Recipes for this week’s CSA share!
Happy August everyone! Here are some recipes to go along with this week’s CSA!
Nectarine and Basil Salad
A refreshing summer salad that combines the freshness of basil with the sweetness of nectarine.
Whisk together
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- a generous pinch of sea salt
- and black pepper to taste
In a large bowl, combine
- 4 cups mixed baby greens
- 1–2 nectarines, cubed
- 1 avocado, cubed
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts; and
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
Drizzle with dressing to taste and toss. Serves 4.
Dilly Beans w/ Garlic
Who doesn’t love dilly beans?? Eat right out of the jar or in a bloody mary!
Ingredients:
2lbs. trimmed green beans
1/4 cup of salt
4 heads of dill
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp. cayenne pepper (added a little extra)
2 1/2 cups vinegar
2 1/2 cups water
Directions:
Pack beans, lengthwise, into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. To each pint, add 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, 1 clove garlic, and one head of dill. Combine remaining ingredients and bring to boiling. Pour hot mixture over beans, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Adjust caps. Process pints and quarts 10 minutes in boiling bath. (Double recipe-makes 7 pints. I used 3-4 cloves of garlic per quart.)
Jalapeno Corn Bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
Directions
- In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk and oil. Add to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Stir in jalapenos. Pour into a greased 9-in. square baking pan.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cut into squares or wedges. Serve warm.
Footnotes
- When cutting or seeding hot peppers, use rubber or plastic gloves to protect your hands. Avoid touching your face.
I don’t know if it was the heat this week or my looming week long vacation but this week’s CSA inspired me to also include some refreshing summer cocktails into this week’s blog post. These are some of my favorites…enjoy!
Basil Mojito
A new summery twist on the mint mojito! If you drink it out of a mason jar it will taste that much better :)
- 2 ounces Bacardi Limon
- 6 fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 lime, wedged and juiced
- 1/2 lemon, wedged and juiced
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- carbonated lemon-lime beverage
Directions:
- Place Limon, 5 basil leaves, lime juice, lemon juice and sugar in glass and muddle.
- Add crushed ice and add soda to your taste.
- Garnish with basil leaf.
Cucumber Martini
Ingredients
2 oz. Vodka (Grey Goose)
1/4 oz. Lemon Juice
2 slices Cucumber
3 pieces Mint
1/2 oz. Sugar Syrup
Mixing Instructions
Muddle mint and a cucumber slice in a cocktail shaker. Add other ingredients and ice. Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass, and garnish with a slice of cucumber and a fresh mint sprig.
One Response to “Recipes for this week’s CSA share!”
Comments
Read below or add a comment...
All of the above sound really good! This week we continued our summer mission of eating our bitter greens. Tonight we had kale with Italian sausage and escarole with cannellini –both were really good:
Boil a big pot of water, blanch kale ( whatever was the half share this week–with stems and tough veins removed) and then scoop it out of the pot with a sieve or colander. Chop the greens into shreds. Meanwhile, slowly brown sweet Italian sausage (my package was 19 oz) in a fry pan, add shredded kale (do not drain the fat, it is an important ingredient) and a can of diced tomatoes. Return the kale water to boiling and cook a pound of any sort of pasta to just short of being really done. Drain the pasta and top with the kale, sausage, tomato mixture Spread meat mixture over pasta and top with grated parmigiano/reggiano and a handful of chopped parsley. Bake to reheat or eat! This recipe probably serves 6-8 easily.
We accompanied this dish with Chad’s recipe (via Meg) for escarole: Chop some garlic and onion and saute in olive oil. Add the shredded leaves from one head of escarole. Once they are wilted, add a can of cannellini beans (white beans). Most recipes suggest that you add the beans with their canning liquid; since I chose to rinse the beans, I added a couple of glugs of white wine to moisten the contents of the pan and then finished the dish with a handful of chopped green onions (aka scallions). This dish serves 2-4. We ate outside and dreamed of being in Italy. I am already looking forward to next week’s share!