crumbs from the freezer; whenever I have extra crusty bread I made a big batch of bread crumbs and they can store indefinitely in the freezer.  They can be baked for a bit at a low temp in the oven if they seem moist when you remove them.    

2 pounds thick fish fillet or fillets

2 1/4 cups milk

1 teaspoon salt

Lots of freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground tumeric

5 tablespoons bread crumbs, plus more if needed (made from dried bread, homemade or store bought)

4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/4 cup curry powder

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Make sure you have a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to its highest temperature.  

Lay the fish in a baking dish.  Combine the milk, salt, pepper, cayenne, and tumeric in a large measuring cup or pitcher and pour over the fish.  Set aside for 15 minutes while you get the other ingredients ready.

Remove the fillets from the milk mixture and press into a plate of the breadcrumbs to cover all sides.  Five tablespoons wasn't really enough for us so we added more.  Reserve the milk (this will become the sauce, but don't worry, you'll boil it).  Put the fish into a shallow baking dish lined with foil.  Scatter two tablespoons of butter over the top of the fillets and bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour the milk mixture into a small saucepan and turn the heat to medium-low.  You want it to heat but not boil in this step.  In a small, heavy saucepan, heat the remaining two tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat.  When bubbling, add the curry powder, and cook for one minute, stirring constantly.  Add the flour, and cook for two minutes, still stirring.  It should keep bubbling.  

Off heat, whisk in the hot milk.  Return the pan to the heat and turn it up to medium-high.  Stir with a whisk until the sauce comes to a boil, then let it boil for about a minute, whisking the whole time (If you don't whisk constantly, I predict that the milk will foam and overflow, creating a huge mess on your stovetop and burners, since that has happened to me when cooking other things like this).  Add the cilantro and lemon juice and stir to combine.  

To serve, place some fish on each plate and pour some sauce over the top.  Serve immediately.

Gulf Coast-Style White Rice Pilaf

adapted from Rick Bayless - Mexican Everyday

serves 6-8

Note: Normally the recipe has you start the rice on the stove and finish in the oven.  However, since I was already using the oven for the fish, we cooked the rice completely on the stove-top, with great results.  We also added peas like his other rice recipe.  

1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil

1 1/2 cups white rice

1 small white onion, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped or crushed through a garlic press

1 3/4 cups chicken or vegetable broth (we are rocking the jar of bouillon these days)

Salt

3 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

If using the oven, adjust the rack to the middle and heat to 350 F. Set a 3-quart oven-proof saucepan over medium heat.  When hot, add the oil, rice, and onion.  Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  The goal is to get the grains of rice to turn from translucent to milky-white.  If you care about appearance, try not to let the rice brown, but if you don't care, don't worry about it.  Add the garlic and cook for a few seconds, until fragrant, then add the broth and 1 teaspoon salt (or more if using low sodium broth).  Stir to combine, then let it come up to a boil.  

If using the oven, cover the saucepan and place in the middle of the oven.  Bake for about 25 minutes (If adding peas, scatter about 1 1/2 cups of them - still frozen is ok - over the top of the rice after it has baked for 20 minutes, then re-cover and bake 5 minutes longer).  Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes.  Fluff the rice with a fork (and mix in the peas), and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.  

If not using the oven, after the rice has come to a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it cook for about 20 minutes (just like you would normally make rice on the stove).  Add the peas over the top, and cook 5 minutes more.  Fluff with fork and sprinkle with parsley as above.  

Classic Mexican Red Rice

I can't contain how excited I am to have discovered this great recipe!  I am usually not impressed with typical Mexican-American red rice, but I feel like I've never given it a fair shot, because I don't eat at good Mexican restaurants to begin with, and growing up we always made our Mexican rice with instant rice and a spice packet.  So it's almost like saying I'm not impressed with Top Ramen, which should go without saying.  It's all about the ingredients you start with.

Does adding peas to Mexican rice seem weird to anyone else?  It made me feel like I was making fried rice.  But I have to admit, I love the added burst of color they add to the dish.  And I'm always trying to add extra veggies so this is something I can certainly get on board with.  

Since I'm just an amateur cook, I don't know if this is true or not, but it seems like cooking the rice in oil first like Bayless suggests help to keep the rice from clumping together at the end.  This is a technique I want to remember for other rice dishes as well.  

My favorite way to eat leftover Mexican rice?  Mix in leftover taco meat and/or kidney beans, shredded cheese, and chopped tomato for a delicious one-bowl meal.    

Classic Mexican Red Rice (Arroz Rojo)

adapted from Rick Bayless - Mexican Everyday

serves 6-8

Notes: We made this with fresh salsa from the refrigerated section of the grocery store (I love Emerald Valley brand).  A jarred non-refrigerated variety would work too.

Bayless has a whole list of other vegetables you can add if you want - halved garlic cloves, chopped onion, and sliced mushrooms can be added with the rice, and cubed carrots, parsnips, butternut squash, or kohlrabi can be added with the salsa.  Chopped snow peas or green beans can be used instead of the peas.

1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil

1 1/2 cups medium-grain white rice

1 cup of your favorite bottled tomato salsa

1 cup good quality chicken broth

Salt

1 1/2 cups frozen peas (optional)

Set the oven to heat to 350 F.  In a 3 quart oven-proof saucepan over medium heat, add the oil and rice.  Cook the rice in the oil, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until they all have turned from translucent to milky-white.  Some of them might start to look a little toasty - that's ok.  

Add the salsa, broth, and 1/2 teaspoon salt (that how much salt to add if using normally salted salsa and broth).  Stir together to thoroughly combine, then let it come up to a boil.  

Cover, and move the pot to the middle rack in the oven.  Bake for about 20 minutes.  Uncover, scatter the peas over the top (if using), replace cover and bake for about 5 minutes longer.  Remove from heat and let stand about 5 minutes.

Fluff the rice to release the steam and mix in the peas.  

Bayless also gives instructions for preparing this dish in a rice cooker.  First, sauté the rice in the oil in a separate skillet, then scrape into a rice cooker, and add the remaining ingredients.  Don't use the peas, or cook them separately in the microwave and add them in just before serving.  

Risotto with Spring Vegetables and Smoked Ham

It seems like we barely had a spring this year.  The weather was so cold and rainy for so many months.  Then all of a sudden there was a heat wave and we were thrown headfirst into summer.  Or so it felt like to me.  

Anyway, I guess I'm just looking for something to blame, because I nearly missed my chance to make this recipe.  The weather seems like an appropriate scapegoat.  I was waiting for fava beans in the CSA, then I was waiting to harvest my peas, then the weeks got away from me and I almost missed my chance to buy asparagus.  Luckily everything came together for me last week and I was able to cook this fabulous risotto.  

I don't know why I was being so picky, you can make risotto with just about any mix of vegetables.  It calls for ham too, but only 3 ounces worth, and since you can't buy ham in that amount at the store (at least I couldn't), I honestly wouldn't bother unless you have plans for using the rest of what you'll ultimately buy for other meals.  It was good with ham, don't get me wrong, but that creamy blend of rice, broth, and heavy cream would be good with just about anything.  By the way, this is a recipe where you definitely want the heavy cream; it's only 1/4 cup for the whole recipe, and it really adds so much to the dish.  

Note: Fava beans require a little work.  First, you have to remove them from the pod.  Then you have to boil them for one minute, then plunge into ice water.  Once cooled, you have to use your fingernail and peel off the outer skin to finally reveal the bright green bean.  From this point they only have to be lightly cooked before you are ready to enjoy their buttery texture and nutty flavor.  

The Fava Bean: deconstructed:

Risotto with Spring Vegetables and Smoked Ham
adapted from Cooking Light - April 2008
serves 6 (serving size = 1 cup)

3/4 cup shelled fava beans (about 1 1/2 pounds unshelled)  
2 cups water
2 cups (1-inch slices) asparagus (about 1/2 pound)
4 cups fat-free, less sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion (about 1 small)
1/2 cup finely chopped smoked ham (about 3 ounces)
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or other medium-grain rice
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup shelled green peas (about 1 pound unshelled)
3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
1/4 whipping (heavy) cream
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cook fava beans in boiling water for one minute.  Drain, then plunge into a bowl of ice water, then drain again.  Remove the tough outer skins to reveal the bright green beans, and set aside.  Discard skins.

Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan.  Add asparagus.  Cook for about 4 minutes of until crisp-tender.  Remove asparagus with a slotted spoon; do not discard the water.  Rinse asparagus in a colander under cold water; set aside.  Add the broth to the water and reduce heat.  Keep warm over low heat.  Reserve 3/4 cup of this broth mixture in a small saucepan, and keep this warm also.   

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  When hot, add the onion and ham to the pan and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the onion is tender, stirring occasionally.  Add rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Turn up the heat to medium-high.  Stir in the wine and cook for another 2 minutes or until all the liquid has nearly absorbed into the rice, still stirring constantly.  

Basically from here on out you are stirring constantly until told otherwise.

Add the remaining broth mixture slowly, just 1/2 cup at a time, each time stirring until the liquid has absorbed before adding more.  This will take about 25 minutes.  Have a glass of wine handy and some good music on and the time will fly by.  

Stir in the peas, beans, and asparagus.  Add that reserved 3/4 cup broth mixture, stirring for about 4 minutes or until the liquid has absorbed.  

Now you can be done stirring constantly.  Remove pan from heat.  Stir in about 1/2 cup of the cheese, along with the cream, butter, salt, and pepper.  

To serve, spoon about 1 cup risotto into a shallow bowl and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of the remaining cheese.  

Ginger-Glazed Grilled Carrots, Pea Shoots, Wild Rice Salad

It's the first week of our summer CSA!  This week we got the most beautiful basket of produce: fresh lettuces, spinach, scallions, mint, pea shoots, radishes, carrots, purple potatoes, and blueberry preserves.

The recipe ideas in their weekly newsletter looked really good too, so tonight I made one of them using the carrots and the pea shoots.  You basically marinate the carrots in a mixture of garlic, ginger, lime juice, brown sugar, and olive oil, then grill them whole.  Then you just make a quick salad out of the pea shoots and serve the carrots over the top.  I loved this method of cooking carrots!  Also, I forgot that pea shoots are totally edible, so this reminded me that I can be pruning my pea plants that are growing outside and add the pea shoots to my salads.

I also made a really yummy rice salad using a Mark Bittman recipe.  This recipe was a keeper!  Joe thought it was awesome, and I want to keep it in mind the next time I need to bring something to a picnic or potluck because it can be made ahead.

Ginger-Glazed Carrots and Pea Shoot Salad
adapted from Gathering Together Farm CSA newsletter
Serves 4

1 bunch carrots, tops removed, washed and peeled
1 bunch pea shoots
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
Dash of salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Leave the carrots whole, and put them into a shallow bowl or plastic bag.  In a small bowl, combine the garlic, ginger, half of the lime juice, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and half of the olive oil.  Pour this mixture over the carrots and toss well.  Allow this to marinate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

You can grill these carrots on an outdoor grill, or indoors on a grill pan or cast-iron skillet.  Heat the grill or grill pan to a high flame/high heat.  Place carrots on the rack or in the pan.  Cover and cook for 3-5 minutes.  Remove cover, flip carrots carefully.  Cook another 2-4 minutes or until the largest carrot is nice and charred on both sides.

Meanwhile, chop or tear the pea shoots into smaller pieces if desired.  Toss with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the other half of the lime juice.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Slice the carrots into 1-inch pieces if desired, or serve whole.  Pile on top of the pea shoot salad and serve immediately.

Wild Rice Salad
adapted from Mark Bittman - How to Cook Everything Vegetarian
Serves 4

3-4 cups cooked wild rice, cooled
1/4 cup chopped scallion
1/2 cup dried blueberries, cranberries, or cherries (or a combination)
1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
1 large shallot (about 1 ounce), cut into chunks

1/2 cup chopped fresh mint

In a large bowl, add the rice, scallions, dried berries, and almonds.  Toss with a fork to break up the rice and mix all the ingredients.

To make the vinaigrette, put the oil and lemon juice into a blender or small food processor.  Sprinkle with salt and lots of pepper.  Blend for about 30 seconds to emulsify.  Add the shallot chunks and pulse a few times until the shallot is minced within the dressing.  Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Drizzle the vinaigrette over the rice mixture and gently toss to combine.  Stir in the mint, taste one more time for seasoning.  Serve at room temperature or refrigerate for up to a day.  Bring the salad back up to room temperature before serving.

Fried Rice with Tempeh and Grilled Pineapple

I love homemade fried rice!  We made it with marinated coconut curry tempeh, which was such a good addition.  We also grilled some big slices of fresh pineapple to go alongside.

This is the same recipe I used last time, when I was just trying to use up random vegetables in the fridge, but this time I had more of the usual ingredients, so it looks more like traditional fried rice.

One other major difference was the type of rice vinegar I used.  Last time I used regular rice vinegar.  This time I used a low sodium rice vinegar, and I do not recommend it for you.  It did not have the same zing at all, and we ended up having to add salt anyway to make up for the lack of flavor.

We have had one bottle each of regular and low sodium rice vinegar for the longest time, as a result of combining our pantries when we moved in together (can you guess who had the low sodium one?).  We recently ran out of the regular, so I used the low sodium, figuring it wouldn't be that different, but since the "flavor memory" of my last batch of fried rice fresh in my mind, I could definitely tell that it was not the same.  

Fried Rice with Tempeh
adapted from Mark Bittman - How to Cook Everything
Serves 4-6

1 (7 ounce) package tempeh, seasoned or marinated if desired, cut into thin strips if in block-form
1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
3-4 cups cooked any long grain rice (start with about 1 1/2 cups raw) preferably basmati or jasmine and preferably chilled
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup rice wine, sherry, dry white wine, stock, or water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped scallion

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add the tempeh strips and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, until browned.  Remove to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.

Meanwhile, if the peas are frozen, soak them in a bowl of cold water so that they thaw while you cook.

To the same skillet, add one tablespoon of the peanut oil, heat over high heat.  When hot, add the onion, bell pepper, and carrot and cook for about 5-10 minutes, or until the vegetables soften and begin to brown.  Watch the heat and lower it if the mixture looks like it is starting to burn.  Transfer the mixture to a bowl and set aside.

Drain the peas and add them to the skillet.  Cook for about one minute, just until hot, shaking the skillet as they cook.  Add to the bowl with the vegetables.

Put the remaining two tablespoons of oil into the skillet, followed by the garlic and ginger.  Cook for about 15 seconds, then start adding the rice a little at a time, breaking up any clumps with your fingers as you add it to the skillet.  After all the rice is added, move it away from the center of the pan, and add the eggs.  Scramble them a bit, then incorporate them into the rice.

Return the vegetables to the pan and stir to combine.  Break the tempeh strips into pieces and add them to the pan as well.  Stir in the rice wine and cook for about one minute.  Next add the soy sauce and sesame oil.  After stirring to mix everything thoroughly, taste and add salt and pepper as needed.  Off heat, stir in the scallion, and serve.

Risotto with Winter Squash and Collard Greens

Not a weeknight meal, but well-worth the effort when you have more time. We had the time today, after spending a beautiful sunny weekend mowing the lawn, taking down the Christmas lights (don't judge me), and refilling my bird feeders.

Anyway, let's talk about risotto. Basically, it's an Italian rice dish that's cooked slowly on the stove. You stir it often and add stock or broth gradually so that the rice release their starches and the dish becomes very creamy as a result.

I got this recipe from the New York Times online, in the "Recipes for Health" section. Every week they have recipes that feature a pantry or produce item. We already had the squash, I bought some collard greens, and I also added some rainbow chard that we got in the CSA. I didn't blanch the chard with the collards though, because it's not as thick so it didn't need it.

We had a lot of extra broth leftover that we didn't end up needing. You have to have it on a simmer ready to go, so you can't just not open one of your quart packages and wait and see if you'll need it. So my suggestion is to freeze your leftover broth, or use their variation of 1 quart broth and 1 quart water, and then if you have leftovers you can boil it down to concentrate it (since you diluted it with the water), and then freeze it. Or just refrigerate it and plan to make something with it later in the week.

Risotto with Winter Squash and Collard Greens
adapted from NYTimes Recipes for Health
Serves 4-6  

1 1/2 pounds winter squash, such as butternut, banana or hubbard, peeled, seeded and cut in 1/2 inch dice (about 2 cups diced squash)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 bunch collard greens, about 1 pound, stemmed and washed
2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock, or 1 quart chicken or vegetable broth and 1 quart water
1 small or 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped (I'm guessing on "finely chopped", the recipe accidentally omitted how you are supposed to prep the onion)  
2 large garlic cloves, green shoots removed, minced
1 1/2 cups arborio or carnaroli rice
1/2 cup dry white wine, such as pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc
Pinch of saffron (optional)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (2 ounces)
3 to 4 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley   

Preheat oven to 425. On a baking sheet covered with foil, toss your diced squash with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread them out in an even layer. Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so. When they are done with will be a little caramelized and very tender. Put them in a bowl and set aside. Try not to munch on too many of them. But do enjoy a few bites.

Meanwhile, get some water boiling in a large pot to blanch the collard greens. Once the water is boiling, add a good amount of salt and add the greens. Boil for about 4 minutes and submerge them in a large bowl of cold water and ice to stop the cooking process. Gently ring out the water and while you still have each leaf rolled up, chop them into ribbons. Set them aside for later.

While your squash is finishing roasting, start to bring the stock/broth to a simmer in a saucepan.

Ok, now you have completed all the preparatory steps, you can finally start putting it all together!

Heat the remaining oil in a large nonstick skillet/frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion, cook about 3 minutes, until the onion is softened. Add the garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook about one minute more, then add the rice. Cook, stirring until the grains of rice separate, then add the wine and keep stirring constantly. The wine should bubble slowly. When it is just about absorbed, add the collard greens, about 1/3 of the squash, and the saffron, if using. Stir in a few ladlefuls of stock, just enough to cover the rice.

The stock should bubble slowly, turn the heat down a bit if it's cooking to fast. Stir often while it cooks, and when the liquid is just about absorbed, add another couple of ladelfuls of stock. Continue this process of stirring and adding stock for about 20-25 minutes, until the rice is tender all the way through but still chewy (is this similar to what they say with pasta, to cook until tender but it should still have a bite to it?).

Add the rest of the squash and another ladleful of stock. Stir in the Parmesan and parsley and take the pan off the heat. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Serve immediately.

Chicken Tacos with Rice and Beans

I don't feel like anything we made tonight could qualify as a "recipe", yet I was really happy with the end result.  

When I was home for lunch today, I put two chicken breasts in the slow cooker, along with about 16 ounces of salsa.  I put it on low and went back to work (My mom told me about this method for cooking chicken, by the way).  When I got home, I shredded the chicken with two forks right in the slow cooker and then stirred it all up.  

Next, I put a tiny pat of butter in a pan, then added about a cup of frozen corn and cooked that for a bit, and added some salt.  Then I threw in some leftover black beans (about half a cup).  Then I decided it needed a little something extra so I added a good sprinkling of chili powder and cumin and cooked for another minute or two. 

I scooped the beans and corn into a bowl, then added a tiny bit more butter to the same pan.  I sprinkled a heaping teaspoon of tumeric over the melted butter and stirred it around for about 30 seconds, then added about a cup of leftover white rice and kept stirring until the color was evenly distributed and the rice was warmed through.  I loved the yellow hue of the rice and the butter and tumeric added a nice flavor.  It satisfied my urge to have a "special looking" rice side dish but also my desire to not work very hard for that result.

By the way, I was really not trying to be fancy with the plating of the meal here; it is easier to fill the tacos if you first put rice and beans on either side to hold them up!  

All in all, a good meal to bid farewell to the last of my pack of Foster Farms chicken.  It was cheap, but I can't buy that kind of chicken anymore with a clear conscious, darn it.  Luckily, since that chicken lasted us about 6 months, it shows that we really don't cook with it that much anyway.  Most things we usually would use chicken for anyway (burritos, tacos, enchiladas, salads, etc)  can easily be modified to use beans, tempeh, or tofu instead (case in point: while in college I once ordered a pasta dish for dinner at our dining hall and I was about halfway through eating it when I realized that what I thought were pieces of chicken were actually pieces of tofu, so apparently it makes no difference to me).  

Clean out the fridge night: Fried Rice

Tonight we made Mark Bittman's Fried Rice recipe using all kinds of odds and ends we had leftover from our CSA box and other leftovers from the week. I love that he gives a recipe for basic fried rice, then says "the list of things you can add to fried rice is longer than the list of things you cannot". That really gives me confidence to play around with it ad use what I have on hand to create something unique.

We had one small kohlrabi about one cup of cauliflower florets from our CSA. Add to that about 3/4 cup of diced ham leftover from when we made the pea soup, and of course all that rice from the stuffed baby squash.

We also had half a head of cabbage from the CSA and the leafy tops of the kohlrabi. I didn't think those would go all that well in the fried rice so I sauteed those separately in a little oil and added some chopped almonds and sesame seeds at the end.

Fried Rice with Shrimp and Pork

adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything

Serves 4

1 cup fresh or frozen peas

3 tablespoons peanut or neutral oil (I used vegetable oil)

1 medium onion (he says to roughly chop it, but I like smaller onion pieces so I did more of a small dice so mine were about the size of the peas)

1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and roughly chopped (instead of this we used the kohlrabi and cauliflower, and it was more like 1 1/2 cups)

8 ounces small shrimp, peeled (optional: we didn't do this because we didn't have any)

8 ounces diced roast pork, Chinese sausage, or other cooked meat (optional, we used ham)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (we used the stuff in the jar)

3 to 4 cups cooked any long-grain rice (start with about 1 1/2 cups raw), preferably basmati or jasmine and preferably chilled (i.e., leftover rice)

2 eggs, lightly beaten (optional)

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar, sherry, dry white wine, stock, or water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil (we used toasted sesame oil, not dark)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup chopped scallion or fresh cilantro

For this recipe, it's best to have everything prepped before you start, because once you get going things move pretty fast.

If you are using frozen peas, put them in a bowl of cold water so they defrost. Give them a stir after a few minutes in case any remain stuck together.

Meanwhile, put 1 tablespoon of the oil into a large skillet over high heat. Once heated, add the onion and bell pepper. Cook about 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they soften and start to brown. If the mixture starts to stick and looks like it's starting to burn, lower the heat a bit. Transfer the mixture to a bowl with a slotted spoon.

(I had to add a bit more oil at this point) Add the shrimp, if using, and cook over a high heat until they turn pink. Add the pork (or other meat) and cook until it browns slightly, about 2-3 minutes. Add it to the bowl with the vegetables.

Drain the peas if you had to defrost them, and add them to the skillet. Shake the skillet while they cook for about a minute, then add them to the bowl with everything else.

Put the remaining oil in the skillet, then add the garlic and ginger. Cook for just 15 seconds, then start adding the rice, a little at a time, breaking up the clumps with your fingers and stirring it into the oil. After all the rice is added, push the rice away from the center of the pan to make a well to add the eggs (if using). Stir them until they start to scramble, then mix them into the rest of the rice.

Add your bowl of meat and veggies back to the pan and stir everything together gently. Add the rice wine vinegar, stir and cook for about a minute. Add the soy sauce and sesame oil. Taste and add salt and pepper, if necessary (ours didn't need any). Off the heat, stir in the scallion and/or cilantro, and serve.

Stuffed Baby Squash

Amy, this recipe made me think of all those squash on your windowsill, just waiting to be devoured. :-)

I was so excited to make this! We've been getting different varieties of squash every week in the CSA, and sometimes it's challenging to find new and exciting ways to cook them. This is from the "Best Ever Three and Four Ingredient Cookbook" that we bought on a whim from Borders a few years ago because it had a big read $3.99 sticker on it. It turned out to be quite a find, because everything we've made out of it has been awesome!

We planned on making extra rice for meals later in the week, but after preparing the rice, we realized we forgot that we were going to cut the recipe in half, since we only had two squash, so that just means we have ALOT of extra rice now.

The recipe calls for chili and garlic oil. Normally, we would never have this kind of thing on hand, but we did happen to have small bottles of both garlic oil and chili oil (stocking stuffers), so we mixed the two. But if we didn't have these, I bet you could add some minced garlic and red pepper flakes to the oil in the pan and cook for a minute or so and then strain them out and you would get a similar flavor.

Stuffed Baby Squash

adapted from Best Ever Three and Four Ingredient Cookbook

serves 4

4 small squash, each about 12 oz

1 cup uncooked mixed wild and basmati rice

1 1/4 cups grated Gruyere cheese

4 tablespoons chili and garlic oil

Salt and ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375.

Poke a hole in each squash with the tip of a knife. Bake until tender, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the rice in salted, boiling water until tender, about 12 minutes, and drain (Joe just cooked the rice until all the water was absorbed, so we didn't have to drain it).

Let the squash sit until cool enough to handle, or if you are impatient like me, wear an oven mitt on one hand and proceed with slicing a lid of the top off each squash and scooping out and discarding the seeds and stringy stuff. Next, scoop out the flesh and roughly chop it.

Heat your oil in a nonstick pan and cook the chopped squash for about 5 minutes. Reserve 4 tablespoons of the cheese, and add the rest, along with the rice, to the pan and mix it all together. Add a little salt too.

Divide the mixture evenly among the squash shells. Sprinkle with the reserved cheese and bake for about 20 minutes.