Caramel Braised Sunshine Squash and Seitan

I'm starting to get nervous. My birthday is Monday. Saturday, I'm throwing myself a party to celebrate. Throwing myself parties makes me nervous. I start worrying about all sorts of things. I'm also not good at the whole concept of "fashionably late", so when the start time of the party rolls around and people aren't banging down my door, I start to get worried that no one will come. I'm generaly worried that no one will come when I throw a party. I don't know why. Emotional scars from middle school?

Concord Grape Margaritas

A favorite seasonal fruit plus a favorite bevarage. How could I possibly go wrong?

Chard and Caramelized Onion Tacos

So...I wasn't sure if I should share this so soon. It's pretty much what I put on my pizza on Saturday night, but in a taco. Then I realized, that's kind of the point of this blog, right? How to use seasonal foods (and maybe seasonal foods that you don't necessarily choose yourself) to make delicious meals, but not feel like you need to make the same thing over and over again. I think the leftovers from this may become some sort of eggy tacos in the morning. It's not necessarily a different dish every night, it's being creative with what you have and with your leftovers.

Swiss Chard Pizza

So...I didn't take any pictures. None. It had been a long day. I took a two hour standardized test in the afternoon. I was hungry. But it was so delicious, I just couldn't not share.

 I mean, you know what pizza looks like. You can look at that picture of Swiss chard and envision is sauteed with garlic, sweet red pepper and a tiny bit of minced fresh cayenne pepper. Then you can go a step further and imagine it covering a pizza crust, golden brown at the edges, poking out from underneath a layer of melted, slightly bubbling, apple wood-smoked mozzarella. You know I need to give you this recipe even if there are no actual pictures of the pizza.

Week 16

It's been a busy week. Tuesday we got a new water heater. Thankfully, I did not end up having to shower at the gym, but the guys didn't leave until 9 PM. In spite of the water-heater installation drama, we now have a very small, very efficient water heater. Wednesday was Back to School Night. This meant, for me at least, hanging around school until 6 PM when the parents came and then not leaving until 7:30 (for those of you who are counting, that's a 12 hour work day, plus 45 minutes each way on the subway). Then Thursday I wasn't feeling well, so I didn't go to class. Yesterday was September assessment deadline chaos. To finish off the week, today at 1 PM I have to take what I hope is my final NYS Teacher Certification exam. After that I'm taking a nap. 


And eating those Concord grapes. I feel like I should do something fancy with them, but my taste buds are telling me they should be eaten as soon as possible and in as simple a form as possible.

Radish, Green Bean and Leek Panzanella with Brown Butter-Mustard Dressing

As I write this, there is a possibility that I will have to go to the gym tonight. No, I haven't started some strange new night training regiment. There are two very interesting plumbers in my apartment replacing our boiler. They were supposed to get here at nine. Arrived at some time after noon (I'm really not sure--D was actually the one at home waiting for them) and are still, at 8 PM, trying to make the boiler give us hot water. It works. They have the heat on full blast. Kind of like a sauna in here at the moment.

Barley "Risotto" with Acorn Squash and Collard Greens

I mentioned in a post last week that during the school year, especially during the fall and winter, I tend to make a big pot of soup or stew, or make a casserole of some sort on Sunday night and then have it for lunch all week. I love this recipe because it's great for that purpose, but components can also be made ahead, making it a great mid-week dinner as well.

How Not to Throw a Tomato Canning Party

I am not meant to be a tomato canner. Mother Nature, God, a charter school network in the Bronx...some higher power is trying to tell me so. But I have finally gotten all of those tomatoes canned. And the emotional wounds (and most of the physical ones) have healed.

Week 15

It's been a busy week. I'm still tired. I should probably take a nap. But look at all of the delicious vegetables I have to eat this week.

Roasted Late-Summer Vegetables

It's finally time to roast veggies. In spite of my ambivalence toward this in-between seasons period, I do like being able to roast summer veggies without feeling like I'm going to pass out from heat stroke.

"Is It Fall Yet?" Pasta

I love fall. I love fingerless gloves and sweaters. I love falling leaves. I love that it's just warm enough during the day to not need a jacket, but cool enough at night that you can leave the window open and cuddle under a blanket. But right now I'm just confused.

Edamame Hummus

It was a busy weekend: A going away party, reconnecting with old friends, a birthday brunch (reminding me of the next decade that's creeping up on me), and some tomato canning drama (more on that another time--after the emotional scars and my aching muscles have healed). How's a girl to get any cooking done?

Week 14

Only 8 weeks left! And the appearance of my first winter squash. How the summer flies by...

Same Ingredients, Different Recipes #2: Green Bean Slaw (Localized)

The ingredients below are going to sound familiar. I used nearly the same ingredients two nights later to make a totally different dish (which I posted yesterday--I know, in the wrong order, but that's how it goes sometimes).

Same Ingredients, Two Recipes #1: White Wine Braised Cabbage with White Beans and Potatoes)

One of the complaints people sometimes have about joining a CSA is that you need to eat a lot of the same foods over and over again. I'm posting two recipes (one now, one tomorrow) with very similar ingredients, but that are totally different experiences.

Nectarine Ginger Cornmeal Cobbler

Delicious. That is all.

Oh. And easy.

And it will make you feel better about the fact that the day after you make this is the first day of school.

Spelt Focaccia with Tomato, Onion and Cheddar

We've established that my boyfriend loves bread. Perhaps more than he loves me. Well, not quite. The thing is, I love trying breads made out of different grains and he hates whole grain bread with a passion will tolerate whole grain bread a bit grudgingly. That is until about a month ago when we had a gchat exchange that went like so:

2:27 PM D: maybe whole wheat bread isn't so bad.  (except for pitas and bagels. those are still bad.)

6 minutes

2:33 PM me: where did you have whole wheat bread?2:34 PM D: brad's accidentally made my sandwich on it. me: ah.2:35 PM D: it tasted a bit sweet. and then i read a website about how much better it is for you. me: yes. whole grains are good for you.

So I've stopped sneaking whole grains into my breads. I've been just telling him. And he's been more willing to try them without all of the trickery. I've been doing half whole grain flour and half unbleached all purpose flour. No need to scare the boy. This focaccia is one of my latest attempts at getting him to eat something besides white flour.

Greek Salad with Tzatziki Dressing

I actually was going to share this recipe last week, but I've been trying to perfect the dressing. This is a twist on the Greek Salad, generally Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and olives with feta and some sort of vinaigrette. In this salad, the feta, cucumbers and vinaigrette have been replaced with a creamy tzatziki dressing.

Week 13

From GrowNYC

Part of a joining a CSA is accepting the same risks a farmer does when she plants her crops. Hurricane Irene devastated many farms in the Hudson Valley. As our farm's newsletter put it, "Floods just like these are what created these beautiful flat fields where we grow all these great vegetables. These fields are the Delta of the Hudson Valley.  However, these same floods that created these rich and loamy soils can wipe out an entire season’s worth of time and investment—in less than a day."

Peach-Basil Infused Vodka

Day 1

I think infusing liquors may be my new favorite hobby. It's also far less time consuming than most of my hobbies, which as the school year gets started is a plus.

Stuffed Pita with Chard and Ricotta Salata

As long as you've made the pita dough in advance (which I did) this is a quick and easy meal. You can alter the filling to be almost anything you want, just make sure that it's relatively dry and that it's cooled when you add it to the dough--this is a great way to use up leftovers!