Clearing out the fridge

Kate and I had a bunch of vegetables that were getting a bit old around, and so tonight for dinner I decided to use up as much as we could. The menu:

Parsnip and pecan fritters (using up the last of the parsnips I brought back from Ithaca a few weeks ago) -- boil parsnips and mash them with chopped pecans; stir in an egg, some flour, some milk, salt, pepper, and a pinch of cayenne pepper; fry in olive oil until golden brown and delicious. I served them with a yogurt dipping sauce made by stirring some cayenne, cider vinegar, and honey to taste into ~1/2 cup yogurt (thanks, Dan, for the yogurt!).

Sauteed kale with garlic (using up the kale from last week's CSA share)

Braised cabbage with onions, apples, and garlic (using up the last of our cabbage from 2 weeks ago, as well as some of our remaining apples and onions) -- saute onions and garlic in olive oil until very soft, about 15 minutes; add cabbage, ~1/2 cup wine, a generous splash of cider vinegar and a few cloves and saute for another 10 minutes; add chopped apples and stew covered over very low heat for 30+ minutes, until dinner is ready.

I enjoy the challenge of making a meal around a few ingredients that you want to use up. I feel like it forces me to be a bit more creative than I otherwise might be.

not sure about corn from florida

The pick up yesterday had an intriguing array of vegetables and the arugula was delicious-very fresh and not wilted as last week. We made a cabbage and argula salad with apples. The kale was really great too, we made pasta with kale and garlis and onions and parmesan cheese.

Toby was excited by the corn and we cooked it and ate corn on the cob. But I could not get excited about it as one of my food tenets is NEVER to eat anything but native local corn mostly because the taste of local corn can never be surpassed by corn from far away.

The corn looked hopeful and organic because it was small, but it did not taste like much. So what do other people think about corn from Florida? Maybe it would be good in chili. How did you cook it? But my basic question is why get corn from Florida in December?

Beets and Parsnips

When I was in Ithaca last week, I went to the farmer's market and bought large quantities of beets and parsnips, among other things. Tonight I made beet and parsnip risotto, with a red onion, some of the thyme from Enterprise Farm, garlic and a splash of red wine. Beets are wonderful vegetables to cook with -- very tasty, versatile, and they turn everything such a lovely shade of red.

Curried Potato-Cabbage Roll-ups

I made this from Moosewood Low Fat Favorites, but I used sweet potato instead of white potato. It's curry spices (fresh chili, cinnamon, mustard, turmeric, cardamom) on the cabbage, potato, and chickpeas, sauteed/steamed in a saucepan and then used to fill a flour tortilla like a burrito (or "roll-up" as they call it). I'm waiting to see whether I'll be able to touch my eyes to get my contacts out tonight, since I made this by myself and mincing fresh chilies is usually Tim's job. He'll get to try leftovers, since half a small head of cabbage was the right amount for a full recipe meant to serve 4.

Colcannon

Well, I've never blogged before so this will be a first for me. Use the cabbage to make Colcannon! Yum! It's boiled cabbage and onion mixed with mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese and baked to warm it up, and it's lovely. One of Noah's and Emma's favorites. There's a recipe for it in Jane Brody's Good Food Book, if you have it. Cabbage is also good in minestrone.

First Pick Up

Today Dan and I picked up our small box and brought it home like a vegetable filled present. Then we fed Elisabeth pecans (not part of our CSA box) while she spoke on the phone to Marcia, who was on her way to pick up HER box. Kate and I just had a neighborly moment splitting up Kale, which we were both excited about, and cabbage, which we were both a little less sure of what to do with. Right now carrots and a yam are cooking on the stove and shortly I will saute some garlic and kale to go along with the wild salmon that I was unable to resist at whole foods yesterday. Dan and I are very excited for dinner. What are you doing with your vegetable box? I don't expect to have 1000, or 100 readers on this blog- I expect it to be limitted to those few who are genuinely interested in what's for dinner. But I'd love to hear your ideas and recipes and hope to meet you here again.

-Shira