RECIPE: Stovetop chicken with lemon, escarole, and white beans

2 ½ lbs bone in chicken pieces (whatever parts you want)

1 lemon, thinly sliced

¼ to ½ an onion, in bite size pieces

1 15-oz can white beans (cannellini)

1 brunch escarole

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Toss lemon slices and onion with salt and pepper and set aside.

Pat the chicken pieces dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Heat a few tablespoons oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat, and add chicken, skin side down.  Press the chicken down to the heat to get browning and crispy skin! Cook for 5-8 minutes, until golden brown, then flip, and cook for another 9 or so minutes on the other side until the chicken is fully cooked. (Internal temperature should be 165 degrees.)

Take the chicken out of the skillet and put on a plate.  Add your lemon and onion to the skillet and let it cook 4 or so minutes, until both the onion and lemon have caramelized a bit.  Add the beans and all of their juices to the skillet, season with salt and pepper, and start adding the escarole (a bit at a time) to wilt it.

Once the escarole is wilted, add the chicken back to the skillet for a minute or two until flavors are melded and it’s all warm.

Eat and enjoy!

Tip- you can leave the chicken out and just make this a side dish (or vegetarian dish).

RECIPE: Easy Quick Pickling those left-over veggies

1 cup vinegar (white wine, rice, red wine)

1 cup water

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 lb vegetables - cucumbers, radishes, cauliflower, carrots, green/purple peppers, garlic, and anything else that sounds delicious to you!

Trim and chop vegetables and pack in mason jar in preparation for pickling.

Heat all ingredients except the vegetables in a small pot over low-medium heat.  Stir and cook until sugar and salt dissolve.  Immediately pour over vegetables.  Let it cool and then cover and put in fridge for 1 day before eating.  Veggies will be best between 1 to 4 weeks.

Photo credit to Sam Mah

RECIPE: Carrot Top Soup

INGREDIENTS - 6 small to medium carrots with tops and roots - 2 tablespoons butter - 3 tablespoons white rice - 2 large leeks, white parts only - 2 thyme or lemon thyme sprigs - 2 tablespoons chopped dill, parsley, or celery leaves - salt and freshly ground pepper - 6 cups vegetable stock, chicken stock, or water

PREPARATION Pull or pluck the lacy leaves of the carrot greens off their stems. You should have between 2-3 cups, loosely packed. Wash, then chop finely. Grate the carrots or, if you want a more refined-looking soup, finely chop them. Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add the carrot tops and carrots, rice, leeks, thyme, and dill. Cook for several minutes, turning everything a few times, then season with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and add the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer until the rice is cooked, 16-18 minutes. Taste for salt, season with pepper, and serve.

RECIPE: Easy Summer Salad with Tomatoes, Corn, Mint

Combine 1 big heirloom tomato sliced, raw corn sliced from the cob, crumbled Feta cheese, diced Mint, sprinkled with an aromatic nutty olive oil.  So delicious and so simple!

RECIPE: Dolmades with Swiss Chard

A tip on Swiss Chard from one of our members...

I used the chard instead of grape leaves to make fabulous Dolmades.  First, blanch them, then cut out the center rib. Cut the bigger leaves in half, then filled with the meat mixture.

I substituted ground turkey for lamb.  Also, I added finely chopped parsley and mint, minced shallot, crushed garlic, wheat bran, uncooked rice, salt and pepper.  Layered into pot, filled with chicken stock and simmered for about 30 mins.  Delish!!

RECIPE: Garlicky Burst Tomato Sauce

1 pint cherry tomatoes

5 garlic cloves

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

¼ teaspoon kosher salt (plus more to taste)

Dash of crushed red pepper

Heat a large sauce pan over medium heat.  Once the pan is hot, add the olive oil. Once the olive oil is shimmering, add the garlic, salt, and crushed red pepper.  Your kitchen should start to smell like garlic! Be careful though and watch the garlic, as you don’t want it to burn. Once the garlic is fragrant (about 30 seconds to a minute), add the tomatoes to the pan, stirring occasionally until they soften and burst.

To serve:

With pasta: cook pasta 2-3 minutes shy of the directions on the package and add drained (but not rinsed) pasta to the warm sauce, along with ½ cup to 1 cup reserved pasta water and ¼ cup to ½ cup grated pecorino Romano cheese.  Stir and allow the sauce to emulsify and the pasta to finish cooking in the sauce.

With chicken: season chicken liberally with salt and pepper and brown chicken in a separate pan, about 5 minutes each side.  Add to the pan with the sauce and let finish cooking in the sauce.

With salmon: season salmon with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and cook in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Top cooked salmon with sauce before serving.

RECIPE: Mediterranean Stuffed Eggplant

3 medium sized eggplants

6 tablespoons olive oil

4 teaspoons kosher salt

Black pepper

2 onions, diced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 lb ground meat (I used lamb, but you can also use turkey or beef here)

¼ cup pinenuts or diced almonds (I used a combo)

3 teaspoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Juice from 1 lemon

⅔ cup water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Cut eggplants in half lengthwise and score each half (the flesh).  Place eggplants in a baking dish and using 4 tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons of kosher salt, and liberal black pepper, season the flesh of the eggplant halves.  Cook in the oven for 25 minutes.

While your eggplant is cooking, heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a sauce pan.  Once warm, add the onions and half of the cumin, cinnamon, and paprika. Cook until onions are translucent (about 6 minutes). Add meat, nuts, 2 teaspoons tomato paste, parsley, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and black pepper.  Cook until meat is cooked through (about another 5-6 minutes).

Combine remaining cumin, cinnamon, and paprika with water, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon tomato paste, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and black pepper.

Fill bottom of baking dish with the liquid.  Top eggplant halves with meat. Cover tightly with foil and cook for an hour at 375 degrees, spooning some of the sauce onto the meat once or twice during the hour.

TIPS: Swiss Chard

Raw or cooked, this green can add load of flavor and nutrition to many meals!

Prepare it

The leaves and the stalks should be cooked separately. Wash, then cut off the stalks from the leaves and leave whole or chop, as required. On some older leaves you may need to cut the ribs out of the leaves, too. Store it In a perforated bag in the fridge for up to four days. Use it Use anywhere you would use spinach or other wilting vegetables. Easy recipes to add it to include sautéed dishes, stews, and stir frys. Add to pasta dishes at the last five minutes of cooking or over polenta after sauntering swiss chard with some mushrooms, garlic and olive oil. Swiss Chard with Lemon 1-2 tbsp olive oil Swiss Chard 1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped ½ lemon Parmesan to serve

Heat olive oil over medium heat. While oil is heating chop the garlic and then chop the Chard into 2-3 inch pieces.

Add garlic to the skillet and cook until soft (1-3 minutes). Add Chard and 1-2 tablespoons of water. Cook until wilted. Stir in Lemon Juice and season with pepper. Add parmesan to serve.

RECIPE: Blueberry-Red Currant Oatmeal Muffins

Have you ever had red currants? They’re tiny jewel-like berries, tart with a hint of sweetness. They’re used throughout Europe for jams and jellies, but they also pair fantastically with blueberries in baked goods, like these muffins.

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup orange juice (other juices would probably work fine as well)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup melted butter or vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cup berries or diced fruit in whatever combination you like, fresh preferred, but frozen works too

Optional cinnamon-sugar topping:
2 teaspoons white sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Optional almond streusel topping:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup almonds, chopped
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
Large pinches each of cinnamon and nutmeg

1. Preheat your oven to 375. Lightly grease a 12-muffin tin (I love the silicone ones, since they cool quickly and make it easy to pop the muffins out), or line with cupcake liners.

2. In a small bowl, combine oats and orange juice, and let soak. In a different bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Then incorporate the oil and egg, then the oat-juice mixture. Fold in the fruit last.

3. Spoon the batter into the prepared tin, and top muffins with cinnamon-sugar or mixed streusel ingredients, if desired. Bake 18-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.

RECIPE: Easiest Roasted Vegetables

Preheat oven to 350.  Cut vegetables into your desired size and coat in oil, salt and pepper.  Spread on a cookie sheet and bake, checking after 20 minutes, stir if necessary, and cook for 20-30 minutes more.

RECIPE: Butter Fried Corn

What to do with only two ears of corn?  Fry it as a delicious side dish!

Cut corn kernels off of ears.  Heat a pan on medium high heat and add plenty of butter.  After the butter bubbles in the pan, add the corn kernels.  Brown them, add salt and pepper, and try not to eat them all before dinner!

RECIPE: Easy Vegetable Soup

This soup is perfect when you have veggies in your fridge but CSA pickup day is tomorrow!  Throw it all in a pot and make a delicious and nutritious soup.

Ingredients:

- At least one onion, chopped (more are better)

- All your other CSA veggies chopped into bite-size pieces, including summer/winter squash, carrots, hearty greens, kohlrabi, cauliflower, celery, …

In a large pot, heat 4T olive oil on medium-high heat.  Add chopped onions (and carrots and celery, if using) and some salt and allow them to cook till light brown.  Add other vegetables that you think taste better browned, like squash, kohlrabi, cauliflower, and allow them to brown in the pot.  After they are brown, add at least 8 cups water, or more if the pot and amount of veggies will accommodate it. Add the rest of the veggies (like the hearty greens: kale, collard greens, etc).  Bring to boil and reduce to simmer. Cook for 30-60 minutes depending on size of veggies. Veggies will be tender when soup is done. Add salt and pepper to taste.

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