232: Moroccan Beet and Squash Stew

I've been interested in Moroccan flavors for a bit- see way back to these recipes. They seen to use a lot of fruit, raisins, and other rich/sweet ingredients, and then an intense heat to balance. It's a pleasing thing now and then, but I'm not sure I could eat it every day. This recipe yielded a lot, though, so I guess I'll be testing that theory this week. 

The flavors of this dish interested me, but the reviews gave me a little pause. There seemed to be an issue with the cooking times of the various ingredients, the beets taking way longer than the squash. So I made some educated guesses! That generally worked! Yay!

I roasted all my beets while doing the beet ketchup. Then I added everything in the order called for in the recipe, except the only head start the beets got was until the water started to simmer. Then I added everything except the chickpeas, which were canned and didn't need a full 40 or whatever minutes to cook through as the recipe called for. 

I checked every 10 minutes, and found that after 20 my squash was almost there, so I added the chickpeas. I let it go another 10 and had to take it off the heat, any longer and the squash would start to fall apart.

Leftovers with some cilantro. My phone doesn't like intense reds, this was really gorgeous IRL.

Next time I'd add the chickpeas at 10 mins, and take the whole thing off closer to 25. I'd also have the correct amount of radishes (I had 1/10th of a lb and went with it). I'm also curious to see how preserved lemon tastes with this- it's stirred in at the end, so I may make a Kalustyan's run this week.

227: Savory Radish Toast

I'm always up for trying something new and possibly weird, so I was intrigued when I saw this recipe from Bon Appetit. I'm not sure I get the whole radish on toast concept- maybe my ratios are off or something, because the only time it's worked (somewhat) for me was with pate on very very thing bread. Beyond that the radish gets lost.

This dish provided no insight. It was meh, but an excuse to buy tasty bread and more yogurt, so I'm not exactly complaining.

Delivery 23

Potatoes - 2 pounds

Orange Carrots - 1 pound

Yellow Carrots - 1 pound
Kohlrabi - 2

Sage - 1 bunch

Garlic - 2 heads

Celeriac - 1 head

Collards - 1 bunch

Beets - 2 pounds

Radish - 1 bunch

Collards

Lots of extras but here's a curry. A soup with grits. Creamed. Not sure I'd follow the filling but I could use the leaves for a wrap.

Carrots

A few soup ideas: with ginger or a little more plain.

Celeriac

Aka celery root. Smashed, gratin with potatoes, salad with parsley, root veggie slaw.

Potatoes

I can't even...

Beets

Moroccan stew (bonus for radish and excuses to buy squash), beet and radish slaw, or another round of picked beets. Beet ketchup. Borscht.

Radishes

These guys are tiny. White bean and radish salad. Roasted. Savory toast (with yogurt?!).

Garlic

Garlic confit. Honey lemon garlic tea (I'd throw ginger in there, too). Turkish poached eggs with yogurt and spicy sage butter (!!!).

Kohlrabi

Love these guys! "Ceviche" with radishes and carrots. Lots of extras, but crostini with mozz. Pickled with carrots. Nommy looking soup with carrots, potatoes, herbs I have kicking around.

Sage

Carrot and sage soup.

211: Rainbow Carrot Salad with Coriander Yogurt Dressing

I wanted another simple salad, but something a little more interesting than what I'd been coming up with lately. This recipe from Bon Appetit was perfect. Carrot ribbons as a base (and gorgeous rainbow ones at that), radishes, scallions and lightly candied walnuts. Dressing of yogurt, vinegar honey and coriander. Really gorgeous.

My only subs were to use less sugar than the recipe called for on those walnuts, and garancha wine vinegar in lieu of sherry (what I had). 

Were I to make this again I'd save adding walnuts until the end, but as it was I just mixed everything together and it turned out well enough.The leftovers held up pretty well, too, though ideally I would've stored everything separately and mixed it up at work.

Delivery 21

I'm very much behind on this post, apologies. Many recipes are pulled from previous posts.

Potatoes - 2 pounds

Carrots - 1 pound 

Chiogga Beets - 1 pound

Garlic - 2 heads

Lacinato Kale - 1 bunch

Mustard Greens - 1 bunch

Radishes - 1 bunch

Thyme - 1 bunch

Romanesco Cauliflower - 1 head

Mustard Greens

Salads are tempting, but it's hard for me to turn down an Indian dish.

Chiogga Beets

Will take a picture of this pretties when I actually cook them, but in an effort to save plastic I didn't want to tear open the bag. They have bag of 15 lbs of beets for sale from my CSA. It's bad how tempted I am. Definitely want to preserve the color on these, so will likely use one of these recipes from the kitchn. Here are more raw beet recipes.

Rainbow Carrots

Raw salad to showcase the colors. Roasted with honey ginger butter. Salad with walnuts and radishes.

Potatoes

Roasted (bonus for rainbow carrots).

Radishes

Mango and radish salad. Radish curry. Oh man, maybe I'll actually make this crazy crazy bread.

Romanesco Cauliflower

Really want a recipe that keeps the cauliflower looking pretty, so a roast seems ideal.

Thyme

Roasting herb. Will throw it in where I can. Maybe I'll try drying it out? I can never use these things up in time.

Garlic

Used in other recipes, most likely. Can't afford to be precious.

Dinosaur Kale

All the salads, please. Here's one with balsamic vinegar and pine nuts. One with ricotta. Super simple with breadcrumbs and garlic.

201 & 202: Radishes and Turnips

A two-fer this post, as neither dish was all that successful and they both contained about the same ingredients.

201: Braised Radishes and Turnips

My only criteria for this dish was that it be the simplest thing ever involving radishes and turnips. And lo: this recipe from the NY Times couldn't really get more basic. The issue came down to the turnips. Mine was really huge, bitter, and cooked much faster than the radishes. Definitely not something I'd make again.

202: Radish and Turnip Salad

Another sad dish- quick slaw with radishes, turnips and scallions- made bitter by that same turnip (I said it was really huge), and then with a lime dressing that didn't work. I may try this again as it was quick, but I'd do something more basic, maybe not as much a dressing as a little oil, maybe some vinegar.

Definitely picking smaller turnips if they come in the share again. The one I roasted was so nicely sweet (even when raw)...and about half the size.

Delivery 20

Butternut Winter Squash - 1

Turnips - 2

Lettuce - 2 heads Lettuce Smettuce, went for another bunch of radishes again

Broccoli - 1

Radish - 1 bunch

Potatoes - 2 pounds

Garlic - 2 heads

Kohlrabi - 1 bunch

Sage - 1 bunch

Carrots - 1 pound

Hot Peppers - Jalapenos

Cauliflower - 1

I have a bit of a crazyplan this week, just to chop everything up and roast it with the sage. But then I don't have enough sheet trays/oven space/etc.

Turnips

Kinda giant turnips this week. Here's a soup. Fritters with potato and scallions. Frittata. Simple roast.

Cauliflower

Heyyy I got one that wasn't moldy this time! Faux cous cous looks neat (and I love excuses to use the food processor). Spicy roasty cauliflower steaks. Creamy curried soup. And a curry with potatoes.

Jalapenos

Part of the reason I was able to build up so many habaneros for that jelly was they were too spicy to use in normal dishes. Happy to have a few milder everyday peppers to just use as needed.

Garlic

Every time I look at this thing, I just keep thinking of Eraserhead. I'm sorry if that's now stuck in your head. I use garlic all the time, but don't want to just toss this in with a bunch of other flavors. One of my favorite things about the CSA is subtly but profoundly different ingredients taste when they're this fresh. Most likely this will just get roasted and spread on bread like butter.

Butternut Squash

Yay! Butternut squash is one of those foods I adore, but don't order it at restaurants as it's a borderline food. It can be sweet or savory, and I want none of the sweet. Or rather, additional sweet. So no cinnamon or maple syrup please, the squash brings enough of that to the party as is. Roasted squash soup. I have my own favorite soup recipe with rosemary and onions, may try that out. These wontons sound neat, if a little sweet.

Potatoes

Salad with salmon. Pizza dough. First batch that appear to have been cleaned before sending.

Carrots

Roasted carrots and avocado salad. Carrot cake pancakes. Carrots with potatoes and dill. Spoon bread.

Sage

Crispy sage. Pizza with butternut squash. If I didn't still have pate in the freezer I'd make that again.

Radishes

There was a lot of sage (and I mean a lot) on the swap table today, but thankfully my radish-hating friend left an extra bunch for me to swap out. It's more than a little ridiculous that I traded two heads of lettuce for a baby bunch of these radishes (especially when I'm on a salad kick lately), but it happened. Pickles, with cheese and chives on bread, or just with butter and salt. Or I'll just make a bunch of radish roses, and throw them at people.

Broccoli

Broccoli grilled cheese (healthy wha?). Hummus with white beans. Chilled soup (bonus for dill, which I still have from last week).

Kohlrabi

Salad with apples. Slaw with apples. Slaw with turnips.

187: Bok Choy and Radish Slaw

This is the slaw just after mixing- definitely good, but as the recipe said to refrigerate for a half hour I did so. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Fun knife skills practice was had slicing up bok choy, radishes, daikon, basil and mint. I did scallions in lieu of the onion the recipe called for (honestly because I got confused from looking at another recipe, but a fine substitution nonetheless). I had no fish sauce, so the dressing was just mustard, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, lime and peanut oil. I'm not sure how soy sauce + vinegar = fish sauce, but just accept that that's what happened.

Mixed, ate a bowl, refrigerated.

This is a smaller portion a half hour later. Liked it much more after the flavors had had time to marry. Unsurprisingly, the star for me was the mint. Or maybe not the star, but my favorite part. Overall though a very nice slaw to use up a bunch of share ingredients.

183: Sauteed Radish Greens

This was a super quick, sloppy pairing with the risotto. Stirring that, watching it get creamier and heavier I panicked a little. I desperately needed something peppery and light to combat the assault on my stomach. So I grabbed the greens from the radishes, a small onion, sliced thin, and sauteed those up with a little garlic and salt. It was a little unweidly- I hadn't chopped the greens at all as they were rather small- and overall needs more work before I'd serve it to someone not-me, but good enough as a side to the (glorious) mass of carb that was the risotto.

Delivery 19

Dill - 1 bunch

Beets - 2 pounds

Diakon Radish - 1
Cheriette Radishes - 1 bunch

Cauliflower - 1 head

Red Leaf Lettuce - 1 head (standard switch for more radishes)

Green Lettuce - 1 head

Napa Cabbage - 1 head

Bok Choy - 1 head

Leeks - 1 bunch

Broccoli Florets -1 bunch

Ancho Peppers - 4

Hot Peppers - take if you like

[no pic]

Cauliflower

Still love this roundup, though I'm tempted to try and fix my smothered cauliflower dish.

Napa Cabbage

With daikon I'm well on my way to more kimchi, but no. Loving this cabbage roundup from Bittman (picks: hot & sour, egg & tomato, caesar). Really feeling soup lately.

Leeks 

Still have my leeks from last week- I just went ahead and cleaned and chopped everything up without a definite plan in mind. Less excuses to dawdle. Here's a soup with cauliflower and cashews. Or that confit. Or fritters, again, though a different recipe.
 

Dill

There is some smoked salmon in my freezer that would be good with this- I'd go super simple though. Beyond that (as I still have tons of potatoes from the past few weeks): a potato salad with dill, roasted potatoes, or roasted radishes. Dill bread. Potato dill bread. And another.

Radishes

See other ingredients. Lazy this week. I'm not sure who doesn't like radishes, but for some reason they're always on the swap table. Not complaining, beats red lettuce any day.

Green Lettuce

A salad, natch. Not sure what kind, though could easily be a just greens with dressing kind of thing.

Beets

You have no idea how happy I am to see beets. I'd gladly take two pounds of these every week. Part of me was sad there were none on the swap table, but as it gets colder these will be more prevalent, so here's hoping. These guys are already roasted, earmarked for a repeat of sorts.

Daikon

This daikon is as big as my forearm. No kidding. Some will be pickled. Here are more recipes for that. I like this soup, even if it's more about the mushrooms than the daikon. Here's a simpler one.

Poblano Peppers

Not that I have a plan for it, but I'm tempted to make a sauce. Also maybe a pizza. Also also I picked up more hot peppers but forgot to add them to this pic.

Broccoli

Roasted with cauliflower and garlic. Spicy saute. These feel firmer than the last batch for whatever reason. Not a lot though.

Bok Choy

Cole slaw with radishes and daikon. Or a saute. I've gotten over my inherent meh-ness about this veggie, as I've made some fun things with it so far, but it's pretty hard to store in my greens-hatin' fridge.

181: Moroccan Veggie Stew

I realized I was working for 24 of the 48 hours of the weekend. Standing for much much longer. I'm caving and buying work shoes, as my legs are still complaining from all that. My brain is also largely fried, so cooking dinner was a bit of an adventure (in not the best way). I, of course, chose a complicated recipe from Bon Appetit, and also made a number of changes. I'm surprised a dish came out of it.

Ingredients:

1 lb carrots, peeled, chopped
1 1/2 lb turnips, peeled, cut into bite-sizes pieces
3 Tbs butter
1/2 pound green onions, coarsely chopped
1 Tbs chopped parsley
1 Tbs chopped fresh mint
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups chicken stock
2 1/2 oz bitter greens, chopped
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

~ salt and pepper to taste

Looking through that recipe and the changes I made, I had a few moments of "ohhh! I was so braindead cooking I can't believe I forgot _______," so please, go to that link and add some things I do not have in here. This was alright, don't get me wrong, but there can always be more garlic. And chickpeas would've been nice, because protein.

After my last experience blanching, decided to roast these veggies. I had cut the carrots smaller than the turnips, hoping they would be soft around the same time but it didn't quite work. Next time I'd give those guys a little head start before adding the turnips.

My greens were from my turnips and radishes and I would've loved more- though something more usual and like kale would've been better. Also I needed to wash them more as I got a bit of grit in there. Boo. Overall it's nicely spiced but on the sweet side- more bitter greens or a little heat would be a good addition. As it was I didn't have Harissa, so used a little sriracha. Not sure I'd make again, or if I did I'll be sure to follow the recipe a little closer next time.

177: Radish Flatbread

So: this. I used this recipe from food 52. I was hoping for a soft pliable flatbread, but I need to adjust my technique a bit. There are a few different ways to make this: like roti, parantha, not sure what to classify this but yet another site. Here are two with videos.

My dough was dry, I shallow fried it with some oil and kept the discs thick hoping they would puff. They did not. 

Next time I'd like to let this rest before frying, roll the dough out thinner, use less oil (water instead), and have a hotter pan. The flavor was really interesting, something I'd like to try again.