Vegetables

Ingredients
For turnips
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 pounds medium turnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch-thick wedges
1 ¹⁄₂ cups water
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

For bread crumbs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

Instructions
1. Braise turnips: Melt butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, then add turnips, water, lemon juice, and ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, 30 minutes. Increase heat to medium and stir turnips, then briskly simmer, uncovered, until all of liquid has evaporated and turnips are glazed and just tender, 20 to 35 minutes (they should be cooked through but still retain their shape).

2. Make bread crumbs while turnips cook: Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook garlic, stirring, until pale golden, about 1 minute. Add bread crumbs and poppy seeds and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in parsley and salt to taste. Just before serving, sprinkle bread crumbs over turnips.  

Comments
I found this recipe on epicurious.com while searching for recipes that would use up the turnips I’ve been getting.  Sadly, I don’t have a scale at home and I didn’t end up with anywhere close to 2 pounds of turnips!  But I made this anyway and it was great.  The leftover bread crumbs went on Art’s salad and he was pleased with the result there as well.  These were very flavorful and I think it would be easy enough to modify this recipe for potatoes if turnips aren’t available.

Internet - Epicurious

Ingredients
2 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 ounces mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
1 to 1 ¹⁄₂ pounds kale, tough stems removed, leaves coarsely chopped, rinsed and drained
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved (about ³⁄₄ pounds)
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
1 cup polenta or cornmeal
¹⁄₂ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350*F.

2. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan. Add the garlic, onion, and mushrooms and stir to mix. Add the kale, tomatoes, and ¹⁄₂ teaspoon of the salt. Without stirring, cover the pan and cook over medium heat until the kale is wilted well below the top of the pan, about 5 minutes.  I used a 12-inch skillet that has pretty high sides.

3. Stir to mix the kale with the other ingredients in the pan, cover again, and continue cooking for 5 minutes more or until the kale is well wilted. Transfer the mixture to a large baking dish or ovenproof casserole and set aside.

4. Meanwhile, bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Place the polenta, the remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and another cup of water in a medium bowl and whisk to smooth.

5. Pour the polenta mixture into the boiling water and whisk to mix. Reduce the heat to medium or low to maintain a simmer and cook, stirring often, until the polenta is thick and stirs easily away from the sides of the pan with bubbles rising from the center as you stir, about 20 minutes.

6. Pour the polenta over the vegetables in the casserole, spreading evenly. Bake for 30 minutes or until the polenta forms a crust and shows a few golden specks across the top. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and serve right away.  

Comments
This recipe is adapted from a recipe in The Gardener’s Community Cookbook.  It’s the first time I’ve ever had kale and I’m not entirely sure if I’m sold on it yet.  This dish was good, and flavorful, and if you like kale you’ll most likely like this.

The Gardener’s Community Cookbook

Ingredients 1 cup all purpose flour
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
1 to 1 ¹⁄₈ cups chilled seltzer or club soda
Pattypan squash or other summer squash (I used these 3 and probably had enough batter for 3 more of the same size.  The table tiles are 6”x6” to give you an idea of scale)  
Oil for frying.  (I used Safflower since it was the only non-olive oil I had in the house.  Vegetable oil works fine)

Instructions
1. In a bowl whisk together flour and salt. Whisk in 1 cup seltzer, whisking until smooth and let batter stand 10 minutes. If necessary, thin batter with enough of remaining seltzer to reach consistency of crepe batter.  

2. Heat in a deep pot over medium-high heat.  I didn’t have a lot of oil at my disposal, so I ended up using a small saucepan with 1 ¹⁄₂ cups of oil.  

3. Slice squash thinly into discs or half moons.  Dip squash into the batter to evenly coat.  

4. Fry squash in small batches, allowing plenty of room so the pieces do not stick to each other.  Fry until light golden brown.  Drain on a rack over paper towels.  

Comments
Pattypans are very similar in taste to zucchini and yellow squash.  They’re also beautiful.  Battering and frying them was the recommendation I got from the farmer so I decided to give this a try.  This is a pretty generic tempura recipe that you could easily use for many different types of vegetables.

Shown here with Southwest Asian Grilled Flank Steak and Soy Dipping Sauce.

Unknown

Ingredients
12 ounces center-cut bacon, cut into ¹⁄₂” pieces
1 green garlic head, including stalk, chopped (about 3 tablespoons) OR equal amount of garlic
8-10 cups turnip greens, chopped (Can be made with any tender greens.)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions
1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add bacon to skillet and sauté until most of the fat is rendered but the bacon is not yet crisp.  

2. Add garlic and turnip greens, increase heat to medium-high.  Sauté until greens are just wilted, stems should be crisp.  

3. Season with a generous pinch of salt, black pepper, and serve.  

Note: Any combination of onion, garlic, or shallots would work well for this dish.  Green garlic is young garlic that looks similar to a green onion and can be used in the same manner.  I used it because it’s what I had on hand; feel free to use what you have on hand.  

Comments
Having never had turnip greens before, I asked around for advice on what to do with them.  “Sauté with bacon and onions” seemed to be the prevailing advice, so I opted to go for that this first time.  While these were delicious, Lance feels that they were a cheat due to the bacon fat and I happen to agree with him, hence the name of the recipe.  I’ll admit that I find greens to be a bit scary, so I erred on the side of bacon.  

If you wanted a non-cheating method, you could reduce the bacon to only a few strips, drain the fat after sautéing the bacon, cut out the bacon all together and use olive oil, or any other method of getting fat (and flavor) into the pan that suits your dietary desires.  In the future, I will probably make turnip greens with fewer strips of bacon and drain some of the fat off before adding the greens.  

That all being said, did I mention that these were amazingly delicious?

Shown here with Crunchy Buttermilk-Coconut Chicken Fingers and Buttermilk Drop Biscuits.

Person - Gwen

Ingredients
1 ¹⁄₄ pound turnips, peeled and cut into ¹⁄₄-inch-thick slices (I used all the turnips shown in the previous two CSA posts and I don’t have a scale)
Cooking spray
¹⁄₂ teaspoon kosher salt
¹⁄₂ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into ¹⁄₈-inch-thick slices (about 2 pounds)
8 ounces  Swiss cheese, grated or sliced and divided
³⁄₄ cup chicken broth

Instructions
1. Place turnips in medium saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and pat dry.

2. Preheat oven to 350*F.

3. Arrange one-third of turnips in a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with one-third of salt and one-third of pepper. Arrange half of potato over turnip. Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of cheese evenly over potato. Arrange one-third of turnips over cheese; sprinkle with one-third of salt and one-third of pepper. Arrange remaining potato over turnip. Arrange remaining turnips over potatoes; sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper. Pour broth over vegetables. Cover with foil, pressing foil down into turnip slices. Bake at 350*F for 1 hour.

4. Preheat broiler.

5. Uncover vegetables; sprinkle with remaining 6 tablespoons cheese. Broil 8 minutes or until lightly browned.  

Comments
This is another recipe adapted from Cooking Light.  I’d never eaten a turnip before tonight and I was pleasantly surprised.  Their taste is stronger than that of potatoes, I could definitely tell the difference between the turnip pieces and the potato pieces while eating this.  

This was a very tasty dish.  The only downside was it being a bit watery in the bottom of the dish, but a slotted spoon solved that problem.  If I made it again, I might try using some half and half for some of the broth called for in the recipe.  It might also be good with some Parmesan cheese added on top.  I greatly enjoyed it just the way it was and so did Art and Lance.

Cooking Light

Ingredients
¹⁄₄ medium green cabbage (I used an entire Jersey Wakefield cabbage which measured about 5-6 cups after slicing)
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced (Feel free to use more if you love garlic.  You can even throw in some shallot or onion if you’ve got it)

Instructions
1. Core and very thinly slice the cabbage.

2. Melt the butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat.  When it is bubbling, add the cabbage and garlic.  Stir occasionally and cook until mostly wilted, about 10 minutes. (If you’re using a more tender cabbage, this will take less time.)

3. Salt and pepper the cabbage.  Turn the heat down to medium-low and let cook, stirring every few minutes, until cabbage is starting to brown, about 10 minutes. 

4. Taste, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.

Comments
I didn’t grow up eating cabbage and I guess the best way to start to like any vegetable is to sauté it with butter.  Or bacon fat.  This recipe goes the butter route and is delicious.  The flavor of the cabbage really comes through in this simple dish.  Most often, I serve this with Corned Beef, but it is extremely versatile.  

This recipe came to me via a friend, and it came to her from Recipe Zaar.

Shown here with Slow Cooker Corned Beef.

Internet - Recipe Zaar

Ingredients
4 to 5 pounds broccoli (I used 4 good-sized bunches)
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 ¹⁄₂ tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons kosher salt
¹⁄₂ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons lemon zest (I zested one whole lemon since we love that lemony goodness)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted (Toast pine nuts in a dry skillet, stirring until lightly coloured and fragrant)  
¹⁄₃ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, julienned (about 12 leaves)

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Cut the broccoli into florets. Place the broccoli florets on one or two sheet pans and spread out to form a single layer. Toss the garlic on the broccoli and drizzle with 5 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned.

3. Remove the broccoli from the oven and immediately toss with 1 ¹⁄₂ tablespoons olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, pine nuts, Parmesan, and basil. Serve hot.

Comments
Again, this picture does not do the broccoli justice, but it does give a glimpse of the brilliant green after roasting.  The recipe is adapted from everyone’s favorite barefoot contessa, Ina Garten.  I got four bunches of beautiful broccoli at the farmer’s market during the weekend and wanted to make something different than what I’ve done in the past.  It has only been recently in my life that I’ve started to explore the wide world of roasted vegetables, and equally recently that I’ve learned you can’t crowd the pan to effectively roast, so I decided to give the technique a go with my beloved broccoli.  

It’s safe to say that this was a success and the star of the meal.  The broccoli was a gorgeous green and extremely flavorful.  I might have a hard time trying new broccoli (recipes in the future because this one was so fantastic.

Shown here with Chicken Dijon.

Internet - Ina Garten

Ingredients
2 bunches Swiss chard, about ³⁄₄ pound
3 ounce pancetta, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
¹⁄₄ teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions
1. Rinse and drain chard; pat dry with paper towels. Trim stalks from chard leaves, reserving stalks and leaves. Coarsely chop stalks to equal 1 cup; discard remaining stalks. Chop leaves.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pancetta to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Add garlic and chard stalks to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add half of the chard leaves to pan; sauté 1 minute or until leaves wilt, stirring frequently. Add remaining chard leaves and pepper to pan, sauté 1 minute or until leaves wilt, stirring frequently. Sprinkle with cheese.

Comments
This is adapted from a Cooking Light recipe.  I’ve never had chard before and this seemed like a nice and simple recipe to start out with.  The verdict is that chard tastes quite a bit like spinach and this dish was very flavorful thanks to the pancetta, garlic, and red pepper as well.  I have a feeling we’ll be getting quite a bit of chard in the weeks to come and it’s nice to know that all three of us found it to be enjoyable.

The original recipe only called for an ounce of pancetta but 3 ounces came home from the store and, well, pig fat is tasty fat so it all got used.

Cooking Light