Week 3

We are thoroughly enjoying our adventures with our CSA share. Up until this point, I have been just adding the greens to basically everything (salad, sandwiches, etc.) and eating the turnips and radishes raw or in salads. I haven't tried an actual recipe until today. We just had Braised Mixed Greens for dinner and it was a success! Everyone, including our littlest one, finished their meal and Brian (who is not normally a fan of vegetarian meals) even had seconds. The recipe is as follows:

Braised Mixed Greens

1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for finishing

1 small onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, 1 slivered, 1 halved

1 lb greens, such as chard, broccoli rabe, spinach, kale, washed and chopped

A few leaves or a few handfuls of sorrel, 5 or 6 lovage leaves or a handful of chopped cilantro and parsley

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 ½ cups cooked beans (borlotti, cannelloni, etc), home cooked or canned

3 to 4 slices chewy country bread

Shaved parmesan or crumbled gorgonzola

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet or Dutch over. Add the onion and cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally. Once the onion starts to soften a bit, after 3 or 4 minutes, add the slivered garlic. Cook for a minute more, then add the greens and any herbs. Season with ½ teaspoon salt.

2. As the greens cook down, turn them in the pan to bring the ones on top closer to the heat. Once they've all collapsed, add ½ cup water or bean broth, lower the heat and cook. Partially covered, until tender. Depending on the greens as long as 20. Just make sure there is some liquid in the pan for sauce. When the greens are done, add the beans, heat them through, then taste for salt and season with pepper.

3. Toast the bread and rub it with the halved garlic. Arrange on plates and spoon on the greens and beans. Drizzle with olive oil. Garnish with the cheese, if using, and serve.

Serves 3 – 4

This recipe is from Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen also the source of the Wine Braised Lentils. A terrific book, it also has a lot of vegan options.

When I made this, I used:
-a combination of broccoli rabe, kale, and braising greens
-1 15 oz. can of pinto beans
- an extra garlic clove chopped
-garlic infused olive oil to brush on the bread before toasting

We also tried making kale chips today and they were a big hit, although a little too salty!

One of the best things about joining a CSA for us has been eating vegetables we never would have bought at the store and exposing our girls to the farm, the veggies, and the story of how they make it from a seed to our plate! It is a ton of fun for me to experiment with the cooking as well!