Mushrooms aren't something my family eats often, for two reasons. First of all, our weekly produce boxes never contain them. Secondly, our kids don't like them. But I like them! So to celebrate the first soggy weather we've had in four years of drought, I slow cooked a pound and a half with coriander, black pepper, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary in wine.
It's that time of year again, when a multitude of cabbage begins to arrive in our produce box and clutter up the fridge. This year, I will do my best to make sure we eat each and every one of the little darlings. Perfectly delicious when sautéed gently with butter, some of the more traditional recipes for cabbage, however, can be downright frightening.
This was a surprisingly successful way to feed my kids kale! The soup starts with sausage, which you fry up in a pot, then add garlic, onion, potatoes, chicken stock, kale and salt. It's really that easy and would probably work fine with any type of greens.
This winter I've been trying to get my kids to eat more beets. It has been a real challenge so far. These "fries" seem promising, though: there are plenty of similar recipes out there, but this is the best one yet. The key is to slice them thin, 1/4 inch all around. Then add just a hint of sweet tanginess, some thyme and a decent amount of salt.
Helga is Marcus Samuelson's grandmother, and since my own grandmother has no recipe for meatballs, what better way to celebrate National Meatball Day than to use her's?
Deborah Madison's Celery Root Chowder is a favorite of ours, I make it every winter when celery roots are in our CSA box. This time I served it with some fresh bread from the bakery, soft ripened cheese, and pâté, for my husband's birthday. Pâté is one of his favorite things that we almost never eat. We also almost never have Manhattans with dinner.
Usually I make my own pie crust or use one from the freezer, but this time I took the author's advice and bought one pre-made from the store. It's a good thing I did, since prep for this recipe took a while, leaving about two minutes to roll out the dough and assemble the pie before kid-duty commenced.
Spatchcocking, or cutting out the backbone and laying flat, helps a bird roast more quickly and gives something to jump-start a crock-pot of stock with. The name is bad and so is the picture, but this is the fastest and most delicious way to get chicken dinner on the table.
Another recipe using purslane, the powerhouse of wild foragable greens. This was the 4th of our 2014 Hunger Challenge dinners, part of an effort to raise awareness about hunger and what it is like to subsist off $4.50 a day, as do many recipients of our government's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
Steamed young potatoes simply dressed with butter, tarragon, parsley and salt are really delicious. This is the way to prepare them when they are fresh dug out of dark, damp spring earth and still retain the dewiness of youth that later, larger potatoes lose as they age.
Another great way to use one of the more challenging items that comes in our CSA box: cabbage. I adore cabbage, but my kids do not. Combining it with delicious crusty potatoes, a little dill (both were also in last week's box) and a sprinkling of mild, salty, cheese makes it easy to eat.
We've had some rainbow striped bowtie pasta hanging around the house for a while now and this recipe from Eatwell Farm was the perfect way to use it. Pasta, potatoes and pesto are already favorites of my children, so as expected, they ate this dinner up. The pesto recipe is different than what I'm used to: rougher textured but just right in this case.