polenta with arugula and pepper ragu

Ingredients:
Ragu:
6 small tomatoes
5 small red peppers
1 bunch arugula
1/2 large onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes (if you like it spicy- we do!)

Polenta:
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking polenta
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup heavy cream
4 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper (preferably white)
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning herbs


Ragu: Chop up your veggies into 1/2 inch pieces. While you are waiting for your water to boil for the polenta, heat olive oil in a saute pan on medium heat. Add onions, garlic, tomatoes, red peppers, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until the peppers and onions are tender (about 8-10 minutes), and then add the garbanzo beans. After 2 minutes add the arugula, and saute until the arugula is cooked (about 1-2 minutes).


Polenta: Bring water to a boil, add salt and polenta. Turn heat down to medium-low and stir vigorously so as to get out all of the lumps that try to form. After polenta has a smooth consistency and begins to pull away from the sides of the pot when you stir (about 5 minutes), add cream, and butter and stir to incorporate. When polenta is nice and creamy, stir in pepper and herbs, cover and turn off heat.

spicy pumpkin soup

This recipe was based on a recipe Kenny found on Simply Recipes.

Ingredients
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 Tbsp crushed red pepper
2 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
6 cups of chopped roasted pumpkin
4 cups of vegetable broth
2 cups of milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp salt

To make pumpkin puree, cut a sugar pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff, lie face down on a tin-foil lined baking pan. Bake at 350°F until soft, about 45 min to an hour. Let cool and scoop out the flesh.

Melt butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add spices (except brown sugar) and stir for a minute more.

Add pumpkin, sauteed onions, and 1 cup of veggie broth to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Return soup to saucepan. Add the remaining broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

With the soup on low heat, add brown sugar and mix. Slowly add milk while stirring to incorporate. Add cream and salt. Adjust seasonings to taste.


We served the soup topped with seriously awesome and easy croutons made with day-old La Boulange bread. Just cut it up into cubes and spray it with olive oil, sprinkle on salt and pepper. Baked in the oven for about 15 minutes- they made what was already really good soup even better.

arrabiata sauce

This sauce came out a lot better than our last attempt at making sauce with the cherry tomatoes.

Ingredients:
2 pints cherry tomatoes, sliced length-wise
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 Tbsp red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp fresh basil, roughly chopped or torn
2 Tbsp 2x concentrated Tomato Paste
salt and pepper to taste


Heat olive oil in a sauce pan on medium heat. Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes, not letting the garlic brown. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, and red pepper flakes. Cover and simmer on medium/low for about 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes or so. When the tomatoes have broken down, a sauce forms. Turn off the heat, and the basil, season with salt and pepper.

spicy tofu sandwiches

Ingredients:
1 french roll, cut in half and sliced open
1 lemon cucumber
1 avocado
1 Tbsp Vegenaise
1/3 block super firm tofu, sliced thinly into 4 equal portions
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 Tb. Tapatio

This is a super easy and tasty recipe I used to make all the time in a pinch when I needed food fast. Just marinate the tofu in soy sauce and Tapatio for about 15 minutes, or as long as it takes you to cut your ingredients and make the rest of the sandwich. Then just pan fry it on medium heat flipping after 4 minutes or so, and when the 4 minutes is up on the second side, just add the rest of the marinade and let it finish with the heat off. Put the tofu on your sandwich, and eat it up!

weekly delivery 09/24

This weeks delivery included:

1 bunch arugula
an assortment of tomatoes, including a pint of cherry tomatoes, 2 large heirloom tomatoes and 6 slicing tomatoes
a honeydew melon

7 red and sweet gypsy peppers
a bunch of grapes

2 sugar pie pumpkins
1 bunch fresh basil

honey-chili tofu with sauteed arugula and caper couscous

Ingredients:
Tofu:
2/3 block super firm tofu (or 1 block extra firm, frozen and thawed), cut into 4 large pieces.
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp honey
2 tsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp canola oil + Misto or cooking spray

Caper couscous:
1 cup couscous
1 1/4 cup water
approx. 15 to 20 capers
pinch of salt

Sauteed arugula:
1 bunch of arugula, washed and roughly chopped
2 Hungarian sweet peppers (or 1 medium red pepper), small julienne
1/2 white or yellow onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tb. extra virgin olive oil

Marinate tofu in soy sauce and set aside for 15 minutes while you start prepping other ingredients. Heat oil in a saute pan on medium high heat and sear tofu on both sides for 4 to 5 minutes, reserving left over soy sauce. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a small baking dish with Misto or cooking spray. You can also make a make-shift baking dish by folding foil into a small rectangle, pinching up the sides. Mix honey, rice vinegar, chili powder and cayenne together with the remaining soy sauce and pour over tofu. Place tofu in the oven and set your timer for 15 minutes.

Next bring 1 1/4 cup of water to a boil in a small sauce pan, add salt, capers, and couscous. Stir ingredients together, cover, turn off heat and allow to sit on the stove for 5 or more minutes. When fully cooked, fluff with a fork.

Heat olive oil in another saute pan on medium heat, or clean the tofu pan and re-use. Add onions and saute until translucent. Add peppers and garlic and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Throw in your arugula and toss until cooked (arugula cooks fast!), approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Until it looks like this:


By now your tofu should be cooked, and its time to eat! Add salt and pepper to your arugula to your own taste. Put your couscous and cooked arugula saute on a plate, followed by your tofu. Use a brush or a spoon to put the left over marinade on the tofu, and eat! You will wish you made more- we did!

eggplant sandwiches

Time for Katie to come up with another way to eat the eggplant, all by her lonesome.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Vegenaise
2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 eggplant, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
1 french roll, cut in half and sliced open
6 to 8 small balls fresh mozzarella cheese
1 roasted red pepper (for un jar), sliced
olive oil in yer misto
salt and pepper

Preheat oven on broil.

Combine mayonnaise and basil in a small bowl. Using your Misto, spray both sides of eggplant and sprinkle each slice with salt and pepper. Spray a sheet of aluminum foil, line a baking sheet with it and place eggplant into preheated oven.

Broil the eggplant for 6 minutes, turn with a spatula, top with cheese, and continue broiling until the cheese is melted and the eggplant is tender, about 4 minutes more.

Assemble sandwiches and EAT!

okra curry

This recipe is adapted from a recipe Kenny found on Masala Magic, an Indian cooking blog.

Ingredients:
about 1 lb okra, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
1/3 block super firm tofu
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 tomatoes, chopped
1 Tbsp masala curry powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp harissa
1 tsp black pepper
salt to taste
3 Tbsp oil

In a non stick pan, heat the oil, add the chopped onions and saute until tender. Add the tofu, okra, chili powder, red pepper flakes, curry powder and salt. Saute, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes on medium heat or until the okra is not sticky. Then add the tomatoes, sugar, black pepper and harissa. Mix well and cook for another 20 minutes, until the tomatoes are broken down.

Served over brown rice.

weekly delivery 09/18

Today's delivery includes:


1 bunch arugula
1 honeydew melon
2 lemon cucumbers
1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 peppers
grapes
a bunch of okra
1 sugar pie pumpkin
4 heirloom tomatoes (check out that big sucker!!)
1 bunch basil

arugula and red pepper pizza

Using up some of the veggies from this week delivery.

Ingredients:
1 bunch arugula
2 red peppers, julienned
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tsp chopped garlic
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
fresh mozzarella cheese
pizza sauce
pita bread
parmesan cheese
nutritional yeast
salt and pepper

First we added the oil and garlic to a saute pan, and when hot started to cook the arugula.

Then we added in the peppers, red pepper flakes, some salt and pepper, and the tomatoes.

After that sauteed until the tomatoes were broken down and the peppers were cooked, we put all the veggies and fresh mozzarella on top of whole wheat pita bread topped lightly with pizza sauce. It then went into a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes. When it came out, we garnished it with parmesean cheese and nutritional yeast. Tasty!

cream of tomato soup

This recipe is based on the seriously amazing soup we tried at Bistro Jeanty in Yountville last month.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of unsalted butter
1/2 lb of yellow onions, sliced
6 garlic cloves, halved
1 bay leaf
1/2 Tbsp whole black peppercorns
1 tsp dried thyme
2 Tbsp 2x concentrated tomato paste (or 1/4 cup regular tomato paste)
2 & 1/2 lbs ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered
2 cups of heavy cream
2 cups of 2% milk
salt and pepper to taste (white pepper preferred)

Melt butter in a large stockpot over medium-low heat. Add the onions, garlic, thyme, bay leaf and peppercorns; cover and cook for about 5 minutes until the onions are translucent. (It is important not to let the onions caramelize). Add tomato paste and cook for about 3 minutes to cook the "raw" flavor out of the paste. Next add the tomatoes, and if your tomatoes are not the ripest, you can also add a half cup of water.


Simmer this for 30-40 minutes, staying on medium-low heat until the onions are soft and the tomatoes are broken down. Remove the bay leaf! Puree with an immersion blender, or food processor (be careful!). Strain the puree back into the pot with a fine mesh strainer, using the back of a spoon to press out all of the yummy goodness.

Once the puree is strained and the liquid is back in the pot, you may return the heat to medium-low, adding your cream, milk, salt, and pepper. Stir every few minutes, but don't let it come to a boil! When its hot, eat it up!

We also made some awesome crostini with the soup, and it couldn't have been easier. All we did was take some baguette and cut it into one inch rounds. We then Misto'ed the top with extra virgin olive oil, smeared on some chopped garlic, sprinkle it with salt and pepper, and topped it with shredded parmesan cheese.

These went into a 350 degree oven on a non-stick cookie sheet for about 15-17 minutes. When they came out, we topped them with fresh basil and dunked them into the soup!

hello out there?

So, Kenny & I have heard from a few friends that they've checked out our blog. We appreciate the comments and encouragement. It's kind of weird to know that people are looking but not who or when or what they think. Leave some comments here too guys! Got recipe ideas? Thoughts? Comments? Questions?

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arugula pesto

Ingredients:
1 bunch arugula
1 bunch basil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup parmesan
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3 roasted red peppers
1 Tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor, blend until smooth. That's it.

Serve with pasta, as a dip, or on bruschetta.

weekly delivery 09/10

Our delivery this week was the same as last week:

basil
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
1 eggplant
3 peppers
5 or 6 bok choy
melon
grapes
A bunch of okra
9 small heirloom tomatoes
1 head of arugula

babaganoush

Next on the list of eggplant foods for Katie to try to make was babaganoush. This one didn't come out so good. Anyone got any babaganoush tips?

stir-fry with lemongrass sauce

Ingredients:
1 block extra firm tofu (frozen & defrosted), cut into 1/2" cubes
5 or 6 heads of baby bok choy, cut into 1" pieced
4 small or 2 large red peppers, julienned
3 Tbsp canola oil

Sauce:
2 Lbs shallots, finely diced
2 or 3 stalks of lemongrass, peeled and minced
2 tsp minced ginger
2 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Cube the tofu and splash on about 3 Tbsp of soy sauce. Let it marinate for about 20 minutes or longer.

Chop the bok choy and red peppers into 1" pieces.

To make the sauce, heat canola oil in a saute pan on medium heat. Add diced shallots and toss or stir until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add lemongrass and cook until shallots just start to caramelize. At this point, add ginger and red pepper flakes.

When shallots are caramelized, add soy sauce and cook for an additional minute. This may seem like a ton of shallots when you start, but they will reduce down quite a bit. It should look like this when you are done:

Stir fry: Heat 3 Tbsp of canola oil in a wok or saute pan. Add tofu and stir fry until golden on all sides. Add peppers and cook for minutes. Then add bok choy and sauce, tossing constantly for 2 more minutes until bok choy is cooked (not mushy, but heated through).

Action shot! The sauce should be incorporated and hot.

Serve over rice, or toss with noodles.

apologies

Our apologies for the lack of posting this week. Our friends Meg & Ashley were in town visiting, which is conducive to eating out a lot. Regularly scheduled CSA postings shall continue tomorrow. In the mean time, here's a sandwich Katie ate:


Love N Haight chicken breader veggie on wheat slice, no mustard, add avocado. HEAVEN!

green chile tofu

Time to use up the last of the produce from last week's delivery. We used the green beans and remaining peppers in a Thai-inspired Green Chile Tofu.


Ingredients:
1 block of extra firm tofu
1 lb green beans, trimmed and cut in half
2 medium sized peppers, sliced
1 can of light coconut milk
4 Tbs green curry paste
4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 1/2 Tbs soy sauce
4 Tbs chopped cilantro
4 Tbs chopped peanuts
1 cup of rice
2 cups of water

Cut tofu into 1/2 inch cubes. If you have a Misto, (and you should!) spray a bit of oil into a non-stick sauté pan. Pan fry on high until lightly browned on each side. Add the coconut milk and Thai green curry paste. Simmer on low for 20 minutes. Sprinkle the tofu with red pepper flakes while simmering.


If you have a rice cooker, (and you should!) add the rice and water and set that baby to cook. Add the green beans, peppers and soy sauce to the tofu and sauce. Simmer for an additional 10 minutes, tossing often to distribute the sauce.


Finish on a plate with rice and top with chopped fresh cilantro and salted roasted peanuts. This dish is all about the balance between sweet and spicy. While the tofu and green beans are excellent vehicles for the spicy chile sauce, the peppers, peanuts and rice will bring you some relief from the heat.

weekly delivery 09/03

Here is what came in our CSA delivery this morning:


A bunch of okra
2 Rosa Biana eggplant
5 or 6 bok choy
basil
grapes
melon
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
4 peppers
1 head of arugula
5 heirloom tomatoes

pasta primavera

We don't exactly have a recipe for this dish. We almost messed it up by adding too much balsamic to the tomatoes but managed to work it out and in the end it was a happy accident. The tomatoes soaked up just enough of the balsamic to give a nice sweet burst when you bit into them.


Ingredients:
1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 small onion
5 cloves garlic
1 globe squash (aka round zucchini)
1 pattypan squash
salt, pepper & red pepper flake to taste
3 cups of pasta
balsamic vinegar
parmesan
fresh mozzarella

We sliced the cherry tomatoes in half and cooked them with some garlic and onion until everything was nice and tender. Added in some sliced up squash, which cooked for about 6 minutes. Then tossed it all together with the pasta, fresh mozzarella and parmesan.