Thursday, July 17, 2014

This week in the Kitchen

 This week I'm joining Heather's weekly In the Kitchen update:

Veggies and berries are dominating our kitchen this month. We get a weekly vegetable share from the wonderful Siena Farm. Here is the latest one:


These food photos combine the end of last week's share and some of this week's.



I shredded 1 1/2 lbs of Chioga and red beets for a sweet, hearty pasta dish. The video is from the New York Times and is easy to follow.



 
 

Chopped radicchio and kohlrabi went into a wonderful salad* one night. Another night I roasted kohlrabi and potato "fries". If you're not familiar with kohlrabi, it's like a round broccoli stem.



For one week's favas I peeled, steamed, peeled again and sauteed with butter and salt. Delicious but a lot of work. The following week, I oiled and grilled the whole pods, and then we popped out and ate the favas like edamame. Yummy and much easier.


 

On the grill along with the fava pods were maple glazed carrots. They start cooking on the stove with butter and salt. Then you put on a little syrup and move to the grill to roast and concentrate and caramelize the sweetness. 
A lovely foccacia that my hubby brings home from Bricco Bakery in Boston's North End rounds out the meal.



I like to make this type of salad with corn, beans, peppers, green onion or garlic, cilantro, lime... whatever is handy.



Now onto the plentiful berries and cherries.
I've been buying the cherries on sale in the supermarket. We've been eating them with many meals, and I've been pitting and freezing them for smoothies and snacking through the year.




We grow our own raspberries and I pick about a pint or so each morning and evening. We snack on them and I freeze them until there's enough for making jam.

 * Kohlrabi Salad  adapted by Anna Sortun from Yotam Ottolenghi's book Jerusalm
3 medium kohlrabi (2/3 pounds / 750 grams)
1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, large ones, torn
1 head of radicchio, roughly cut and washed
1/4 teaspoon sumac

Dressing:
2 large tablespoons Greek yoghurt
2 large tablespoons sour cream
1/2 small garlic clove, finely grated
2 scallions, finely minced, white part only
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Peel the kohlrabi and cut them into 2/3 inch dice, and place in a large mixing bowl.
Mix the dressing ingredients until smooth.
Add dressing to kohlrabi. Place in serving bowl, top with mint leaves, spoon over radicchio and serve.
(I chopped and added radicchio to the salad)

10 comments:

Doug Case said...

Well now I'm hungry again.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-OKXu88p9-RU/U8W_ixr-KqI/AAAAAAAAPgs/XmHL_Ouc4Po/s0/P7150184.jpg

debby emadian said...

Such pretty beetroot and so good for you. I love this time of year for all the fresh produce.
Thanks for letting us peep into your kitchen.
debx

Maria said...

I enjoyed visiting your kitchen, everything looks very yummy.

Anke said...

Everything looks fantastic! Growing up in Germany, we used to eat a lot of Kohlrabi. One of my all time favorite vegetables! Tried growing it in our garden, but the bugs always get to them before I do. :-(

Marianna said...

Everything looks delicious.

Amanda said...

I've always wanted to try fresh favas but haven't been able to come by them in the markets. Time to grow my own!

Valeriacrea said...

Vegetable treasures!! Wow!!

Andrea said...

Thank you for the nice comments everyone. I do have a garden, but except for raspberries, it is not too productive. I keep working on it with compost and natural methods. That's why I rely on local farms (a CSA and local farmstand). They are nearly organic and are experts. There are so many delicious vegetables this time of year. Our CSA is year round though, and I must say we were mighty tired of turnips and parsnips by March!

Anonymous said...

Oh, so much yum here! We have a CSA as well as growing a garden, too. We have a "Gardener's Share" so we get to pick and choose what we need, which is nice. I can't wait to try the glazed carrots on the grill...sounds heavenly!

Katy said...

Everything looks so delicious! Kohlrabi and Favas are two of my garden favorites. I love favas sautéed with a little harissa and sun-dried tomato paste. Quick and easy summer salad.

Thanks so much for sharing!
xx