What's in the box, 12/17/14 edition

This week's box:

Brussels sprouts, leeks, carrots, hakurei turnips, parsnips, red cabbage, watermelon radishes, radicchio, kale, and butternut squash.

There are no boxes for the next two weeks due to the holidays, which will hopefully allow me to catch up on the backlog of veggies that's growing in the fridge.

Pasta bar: beet gnocchi, still more kale pesto

A couple of photos of recent pasta dishes, both of which have neon-like colors.

First up are beet gnocchi, made by the husband from a recipe in the cookbook Balaboosta. I found the recipe online at Runner's World. I completely agree with the writer of the Runner's World article -- use far less salt than listed in the recipe or they will be very salty.

Next up is an old standby, kale pesto (for which I've posted a version with pistachios and lemon zest and a version with walnuts). This time, I made it more like a traditional pesto, using romano cheese and toasted almonds. (I've been using almonds in place of pine nuts lately.)

I had some cherry tomatoes on the counter, so I sliced them and mixed them into the pasta and pesto.

What's in the box, 12/10/14 edition

This week's box contains kohlrabi that's larger than a cabbage. It's right there in the center of the photo:

Also in the box: butternut squash, purple top turnips (ah, yes, the familiar feeling of having those arrive more quickly than I can eat them), leeks, daikon radish, celeriac (here's a story from NPR about celeriac, if you don't know much about it, as well as some recipes from Epicurious), beets, kale, and escarole.

I think it's time to start making lots of soup. The weather is certainly right for it.

Links: carb coma

Many of the recipes I'm looking at these days include potatoes and pasta. As the days are getting shorter, colder, and much more gray, a girl's thoughts apparently turn to carb comas....

Food 52's sweet potato and parsnip latkes

Smitten Kitchen's twice baked potatoes with kale

Joy the Baker's mashed potato, cheddar and chive waffles. How have I never heard of doing this before? Brilliant.

Food52's orecchiette with roasted butternut squash and kale

I have the ingredients for all of these recipes from recent boxes. Now I just need to find some time (and motivation, here in the dark days approaching the winter solstice) to try them.

What's in the box, 12/3/14 edition

While students often complain about the large amount of work at the end of the semester, they don't realize that the same thing happens to faculty. Sure, I don't have five classes worth of work to do, but I do have work to grade from classes full of students. Anyway, it's been a busy week, and I never put up the photo of last week's box. I haven't picked up today's box yet, so I've not yet been lapped, but it's pretty close.

In the box last week: carrots, kale, potatoes, cabbage, butternut squash, hakurei turnips, leeks, Brussels sprouts, a huge watermelon radish, and four small heads of lettuce.

Butternut squash, leeks and mushrooms: 3 ingredients, 3.5 dishes

Several times recently, I've spent a couple of hours cooking to make dinner for the night plus meals for the week. Starting with a large butternut squash, I have been making an enchilada casserole, butternut squash soup, and a mushroom and leek quiche.

You'll need a large butternut squash (or two smaller ones), a pound of baby bella mushrooms, 2-3 leeks, a pie shell (plus quiche ingredients: 3-4 eggs and milk), and a bag of Frontera Grill Red Enchilada sauce (I've found it both at Whole Foods and Shaw's near me). I also make rice for serving with the casserole.

Prep your butternut squash by peeling it. Rather than use a peeler, I've been cutting the squash between the bulb and neck first, then putting it on its flat side to cut off the peel with my chef's knife. It cuts off a bit more of the flesh, but you'll be using the peels to make stock anyway, so it's okay.

Cube the butternut squash and roast it in a 400 degree oven for 35-45 minutes, until soft. I stir (and check on the squash) every 10 minutes at the start, then every 5 at the end.

While the butternut squash is roasting, make veggie stock. Put the butternut squash peels in a pot. I cut off the stem and the circle on the bottom end. I also don't put the seeds into the stock, but I suppose that you could. Add in the trimmings from your mushrooms and leeks as you prep those. Cover your trimmings with water, bring to almost a boil, then reduce the temperature to simmer, partially covered, for at least 30 minutes. When done simmering, uncover the stock and let it cool.

With the stock simmering and butternut squash roasting, sauté the leeks in some olive oil.

After about 5 minutes, add the mushrooms and cook for another 5-8 minutes.

Once done, turn off the heat. You'll put about half into a prepared pie crust; the other half will go into the enchilada casserole. (See this post on making quiche for more details on making the quiche -- just be sure to cut the ingredients in half, as that original post was for two quiches.)

Cook the quiche in the oven, which can be concurrent with the butternut squash roasting. You'll need to drop the oven temp, which will just mean that the squash will take a bit longer to roast.

Here's the remaining mushrooms and leeks, for the casserole.

And the roasted butternut squash.

And the cooling stock.

Add about half of the butternut squash to the mushroom and leek mixture. Then stir in the enchilada sauce and some cheese (cheddar or gruyere work well).

Transfer the mixture to a casserole dish. Top with pepitas, if desired. Cook uncovered for 30-35 minutes in a 350 oven until the mixture is bubbling. I start my rice about 10 minutes before the casserole goes into the oven, so it will be ready at the same time.

By this time, the quiche is done. I let it cool on the counter before putting it into the fridge. The quiche is for another day.

Here's the remaining butternut squash, waiting to be made into soup. I'll do that after dinner, as it'll be easier to handle the cooled stock and squash. (Don't ever put hot liquid into a blender, because it makes a huge, explosive mess.)

Here's the casserole, ready to eat. This time, I didn't put the pepitas on it. Most times, I do, as they add a nice crunch.

After dinner, strain the stock. Make the soup by putting the remaining squash and some stock into a blender. Process it until smooth. You can add as much stock as you'd like, depending upon whether you'd like a thicker or thinner soup. I transfer the soup into glass jars for packing in lunches, as I prefer to warm things in glass instead of plastic.

Transfer the remaining stock to canning jars. I usually end up with about 4-6 cups after making the soup. (You could measure your water into the stock pan to have a more definite outcome, but I just eyeball it.) The stock can be used for risotto (recipe coming soon), braising cabbage (also coming soon), or making more soups.

One cooking session, three dishes, plus stock to make more.

Roasted Brussels sprouts over pasta with ricotta

This season, we've received more Brussels sprouts in the weekly boxes than in prior years. It's been a good thing, as I've been enjoying them. Mostly, I've been roasting them in a 400 degree oven for about 35 minutes. 

Here are the prepped Brussels sprouts. I trim off the ends, then wash them. I put any loose leaves directly into the pan, and cut the sprouts in half. I also add a sliced onion. Then I coat them with olive oil, salt and pepper and put them into the oven.

 I stirred at 10 minutes:

 And again at 20 minutes:

Checked and stirred again at 30 minutes:

And, finally, took them out at 35 minutes. The loose leaves will get crispy. You might want to sample them during the 20 and 30 minute stirrings.

Husband had his as a side dish for some beef ribs. I decided to put them over some pasta (which I started cooking a few minutes after the 20 minute stir). I put the roasted sprouts and onions over the pasta, then drizzled with a bit of good olive oil.

But something was missing....

The dish was ready after the addition of a scoop of fresh ricotta.

I'd definitely recommend this dish. It's a bit of a pierogi mashup -- with the pasta standing in for the dough, the sprouts and onions for the cabbage and sauerkraut, and the ricotta for the cheese (typically farmer's cheese, but my family makes them with a mix of ricotta and potato).