Spinach Recipe No. 2: Enchiladas

As you may have just read in the blog post titled "Spinach Recipe No. 1: Strata," I recently had an abundance of spinach from our CSA box. The first recipe I made from about half the spinach and arugula was a strata. Here is the second.

Spinach, Pork and Swiss Cheese Enchiladas

Like with the strata recipe, I just made up this recipe as I went, so please forgive the lack of true measurements!

• 1 lb. ground pork
• 1/2-1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno, diced
• 2 cups spinach and arugula, chopped
• 1 cup or so shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 can enchilada sauce, any time (I used a mild red sauce)
• 8 small corn tortillas 
• Spices: salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, coriander

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray.

In a skillet, saute pork, onion, jalapeno and a shakes of each of the spices (to taste) until pork is cooked through. In another skillet, saute spinach and arugula in a skillet with a bit of water (you could probably cook the spinach withe pork, but for some reason I didn't). Mix the spinach in with pork.

Lay out all tortillas and scoop a hefty amount of pork mixture onto each tortilla. Top with cheese. Roll each one tightly (easier said than done) and lay in pan with seam side down. After all tortillas are rolled, pour can of sauce on top and top with additional cheese, if there is any left.

  

Bake for about 30 minutes or until sauce is bubbly. Broil on high for about 5 minutes. Enjoy with some black beans on the side!

Spinach Recipe No. 1: Strata

If you follow my blog on Facebook, you know I recently received a ton of spinach from the last two CSA boxes. I went back and forth with recipes and ideas, trying to figure out what to do with all of it. I finally settled on separate dishes. Here's the first of the two.

Spinach, Mushroom and Green Onion Strata with Swiss Cheese

I originally thought of doing a quiche, then wanted to go with a lighter dish with a frittata. But then, remembering to the leftover Italian bread from Sciortino's bakery. So I settled on a strata, which is similar to a frittata, but on top of and soaked into bread. What's great about a strata is that you can pretty much put in it whatever you want and make it up as you go -- which is exactly what I did.

I apologize for my lack of exact measurements, but it'd be hard to screw up this dish, no matter what you do!

• Enough slices of French or Italian bread to cover the bottom of your baking dish (I used a 9x9 dish)
• about 2 cups packed spinach and arugula, chopped 
• about 1.5 cups mushrooms, chopped
• bunch of green onions, sliced
• 5 eggs
• 1 cup milk (I used 2% to make it a little creamier) 
• about 2 Tbs. sundried tomato spread (not all that necessary, but if you have a bit in the fridge like I did, it's a good way to use it up!)
• about 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• about 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• spices: salt, pepper, seasoned salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika
• a dollop of olive oil

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat bottom of 9x9 pan with cooking spray. Line bottom of dish with bread and top bread with sundried tomato spread.

Saute spinach and arugula until it wilts with a bit of water and a few shakes of salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add mushrooms and green onions with a bit of olive oil, cooking until soft.

In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk and a few shakes of all spices.

Spread the vegetable mixture on top of the bread. Cover with Swiss cheese. Pour egg mixture on top. Finally, top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes, or until knife inserted into middle comes out clean.

Like most of the food we eat, we topped the strata with a bit of hot sauce. Delicious! 

Pad Puk Gai

Otherwise known as chicken with bok choy. We got an abundance of bok choy with our CSA box late last week and wanted to use it sooner than later.

Using an app on his phone, Nate found a recipe, which was easy enough and sounded tasty. The Thai-inspired recipe used up all of our bok choy and included lots of other fresh veggies. We paired it with some leftover soba noodles we had in the freezer.

We followed the recipe pretty closely, but made a few substitutions including making a sauce because other than 1/4 teaspoon of fish sauce, there wasn't anything saucey about it. And we like sauce!

I definitely recommend this recipe and it's easy enough to make it to your taste.

,

Pad Puk Gai (Chicken with Bok Choy)

• 4 cups (or one huge bunch) bok choy, chopped
• 1 large chicken breast, cut into cubes
• 4 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 teas. fish sauce
• 1 small container mushrooms, sliced
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, cute into big cubes
• 2-3 green onions, sliced
• (we omitted the celery and MSG the recipe calls for)
• For the sauce: a couple shakes (to taste) of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, hoisin sauce, Sriracha)

In wok, heat oil until hot. Cook chicken and garlic until done (about 5-6 minutes)

Add onions and fish sauce and cook about another five minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients and cook until veggies are tender.

Whisk together sauce ingredients and pour over veggies. Add noodles, stir and cook until warm.

Serve with more Sriracha!

My CSA Pick for 2012

As you've been reading for the past few months, you know I'm participating as one of three local bloggers who are writing about CSA experiences this year. Nate and I attended the Local Farmer Open House back in March, which helped us choose our pick for a CSA this year.

After talking with numerous CSA farmers about their programs, we decided to go with the CSA farm we had two years ago: Tipi Produce. We went with Tipi because we knew what we were getting into, and we knew we liked everything they offered!

We like that it's a long share -- 26 weeks -- it's a good price, it's organic and the pick-up location is a mere two or so miles from our house. The food was always fresh and each box seemed to include something we weren't familiar with, which was exciting. Also, the weekly emails from Beth, who runs Tipi with her husband Steve, were always a pleasure to read. Each issue includes farm news, items that are coming up in the next box and recipes using items in the box.

We'll again be splitting it with another couple, and it will be fun to see what recipes and meals they come up with, using the same ingredients.

We pick up our first share this week, so stay tuned for more posts about the CSA share, the produce we receive and the meals we make!

In the mean time, check out some meals we made from our 2010 share:

• Spicy beef and bell pepper stir fry
• Pork chops with rhubarb chutney
• Stir fry goodness
• Salsa and tomato basil soup
• Chicken fajitas

Local Farmer Open House: What I Learned

Last Saturday, I attended the Local Farmer Open House at Milwaukee's Urban Ecology Center. As I mentioned in my post from March 11, I'm one of three bloggers writing about my experience in choosing a community supported agriculture (CSA) share and also about what the open house had to offer.

If you didn't make it to the event, I definitely recommend it for next year. It's a great way to connect with farmers to learn about their offerings, including CSA programs for fresh produce, flower CSAs, online farm stores and workshops (more on all that later). It's also a great way to check out the Urban Ecology Center if you've never been.

In total, there were 27 farms, companies, cooperatives, etc. featured at the event. They were spread all throughout the building, each displaying lots of information about their offerings. Each stand has a few people available to answer questions and, if you desired, to sign you up for a CSA share.

Here is a smattering of what I learned at the event:

• The definition of a CSA. Just to recap, in a CSA program, the consumer buys produce directly from a farmer and receives fresh, seasonal produce on a regular basis throughout the growing or harvesting season. The consumer signs an agreement to purchase a season's worth of produce shares. Each week (or every other week) he or she will receive a box of produce that's appropriate to the growing season. CSAs encourage healthy eating and help support local farmers -- a win-win!
• There are so many options for a CSA! You can get weekly shares that are either a full share or a half share, every-other-week shares or just a fall/winter share if you'd like. There are also many payment options available, including payment plans and worker shares.  
• Be sure to ask a lot of questions when selecting a CSA program. The informational sheet all attendees received offered some great questions you should ask a CSA farmer. These include:
• Where and when are your pick-up sites? Oone farmer mentioned this was THE most important question and that an easy pick-up location was one of the most important things to consider when selecting a CSA share.
• What is the length of the season?
• Describe the size and cost of your share.
• What, if anything, is offered besides vegetables? Some farms offer meat, eggs or bulk-buying options, such as tomatoes at the height of tomato season,
• What are your production and growing practices?
• Some farms have online farm stores. This was a really cool thing to learn. Some farms offer online stores in which you, even if you don't sign up for a CSA share, can go online and buy whatever is fresh that week at the farm, which can include meat and eggs, and pick up the order at locations throughout Milwaukee. 
• There is such a thing as a flower share. Instead of getting fresh veggies and fruit each week, you can get fresh-cut stems. What a great idea! One farm offered a 20-week program in which members receive 12-15 stems (cut that morning) of whatever is in season at the time.



Root Vegetable Hash

We had a ton of root veggies to use up from our very last CSA box. I wasn't quite sure what to do with all of them, and they had been sitting in the fridge for quite some time. So, I found a root vegetable hash recipe in my Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health cookbook. I figured I would substitute in the root vegetables we have and just follow the recipe from there.

Here's the recipe and here's what we did

Root Vegetable Hash

Seasoning mixture:

-2 teas. dried marjoram

-2 teas. dried oregano

-2 teas. dried thyme

-1 1/2 teas. salt

-1/2 teas. ground black pepper

Hash

-3 tbs. olive oil

-2 1/2 cups chopped onions

-4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

-2 cups carrots cut into 1/2-inch dice (we didn't use carrots)

-2 cups sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (we didn't use sweet potatoes)

-2 cups beets peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice

-2 cups turnips and/or rutabaga peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (we used one of these--they look similar!)

-3 tbs. water (can use sherry in place of water)

-We also used about 4 parsnips, cut into 1/2-inch dice

Stir together all of the seasoning ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

In a 10-inch skillet on medium-high heat, warm oil. Cook the onions and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add all of the vegetables and stir well. Sprinkle with the seasoning mixture and water and stir well. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and cook, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

We served the hash with a simple baked chicken, sprinkled with salt, pepper and paprika. We did something a little different, in that we put about 1/4 cup water in the baking dish when baking it. It was good and flavorful.

I liked the hash, but was a bit overwhelmed by how much it made. Nate, on the other hand, didn't like it so much--too much of a beet flavor for him. He says "beets taste like dirt." I think if we made it again, we'd leave out the beets, and throw in some sweet potatoes and carrots--I think the sweetness would produce a really good flavor.

Baked Egg Rolls for a Potluck

As I've mentioned before, a group of girlfriends and I do monthly ethnic dining nights. It's been a tradition these last few years to, instead of going out for dinner, have a potluck at someone's home. So, for this December, we gathered at Leah's and had a tasty potluck.

I decided to make some homemade, baked egg rolls. I chose a different recipe than the one we used last time, just to change things up a bit. This is the recipe I used from the For the Love of Cooking Blog. I followed the recipe exactly, except that I don't think I had savoy cabbage (pretty sure it was Napa cabbage I had leftover from our last CSA box) and I didn't measure out the bean sprouts, so there could have been quite a bit more or less. The egg rolls turned out really well, and we tasty and nice and crispy. I got some sweet chili sauce to dip them in.

In addition to the egg rolls, we had:

Vegetable pate and Italian bread, and red wine.

Rice noodles, vegetables and a non-peanut, but peanuty sauce from Wildtree.

Brownie sundaes made with almond milk ice cream and peppermint bark bits.

As always, it was a delicious meal!

Smoked Sausage and Potatoes

We used to make this dish quite a bit, as it's one of Nate's favorites. We decided to make it this week, because we had a bunch of potatoes (both regular baking and purple (SUPER purple!) potatoes) from our last CSA box to use up as well as some leftover smoked sausage from a German soup we made in October (don't worry, it's been in the freezer since then). We also threw in about half a yellow onion we had (also from the CSA box).

The recipe is really easy, and it always makes enough for tasty leftovers. Here's what we did:

We cut up the potatoes (five or six of them? They were all different sizes) into pretty small chunks and tossed them with some spices, including garlic powder, pepper, crushed red pepper and cayenne pepper. We cooked them over medium in a skillet with some olive oil for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

We then added the chopped onions and sausage we cut into halves (below) and then quarters.

We cooked it for a bit longer (about 5-7 minutes (just need to have the sausage heated through)) and voila! That's all. We served the sausage and potatoes with a side salad.

Making it Up as I Go: Pot Roast

I was out of town last weekend, and Nate had to come up with some dinner ideas on his own. For Monday night dinner, he took a pork pot roast out of the freezer. We had bought it at the West Allis Farmer's Market a while ago from one of our favorite local, free-range meat vendors. We didn't follow a recipe--we just used what vegetables we had leftover from CSA boxes.

Here's what we did:

Crockpot Pot Roast and Vegetables

-1 pot roast (maybe three pounds? I forgot to look ...)

-1 potato, cubed

-3 carrots, peeled and chopped

-2 leeks, sliced

-3 beets, peeled and cubed

-3 small parsnips, peeled and cubed

-3 cloves garlic, sliced

-salt and pepper to taste

-1 bottle beer

-water

Place pork at bottom of crockpot. Cover with veggies. Pour bottle of beer over everything.

Pour in enough water to cover much of the vegetables. Season to taste. Cook all day on low.

That's it! It was very easy. It was pretty tasty--very hearty, filling and healthy. When it was done cooking, we took out the vegetables, put them in a separate bowl, and took the meat and separated it. This was, we got all of the flavors combined. We also scooped out some of the liquid and served it over the meat and veggies.

It's a nice way to use up any vegetables you need/want to get rid of. Next time, I would season it more--add some garlic powder, some more salt and pepper and maybe thyme, oregano and/or sage. We served it with some made-up Parmesan garlic bread on the side.

Crockpot Recipe: Easy Italian Chicken

Crockpot Mondays has become a weekly thing in our house. It's a nice, easy way to start out the week and always produces lots of leftovers, great for lunches and at least one dinner meal later in the week.

While consulting my go-to crockpot cookbook, Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes, we found an easy and tasty-sounding recipe: Easy Italian Chicken. Plus, it called for cabbage, and we had a lot of it to use up from the CSA box.

We followed the recipe pretty closely. We did add about some green bell pepper, though. Here's the recipe/ (It made four servings)

Easy Italian Chicken

-1/2 of a medium head of cabbage, cut into wedges

-1 medium onion, sliced and separated into rings

-1 4.5-oz. jar of sliced mushrooms (I used fresh mushrooms)

-2 tbs. quick-cooking tapioca

-2-2.5 lbs meaty chicken pieces, skinned (we used three chicken breasts)

-2 cups meatless spaghetti sauce

-about 3/4 of a green bell pepper, sliced

-grated Parmesan cheese, to taste

In a crockpot, place cabbage wedges, onion, mushrooms and pepper. Sprinkle tapioca over vegetables. Place chicken pieces on vegetables. Pour sauce over chicken. (The crockpot was really, really full!)

Cover and cook on low heat for 6-7 hours or on high for 3-3.5 hours. When cooked, transfer to serving platter. Sprinkle with cheese.

We served the chicken just in a bowl (with a side salad). It would be pretty filling, but you could serve it with garlic bread or over noodles or polenta.

Brussels Sprouts--Eat 'Em Like Candy

I never, ever in a million years thought I would type these words, but I'm going to do it: I couldn't stop eating the Brussels sprouts I made the other night. I was eating them like candy--picking them up with my hands, putting them in my mouth and letting them linger there a while to get all the wonderful flavors. I even had to e-mail my mom the next day and tell her that exact thing. She said "it brought a tear to her eye" to hear that (a little dramatic, but still). Growing up, she often made Brussels sprouts, and I absolutely hated them. They were always the frozen kind, boiled too long and lacking in flavor (sorry, Mom!).

But these Brussels sprouts ... Man! They were so delicious. I've actually been craving them since having them on Sunday. We got a stalk of them in our CSA box, and I also got the recipe from the CSA farm owners (we get our CSA from Tipi Produce. Love them!). The owners always include a newsletter with an e-mail altering us to a new box, and this recipe for Crispy-Edged Roasted Brussels Sprouts was included. I thought I'd give it a try, and I'm so glad I did.

The recipe is so easy--halve sprouts, lay on baking sheet lined with foil and olive oil. Roast 10 minutes, mix around, roast another five minutes. Sprinkle with sea salt. Voila! I wouldn't let the sprouts cool for 10 minutes as the recipe calls for--only a minute or two is enough. They were better warmer.

The sprouts tasted like nothing I had ever had before--sort of sweet, like they had been caramelized, and nutty. I honestly couldn't stop eating them! I think it goes to show that good food (organic, fresh and in season) cooked simply (just using olive oil and salt) is really, really good.

OK, my love letter to Brussels sprouts is done. But seriously, go try it for yourself!

Chops, Cauliflower and Greens

On Sunday, we wanted to make a somewhat healthy meal for dinner, and we needed to use up a HUGE half head of cauliflower from the CSA box. We opted for pork chops, mashed cauliflower and sauteed mustard greens and kale (also from the CSA).

For the pork chops, we haven't made them in so long I wasn't sure what to do. So I search www.allrecipes.com for a pan-fried pork chop recipe and found this one for coriander and cumin rubbed pork chops. The recipe was really easy and the flavor was great--it wasn't too overpowering, but just enough. One difference, though, is that the chops took much longer to cook than the five minutes a side the recipe indicates.

For the cauliflower, I found a recipe in my Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health cookbook. It was super easy, but, again, took longer than the recipe indicates since there was SO much cauliflower (and I didn't even use the entire half a head!). Here's the recipe:

Mashed Cauliflower with Shallots

-1 head of cauliflower, trimmed and chopped

-2 tbs. olive oil

-1/4 cup minced shallots

-2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

-1/2 teas. salt

-1/4 teas. ground black pepper

-1/2 cup finely chopped scallions

-1/4 cup minced fresh parsley (I skipped this)

-grated Parmesan, asiago or sharp cheddar (I used shredded Parmesan)

Steam the cauliflower until very tender, about 7 minutes. Put in a shallow bowl and set aside.

Warm the oil in a small skillet on medium-high heat and saute the shallots, garlic, salt and pepper until the shallots have softened. Add to the bowl of cauliflower and mash with a potato masher. Stir in the scallions and parsley. Stir in grated cheese if desired.

I really liked it, but, then again, I like cauliflower. I also thought the green onion flavor really stood out. Nate thought it was still very cauliflower tasting.

For the mustard greens and kale, I sliced and chopped the greens pretty thin (cutting part of my finger nail off in the process--oops!) and sauteed them in a skillet with a bit of water, olive oil and some garlic. (I may have used some onions too--I can't remember now!). It was good. It had cooked for quite a while since I had started the greens first. Nate thought it tasted better than the greens we've made in the past.

All in all, it was a good, filling meal!

Potato Leek Soup

We had some potatoes and leeks from our CSA box I wanted to use sooner than later, so I thought it might be a good time to make potato leek soup--with soda bread, of course. I also had a celeriac from the box, too, so I added that in.

I know we've made it before, but it might have been before I started blogging. If this sounds like a repeat, forgive me--I just can't find it!

I based the soup on a recipe from an Irish cookbook, Irish Food & Cooking, I picked up on sale at Border's a while ago. The recipe is for potato soup and I just added the leeks to it. Here's what I did:

Potato Leek Soup

-1/4 cup butter

-2 large leeks, thinly sliced

-1.5 lbs. potatoes, diced

-8 cups chicken broth

-1 celariac, peeled and chopped

-salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large, heavy pan and add leeks, turning to coat them in butter. Cover and leave to sweat over low heat.

Add potatoes and celeriac to the pan and mix well with the butter and leeks. Season with salt and pepper, cover and cook without coloring over a gentle heat for about 10 minutes. Add the broth, bring to a boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Puree soup in batches in the blender (I used an emulsion blender). Reheat over a low heat and adjust seasoning.

I actually made it Sunday afternoon and then we heated it up for dinner Monday. It just needs about 10-15 minutes on the stove to do so.

We served the soup with one of our favorite things: soda bread. We love this easy and healthy recipe for Brown Soda Bread from Cooking Light.

It appears I didn't take a picture of the finished product. I must have been too hungry! You can probably imagine what pureed potato leek soup looks like. :)