Nettles Soup

This recipe is from Deborah Madison's book, Local Flavors.  If you don't have this book, I recommend it.

• A plastic veg. bag filled with nettle leaves
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 1 C sliced onion or scallion
• 1 small potato, thinly sliced
• 6 C chard leaves, thinly sliced (we subbed spinach and lettuce)
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 6 C veggie stock, chicken stock or water (we used veggie stock)
• 1/2 C cream

1.  Bring 3 !Q water to a boil.  plunge nettles into a bowl of cold water and swish back and forth, then  drop into boiling water for 2 mins.  Drain.  Chop coarsly, discard large stems.
2.  Melt butter in wide soup pot and add onion and potato.  Cook over med heat, stirring occassionally, until translucent.  Add chard, 1 1/2 t salt, and the stock.  Bring to boil.  Add nettles.  Simmer until potato is completely soft, 15 - 20 mins.
3.  Puree the soup until smooth, then return to stove.  If stems did not chop up, pass through food mill.  Add the cream, heat until hot, then taste for salt.  Season well with pepper and serve plain or with whole wheat croutons browned in butter.

This is a surprisingly hearty soup!

Pork and Daikon Radish Soup

This recipe was forwarded by Jeannie - one of our members.  She reports that it's tasty and slightly spicy.  Thanks, Jeannie.

From http://daikonradish.com/recipes/pork-bone-daikon-radish-soup/

Ingredients

1 lb pork bones or pork ribs
1 lb Daikon radish
Green onions and/or cilantro  (I used1.5 large leeks)
Grated fresh ginger (about 2 inches of a regular size ginger)

Directions

Boil pork bones for approximately 5 minutes. Remove and discard water. This gets rid of the scum that floats to the top.
Add ginger and pork bones to 4 cups (or enough to cover all the ingredients) of fresh boiling water for 10 minutes then reduce to a low boil and cook for at least 90 minutes.

Chop Daikon radish. Slice the radish into 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick circles and then chop them into quarters.

Add Daikon to soup and let cook for 20 minutes.

Add chopped green onions or cilantro, salt to taste.

Makes 4 servings.

Garden Casserole

Here's another roasted veggie recipe option.  Thanks, Robin, for forwarding.  Although the summer squash is now done, I would think you could substitute another veggie (winter squash or daikon radish or even potatoes).

Garden casserole
Prep: 15 min
Cooking: 45 min
Serves 4
Calories per serving: 205

2 zucchini (~1/2 lb)
1 small eggplant (~ 1/2 lb), unpeeled
1 medium yellow onion, peeled
2 large, very rice tomatoes
1 medium green pepper, cored and seeded
1 t dried basil
1 t dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1/4 C chopped parsley
5 T vegetable oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Slice the zucchini, eggplant, onion, tomatoes, and green pepper as thin as you can.  In a dish, combine the basil, thyme, garlic, salt, black pepper, and parsley.
2. Grease the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish with 2 T of the oil.  Layer the zucchini, then the eggplant, onions, tomatoes, and green pepper in the casserole, sprinkling each layer with the herb and garlic mixture.  Sprinkle the remaining oil over the top and bake, covered, for 45 min, or until the vegetables are tender.  [Note from Lynn: We tend to use extra zucchini and eggplant.  The official recipe says 35 minutes of baking, but it's always taken us 45 minutes.  We top with shredded white cheddar.]

Briami (Roasted Vegetables)

BRIAMI

INGREDIENTS

• 4 medium tomatoes, diced into 1-inch pieces
• 2 zucchini, peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces
• 3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces
• ½ head garlic, cloves smashed
• 2-ounce Parmesan cheese, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup water
• Herbs such as basil, thyme, oregano and lovage, roughly chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 425º. Line an aluminum half-sheet pan with foil and spread out vegetables and chunks of cheese. Combine olive oil and water and herbs and then pour over all. Season with salt and pepper and toss until thoroughly coated. Place in oven and roast for at least an hour, stirring every so often, just to monitor that all is cooking evenly.

This was forwarded by CSA member, Kathleen - thanks!

Tomato, Basil and Mozarella Sandwich

This is a sandwich that I first tasted when traveling in Spain. What a treat!

- Start with some high quality bread - it can be a stale baguette or Zingerman's Farmer's bread is good. It should be crisp - so if it's not stale, toast it. Slice the baguette in half or make pieces for a sandwich from your round loaf.
- Peel a garlic clove. Rub the clove on both sides of the bread. Watch out - a little really permeates the sandwich.
- Drizzle a little high quality olive oil over the garlic.
- Either place a slice of tomato on the bread or take a roma tomato and cut it in half and rub the tomato on the bread which leaves the essence of the tomato but not all of the juice.
- Top the tomato with a thin slice of fresh mozarella
- Top the cheese with a thin layer of Jambon Serrano or other proscioto or even thinly sliced salami or a chorizo (optional). I like Morgan and York for their Jambon Serrano - it's expensive but you don't need to buy much to make this - and they have a great meat slicer which results in the paper thin strips that are best for this. If the meat is too thick, it's difficult to eat.
- Follow with a layer of basil.
- Top with the other piece of bread, cut into manageable pieces and enjoy!

A true summer treat!

Grilled Summer Squash

One of our favorite ways to enjoy summer squash is by grilling it. Larger squash are excellent for this as they're less likely to fall through the grill.

Take one or more summer squash - any type. I enjoy crook neck squash which has just started to form bumbs on the skin. At this point the skin isn't too tough but it's a bit nutty and the seeds are still relatively small. Also Cozelle is very tasty (this is a zucchini with ribbing and stripes). But any summer squash is good. At any rate, take your squash and cut lengthwise in 1/4 to 1/3" slabs. Lay the slabs into a baking dish and drizzle on a little olive oil. Smear it around to cover the slab and salt with sea salt from your grinder. Flip the slab and repeat. Continue to layer the squash into the pan, oiling and salting each layer. Let it rest for 20 minutes or so. You can also add a little sprinkling of thyme for a change.

Grill the squash on medium heat for 5 - 7 minutes per side. Maybe more, maybe less. It's OK if it's a little brown but you don't want it to fall apart.

Serve & enjoy!

Summer Squash Soup with Salsa Verde

Summer Squash Soup with Salsa Verde

Serves 4 to 6

Sheryl forwarded this recipe to us - it's from Deborah Maddison's book - Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. It's one of the best soups I've had in a long time - the Salsa Verde makes it!

2 tbl. olive oil or butter

1 ¼ lbs. Summer Squash

1 large onion, chopped

1 bunch scallions, including half the greens, chopped

2 tbl. raw white rice

½ cup chopped parsley

6 cups vegetable stock, or water

Salt and freshly milled pepper

Lemon juice

1/3 cup Salsa Verde

Heat the oil in a soup pot and add the squash and onion, and sauté over high heat until squash begins to color, then add scallions, rice and parsley. Add stock and 1 ½ tsp salt and bring to boil. Lower heat to simmer, partially covered, for 25 minutes. Let cool briefly, then puree. Taste for salt, season with pepper, and add lemon juice to taste. Finish the soup by swirling in the Salsa Verde or pesto.

Salsa Verde

2 shallots finely chopped

½ cup finely chopped parsley

1/3 cup chopped mixed herbs-- tarragon, chervil, thyme, marjoram, dill

2 to3 tbs capers, rinsed

Grated zest of 1 lemon

1 small clove of garlic, minced

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 to 3 tsp of champagne vinegar or fresh lemon juice

1 hard cooked egg, optional

Salt and freshly milled pepper

Combine all ingredients except salt and pepper. Mash the yolk until smooth, adding a little of the sauce to thin it. Finely chop the white. Stir the yolk and white back into the sauce, season with salt and pepper, and adjust the amount of vinegar if needed.