Oh dear. It's finally arrived. That dreaded day--the day the CSA boxes stopped coming. Y'all know me, I'm a staunch lover of winter and snow and rain and all that, but it is a most serious downside to our weather cycle when it causes the CSA boxes to stop coming. Makes me almost re-evaluate being a Minnesotan.
Well, let's go out with a bang, shall we, and no more whimpering? Here's the last Chairman of the season:
There's been much wailing and moaning and gnashing of teeth this week--not by me, natch--about the premature arrival of winter. Suck it up, folks! This is Minnesota! Except for that CSA thing...
This week's box o'goodness had: potatoes, hot and sweet peppers, cauliflower, celery root, acorn and delicata squash, spinach, onions, garlic, leeks, tomatoes, carrots, beets, and red cabbage. I have no idea what Miss T.'s been up to, but I do know I scored one over her on the cabbage. See, the boxes were packed so full that we were supposed to pick up a cabbage and take it with us, on top of our boxes. I did that. Miss T. didn't. So much for the cabbage challenge! I win!
I give you--Warm Red Cabbage Salad, from Deborah Madison's The Greens Cookbook. Lightly sauteed red cabbage with garlic and red onions, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar, then tossed with toasted walnuts, herbs, goat cheese, and chopped apples. Very, very yummy.
I have to admit beets fall in that category of "boy, there is just no way I like those things." Yet I'm determined to find a way to change that. The chocolate cake some time ago was fine, but felt like cheating. I decided to roast them, along with some of the potatoes and the leeks. Loved the potatoes and the leeks. The beets were--OK. I think they're just too sweet for me. I did splash a little white wine vinegar on them to cut back the sweetness a bit, and that helped.
This got decidedly mixed reviews: sweet roasted butternut squash and greens over bow-tie pasta. I really liked it, Teen 1 kind of liked it, DH wasn't wild about it, and Teen 2 wouldn't eat it--Teen 2, the kid who eats everything, especially when pasta is involved. It probably didn't help that I over-roasted the greens. I'd make it again. For me.
Here's a unanimous success: Ribs with homemade bbq sauce in the clay pot, using onions and celery root. Yeah, baby.
This was a hit too: pasta e fagioli. So simple, so yummy, such excellent leftovers. This took up some of my onion, celery root, and carrot.
Another excellent use of carrots, onions, and celery root is my three-bean soup.
Come to think of it, the loss of my CSA box is somewhat compensated by the arrival of comfort food season.
Speaking of comfort food, you didn't think I'd skip eggs this time, did you? Of course not.
Scrambled eggs with onion, sweet pepper, and spinach. Oh, eggs are so wonderful. So incredibly versatile. Why, they're darn near as versatile as chicken.
So.........which came first, the versatility of the chicken or the versatility of the egg?
What started out before cooking to be purple broccoli and purple cauliflower turned, once steamed, into green broccoli and purple cauliflower. For shame, broccoli--changing your looks to appear like all the other broccoli. Oh, the conformity, it hurts my heart. You go, purple cauliflower.
Finally, my first-ever attempt at cooking delicata squash. I used Crescent Dragonwagon's stuffed delicata squash recipe from Passionate Vegetarian. The squash is stuffed with a mixture of sauteed onions and apples with apple juice concentrate and soy sauce, chopped partially cooked squash, raisins, toasted cashews, paprika, and cornflake crumbs. The result is quite tasty. Kind of like when I make squash the old-fashioned way, with butter, brown sugar, and marshmallows, but a whole lot healthier.
So, that's it. An entire season of Iron Chefettes: CSA Edition comes to an end. No clear winner, I think. And how about all those guest Chairmen! Anonymous bartenders. Secret weapons. Eva Peron. And, of course, my ever-beloved and ne'er forgotten Billie Joe {swoon}.
What a season it's been. And I'm so glad to have entertained myself so thoroughly. Hopefully you were entertained at least some of the time too.
I'm sorry but even with all those lovely suggestions, beets are not edible. It's just the way it is.
Congratulations on winning the cabbage challlenge! And oh my, do those all look good. Comfort food, yum.
Posted by: Carrie K | October 26, 2009 at 06:33 PM
These posts always make me hungry, and I've just eaten!
Posted by: Ruth | October 26, 2009 at 06:13 AM
Hmmm I like Rudee's suggestion for the beets. Sounds good.
So - I'm in Tacoma Washington and I get a frantic text from Puck looking for the website address for Burger Quest. Seems he and dad were jonesing for a burger and he remembered someplace from your website!
Posted by: Guinifer | October 22, 2009 at 03:59 PM
Our last CSA box was last week (had to return the box today)...so your photos looked very familiar to what we've been eating--except we made slaw with our cabbage and had kale in our eggs tonight. Oh, and I'm crazy for beets. But I get the issue with them!
Posted by: Jocelyn | October 22, 2009 at 12:05 AM
I would be very very upset if my box stopped coming! Fortunately ours work on a different system so they keep going year round!
Posted by: Daisy | October 17, 2009 at 12:36 PM
Wow, what a rundown!! you just planned a weeks meals for me, thanks! I'm spoiled, my CSA has a winter share that runs into January.
Posted by: knittymama | October 16, 2009 at 08:37 PM
I'm with the others who like beets with vinegar and goat cheese, especially in a salad. (Vincent's beet carpaccio, anyone?)
I'm relieved this is the last week of CSA, and have already broached a half share every other week with a friend for next year as you suggested.
Posted by: Girl Detective | October 16, 2009 at 08:26 PM
I hate summer, but I did enjoy this cyber food battle!
I came THIS close to tape recording Chunky singing Billie Joe's hits in the shower the other night...hee hee. I thought of you...
Posted by: bezzie | October 16, 2009 at 06:57 PM
Some of that food is just too different for plain old me. Why did you have to put soy in the sweet squash? What happend to brown sugar and cashews? I'm so bad.
Posted by: kathy b | October 16, 2009 at 03:57 PM
Lots of recipes look good, thanks! :) But that purple cauliflower rocks, hee!
Posted by: limedragon :-: Harriet | October 16, 2009 at 11:26 AM
Sniff. I can't believe it's over!
Posted by: Miss T | October 16, 2009 at 11:23 AM
I really like that stuffed squash. Yum!
Posted by: Crystal (Cafe Cyan) | October 16, 2009 at 11:02 AM
Oh, the poor beet - only a few truly love it. I finally learned to love 'em when I learned to just roast 'em. Usually with other stuff (carrots, squash, onion, brussels sprouts, parsnips, whatever), and lots of hearty herbs (rosemary, sage, parsley, and yup, thyme). Or, have you ever tried beet risotto? They add sweetness and color but the dish is still savory. And Rudee's suggestion about pairing beets, goat cheese and balsamic is classic.
That red cabbage salad's going to make me pull out my Greens Cookbook. Yum.
I found a great resource for vegetable recipes earlier this year: www.greenearthinstitute.org. They have a recipe section broken down by vegetable. The beet section has a couple risotto recipes, and a carrot soup topped with beet creme fraiche that sounds tasty. And when you just have too many beets left - beet vodka! Peel & roughly chop raw beets, put them in a large glass jar, cover with vodka, and let sit in a cool dark place for 2-4 weeks, then strain. Make sure to store in the refrigerator, though - left out, it turns the color of bile. Serve chilled with lemon-lime juice. Tastes just like beets.
I'll miss CSA Iron Chefettes! Till next year.
Posted by: Don | October 16, 2009 at 09:55 AM
Try balsamic instead of white wine vinegar next time -- more oomph to cut the sweetness. I think the green broccoli and purple cauliflower are more attractive than all purple would have been. But everything looks sooooo good...
Posted by: kmkat | October 16, 2009 at 09:29 AM
98% of everything looks delectable. Next time you pick up some beets, get a high quality chevre, a bottle of balsamic, a splash of olive oil. Reduce the balsamic to a syrup over medium heat. Roast the beets until tender then cool and slice to about 1/8 inch thickness. Spread each slice with the cheese then stack the slices. Refrigerate. When ready to serve, make artistic puddles of oil and syrup for dipping. It's delicious.
I'm lamenting the end of this season's Iron Chefettes. You've both sparked an interest in clever recipes for me--at least in your eggless dishes.
Posted by: rudee | October 16, 2009 at 08:57 AM
it all looks good, Amy. Could be the predicted snow has set the mood.
Posted by: debra | October 16, 2009 at 06:17 AM