weekly delivery 12/22

Early Xmas present! Our box came a day early this week!

18 Satsuma Mandarin oranges

4 Navel oranges

2 yellow onions

2 Napa cabbages

4 Empire apples

1 giant leek

2 bok choy

1 head green leaf lettuce

1 bunch collard greens

1 bunch kale

1 bunch broccoli

rice, squash, greens and leek bake. hello winter in CA.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups white rice

1 bunch kale, stems removed

4 slices prosciutto

1/2 butternut squash, peeled and thinly sliced

1 leek, thinly sliced

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

2/3 lb parrano cheese, shredded and divided equally

2 cups milk

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups vegetable stock

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

1 1/2 tsp dried thyme

dash of nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Layer the bottom of a large casserole dish with uncooked white rice. Next spread the kale leaves over the rice to cover completely. Then top with slices of prosciutto. Next up is the butternut squash, then pour the beschemel over the whole thing. OMG! We forgot the sauce! Make a light roux by melting 2 Tbsp butter in a small sauce pan. Stir in 2 Tbsp flour and whisk to incorporate. Whisk in the milk and veggie broth. Temper in the eggs, by beating them in a small bowl and pouring a small amount of the hot milk into that small bowl. This will ensure that the eggs do not scramble. Add the tempered eggs to the sauce. Right before the sauce comes to a boil, whisk in 1/2 of the Parrano cheese. Dump the sauce over the casserole. Next toast the breadcrumbs and leeks together for a few minutes. Layer the leek and breadcrumb mixture on top of the casserole then cover with the remaining cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes. Wait 5 minutes before you slice into it!

P.S. CSA Delivery blog does not support the ehm... use of a sort-of-illegal-but-pretty-much-decriminalized-in-CA drug. But if we did, then we would eat this right out the dish with two forks and not call for shitty pizza or take out noodles. Well, we might get noodles AND eat this dish together. BLAM.

The rice in this dish gets all milky and cheesy. The layers stay intact. OMG, I wish I could eat this year round and still be sustainable. Actually, this would probably work with lots of different veggies. If you are looking to do it vegan: Sub- Earth Balance, Lightlife Tempeh Bacon, and unsweetened soy milk, egg replacer, or corn starch. The cheese? Well thats up to you and your proximity to "decent" vegan cheese.

orange glazed tofu, dirty hoe

We seriously had like 4 weeks worth of oranges and clementines piled up. AFTER I brought a whole bag into work to share w/co-workers. So I juiced em all. 1.5 quarts of orange juice. ridiculous.

Hoegaarden with a shot of orange juice. Popularized by Azure in Philly (RIP).

Orange Glazed Tofu

Ingredients:

1 lb. extra firm tofu, cut into 1" chunks

5 heads baby bok choy, quartered

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp. sriracha sauce

2 Tbsp. canola oil

1 Tbsp. grated ginger

1 Tbsp. corn starch

1 Tbsp. sesame seeds, for garnish

In a large non-stick pan or wok set over high heat, saute' the tofu in the canola oil until all sides are browned, about 10 minutes. Mix OJ, soy sauce, sriracha, and corn starch in a bowl and whisk until corn starch is thoroughly incorporated. Add ginger and bok choy to the pan and toss for one minute. Toss in the sauce and stir to cover the tofu and the bok choy. You want to bring the sauce to a boil while constantly stirring (takes about 3 minutes) and let it remain at this temperature for an additional minute, still stirring. The result should be a sweet and spicy sauce that is glazed over all of the ingredients in the pan. Serve over rice, and garnish with sesame seeds.

balsamic kale, brie and crispy prosciutto sandwiches

We originally planned on making this with broccoli rabe, but our broccoli rabe went bad before we got around to it. Luckily our kale was much heartier!

Ingredients:

1 fresh baguette

1 bunch kale, stems removed, leaves roughly torn

1/4 lb of prosciutto thinly sliced

1/2 brie thinly sliced

3 Tbsp olive oil, divided

3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 red onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

salt and pepper to taste

Cut kale into bite sized pieces. Halve baguette. Apply brie to one side of the baguette. Apply prosciutto to the other half of the baguette. Toast the open face sandwiches in the oven for 5 minutes at 350 degrees until the cheese is melty. Sautee the kale with onions, garlic, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar for 4-8 minutes until softened.

green mash

As a kid I hated greens. OK, to tell the truth, I had no idea what they were. I only experienced the joy of fresh produce when I was 18 and went vegan. Before that it was all boiled frozen veggies, or canned varieties. I didn't even try to eat leafies until I was at least 22. But now I can't get enough of them, and wish someone would incorporate them into dishes I already love. Oh wait! We are just about to do that!

Ingredients:

2 leeks, thinly sliced

5 lbs potatoes, 1" chunks

1 bunch chard, stems removed and leaves roughly ripped

1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves roughly ripped

3 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Boil potatoes until fork tender. Caramelize leeks in a separate pan with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Blanch chard and kale in boiling water for one minute. Mash everything together. Eat mashed potatoes every day for 10 days straight and then never want to eat them again! Weeeee! Top with your favorite gravy, and get down!

weekly delivery 12/02

Our CSA share this week:

1 bunch kale

4 navel oranges

6 Satsuma mandarin oranges

1 head savoy cabbage

2 heads romaine lettuce

2 leeks

3 yellow onions

3 heads bok choy

1 head radicchio

1 bulb fennel

5 Rome beauty Apples

5 Fuyu persimmons

double squash coconut curry

We love squash. Sure it's a pain in the ass to peel and clean, but it just tastes so good, and is so versatile. It's a good thing, because we keep getting them in the box. Also, they do last a while, so you can kind of pile them up for a few weeks until you figure out what to do with them. This week we needed to make some recipes that were easy, and either fast to cook, or cooked while we were gone (such busy lives we lead...). So we decided to use our slow cooker to make some awesome squash curry. This recipe would work with any kind of squash or pumpkin. Easy, cheap, and totally made itself while we were at work. All it took was 15 minutes of prep.

Ingredients:

2 approximately two lb kombucha squash

1 approximately two lb butternut squash

2 fifteen oz cans of coconut milk (We used 365 Organic Light- less fat)

1 onion, roughly sliced

4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

2 cups veggie stock

3 Tbsp curry powder, drunkenly bartered from our neighbor Jennifer for a slice of pumpkin pie

salt and pepper to taste

Peel and seed the squash. Yeah, I know it sucks; but just do it. Have a cocktail and listen to Moving Mountains, it helped me. Cut it into one inch chunks. Not exact, this isn't the French Laundry, and it's going to cook for a really long time. Chop the onions and garlic. OK, you're done. No really. Toss liquid ingredients into your slow cooker pot and stir together. Add 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper. Dump in all the veggies. Pop it in the fridge and get on with your evening.

In the morning, put it into the slow cooker and set it to low for 8 hours. When you get home from a hard day at work, deliciousness awaits!

You can strain off the liquid (like we did for the above photo), and serve it over rice. Then use the remaining liquid to make an awesome soup by adding some lentils or pasta! Like so: