Tortellini with Sage and Brown Butter

During CSA season last year, I heard a lot about the virtues of the sage/brown butter sauce.  In the interest of full-disclosure, I'll mention that I did try to make it last year and ended up burning the sage.  Needless to say, brown butter cannot be used to brown bacon.  Try number two tasted a lot less like burned leaves.

Serves 2-4
Small bag dried cheese tortellini
1 cup snap peas, cut in half
1/8 cup finely chopped sage
2 garlic scapes, finely sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese for garnish

1. Cook tortellini according to package directions.  In last 3 minutes of cooking, add snap peas and cook all until done.  Drain and set aside.
2. In heavy saucepan over low heat, melt butter.  Cook butter until it turns frothy and butter begins to brown, stirring occasionally.  Add garlic scapes and sage.  Cook and stir until garlic is cooked and sage is crispy.  Remove from heat.
3. Squeeze lemon half over pan to release 1-2 tablespoons of juice.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir well.  Add cooked tortellini and snap peas to brown butter sauce.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese for serving.

Week 3 Box

The amounts in this week's box were of a more-manageable size, which I appreciate. It has been extremely hot and humid here, so I would think the summer vegetables are growing early and the late-spring ones are probably dying early.  It also means that this week's box contained a lot of herbs.  Using those will be a special challenge.

• Spinach (smaller quantity)
• Snap peas
• Lettuce
• Collard greens
• Sage
• Dill
• Thyme
• Oregano

Week 2 Box

Second CSA box of the year has arrived!  Our CSA is delivered on Fridays, so some weeks it might take me a bit to actually post what is in the box.  The contents of the boxes follow a slow evolution, so many of these items will be repeats from last week.

• Spinach (bigger leaves this week, really only good for cooking)
• Spinach (smaller leaves, courtesy of my mom's garden, for salads)
• Turnips
• Garlic scapes
• Collard greens
• Snap peas
• Snow peas
• Mint
• Cilantro

Beef, Snap Peas, and Asparagus Stirfry

This recipe is a bit of an adaptation, but it was such a hit that it only needed a few tweaks.  I would guess that any dark green vegetable would work here, but I'm listing what I had.  This is also another of those sneaky healthy recipes, since the majority of the stir-fry is vegetables and the rice has whole-grain.  The fact that it tastes good is just a nice bonus. A note on woks:I like to use a wok for this recipe because I think it heats more evenly.  Mine is nothing fancy, but it does a good job for smaller recipes like this. See it here Calphalon Commercial Nonstick 10-Inch Stir Fry.

Serves 2-4

1 lb asparagus, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup snap peas, stems removed
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 lb sirloin tip steak, cut into strips against the grain
4 garlic scapes, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Pepper, and garlic salt to taste
Brown rice, for serving

1. Mix together rice vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce in a measuring cup.  Stir in cornstarch until smooth.  Set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a skillet or wok.  Saute beef and garlic scapes in oil until seared and cooked through, about 3-5 minutes.  Remove from wok with slotted spoon.
3. Saute snap peas, asparagus, garlic, and ginger in beef leavings.  Cook and stir until vegetables are bright green but still crisp.
4. Mix beef back into wok with the vegetables.  Top with vinegar-soy sauce sauce.  Cook and stir until sauce is thickened and clear, about 1-3 minutes.  Add pepper and garlic salt to taste and serve over the brown rice.

Week 1 Box

Box this week contained:

• Spinach
• Mixed field greens
• Collard greens (which for me is a blanket term that includes kale, just so you know)
• Rhubarb
• Garlic scapes (this might not be the real name, but it's what my CSA calls it when they cut the tops off garlic cloves; they are green shoots that look like scallions but taste like garlic)
• Turnips
• Butter lettuce
• Spring onions
• Snap peas