I am all about my CSA - Enterprise Farms (now accepting applications for the fall/winter share!) and this week certainly didn't disappoint. This week had a good mix of leafy greens, fresh fruit and even some surprises with a beautiful organic avocado from FL. If the other Z gets casual (un)dress Fridays over his way, then I should a LEAST get to indulge in a little CSA porn, right?
Don't those eggplants look they belong in my underwear drawer and not my vegetable drawer? Did I just say that?
Pictured: Avocado, Green Beans, Kale, Eggplant (Asian-style), Melon, Red Onion, Green Bell Pepper, Field Tomatoes
Um yeah. See what I mean?
I haven't decided what I am going to do with all these yet this week. I think I will make this side dish with the green beans and red onions:
Raw almond slivers
2 yellow onions
Butter
Olive oil
Directions
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees
1. Prep beans and throw them in to salted boiling water for 8 minutes
2. Strain and rinse with COLD water to stop the cooking process
3. Throw the almonds into a shallow pan for 15ish minutes to toast them
4. You can use the same big pot you used to boil the beans... Add olive oil and 2-3 tbs of butter on med/hi heat.
while that melts....
5. Slice onions in quarters then equal slices. Add to pot and stir often, you want them to caramelize in the butter. Season the onions with salt and pepper.
6. the onions will take 10-15ish minutes to really caramelize
fold the green beans, almonds & onions together.
5. Slice onions in quarters then equal slices. Add to pot and stir often, you want them to caramelize in the butter. Season the onions with salt and pepper.
6. the onions will take 10-15ish minutes to really caramelize
fold the green beans, almonds & onions together.
And I love me some Kale White Bean Soup!
1 tablespoon olive oil or canola oil
8 large garlic cloves, crushed or minced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 cups chopped raw kale
4 cups low-fat, low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2 (15 ounce) cans white beans, such as cannellini or navy, undrained
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons dried Italian herb seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup chopped parsley
Directions
In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add garlic and onion; saute until soft. Add kale and saute, stirring, until wilted. Add 3 cups of broth, 2 cups of beans, and all of the tomato, herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes. In a blender or food processor, mix the remaining beans and broth until smooth. Stir into soup to thicken. Simmer 15 minutes. Ladle into bowls; sprinkle with chopped parsley.
In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add garlic and onion; saute until soft. Add kale and saute, stirring, until wilted. Add 3 cups of broth, 2 cups of beans, and all of the tomato, herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes. In a blender or food processor, mix the remaining beans and broth until smooth. Stir into soup to thicken. Simmer 15 minutes. Ladle into bowls; sprinkle with chopped parsley.
But what to do with that eggplant?
2 comments:
I cut it up in circles. I salt and sweat it for 10 mins in the fridge. Then stir fry with a little onion I use soy, oyster sause or fish sauce, sesame oil, sal pepper. I finish with fresh Thai basil.
My family has a standard side dish that goes with everything, particularly in the summer. You get whatever fresh, cylindrical veggies are available (we usually use summer squash and zucchini) along with some onion and dill. Slice the veggies perpendicularly, making lots of little circles. Heat some olive oil in a pan, toss in the sliced up onion along with the circle-veggies, and add a bit of salt and some dill (to taste). Sautee them until they're a nice golden color and the onions are a bit caramelized. Using eggplant, you may need a little bit more oil.
For a surprise touch, just when it's almost done, squeeze some lemon juice over it all.
I've never tried this with asian eggplant, but I imagine it would be delicious.
Another yummy thing would be to slice it lengthwise and sautee in garlic butter, then splash it with soy sauce. (I do that with zucchini and it's delish.)
Or . . . (lol, have I mentioned that I love eggplant and cook it a lot?). Cube/dice it and microwave it in a bowl with an inch or two of water at the bottom, and drain. Sautee some onions and mushrooms and add the diced eggplant. Add in various and sundry - diced tomatoes are delicious, as is garlic, celery, additional onion, or even ground meat - and cook it all pretty thoroughly so it's soft. Add a can of Cream of Mushroom soup (you can get the really low-fat stuff) and stir that in, with some bread crumbs added in. Splash with Worcestershire sauce (to taste). At the last minute toss in some chopped parsely. It makes a lovely, sticky substance. Often I will then make stuffed eggplants with this (the cubed eggplant being the innards), but you could also make little bruschettas and replace the tomato topping with this eggplant mixture. You can sprinkle with Parmesan cheese for a richer taste or to make it look more appetizing. If you used tomato in the mixture, you could hollow out some tomatoes and serve them stuffed with the eggplant mixture.
Now I'm making myself hungry . . .
Post a Comment