CSA Week 1

Bunches of radishes, spinach, kale, and red mustard greens, a head of bok choy, a cucumber, and a few stalks of rhubarb. A little less than I was expecting, but it's early in the season.

Sorry for the lack of posting

When I started a few weeks ago, I'd hoped to post at least twice a week - an opinion on Tuesday, and a recipe on Friday. Opinions are harder to write than I thought. I'll keep the recipes flowing as long as I can, though. Hopefully I'll feel more motivated when I start getting food from the CSA in a few weeks.

Italian Wedding Soup

This soup is nice for when you don't have much time to cook or shop. Everything here is from the pantry or freezer. And it only needs one pot! I use dehydrated onions and garlic to save time, but you can use fresh (or powdered) as appropriate. The spinach goes in at the last minute to avoid overcooking it.

Italian Wedding Soup

• 1 48-oz can chicken broth
• 2 tb dehydrated minced onions (1 medium onion equivalent)
• 1/2 tsp dehydrated minced garlic (2 cloves equivalent)
• 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 tb Italian seasoning
• 1/2 box (6-8 oz) of small pasta (ditalini, elbows, small shells, etc)
• 16-20 small frozen meatballs
• 1 16-oz package frozen chopped spinach

1. Bring chicken broth to boil. Add onions, garlic, tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and pasta. Set timer as directed for pasta.
2. Prepare frozen meatballs as directed in microwave (usually ~5 minutes). Drain if necessary and add to soup pot.
3. Prepare spinach as directed in microwave. When pasta is done cooking, add spinach to soup. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6.

"Sicilian" Tuna Sauce

I don't know how authentic this is, hence the air quotes. It's derived from the recipe for, "Sicilian Tuna Steaks" in the Good Housekeeping Step-by-Step Cookbook. There are some similarities to a puttanesca sauce but it's less salty. I usually serve it with a medium pasta such as gemelli, but it should work with almost any shape.

"Sicilian" Tuna Sauce

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 14-oz can tomato sauce
• 2 5-oz cans tuna, drained
• 1 14-oz cans sliced olives, drained
• 1 tsp dried marjoram

1. Heat the oil until shimmering, then sauté the garlic until golden and fragrant (1-2 minutes).
2. Add the tomatoes, tuna, olives, and marjoram. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes until slightly thickened. Toss with the pasta and serve.

Makes ~4 servings.

Adapations

One of the things I like about cooking is that nothing is ever set in stone until it's on the plate. You can take a recipe and change ingredients or techniques and make it something completely different, or just change it a little bit to make it your own. If it doesn't work... well, there's always next time.

Black Bean and Tomato Soup

This recipe started with one I found in Food & Wine magazine. I ditched the tortillas, but added tomatoes and garlic. I also substituted dried cilantro for fresh. It is good on its own or over rice.

Black Bean and Tomato Soup

• 1 tb oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped coarsely
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tsp)
• 2 14-oz cans black beans (undrained)
• 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp dried chopped cilantro

Heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until translucent and soft but not browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the cumin and garlic and cook until fragrant, 1-2 minutes.

Add the beans and tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, 10-15 minutes.

Stir in the cilantro and serve.

Makes 3 servings.

Lost in Translation

It's funny how recipes change over time. They get modified for personal tastes, ingredients get substituted, and steps get simplified. Sometimes mistakes get made, and it works surprisingly well.

The case in point is the garlic black bean and tomato soup I'm having for lunch this week. Originally, it was supposed to have two cloves of garlic. My wife misheard me (as I was telling her the recipe) and wrote down, "two tablespoons of garlic." It's not as overwhelming as you might think, but it's still pretty garlicky.