Eat Your Vegetables!

We are trying really hard to eat our vegetables. 

One of the charms of belonging to a CSA is that we get produce delivered every other week. This is also a drawback. I tend to think of us as almost vegetarians, but even still, we have a tough time getting through all the fruits and veggies in the box. So it's creating a challenge for us, but in the best very way. 

After Thanksgiving, I went a little nutters in the kitchen and made a couple gallons of chicken stock to keep in the freezer. Then with that and our sweet potatoes tried out this soup, with some modifications. The changes we made were pretty minor- one more cup stock, one less cup half and half; cayenne; and only half of the maple syrup. It was rich and velvety and slightly sweet and spicy. (I'm on a bit of a blended soup kick right now, they taste so luxurious without being too fatty. I love that!) I still have sweet potatoes left over from the last box, trying to figure out what to do with them. 

Also left over are collard greens, persimmons, red pears, bok choy, and one meyer lemon. It's a challenge to not just quickly saute the greens in olive oil and more on. We are trying to keep them interesting, but my repertoire needs to be expanded. Any ideas for these winter greens/ weeds? And this coming week we are getting so much more stuff! I can't wait to try out this with some kale. I don't think I can imagine a more homey but sophisticated dish. It seems like the perfect thing for a nice late Sunday lunch. Hmmm... 

Sunday Supers and then some

So, I have no photos for this post. Hmmm... I don't know that I am yet qualified to call myself a blogger as I have lots to learn!

Yesterday, despite being dog tired I went hog wild in the kitchen. I roasted a butternut squash to make this beauty. It's all assembled in the fridge for tomorrow's dinner. I think I will throw together a simple salad with greens, pears and some toasted almonds to go with. This is my first ever lasagna. It was pretty easy to put together and I can't imagine that the preheating of the oven and baking is going to be too hard either! I'm trying out gluten free noodles, we'll see how that goes. I don't particularly trust gluten free products to be great, but I have hope that in between layers of cheese and roasted squash that these will do the trick. 

I also roasted a chicken with sweet potatoes and fennel for dinner. We had it with rainbow swiss chard that I sauteed in olive oil with chile flakes and then added the pan drippings from the chicken to make it ultra savory. The leftovers from the squash and chicken are going to be made into enchiladas tomorrow night for cooking later in the week, or maybe to bring to a friend's brand new house, so that they don't have to worry about cooking. I am far too lazy and cold tonight to assemble now. 

Tonight's dinner was dreamy in its simplicity. We had rice, pan fried sole, and stir fried bok choy. Everything was perfectly seasoned and very complimentary to one another. 

Here's a rough estimate of a recipe for the bok choy-

Heat oil in wok, add 1 onion chopped, let soften. Add one hot pepper sliced into rings, stir and heat through. Add 4 heads baby bok choy, leaves separated, stir to combine. Add 2 cloves chopped garlic, 1 thumb chopped ginger, 1/3 cup low sodium chicken stock, 1t black bean paste. Stir fry until bok choy softens and sauce coats the leaves about 4 minutes. finish with about 1/2t sesame oil. 

We made a simple rice with homemade chicken stock and for the fish, we seasoned with fresh black pepper and a little reduced sodium temari (wheat free soy) sauce. Quickly pan fry. Dinner in 20 minutes! It was quick, easy, healthy and beautiful. AND though I am documenting it here, I did none of the work. Even better. 

Catering Parties

Yesterday I catered my friend Claire's birthday party. Here's what was on the menu:

• stuffed mushrooms (stuffed with zucchini, mushrooms and onion)
  
• curry cheese ball
  
• sweet and spicy shrimp with mint sauce
  
• zucchini rounds stuffed with spicy chicken sausage
  
• caramelized onions, blue cheese and walnuts on toasts
  
• mushroom pate
  
• goat cheese balls
  
• veggies with green goddess dip (yummm)
  
• endive leaves with smoked salmon mousse
  
• cheese/ crackers/ fruit/ bread and gluten free crackers for the birthday girl

This was the first time I have catered an event alone, besides dinner at home. Claire and I have been known to pull off good parties together, but the birthday girl couldn't work for her own party! (though she did help chop up veggies)

What would I do differently? Next time I don't think I will get such a stinky cheese (Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk - mind you it was delicious, so oowey-gooey, but man, did it stink, we had to put a dome on it, and every time it was opened, heads turned!), I would have had maybe only one cream cheese based thing, but at the same time, it is so well received and loved that it's hard to say. I am mostly thinking from a textural point of view (mushroom pate and curry cheese ball are both cream cheese based). 

Otherwise, no complaints. In fact I got so many compliments, it was kind of overwhelming. Quite simply, I love food and I love my friends, so it becomes very easy to do things like this for them. Would I like to become a caterer as some people suggested last night? I don't know. I've definitely thought about it, and continue to do so. But for now, I'm happy being able to experiment, and have the outlet to let my creative and hyper-organized sides mesh happily. Sometimes even more so than the cooking I like the planning. Just thinking about the world of options is so exciting, and then formulating a plan for execution, now that is the good stuff, but that's another post. 

What am I hungry for?

I am hungry for more time with friends and family, a nice meal, adventure, a delicious wine, an organized closet, classic cocktails, vacation.......

Speaking of vacation, we are headed to Mexico in 4 weeks for about 10 days. I couldn't be more excited. In fact if you were here right now it would be all I would talk about. I guess I already am doing that.