I’ve been doing a lot of “assembling” lately. My cooking has been limited to batches of whole grains, beans, and breakfast. I spend 10 minutes in the morning combining ingredients mad scientist-style from the fridge, hop in the car, head to work, and come home again at midnight.
Truly, it is a glamorous life I lead.
But our CSA marches on! I’ve been loving the salad greens lately. I rinse and spin them dry so I have several salads worth already clean and dry. Add a few handfuls of chickpeas, nuts, dried fruit, and a bunching onion if I have it. Oil, vinegar, mustard, and salt go in a small plastic tub that I can shake and pour at work.
This week has some new goodies, though. Let’s start with the greens, shall we?
Salads have really been hitting the spot for me lately, but I’ve had a hankering to make veggie burgers on my day off and I like to add a few leaves of lettuce.
You probably can’t tell, but this is a much smaller Savoy cabbage than the behemoth from two weeks ago. I’ve been eyeballing this recipe if I can manage to get myself to a cheese department.
Chard I used to dread, now I get confused when I’m out of it. Chard everywhere and every way.
Braising mix used to confound me simply due to the huge sack we receive. Now I love it; chop it roughly, toss it in a skillet with a slick of oil, a handful of diced onion, let that heat a minute, then add two eggs (beaten for a lazy frittata, or poached and on top) for a hearty breakfast.
The squash is sizable and is destined for roasting.
Parsley goes with everything.
Rapini, also known as broccoli rabe, is new! Suggestions are welcome.
Celery is one of those foods that is shockingly flavorful when it’s not the watery grocery store variety. I love it in stir-fry or adding a small dice to my grain salad lunches for crunch.
Fennel sneaks into all sorts of dishes, but I might grab some phyllo dough and triple dip: hortopita uses fennel, chard, and parsley!
Last but not least, some colorful root veggies. Nothing is jumping out at me, but that’s what my bookshelf full of cookbooks is for, no?
With record-setting “cold” temperatures in SoCal this week and some real rain, I’m looking forward to my Monday off so I can warm up the kitchen again! Maybe the sun will come out so I can take some photos are share with you.
What have you been cooking lately? What’s in season where you live?
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My latest cooking adventure was pumpkin black bean veggie burgers. Yum!
Oh, we got broccoli rabi last year! It’s yummy! It’s just greens that taste somewhat strongly of broccoli. Use anywhere yo use cooked greens. The flowers/stems will need more than wilting, but leave them crunchy. I thought it was a little too strong to eat uncooked, though.
Broccoli raab is great – I blanch it in boiling water for a minute, then saute it in olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes, served as a side to pasta. I think it’s the Italian preparation but I may just be deluding myself on that.