CSA Week 2 & 3

On to Week 2 CSA!  Miss Week 1?  Check it out here.  Here's what I picked up at City Hall last Wednesday.

Free Range Eggs

Shelling Peas

Green Beans

Blueberries

Kohlrabi

Spring Onions

Pak Choi

Pea Tendrils

As you saw from my last post, I had a busy weekend so I didn't end up really using any of these ingredients until Monday.  Actually, thats a lie.  Saturday morning after my long run (and my painful fall, more on that later) I cooked up some sunny-side-up eggs with toast and bacon.

Look at those yolks! Huge, mmmmm! Okay moving on...

Monday, I spent awhile searching for a recipe that used both spring onions and kohlrabi.  I had little success.  I also wanted to make some sort of tart or pie- but I didn't want to use or make pie crust.  I wanted to be healthy!  So I brainstormed on Gretchen's blog and found a recipe for Zucchini Pie which now that I look back was actually inspired by my Italian Tart that I made last July 4th Weekend. Haha! 

Anyway, the idea was making the crust using Brown Rice, Eggs and Cheese.  I used microwaveable brown rice and then mixed it with 1 egg and some Mexican blend cheese.  Mixed it together in a 9inch glass pie dish and threw it in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes. Take it out and let cool.

So after I thought of the pie crust, I needed to think about the ingredients for the filling.  I decided to boil the leaves of the kohlrabi and the kale for 15 minutes in salted water.  At the same time, I sauteed some chopped spring onions (have you tried these, they are amazing!).  I drained the greens and squeezed off the excess water and let the greens cool.  In with the spring onions, I made a roux of butter, flour and milk.  Then I added in some cheddar cheese/monterey cheese.  Once I got a nice thick sauce, I added the kale and kohlrabi leaves. Then I filled up the rice crust with the cream sauce and add in some diced pepperoni or whatever you have around (bacon, prosciutto). Add another sprinkling of cheese (I think I used Cheddar). Bake for 20 minutes and voila!

Kohlrabi, Kale & Spring Onion Cheesy Rice Pie

So I served this with roasted Kohlrabi cubes and roasted Green Beans.  I roasted these two veggies with salt and pepper and olive oil. I really liked the green beans and I thought the kohlrabi was only okay.  They were kind of hard even though I roasted them for 50 minutes.  Maybe next time I will make them into fries?

So in one meal, I used 4 ingredients straight from the my farm- Spring Onions, Green Beans, Kohlrabi and Kale. Yum!

Moving on to CSA Week 3 which I just picked up on Wednesday (yesterday).

Fresh Tomatoes, Broccoli, Spring Onions, Zucchini, Radishes, Salad Greens, Lettuce and Hannahbells Cheese.

And with some of those ingredients and last weeks ingredients, I made a three-course Vegetarian Dinner.  First up Bok Choy Salad (using my Pak Choi from last week)

Bok Choy Salad

Ingredients:

2 (3-ounce) packages ramen noodle soup mix

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

3 tablespoons slivered almonds, chopped

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

1/8 cup cider vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 bok choy, shredded or pok choi

6 green onions, chopped

1/2 red pepper, diced

2 small spring onions, chopped in semi circles
Instructions:
Remove flavor packets from soup mix; reserve for another use. Crumble noodles. Combine noodles, sunflower seeds, and almonds. Spread on a sheet pan. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown; set aside. Bring sugar and next 3 ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Once combined, add spring onions, pok choi, red pepper and green onions to sauce pan for 2-3 minutes until slightly wilted. Remove from heat. Combine greens and sauce together in large bowl. Add in ramen noodle mixture, tossing together.

I also made delicious Hot-Sichuan-Style Green Beans with Slivered Almonds.

Hot Sichuan-Style Green Beans

Ingredients:
1 pound green beans

2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon hot chili flakes 

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons of slivered almonds

Instructions:
Rinse and drain green beans; trim off and discard stem ends. In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, chili flakes, and white pepper. Set a 10- to 12-inch frying pan over high heat. When pan is hot, add beans and 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook, stirring once, until beans are bright green and slightly crunchy to bite, 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover and cook until any remaining water has evaporated. Add oil, garlic to pan; stir until green beans and garlic are lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir soy mixture and add to pan; bring to a boil and stir until most of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce thickens and coats the beans, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour into a serving dish.

 And last but not least, I made a recipe from Closet Kitchen's blog:  

Asparagus Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Makes Two Sandwiches

Ingredients:

6-8 stalk asparagus (trimmed and cleaned)
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons grainy mustard, 1 teaspoon of dijon
Couple slices of Gruyere Cheese and 1 Hannahbell Cheese
4 slices of bread
Cooking Spray

Directions: 

Toss the asparagus in the oil, salt and pepper. Arrange the asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast in a preheated 400F oven until tender, about 10-30 minutes. Assemble sandwich and grill until the broiler until the cheese has melted and the bread is golden brown on both sides, about 2-4 minutes per side.

*Oh so about running.  I fell in the trails on Saturday and sprained my ankle.  After the fall, I ran 5 miles more on it so I didn't think it was a big deal.  But it hurt the next couple days and yesterday I went to Physical Therapy and I do have a light sprain.  It's not a huge deal, but I'm going to go back to PT tomorrow and then run on the treadmill and my long run on Sunday. Most likely on the treadmill! So this week's training mileage will be wicked low! Oh well!