Our CSA is in full-swing, and it’s been fun to come up with interesting ways to use our fresh produce!
We had our friends Danny and Rebecca over for dinner on Friday night. They just got married in May, and have still got the newlywed glow going on! Unfortunately… I neglected to take any photos. The last hour before guests arrive is always a little stressful! I was pretty happy with my menu choice: we started with chips, cucumbers + this hummus; for dinner, we had kale salad, roasted zucchini w/ mint, and swordfish in brown butter; for dessert, a white peach, rhubarb + basil crumble with this ice cream.
In the morning, we got fancy and made breakfast benedicts with hummus, sautéed swiss chard, tomatoes and poached eggs. I was that annoying person who kept mmm!-ing after every bite… something about the combination really tickled my taste buds! (Also, these gluten-free English muffins are the best thing ever. I shouldn’t have been surprised; their regular version is amazing, and the GF ones taste pretty darn similar.)
We heated up some corn tortillas and made a meal out of leftovers: swordfish tacos with mango, cabbage, tomatoes, basil, mint, and “crema” (Greek yogurt with lemon juice + hot sauce).
Last night, we thawed some salmon (we’re trying to make a habit of always keeping fish on-hand in the freezer). I cooked it on the stove with sesame oil, fresh ginger, garlic, soy sauce, white wine, and edamame (fancy garnish!). On the side, we had leftover sushi rice stirred into sautéed leeks. And- best part!- the BEST watermelon I have ever had. I’ve never really been a “watermelon person” before, but this was so juicy and flavorful. Thank you, local New York farm!
What to do with the leftover watermelon rind? Make quick pickles! I simmered white vinegar with sugar, garlic, salt, peppercorns, fresh dill and a bay leaf, then poured it over the chopped rind. They’re ready to eat now, but they’ll only get better in the coming hours. I’ve turned into a bit of a pickle nut… we currently have 7 different varieties in the fridge!
I’d planned to make chickpea-zucchini burgers with the chickpeas we had leftover from making hummus. I added all kinds of spices, an egg, GF flour…. I didn’t anticipate how wet the batter would be (zucchinis container a lot of water), and it would have been impossible to mold into paddies. So… we made “pizza”! I’d actually been planning to make zucchini pizza tomorrow night, anyway.
We were hungry and didn’t wait quite long enough for the crust to set before adding toppings (arrabbiata, feta, olives, basil) so it was a bit mushy. We ended up spreading it on toast, and it tasted kind of like the English Muffin Pizza of my youth. I have another crust chilling in the freezer, though, so hopefully that one will be a bit more firm.
And now… dessert! I’ve been an ice cream monster lately, but haven’t been back to our local shop after I ended up with a mouthful of bacon (to be fair, “Tasting Spoons” is a mix of all of Malu’s different flavors, but the word ”bacon” was nowhere to be found in the store and it was quite unexpected). So, I’ve been making banana soft serve! My favorite flavor combination so far has been peach/basil… yes, it’s just as easy as it sounds. And holy moly, I literally want to slather it all over my body.
What have you been cooking up?
