nanny's chicken noodle soup

Last time we were perusing the bulk section at Rainbow, we picked some herb infused egg noodles, thinking they would be awesome to make soup with. This is a riff on Kenny's grandmother's chicken noddle soup. Nanny serves up a big delicious bowl of beige: chicken, corn and noodles, accompanied by saltine crackers and butter. We decided to make a few modifications, including the addition of carrots and substituting all vegetarian products. Our whole apartment smelled so good while this was cooking... a neighbor coming home from work actually stopped Kenny outside to be like, "What are you cooking!? OMG It smells incredible!"


Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
5 carrots, sliced thick
3 ears corn, remove kernels, discard cob
1 package Lightlife chicken strips
10 cups water
6 Tbsp vegetarian chicken broth powder (also from Rainbow)
1 lb herb noodles, or egg noodles
salt & pepper

Heat olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Saute carrots and corn for 5-7 minutes, until your kitchen smells like fresh roasted corn on the cob. Add in chicken strips and cook an additional 5 minutes. Mix water with chicken broth powder and add to the pot. Bring to a simmer, and cook covered for 15 minutes. Add noodles, return to a simmer (NOT a boil, unless you really want to clean your stove afterwards...) and cook uncovered for another 15 minutes, until noodles are al dente. I know, you are probably thinking I am crazy for not cooking the noodles separately and then adding them in. I thought Nanny might have been crazy too, but the starch that cooks off of the noodles helps to thicken the soup, and give it a really awesome consistency. AND you only have one pot to clean up! When the noodles are done, the soup is done. Grab some crusty bread (or saltine crackers if you are a member of my family), and dig in. Get ready for carbo-load heaven!

whole garden pasta salad

My best friend is visiting this weekend, which means lots of dining out! We wanted to make something to use up as many veggies as possible from the CSA so that nothing went bad while we were enjoying our weekend away from the kitchen. So we made a super easy pasta using 6 ingredients from the box!


Ingredients:
1 bunch chard, leaves roughly ripped
3 heads broccoli, florets only
3 peppers, julienned
1 bunch carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
10 leaves basil, chiffonade
3 Tbsp olive oil
salt, pepper & balsamic vinegar to taste
1 lb whole wheat fusilli

Get a pot of water boiling and add in the pasta. Add the olive oil to a large pan, and saute the garlic and onions for 2-4 minutes. The order for the veggies goes like this: broccoli & carrots first, until carrots are tender and broccoli is bright green, then add in the chard and peppers and stir until the chard is wilted. The pasta should be done by now, so strain and return to the large pot. Dump in all the veggies, toss and season how you like. Top with basil. Serves 6.

weekly delivery 06/24

This week we received the following from FFTY:

6 Russian banana potatoes
1 bunch fresh basil
1 pint blueberries

6 summer squash
1 lb apricots
3 lipstick peppers

6 peaches
2 red onions

3 stalks white corn
1 bunch Nantes carrots

1 head red leaf lettuce
1 broccoli

tofu ranchero

Here is a recipe for slow cooker tofu ranchero. If you don't have a slow cooker, check out this recipe for ranchero sauce instead.

Ingredients:
1 block super firm tofu, cubed
3 heirloom tomatoes, roughly chopped
7 sweet peppers, julienned
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno, julienned
5 patty pan squash, quartered
2 Tbsp 2x concentrate tomato paste
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 Tbsp red pepper flakes
1/2 Tbsp salt
2 cups vegetable stock

Prep all the ingredients and toss into the slow cooker pot. Toss with the seasonings then add the vegetable stock and cook on low for 6 hours. Strain with a slotted spoon. Save the liquid to make extra tasty rice and serve with avocado!

peach and plum sauce

Ingredients:
3 peaches, stones removed, roughly chopped
6 plums, stones removed, roughly chopped
2 cups red wine, we used SheBang!, its made by our upstairs neighbor Morgan
1/2 red onion, sliced
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

In a large sauce pan heat oil on medium, when it gets hot, add the onions, salt, and pepper, and saute for 6 minutes. Add in the fruit and wine, cover and simmer for 20 minutes until the peaches have completely softened, and are mushy. Strain into a bowl, getting all the chunks out, and return the liquid to the sauce pan set to medium heat again. Reduce the liquid by half, about 13-15 minutes, and whisk in the butter. Serve immediately with pork, beef, or as a topping for ice cream!

We had a little backyard BBQ and served our amazing sweet, tangy peach & plum sauce with brined pork loin and olive oil smashed green garlic potatoes.


We also made way (WAY!) too much polenta the other day by accident, so we cut the leftovers into wedges and grilled them with some red onion and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

tomato and pepper ragu

Ingredients:
3 heirloom tomatoes, seeded and roughly chopped
6 sweet gypsy peppers, seeded and julienned
1 large spring onion, white part only, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
12 large leaves fresh basil, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp 2x concentrate tomato paste
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, and peppers and allow to saute' until the onions are translucent, about 6-8 minutes. Add tomato paste, stir and cook an additional 2 minutes. Toss in the tomatoes and basil, cover and simmer until the tomatoes have broken down and a thick sauce is formed, about 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and serve with pasta, polenta, or crusty bread. Or do what we did below!

We served it over polenta with some grilled organic grass fed and finished skirt steak we picked up from the farmer's market at the Ferry Building on Saturday.

We marinated the skirt steak for 36 hours in:
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 pinch of garlic granules
2 hefty pinches of salt
1 pinch of pepper

Then grilled it on a hot grill for 5 minutes on each side for a nice medium steak. Sliced on the bias it was tender, had a great crust, and was packed with flavor!

weekly delivery 06/17

In the box this week:

1 bunch green chard
10 black plums
5 yellow peaches

5 sweet gypsy peppers
2 lipstick peppers
3 beets
5 pattypan squash
4 heirloom tomatoes

1 head green leaf lettuce
1 pint blueberries
2 red onion
1 bunch Nantes carrots