Sunday, May 29, 2016

2016 CSA Week 4: In the Kitchen

Hello fellow CSA members!

Are you loving your Asian greens?!?!

Did you pick up a bit of panic from me in my last post? A fear of green overload? Well, it was actually unfounded. I got my share this week and I loved it. As I was preparing the bok choy last night I was asking myself what I was so afraid of... A couple dinner salads and another dish and we just have a little tatsoi left (though in retrospect I could have added that to last night's dish as well). Why was I worried there'd be a pile of rotten greens in my fridge at the end of the week?

This was the answer I came up with (I'll get to recipes in a minute, but I decided to spend a few minutes on this in case any other members feel this way). The first year we participated in the CSA we did the regular share. I enjoyed it but it was a particularly unusual summer for us and I didn't get to do as much with the share as I had hoped. Last year I knew we'd be settling into a new (to us) home and I was excited to turn a new (kale) leaf and make some major changes in the kitchen. I invested in some new kitchen equipment, a bunch of vegan/vegetarian/vegetable cookbooks and opted for the robust share. To Ford's credit, he tried to talk me out of it. It's A LOT, he told me. I was undeterred. My mom was going to be moving closer to me and I knew what I didn't use she would.

There were some things I didn't count on last summer: Expecting a baby and feeling generally horrible the whole time and my mom's super busy schedule. There was a lot of vegetable carnage.

Then my winter mini-share came. I REALLY enjoyed it. It was neat to get some greens and tomatoes that time of year. It was a smaller amount of food and squash and potatoes keep longer so I (and my mom) had longer to use it. I had almost decided not to sign up for a summer share this year, but that pleasant experience changed my mind. I decided to go with a mini-share for this summer and so far it has been baby bear's porridge for us. Just right.

I just share this because now that we are a few weeks in, there may be some of you who may be feeling like this whole CSA thing just isn't what you expected. If that is the case, you are not alone and I encourage you to hang in there... There is a learning curve.

Now, back to recipes.

CSA member Polly Symons shared this gem with us: Carrots roasted with avocado and yogurt
I haven't tried it yet, but hope to! And also, if you're looking for another way to use your strawberries (let's all prepare ourselves for the sad truth that strawberry season is quickly coming to a close this year...): Strawberry Shortcake on Yellow Corn Meal Biscuits

This week, I already had a plan for what I wanted to do with the greens... I found a marinade in one of my recipe books and the meal sort of evolved from there. I marinated chicken breast strips before frying them. I chopped and sautéed the bok choy and carrots in a separate skillet. Then I added some steamed rice and part of the marinade I had reserved. I served it on lettuce leaves, kind of like a sort of lettuce wrap. It was especially delicious with a little soy sauce.

Johnie gave it a hesitant three broccoli stalks, which is pretty good for this kind of meal.

Here is the recipe I pulled the marinade from. I doubled the orange juice and lime juice and added a little extra of the spices to make more. I also left out the sesame oil and red pepper flakes and subbed honey for agave nectar. I'm sharing the whole recipe in case you're interested, but I stopped with the marinade:






Citrus-Tahini Bowl with Bok Choy and Grilled Tofu
from Isa Does It, page 202
four servings

For the marinade:
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

For everything else:
1 block extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed
olive oil, for the grill
4 bunches baby bok choy, tough stems removed
1/2 cup tahini
4 cups cooked red quinoa
2 cups fresh orange segments

For the garnish:
chopped scallions
fresh cilantro
toasted sesame seeds

In a large bowl, mix together all of the marinade ingredients.

Slice the tofu into 8 slabs, widthwise. Now slice each of those in half to make squares. Marinate the squares for about 1 hour or up to overnight, flipping at least once.

Now grill the squares. Preheat a large cast-iron grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush or spray the grill with oil. Place the tofu squares on the grill (reserve the marinade) and let cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until grill marks form. Flip the tofu pieces, spraying or brushing the pan again before placing the tofu pieces back down. Grill for 3 to 5 minutes, and remove from the pan.

While the tofu cooks, get your steaming apparatus ready. Place the bok choy in the steamer and steam for 5 minutes or so, until crisp-tender and bright green.

Meanwhile, transfer the leftover marinade to a blender. Add the tahini and blend until smooth. Taste for seasoning. You may need to adjust with a little extra orange juice if tofu sucked up too much marinade.

Place the quinoa in bowls. Overlap the bok choy, tofu and orange segments over the quinoa. Drizzle with sauce, sprinkle with any or all of the optional garnishes and serve!

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