Vegetables

Ingredients
4 green tomatoe,s cut into ¹⁄₂-inch slices
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup finely ground cornmeal
1 teaspoon paprika
2 eggs
Vegetable oil

Instructions
1. Sprinkle the tomato slices with the salt and pepper; set aside.

2. Combine the cornmeal and paprika in a shallow bowl. In another bowl, beat the eggs.

3. Cover the bottom of a heavy skillet with ¹⁄₂ inch of oil and heat over medium-high heat.

4. Coat the tomato slices in the egg, then dredge them in the cornmeal mixture.

5. Fry as many tomatoes as fit comfortably in the pan until nicely browned, about 2 minutes a side.  Transfer them to a paper towel-lined platter. Repeat until all the tomatoes are cooked.

Comments
This recipe is from Epicurious.com.  I’ve wanted to try fried green tomatoes since reading the book in high school.  These have a very fruity and tart taste.  I’m not sure that I’ll ever make them again but I’m very glad that I finally got to try them.  

Shown here with Roasted Potatoes, Carrots and Shallots with Rosemary and Tatanka Burger.

Internet - Epicurious

Ingredients
1 ¹⁄₄ pounds wax (yellow) or green beans, trimmed
1 tablespoon mild honey
³⁄₄ teaspoon lemon zest
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt

Instructions
1. Cook beans in a 4-quart pot of boiling salted water until just tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain in a colander, then immediately toss with honey, zest, and salt in a large bowl.

Note: You can also steam the beans or microwave them to reach desired tenderness.  

Comments
This recipe is from Epicurious.com.  I’ve never had wax beans before and these were delicious.  The flavor of the beans is similar to green beans, but slightly milder.  The lemon zest added a fantastic aroma and the honey gave a nice bit of sweetness.  Art is a lover of beans and declared this to be awesome.  Lance is not a lover of beans but he had seconds.  I’d say this was a success!

Shown here with Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce.

Internet - Epicurious

Ingredients
Eggplant(s)
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Lemon juice

Instructions
1. Slice eggplant(s) into ¹⁄₂-inch thick planks.  Place in bowl and toss with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice.  

2. Heat grill or grill pan.  Grill slices for 3-5 minutes per side until nicely browned.  

Comments
I don’t have a grill, but I have a grill pan!  I picked up some eggplants at the market and was told they were great for grilling, so I decided to give it a go.  These were so easy and so flavorful and delicious.  Everything in the recipe is to taste and dependent upon how many eggplants you’re using.  I used the two pictured in my last CSA post and a few good grinds of pepper, about a tablespoon of oil, and a pinch of kosher salt.  Yum.

Person - Gwen

Ingredients
6 medium beets, trimmed, leaving 1 inch of stems attached
2 ¹⁄₂ pounds carrots, cut diagonally into ³⁄₄-inch-thick slices
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Pinch of dried thyme
Pinch of dried marjoram
Zest of 1 lemon

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Wrap beets tightly in foil, making 2 packages, and roast in middle of oven on a baking sheet until tender, about 1 ¹⁄₄ hours.

2. Toss carrots in a shallow baking pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

3. Remove beets from oven and roast carrots in middle of oven until tender, about 20 minutes.

4. While carrots are roasting, unwrap beets and, when just cool enough to handle, slip off skins and remove stems. Cut each beet into 4-6 wedges, depending on the size of the beet.  You’re aiming for pieces that are roughly the same size as your carrot pieces.  

5. Add beets to carrots, tossing to combine, and roast until beets are hot and carrots are very tender, about 15 minutes more.

6. Whisk remaining olive oil, balsamic vinegar, thyme, marjoram and lemon zest together.  Toss with roasted vegetables and serve.  

Comments
This is modified from a recipe I found on Epicurious.com.  I’ve really come to love beets these past weeks and this recipe brought out a lot of the natural sweetness of both the beets and the carrots.  The dressing is a great compliment.  Sadly, I barely had a pound of each of the veggies, but it worked out to be the perfect amount for the three of us as a side dish for hamburgers.  

This is the first blog picture with my lightbox!  I’m very happy about this.  :D

Internet - Epicurious

Ingredients
1 bunch Swiss chard
4 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
¹⁄₂ cup Jarlsberg cheese, shredded
2 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons dried bread crumbs
2 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated
3 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
6 sheets phyllo dough, thawed

Instructions
1. THAW PHYLLO DOUGH.  This is very important and a good thing to remember the day before you’re making the recipe.  Don’t be like me and forget until the night you’re planning to prepare this only to have to shift all of your meals around to compensate for a day of thawing.  

2. Preheat oven to 375*F.  

3. Rinse and drain the chard. Remove the stems, trim and discard the woody bottoms, chop the rest, and set aside. Coarsely chop the leaves.

4. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a skillet over low heat. Add the onion and sauté until wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chard stems, and cook 3 minutes.

5. Stir in the chard leaves, and cook 3 minutes more. Drain off the excess liquid, and transfer the mixture to a bowl. Season with the salt and pepper. Stir in the Jarlsberg, 1 tablespoon of the crumbs, and the Parmesan. Set aside.

6. Stir the butter and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil together in a small bowl.

7. Open 1 sheet of phyllo on a work surface. Brush it with some of the butter and oil mixture. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the crumbs.

8. Top with 4 more sheets of phyllo, brushing each with butter and oil and sprinkling each with crumbs. Top with the remaining sheet, and brush it with butter and oil.

9. Spoon the filling along one short end of the phyllo, leaving about 1 ¹⁄₂ inches empty on each side. Fold the long sides in, overlapping the filling by 1 ¹⁄₂ inches, to enclose the ends of the filling.

10. Roll the phyllo and filling over onto itself to form a strudel roll. Place it on a baking sheet seam side down and brush the top with any remaining butter and oil. Bake until deep golden, 25 minutes. Let the strudel stand for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Comments
This recipe is from The New Basics Cookbook.  Since I got two bunches of chard this week, and wanted to do something different with at least one of them, this is the recipe I decided to try.  We all loved it and found it delicious, but I have a feeling that you could wrap anything in phyllo dough and it would turn out well!

Shown here with Filet Mignon and Mushrooms.

New Basics Cookbook

Ingredients
1 pound beets and potatoes (I used mostly beets and 1 small Yukon gold potato in order to get a pound of roots)
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
¹⁄₄ cup flour
2 tablespoons butter

Instructions
1. Trim the beets and potatoes and peel; shred them in a food processor or by hand. Begin preheating a medium to large non-stick skillet over medium heat.

2. Toss the grated beets and potatoes in a bowl with the rosemary and salt, then add about half the flour; toss well, add the rest of the flour, then toss again.

3. Place the butter in the skillet and heat until it begins to turn light brown. Scrape the beet and potato mixture into the skillet, shape it into a nice circle, and press it down with a spatula. Turn the heat to medium-high and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the bottom of the beet cake is nicely crisp, 6 to 8 minutes.

4. Slide the cake out onto a plate, top with another plate, invert the two plates, and slide the cake back into the pan. Continue to cook, adjusting the heat if necessary, until the second side is browned. Cut into wedges and serve immediately.  

Comments
This recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman’s fantastic How to Cook Everything.  There’s even a new edition that I hadn’t been aware of, so there’s one more cookbook for my wish list.  The original recipe called for a pound of beets but I didn’t have quite that many, so I added in a potato to make up the weight.  

I found this to be delicious, Lance liked it, and Art was a little dubious.  Perhaps I’m turning into a lover of beets?  

Shown here with Pan-Glazed Chicken with Basil.

How to Cook Everything

Ingredients
1 unbaked pie shell
12 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
2 -3 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
¹⁄₄ cup fresh basil, chopped or chiffonade
Salt and pepper
Balsamic vinegar, for serving

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 425*F.  Place the pie shell in a pie plate, poke holes in the pie shell, and bake for 15 minutes.  

2. Reduce heat to 400* F.

3. Layer the bottom of the pie shell with half of the mozzarella cheese.  Sprinkle cheese with salt and pepper and half of the basil.  Layer half of the sliced tomatoes over the basil.  Repeat these layers with the remaining cheese, basil, and tomatoes.  If you have any extra basil, add it to the top of the pie.  

4. Bake for 45 minutes until the cheese is melted and the tomatoes start to shrivel.  Serve hot from the oven or at room temperature.  Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar if desired.  

Comments
I ran across this recipe online and knew I had to make it.  I love tomatoes, I love caprese, and I love pie!  I did make a few modifications to the recipe to get the recipe that you see here.  This was fantastic and all three of us enjoyed it.  I used a combination of red and yellow tomatoes and separated them by layer.

Internet - Kitchen Girl Jo

Ingredients
16 very thin pancetta slices (Italian bacon; about one 3-ounce package)
2 large turnips or 4 small turnips, peeled, each cut into 8 or 4 wedges for a total of 16 wedges
1 large egg
1 ¹⁄₂ cups sesame seeds
Vegetable oil for frying

Instructions
1. Wrap 1 pancetta slice around 1 turnip wedge, covering most of turnip. Repeat with remaining pancetta slices and turnip wedges.  The pancetta should unroll which makes this easy.  

2. Line rimmed baking sheet with waxed paper. Whisk egg in medium bowl to blend and place sesame seeds in another medium bowl. Dip each pancetta-wrapped turnip wedge into beaten egg to coat, then dip into sesame seeds, turning to coat generously on all sides. Place on prepared baking sheet.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour enough vegetable oil into heavy medium saucepan to reach depth of 2 inches. Attach deep-fry thermometer to side of pan and heat oil to 350°F. Working in batches, add sesame-coated turnip wedges to oil, and deep-fry until sesame seeds are golden, about 1 minute (turnips will be very crunchy).  (I did this in my Le Creuset over high heat.)  

4. Transfer turnips to paper towels to drain. Arrange turnips on rimmed baking sheet and bake just until turnips are beginning to soften, about 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

Comments
I found this recipe on Epicurious.com while looking for something new and exciting to do with turnips.  I’m pretty sure if you wrap anything in bacon, coat it in sesame seeds, and fry it, that it will taste delicious.  Turnips are no exception.  These were very tasty!

Internet - Epicurious

Ingredients
Oil for frying
4 eggs
1 cup half-and-half, or other dairy that you have on hand
4 cups pattypan squash
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt

Instructions
1. Shred squash using grater, mandolin, or food processor.  

2. Heat ¹⁄₂ inch of oil in a large, deep skillet.  

3. Beat the eggs, milk and oil into the squash in a large bowl, then add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix until combined.

4. Drop tablespoons of batter into hot oil.  Cook until browned on one side, flip with a spatula, and cook until brown on the other side.  

5. Remove from skillet and drain.  Continue to cook fritters in batches until done.  

6. Serve with Horseradish Sauce once drained.  

Comments
I found this recipe on Recipezaar while searching for a way to use the bounty of pattypan squashes I bought at the Farmer’s Market.  Art was sad that he missed Tempura Pattypans the other week, so I promised him that I’d find a similar recipe for him to enjoy.  I served these with Horseradish Sauce and they were gobbled up.  This would work equally well with zucchini or other summer squashes. This recipe made enough to feed 4-6 people and is easy to halve if you are feeding fewer people.

Shown here with Horseradish Sauce.

Internet - Recipe Zaar

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
¹⁄₂ teaspoon mild paprika, preferably hungarian
6 small yellow summer squash, cut into 2 by ¹⁄₂-inch strips
2 tablespoons fresh dill chopped
Juice of one lemon, about 1 ¹⁄₂ tablespoons
4 ounces soft chèvre, thinned with milk to a yogurt-like consistency
Salt, optional

Instructions
1. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and paprika and sauté until the onion is well wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in the squash, dill, and lemon juice and sauté 1 minute more. Cover the pan and cook over low heat until the squash is barely tender, about 4 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and stir in the chèvre. Taste and add salt if necessary. Serve right away.

Note: Any summer squash or zucchini can be used in place of the yellow squash, or a combination of whatever you have on hand.

Comments
This is adapted from the Gardeners’ Community Cookbook and was chosen to use up the yellow squash I’d gotten from the market.  And, of course, I love goat cheese.  The recipe turned out great and I’d love to experiment with other squashes in the future.

Shown here with Broiled Salmon with Fresh Tomato Salsa.

The Gardener’s Community Cookbook