Week 16 Box

Apparently next week we will be box-less, so they really overloaded this week's box. Many of the things listed were in bulk.

• Potatoes
• Swiss chard
• Kale
• Garlic
• Onions
• Edamame
• Green beans
• Rosemary

Stromboli

I was watching a show about travel and food a few days ago.  I am very suggestible when it comes to food, so I decided to try making Stromboli myself.  I don't really know much about the dish other than what I saw on the show, so this is basically my best stab at it.  I was pretty pleased with the outcome, though.

Makes 2 large Stromboli

1 package active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup hot water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
2-3 cups flour
3 tablespoons pizza sauce
1 cup pizza cheese
1/4 cup ricotta
Pizza toppings to taste
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

1. In bowl of an electric mixer, combine yeast and sugar.  Pour hot water over yeast and sugar, then mix with a spatula until yeast is dissolved.  Let sit for 5 minutes or until foamy.
2. Stir salt and garlic salt into yeast mixture.  Add one cup of flour to mixture and stir until smooth.  Add another cup and place bowl in electric mixture with dough hook affixed.  Use dough hook to incorporate the cup of flour.  If dough is still sticky, add additional flour--up to one cup--until a stiff dough begins to climb the hook.  Use the spatula to shape dough into a ball.  Cover bowl with a wet towel and let rise for at least 30 minutes. 
3. While dough is rising, prepare your pizza toppings.  Stromboli fillings need to be pre-cooked, so take this time to cook meat, caramelize onions, or saute vegetables.  I made mine in four meats (Canadian bacon, pepperoni, leftover sausage, and a strip of bacon cooked and crumbled) and in kale with Canadian bacon. 
4. Divide puffed dough in half.  Grease your hands and grease an area to roll out the dough.  Grease a cookie sheet and set aside.
5. Using your hands, flatten the dough into a rectangle about 10 inches long and 6 inches wide.  Top with half of the ricotta cheese; spread out but leave a rim around the edges of the dough. Spread half of the pizza sauce over cheese, leaving a rim again.  Top sauce with pizza toppings, layering your selected toppings with half of the pizza cheese as you go.  Pull one long side up over the toppings, trying to cover as much of the toppings as possible.  Bring short sides up over your previously-folded side.  The Stromboli should now look like an open envelope.  Bring the last long side up and press to seal all seams.  Using your hands, pick Stromboli up and flip it over--seams side down now--onto cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
6. Repeat step 5 with remaining dough and toppings.
7. Bake Strombolis at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve hot with additional pizza sauce.

Week 15 Box

I neglected to pick up the box from the person I share with last week, so you might have noticed that there was no post for what was in the box.  I still had produce from the week before, though, so it was nice to use that up before getting new.  This week, though, I have the box all to myself so I'm going to have to work hard to use up all the stuff.  Fingers crossed.

• Swiss chard
• Kale
• Potatoes
• Onions
• Garlic
• Zucchini
• Green beans
• Tomatoes
• Thyme

Week 13 Box

I didn't do a great job with using last week's box, so this week the goal is to get it gone before another box shows up. We'll see how that goes.

• Swiss chard
• Kale
• Onion
• Tomatoes
• Potatoes
• Okra
• Green peppers
• Sage
• Thyme
• Tarragon
  

Farfalle with Kale and Ham

I have posted this sauce before on this blog, but it tasted so different with this combination of ingredients that I thought it warranted another post.  I struggle every year to find things to make with greens.  This pasta dish might also warrant repeating, since it uses kale.

Serves 3

2 cups farfalle
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chopped kale
1/2 cup diced ham
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and garlic salt to taste

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.
2. If you have not already done so, now is a good time to chop the kale and mince the garlic.
3. In same saucepan as pasta was cooked in, melt butter over medium heat.  Add garlic to pan and saute until soft, about 3 minutes.  Add ham to the butter and garlic and stir until ham is fragrant. Mix kale into garlic and ham, stirring and sauteing until kale is wilted.  Toss pasta into kale mixture and remove from heat.  Pour sour cream and Parmesan cheese over hot pasta mixture.  Stir well until sour cream is evenly distributed and Parmesan cheese is melted.  Serve immediately.

Week 12 Box

With all of the flooding that we have had around here, we received a notice in our box that the selection and quality of the vegetables might be effected.  I'm hoping that I'll still be able to continue to have enough each week to do the CSA portion of the blog.  Time will tell.

• Kale
• Yellow squash
• Garlic
• Green beans
• Tomatoes
• Red pepper
• Watermelon
• Potatoes
• Leeks
• Honey
• Basil

Week 11 Box

The city I live in flooded pretty badly this last week, so there has been a lot of distractions around here.  I was actually surprised that our box came on time and full this week.  At the moment, we have all the roads open here and have no restrictions on using water--earlier this week we were limiting to a bare minimum--but we are still boiling everything used for washing dishes and in or on food.  Hopefully it's all over soon.

• Swiss chard
• Kale
• Green beans (from the CSA and my mom)
• Zucchini
• Cucumbers
• Okra
• Jalapeno pepper
• Leeks
• Savory

Week 9 Box

The greens were back in our box this week, so the farm must be recovering from the storm of a couple of weeks ago.  It is still really wet, though, which I have heard from others in the area is taking a real toll on root vegetables and bulb plants.  Our onions have been tasty but very small, which is also how the potatoes have been.  I was awfully excited for the okra this week.

• Potatoes
• Garlic
• Onion
• Okra
• Eggplant
• Cucumber
• Swiss chard
• Kale
• Tomatoes (these were actually from a coworker)
• Rosemary

Week 7 Box

The root vegetables are starting to show up in my box now.  Weird thing is that a lot of the root vegetables, like beets, that were in this box showed up in June last week.  The box here might seem sort of herb-heavy, but that's because those actually came from my mom's garden.  The herbs will likely be featured in a number of recipes this week.  Pesto has already been made.

• Cabbage (purple)
• Kale
• Swiss chard
• Beets
• Onions
• Potatoes
• Zucchini
• Green beans
• Oregano
• Basil
• Italian flat-leaf parsley
• Rosemary

Week 6 Box

More summer vegetables are appearing now in the box, which I appreciate.  I was especially excited to see the herb of the week, since it's an easy one to use up quickly.

• Garlic
• Onions
• Kale
• Swiss Chard
• Potatoes
• Zucchini
• Cucumber
• Beets
• Basil