If I had the time...

I'd take my mushroom and garlic scape pesto recipe, and I'd make fresh ravioli. I'd then cook them and toss them with my garlic scape pesto and serve them over a bed of sauteed spinach. Just sayin'.

Kale Chips...Really?

My sister and I made kale chips this weekend and we were not impressed. We did a little online research and came up with what we thought was a fool-proof recipe: kale, dressed with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, garlic powder, and fresh parmigiano-reggiano. We placed the dressed kale on cookie sheets and baked them at 350 degrees. We took them out after 13 minutes (we'd planned 15 minutes' baking time) and we had crispy, paper-thin kale. We each took a nice piece, popped it in our mouth and were shocked by the crunchiness. Kale chips, if nothing else, are fun to crunch. We each ate quite a few chips, but both agreed that the only reason we kept eating them was because they were salty. Not a very good reason, in my opinion. They looked like seaweed and, besides the salt, tasted like charred vegetables. We threw the rest of the chips out.

What's the big deal with kale chips? What did we do wrong? Is there any nutritious value to eating practically burnt kale?

Please, if you eat and enjoy kale chips, tell me what we did wrong, because I just don't get it...

Chard and Quinoa Salad

A week ago, I decided I'd like to make some Tebbouleh. We picked up a bunch of mint and flat leaf parsley from the grocery store, and my plan was to make enough salad to last me for the week as a side for dinner or as a snack during the day. Did that happen? No. It took me exactly eight days from when I purchased the herbs to actually have the time to make the salad. By that point, I had my greens from the farm in the fridge and I knew it was time to dive in to the stash. Luckily, the herbs were still fresh! My inspiration for this salad is a Tebbouleh recipe by Ina Garten that I found on Food Network.com. Instead of the traditional bulghur, I used quinoa. The addition of chard and carrots punched up the dish in color, crunch, and nutrition! The mint and parsley provide a refreshing flavor, and the tartness of the lemon is subtle and delicious. I recommend letting this dish sit for a day to allow the flavors to meld, but it won't be the end of the world if you eat it right away.

2010 CSA Season Has Begun!

We walked with our new baby to the farm on Friday for the first share pick up of the season. I almost let David go by himself, as I was feeling pretty tired, but I'm so glad I tagged along. How could I not visit the farm during the first week? The farm looked beautiful with rows and rows of lush green plants growing all around and the first flowers of the season. I picked delicious strawberries and a handful of dill, and David collected our vegetables. Can you guess what our share consisted of this week? Greens! Kale, bok choy, chard, broccoli, red leaf lettuce and another head of lettuce for which I cannot recall the name. Bibb, perhaps? We also received 2 radishes. Yes, you read that correctly. Two. We are splitting our share with another couple again this year, and since I planted a whole bunch of radishes this spring, we forfeitted our half of radish share. I love the csa's radishes and I know we'll be allowed to take many more before long, so I didn't really feel like we missed out on anything this week.

What will I be doing with these tasty greens, you might be asking? Good question. I'm not really sure. I think for this first week, we will be enjoying them in simple recipes (read: I didn't get my act together and I am suffering from a lack of creativity and energy these days, so salads are looking pretty good right now). We used the chard, combined with thinly sliced yellow onions, in a last-minute quiche for brunch over the weekend. Here's my recipe from last year. And here's a simple, fresh, and easy salad recipe.

As for my personal little vegetable garden, there are snap peas and lots of radishes that are looking (and tasting) glorious. I've realized, however, that if I ever want enough peas to use as the main ingredient in a dish, I'm going to have to plant many, many more seeds. I can't complain, though, as nothing beats eating fresh snap peas right off the vine! The onions are thriving, cilantro that had gone to seed last year is popping up in places I'd never have guessed, my beets are looking great, and the tomato plants seem to be happy and healthy! This is all great news, as I've been neglectful towards the garden with my limited time and list of to do's getting longer by the day.

Ok, on to brainstorming and researching for recipe ideas...