Pizza!

One of my very favorite things in the world is pizza. This weekend I treated myself (and my neighbors) to some pizza using toppings from this week's CSA share.

Pizza #1: tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella (from B.W.), and basil (from our backyard).


Pizza #2: sauteed swiss chard and onion, fresh mozzarella

Carne Asada Tacos

Original recipe here

Our version (trying to avoid the grocery store) below:

Ingredients
* 2 pounds beef cubes from B.W.
* 3 tablespoons white vinegar
* 1/4 cup soy sauce
* 2-1/2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1-1/4 limes, juiced
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon paprika

* 3/4 white onion, chopped
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
* 1 lime, juiced

* 1-1/2 large tomatoes, chopped
* 1-1/2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
* 1 white onion, quartered
* 2 cloves garlic, peeled
* salt and pepper to taste

* 1 package corn tortillas
* 2 cups crumbled Mexican white cheese (optional)
* 1 lime, cut into wedges


Directions
1. Lay the beef cubes in a large glass baking dish. In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, lime juice, and olive oil. Season with salt, black pepper, white pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, oregano, cumin and paprika. Whisk until well blended, then pour over the steak in the dish. Turn over once to coat both sides. Cover with plastic wrap, and marinate for at least one hour.
2. In a small bowl, stir together chopped white onion, cilantro, and the lime juice. Set aside to use as a relish for the tacos.
3. Place the tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, and garlic onto a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes at 450 degrees, until toasted but not burnt. Place the roasted vegetables into a blender or food processor, along with salt and pepper. Puree until smooth.
4. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook marinated beef cubes, stirring regularly, until the meat is cooked through and most of the liquid has evaporated.
5. Warm the tortillas in a skillet for about a minute on each side to make them pliable. Arrange two or three tortillas on a plate, and lay a generous amount of beef over them. Top with a sprinkle of the onion relish and a large spoonful of the pureed salsa. Add as much cheese as you like. Garnish with lime wedges, and serve.

Sorry, no picture. We were starving and forgot to document this one. Here's a photo from Melissa @ AllRecipes.


MelissaJean. Taqueria Style Tacos - Carne Asada. February 3, 2006. AllRecipes. Web. September 6, 2010.

Two Excellent Kale Suggestions

A few years ago I had never even eaten it, but kale has become one of the items that Katie and I really look forward to in the summer. These two recipes are some of our favorite ways to use kale.

Caldo Verde

Ingredients

* 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
* 1 onion, minced
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 6 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
* 2 quarts fresh veggie stock
* 6 ounces linguica sausage, thinly sliced (any sausage will work)
* 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
* ground black pepper to taste
* 1 pound kale, rinsed and julienned

Directions

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook onion and garlic in 3 tablespoons olive oil for 3 minutes. Stir in potatoes and cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes more. Pour in stock, bring to a boil, and let boil gently for 20 minutes, until potatoes are soft.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-low heat, cook sausage until it has released most of its fat, 10 minutes. Drain.
3. Mash potatoes or puree the potato mixture with an immersion blender or food processor. Stir the sausage, salt and pepper into the soup and return to medium heat. Cover and simmer 5 minutes.
4. Just before serving, stir kale into soup and simmer, 5 minutes, until kale is tender and jade green. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and serve at once.


Baked Kale Chips

Ingredients

* 1 bunch kale
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.


Don't forget that the Breezy Willow site has hundreds of recipe ideas using items from our shares, too. Check the BW link on the right hand side of this page.

corn chowder with roasted poblanos

Upon seeing that we had been granted the boon of fresh corn a few weeks back, my good friend Natalie suggested this recipe for corn chowder from the Mayo Clinic. I then made it with a few modifications, and it was good. Damn good.

• 2 poblano or Anaheim chilies, halved lengthwise and seeded (I picked up 2 poblanos for this)
• 2 or 3 Yukon gold or red-skinned potatoes, about 1 pound total weight, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks (I used 1 pound of mixed potatoes from my share)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup diced celery
• 1/2 red bell pepper (capsicum), seeded and diced (as Laura loathes bell peppers, I substituted a banana pepper instead)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from about 4 ears corn) or frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 2 cups vegetable stock or broth
• 1 cup 1 percent low-fat milk
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (fresh coriander)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Preheat a gas grill or broiler (grill). Position the cooking rack 4 to 6 inches from the heat source.

Arrange the chilies skin-side down on the grill rack, or skin-side up on a broiler pan lined with aluminum foil. Grill or broil until the skins begin to blacken, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let steam until the skins loosen, about 10 minutes. Peel the chilies, discarding the blackened skin, and chop coarsely. Set aside.

Put the potatoes in a saucepan, add water to cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and transfer to a small bowl. With a potato masher, partially mash the potatoes and set aside.

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and bell pepper and saute until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and cook for 3 to 4 minutes longer. Stir in the roasted chilies and the partially mashed potatoes. Add the corn, vegetable stock, milk, pepper and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Simmer uncovered until the soup thickens, 25 to 30 minutes.

Ladle into warmed bowls and sprinkle with the cilantro and oregano. Serve immediately.

This was simply spectacular - hearty and flavorful. The substitution of the banana pepper for the bell variety certainly amped up the spice level, but it wasn't overwhelming. I will definitely keep this in my rotation of dishes to do when corn is plentiful.

Pasta with Baked Eggplant

The foundation for this meal came from this recipe at AllRecipes. We didn't have all of the specified ingredients, but thought we could experiment, so here's our modified version:

Ingredients

* 1 eggplant, peeled and sliced
* 2 eggs
* 1 tablespoon water
* 1 cup dry bread crumbs
* 2 tomatoes, chopped
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
* 1 handful of fresh basil
* olive oil
* balsamic vinegar
* fresh mozzarella
* cooked pasta

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet or pizza pan with olive oil.
2. Slice the eggplant slices 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Trim the skin, maintaining the round shape of the slices. In a small bowl, whip together the egg and water. Place the breadcrumbs in a separate small bowl.
3. Dip the eggplant slices one at a time into the egg and water mixture, then into the breadcrumbs. One by one, place the coated slices in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet or pizza pan.
4. Bake in the preheated oven approximately 15 minutes. Change oven setting to broil, and continue cooking 3 to 5 minutes. Check the slices frequently while broiling to avoid burning.
5. While eggplant is baking, cook pasta of your choice.
6. Combine tomato, onion, garlic, and basil in a bowl. Add salt, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar to taste (probably only a splash of each).
7. For serving, place two roasted eggplant slices over pasta. Top with tomato mixture and fresh mozzarella cheese.

Raw Veggies for Dipping

Sometimes the veggies we get each week don't require any prep at all. Katie and I are big fans of snacking, and it's great to use some of our CSA produce for dipping. Here's a hummus recipe that we made recently for a neighborhood party.

1 large can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
1/4 cup tahini sauce (we sometimes use Annie's Goddess Dressing as a substitute)
2 cloves of garlic
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
2-3 tsp. lemon juice
sprinkle of cayenne pepper

Above is a recipe for basic hummus. From here you can add any number of things to add flavor. For example, in the picture below we added a chipotle pepper and a handful of cilantro. Other possibilities include any herbs* from Breezy Willow, roasted red peppers, olives, capers, or anything else you have in your pantry or fridge.



For dipping we use cucumbers, green peppers, onions, pita, or whatever else looks good at the time.

* herb availability changes from week to week depending on what we are able to harvest on the day of the pickup. If you have any special requests, feel free to e-mail Breezy Willow in advance.