Summer Eating II

Cherry tomatoes ripening in(/taking over) the garden

Dragon carrots!

David preparing asparagus for grilling

Hobo packets with dragon carrots, CSA green beans and sweet corn, potatoes and onions

Waiting for the grill to heat

David managing the grill

Goldfinch?

Caprese! (I reduced an entire bottle of balsamic for dinner with the Wonders; we have lots, to put on everything!) Garden basil and CSA tomato (our big ones aren't ripe yet). And Maldon flaked sea salt!

Summer Eating (& Entertaining Vegans II)

Me in a surprisingly non-disastrous-looking kitchen

Last night we had the Wonders (the entertaining vegans!) over for dinner again. Bradley, who is better at blogging than I am, has already posted about it here. I was quite pleased with how dinner turned out: lemony hummus with crudités (dragon carrots, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers from our garden!--and some celery) and Holy Land olives to start, and then herby sweet corn arepas Minnow-style* with a few tiny chioggia beets from our garden. The Wonders brought over an amazing raw cobbler (recipe linked at Bradley's blog) and some nice wine to round it all out. Sadly, the only photographic documentation of the event is a picture David snapped  as I was still cooking!

Here are a few things I did manage to photograph before eating--some of the other garden- and CSA-inspired meals we've been enjoying this summer:

One of my favorite summer sandwiches: whole grain bagel topped with Neufchatel cheese, garden lettuce, cucumbers (not from our garden yet, at that point), and Vegetable Delight seasoning.

Shortcake with CSA strawberries and biscuits from scratch.**

Corn on the cob with pizza buns (toasted English muffins, homemade sauce, and pearl mozzarella, browned under the broiler and then topped with garden basil)

Roasted vegetables inspired by a kohlrabi in our CSA box: kohlrabi, onion, potatoes, dragon carrots, cherry tomatoes, and fresh corn, tossed with olive oil and garlic and topped with Maldon flaked sea salt. Served with salads of CSA greens and CSA garden peas (and a wedge of aged gouda!).

Corn on the cob with spicy kidney bean burgers and a basil/garlic/yogurt dip. I'd link to the burger recipe, but I didn't really follow it. Beans, oats, almonds, a couple of CSA eggs, seasonings... I was working with what I had in the cupboards!

Brunch this morning: a scramble with CSA eggs; Neufchatel cheese; and garden basil, cherry tomatoes, chives, and green onion.

It's been pretty hot and humid around here recently, so I haven't been doing quite as much cooking as I might like to--but it'll be cold again soon enough, so I can't complain too much. And in the meantime, the delicious produce keeps flowing! Our garden is a bit of a jungle recently, though slightly less so since we chopped down the massive, bolted cilantro and the surprise sunflower (I planted a "butterfly mix" in one of our square feet, and it grew some really tall flowers!) that had been shading the smaller plants. The tomatoes, though, are starting to riot!

*I used this arepas recipe, using soy milk, omitting the cheese, and substituting EVOO and some seasonings for the margarine. I topped them with Boca's vegan sausage crumbled, sauteed red bell peppers, and a drizzle of balsamic reduction. The Minnow includes spinach, and I'd hoped to serve ours with garden greens on the side, but they've gotten bitter with the heat (and neglect).

**The "from scratch" recipe on this page is amazing, and almost as easy as Bisquick biscuits (which are surprisingly disappointing after eating these!). I cut the recipe into thirds and bake two large biscuits, using soy milk and grating in frozen butter (my mom's trick!) instead of messing with a pastry cutter (which I don't have). I also don't bother sifting or mixing the milk and vanilla separately.

Seasonal Eatin'

This summer, I did something I've wanted to try for a long time: joined a CSA! Our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share is from Trumpeter Swan Farm, which is about 50 miles northwest of us and makes weekly deliveries to my friend E's house (eight blocks from us). E and I went halvsies on a full share (designed to feed a family of four or five, I think), and she did the research on finding this one for us. It was a great find; it includes a dozen eggs/week, includes some fruit (strawberries, raspberries, and more) and delivers weekly over six months(!).

The season has started slowly (right up until our recent hot temps, we'd had a cold, wet spring), so our shares so far haven't been very big and early on were supplemented with canned goods from the farm. However, recently they've been picking up, and we've had a lot of asparagus, some green onions, radishes (which I tried, but ultimately failed, to eat), and most recently spinach.

I enjoyed designing the following meal around the most recent delivery:

Spinach salads with rounds of fresh local chèvre (encrusted in freshly ground pepper), dried cranberries, and spiced candied nuts

Roasted asparagus on a bed of fettuccine in a lemon-scented light cream sauce with CSA green onions and garden chives

Crème brûlée (using lots of those farm-fresh eggs, and local dairy), brûléed somewhat less than successfully under the broiler)

The asparagus (which ranged significantly in size this last batch!) I roasted using David's mom's technique: drizzle washed, snapped asparagus with olive oil and sprinkle with Maldon sea salt (seriously, I love this salt!) and/or lemon pepper (which, sadly, I don't have, though a little lemon zest can be nice). Pop into 400° oven for 5-10 minutes (depending on size of stalks); flip and continue roasting another 5-10 minutes, until just fork tender. This time around I pulled the smaller stalks out halfway through and let the larger ones cook longer, but it's not usually a problem.

And here are the crèmes, out of the oven but still in their water baths, prior to their burnt sugar topping.

The next day, since we'd eaten all the asparagus, I caramelized onions, threw the rest of the spinach in with them to sautee down a bit, and then added that to the fettuccine, which I reheated with some of the leftover chèvre for an even more decadent dish. Delicious!

I look forward to the CSA inspiring many more dinners to come. What are your favorite seasonal dishes?

Entertaining Vegans

Last Friday night, we had the Wonders over for dinner, and I enjoyed planning an entirely vegan menu. Bradley, who is much better at blogging than am I, wrote about it here. The only thing he forgot was the steamed broccoli and carrots. The thing I forgot was the edamame that was to have been our appetizer. (David and I did eat edamame tonight, made extra special with my new Maldon salt*)!

Sunday morning, we had the downstairs neighbors up for a distinctly non-vegan brunch--red potato and caramelized onion quiche, Swedish fruit soup, and mini-croissants.

This coming weekend, we're having another couple of friends over for brunch--she a historical quasi-vegetarian, and he a devoted carnivore. Weekend before last, they had us, and another vegetarian-ish couple, over for brunch, and she made a really nice cheesy egg dish with green chilies that pleased even the carnivore. I will try to do as much (and welcome, as always, suggestions!).

The new table has been inspiring, apparently, for entertaining. I'm sorry it hasn't been more inspiring for blogging, so far; I really will try to do better.

*This is the most amazing, lightly crunchy, flaked sea salt. SaltWorks has the best price I've seen--and they're offering free shipping.