CSA Share: Week 4

Yum! Minnesota's late spring is a thing of the past, and we are in the full throes of summer...at last. This week, we got a pretty full box (the poor farms are struggling to grow anything!) with: strawberries, cauliflower, cabbage (isn't that the cutest cabbage?),

fennel (love fennel), parsley, kale (lurking over on the left),


and some gorgeous ruby-red chard.

Here's a GREAT recipe featuring chard from Jeanne Lemlin's Simple Vegetarian Pleasures:

Baked Cheese Polenta with Swiss Chard

1 T olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
8-10 cups chopped Swiss chard, stems and leaves kept separate

The Polenta
Butter for greasing dish, plus 1 T
2 cups low-fat milk
1.5 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup cornmeal
3 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup sour cream

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over med. heat. add the garlic and cook 30 sec, then stir in the Swiss chard stems. Pour in a few T of water and cover the pan. Cook the stems 2 minutes. Remove the cover, then mix in the Swiss chard leaves. Cover the pan again and cook until the leaves wilt, about 3 minutes. Toss occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool, uncovered.
2. To make the polenta, preheat the oven to 400F.
3. Butter a 2-to 2.5-quart shallow baking dish and set it nearby. Combine the milk, water, and salt in a med saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to med-low and slowly drizzle in the cornmeal, whisking all the while with a wire whisk. Continue to cook and whisk the polenta until it is the consistency of mashed potatoes and tears away from the sides of the pan (5 min.). Whisk in 2 T of the Parmesan, the 1 T butter, and the mozzarella.
4. Spread half of the polenta in the baking dish. Spoon on the Swiss chard and distribute it evenly. Drop on small spoonfuls of the sour cream and spread it with the back of a spoon. Spoon on the remaining polenta and spread it out. Sprinkle on the remaining T of Parmesan.
5. Bake the polenta 20-25 minutes, or until golden on top and sizzling. Do not overcook it because you want to retain its creamy interior.

It's SO good.

This Week's Menu

Dear Friends,

I don't know how to break this to you. I've been searching for the right words. But, as "they" say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Last night, I became...



























a carnivore. Don't get too excited, Mom. This is an experiment.

Basically, this book that I'm reading, makes a very compelling case in favor of a carbohydrate-restricted (no sugar, or refined carbohydrates), high protein, high fat diet. I'll blog about it later.

I shared a steak with Tony (cooked as recommended by the lovely Alton Brown). I'm still alive. It wasn't even gross. Keep in mind, I don't think I've eaten any meat in the last 15 years.

Shopping for cow was quite an adventure. Who knew there was so much meat in the world? Not I. The nice man at Target was very helpful, and even wished me good luck (I had shared my personal eating journey with him...we bonded).

Here's what we're having for the rest of this week:

• Tuesday: yummy Jaime Oliver salad
• Wednesday: tofu/bok choy stir fry (I LOVE this stuff)
• Thursday: spinach salad with sugared walnuts, feta, dried cherries, and balsamic vinaigrette (we had something like this at Pizza Lucé and I'm trying to re-create it)
• Friday: lentils with roasted tomatoes and caramelized onions from this cookbook
• Weekend: ? we're off to a concert on Saturday night.

What are you having?

Leave me a comment or send an e-mail to request a recipe.

What's for Dinner?

Thanks, Everyday Food!

What are you having?

P.S. I think I want to make this yummy pie on the weekend.

Vegetarian "Cookbooks" Part II

First, I would just like to say that it was amusing to listen to MPR all day yesterday covering story after story about how the US is in pretty dire circumstances economically, and then have them repeatedly ask us all to contribute. MPR, are you listening to your own stories? Nobody has any money right now. Sorry.

OK.

While it is neither vegetarian, nor a cookbook, I get lots of inspiration every month from Everyday Food magazine. They always have several veg. recipes, AND I find I can easily adapt many of the other recipes to be vegetarian! Another plus, the recipes are really thoroughly tested in their kitchens (no surprises), and are easy for busy weeknights. Not that I really have busy weeknights, mind you, but it's nice to be able to throw together something delicious without always spending hours in the kitchen.

Here is a GREAT "two-fer," just use Morningstar Farms Crumbles instead of ground beef. The beer and the chipotle chiles make this AMAZING!



images via Everyday Food


P.S. If you don't have Neat Receipts, get it. I tear out recipes and ideas from all my magazines, scan them, digitally store them, and recycle the paper! Pretty tidy!