142: Fasolakia

It's hard to make big masses of things in tomatoes look good sometimes, but believe me- this is delicious. I think my goal is to learn all of the "things braised in tomatoes" dishes from cultures around the world, at least as an entry point into the flavors of their cuisine, as there's no way I can not enjoy that kind of dish.

This is green beans braised in tomatoes, and it's greek. Dill weeks become greek weeks, so it goes. I can't remember how I came upon this dish, but as soon as I saw it had a name on one blog, I googled it and opened up like four different recipes to see how it generally came together. One had sweet potatoes in it, which I might try one of these days. Anyhow, here's about what I did:

Ingredients (approx as always):
1 medium/large onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Pinch red pepper flake
1/2 tsp oregano (dried)
1 14ish oz can diced tomatoes (or a few fresh ones, I ate all mine this week like handfruit)
1 lb of green beans, ends trimmed, cut into inch or so pieces (minus snacks)
2 Tbs parsley, chopped
~1.5 Tbs dill, chopped
salt, pepper, olive oil as needed

That is what I added, next time I may go a little lighter on the herbage.

Start your onion in a pot with some olive oil with a little salt, saute until translucent, maybe getting a little brown. My pot was a little small so it was more a sweat than a saute. Add the garlic, pepper flake and oregano, stir until fragrant. Add your tomatoes and let em simmer a bit. Add the green beans, bring up to a simmer and let those go.

I think mine were in about 20 minutes before I added my herbage. Some recipes said to add it right when they come off the heat, some when you added the tomatoes- I split the difference. I went a little light, let them go another 10 minutes or so, then added a little more when I took the beans off the heat.

This was lovely with a little crusty bread. But I had already eaten all the things when I made this, otherwise there would've been an egg poached in it, or fried over easy on top. But that is what leftovers are for.

Delivery 14

Tomatoes - 3
Green Beans - 1 pound

Edamame - 1 bunch

Carrots - 4

Dill - 1 bunch

Broccoli - 2 heads

Red Onions - 2

Cabbage - 1 head

Potatoes - 2 pounds

Peppers - 2

Habanero Peppers - take them if you dare somehow I forgot to grab these somehow

Feeling a little lost with my recipe selection. The "finding as few simple recipes as possible" method is nice, and I am trying new things, but something's missing. I really enjoyed geeking out the other day, and would like to focus more on whys than hows. Someone pointed me in the direction of Cook's Illustrated, and I've checked this book out from the library...not that I have time to read much before it's due back. Thinking about buying it, though, as just skimming through showed me how wonderful of a resource it could be.

Tomatoes

These were not the best and weren't originally on the list from the farm, so they have to be the last of the season. Will be sad to see them go, and will probably just eat them like handfruit.

Edamade

This is kind of awesome, as I'm so used to edamame only being frozen. I had no idea how they grew. Ideally there would be a recipe that called for fresh beans specifically, but I don't see many when I search. Here they are roasted, and a roundup from the kitchn.

Cabbage

There is definite cabbage fatigue at my CSA- the swap table was like 10 of these...and a bunch of dill. I'm not tired of it...yet, but I'm not terribly excited for it, either. Here are roasted wedges, braised, or in a greek pie (bonus for red onion and dill). Here are a few slaws from Cook's Illustrated.

Peppers

Still a little miffed I forgot to grab those habeneros- I was just braindead and exhausted after work. I could roast these with green beans, or a greek pita. They're in a few other dishes I've linked to here as well.

Broccoli

These are a little limp, but still look good. Fritters, as always, are on my mind. But there's a stir fry with tofu, another with peppers and tofu. Super simple with curry powder and couscous, a salad from Macheesmo, or spanakopita.


[no pic]

Potatoes

I KNEW I forgot to take a picture of something (will fix tonight). Just imagine the last batch, though dryer. I still have those chives, so these fritters are still an option. Knishes look funnn, or I've read you can just make perogi in wonton wrappers. Here's a salad with dill, and another.

Dill

Will do my best to integrate into as many dishes as I can- though I'm tempted to get a cucumber and make another batch of tzatziki.

Green Beans

Dilly Beans (yay canning). Here's a recipe from Cook's Illustrated, and another braised dish from them.

Carrots 

I kind of want to make carrot cake. Here's another recipe. I know, I know, trying to be healthy here. But I still may, especially if I can stuff them with the frosting for easy transport. Roasting with dill is an option again, or here's a soup!

105: Balsamic Green Beans

It's only lately that I've gotten into Balsamic Vinegar. For ages I found it to be too strong and sweet, but with a few recipes this season it's grown on me a bit. I thought I could handle it as a glaze here (as I could with the carrots the other week). But...I didn't really like this. Which is always a bit of a shame, considering how delicious the raw beans were.

I followed this Simply Recipes recipe, though forgot to add the walnuts. Don't think it really mattered. The concept is sound- roast the beans and onions, mix your dressing, after a bit of time in the oven, coat the beans with the dressing and continue roasting until it's a nice glaze and the beans are all roasty and delicious.

The problem is the honey. It just pushes the sweetness a little too over the top for my tastes. My impromptu solution (as it often is) is sriracha. It works...well enough. Next time I'd either leave the honey out, and/or add a little red pepper flake to the dressing.

Delivery 11

My birthday is Sunday, some people are coming over this weekend to hang out and see my new place. I don't usually do anything too special for my birthday, so I'm freaking out a little. While I should probably make meals for myself with these veggies, I'm keeping an eye out for party food.

Green Beans - 1 pound

Red Onions - 2

Peppers: 1 Bell, 1 Lipstick

Bright Lights Swiss Chard - 1 bunch

Eggplant - 1

Basil - 1 bunch

Tomatoes - 2 slicers and 4 plum tomatoes

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes - 1 basket

Serrano Hot Peppers - 4 if you like

My favorite part of this is the "if you like" for the hot peppers. There is a swap table, people.

Chard 

I'm feeling something warm and savory. Here are few gratins that look tasty. Though here are some dips that use chard: healthy and not so much. I could probably use chard in spinach dips as well.

Eggplant

Do you need to ask? Baignan Bharta! I wish these had been purple, the white ones are so sweet.

Tomatoes

I said I'd make more candied tomatoes for a party and I probably will, though I'll most likely need to buy more to get a reasonable amount for people. Bruchetta topping would work well again as finger foods...or maybe I can make a salsa? Here are some a few sources: Alton Brown, Martha, Macheesmo, The Kitchn (cooked), The Kitchn (pico).

Green Beans

I've never made a green bean caserole, is it bad that I really want to? Beyond that the trend seems to be to roast them: honey mustard glaze, balsamic glaze, lebanese, with parmesan, with onions and nuts, oh hey- a slaw!

My habit is to eat them raw, maybe with a little hummus. It's tempting to just use them in a crudite platter.




Red Onions

A few recipes I have so far use red onions. I'm generally not a fan, as they have such a strong flavor, but I think cooking the hell out of them helps. We'll see.

Peppers 

I still have a pepper left from last week- gonna make that jam, I promise. Also still haven't used up those hot peppers from last week, so anything not put in a salsa will most likely be sprinkled throughout recipes for heat.

Basil

I say this every week, but pesto. Promise. I'm storing it better, so hopefully it'll last longer, too.