119: Scallion, Collards, and Basil Scrambled Eggs

One of my more favorite scrambled eggs in a while.

Ingredients:

One scallion, dined fairly fine

~ 1/2 cup collards, chopped

~ 1 tbs basil, chopped fine

~ oil, salt, pepper as needed

I let the scallions go for a decent amount of time in oil and a little salt in a nonstick pan, then added my collards. That went for even longer as I remembered those need time to cook down. Added the basil towards the end. Then a little butter for egg insurance, then the eggs. They still stuck a bit. This pan is getting on my nerves, but the eggs turned out as well as they could.

The collards still had a decent bit of bite to them, which I didn't mind at all. They'd lost all of their bitterness, but obviously hadn't gone the length of time needed for the sweetness of that last collard dish.

What made the dish was the scallions, though; with all that time in the pan they got nicely fried. There's a flavor memory in the back of my mind for this but I can't remember what it is. Regardless I'm sad this was my last delivery scallion for the week as I'd love to put it in a few other things.

The bread foccacia from SCRATCH. Nommed well with the eggs. Good breakfast.

85: Cucumber Salad

Simple salad. I wanted to use up the last of my share ingredients before the next delivery. Most of these ingredients had been earmarked for a tabbouleh that couldn't happen after I caved and just ate those sungold tomatoes as is (no regrets on that btw). So I winged it a little with good results. 

Ingredients: 

1 slicing cucumber, deseeded

2 scallions, sliced reasonably thin

~1/3 cup chopped herbs (parsley, mint, lemon basil)

Toasted sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, salt and pepper

I chopped up the cucumber into manageable pieces then tossed with a teaspoon salt and let drain while I prepped the rest. 

Sliced the scallions, and chopped up the herbs. Mixed the sesame oil, vinegar and a little salt and pepper to make a simple vinaigrette. 

Rinced the cucumbers and tossed everything together. I had a little last night, it was nice and fresh, but left most in the fridge to meld overnight. Today it was pleasant- though I'd hoped the herbs would come through more. I tried separating part and adding a little red wine vinegar (the only kind I have at my desk), in case more tartness would help. It was still fine but not essential. Just depends on the kind of mood you're in.

Notes for Improvement:

- Needs a little more salt or more herbs (or keep salt and pepper at your desk)

- Wouldn't mind trying this with tomatoes

80: Scallions with some Scrambled Eggs

There is a thing as too much filling. I knew what I was getting into before I added the eggs and decided to go through with it anyway. Wasn't bad but wouldn't do it again. 

Believe it or not this is two scallions, the two purple/red ones from this weeks delivery. I thought they had a slightly stronger flavor than the white ones, but they were white as under that colorful covering so maybe it was all in my head.

I also chopped up a jalapeno (sans seeds) to give it a bit of spice.

The results weren't all that pretty.

Notes for Improvement:
- It was just kind of dry. I think the eggs got overcooked a bit. I could add some cheese next time to hide some of that a bit. Or, you know, not get distracted while cooking.
- As I said before, less scallions

79: Middle Eastern Veggie Salad

One of these days I won't be consuming so much acidic food. Today is not that day. Made as close as I could to this simple salad using a ton of my CSA ingredients (scallions, cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley and basil FTW). I didn't have quite that many tomatoes so I scaled everything down a touch. I also couldn't dress this thing as heavily as the recipe is calling for (on principle), so I just made a lemon juice/oil vinaigrette that I thought tasted good. Also no feta.

Everything got mixed together (sorry for the gross night shots my phone takes) and sat in the fridge for about an hour as I went on a little bike ride in search of Pickle Crisp. Wasn't able to find it- though I do have a lead! More on that in another post.

Anyway, after that hour the flavors had nicely melded. Ate a bunch as in the first pic with a toasted pita (nom), and then a little later remembered I had some homemade (or classmade) mozzarella. That really made the dish for me.

Delivery 8

So much excitingness in this week's delivery.

Beets with Greens - 1 bunch

Walla Walla Sweet Summer Onions - 2

Heirloom Cucumbers (Boothby Blonde and Poona Kheera) - 2  (apparently these were pulled last minute. sadface)

Marketmore Slicing Cucumbers - 2

Orient Express Eggplant - 2 

Scallions - 1 bunch

Tomatoes - 2 

Lemon Basil - 1 bunch  

Flat Leaf Parsley - 1 bunch

Bell Peppers - 2

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes - 1 basket

Summer Squash - 2 pieces

Things I am in love with:

Tomatoes

Not gonna lie, may have screamed a little when I saw tomatoes on the list. I've been sooo obsessed with them this summer. Will resist the urge to eat (all of) them like handfruit. Especially when I have cucumbers and basil just begging to be combined for a salad. And it's hard to do something crazy with just two, you know? Or the little basket.
 

Beets

I have a beet post with off-share ingredients I'll put up soonish, but super excited to have these. I've always wanted to make a beet cake. I may have to do that this week- the idea is making my brain itch- even if it's hot and time consuming.

It's also nice to have leafy greens, will probably saute those with some mushrooms. Going way back for that idea.

Eggplant

I want to redo a recipe this week- even though Ratatoullie uses more of this week's delivery, I'll probably go with Baingan Bharta. Once I figure out how to make it the way I remember it will be the only thing I eat ever.

Parsley

Parsley isn't my favorite, but always happy for fresh herbage. A lot of sauces come to mind- like chimichurri- or an actual real salsa verde. I'm also liking the idea of tabbouleh (bonus for tomato, cucumber and scallion).

Lemon Basil 

If you haven't had this herb before, it smells AMAZING. Ideas: Cookies, vinaigrette on zucchini pasta, or maybe just a pesto for once. It's a shame I haven't yet dabbled in soap or candlemaking, I want everything to smell like this.

Scallions:

CSA was all about fun colors this week. I'm not sure what the difference between the white and red are- one of the staff suggested it could be like the difference between white and red onions? I got a mixed batch just to see. I actually still have scallions from last week to use up...so, scrambled eggs?

Sweet Onions:

Onions are useful for everything- can throw them in the baingan bharta, or another batch of pickles. Not sure if I can use the green tops but I'd like to try.

Bell Peppers:

I've never seen purple peppers before. It's so cool! I got one of each color to see if they tasted different. Part of me wants to roast and (of course) pickle them- I even have a recipe lined up. Though I think I'd need more than two to fill a jar.

Cucumbers

I think I was the only one lamenting the lack of heirloom pickles this week. Part of me wants to wing a cucumber salad- and I don't think it would be that hard. The rest wants to pick up a thing or two and make this guy.

Summer Squash:

They were small this week for some reason. I picked based on prettiness. With no heirloom cucumbers these may sub in for my pickle canning redo I mentioned yesterday. The canning book I've been using says any cucumber recipe can be subbed out with zucchini, but recommends getting pickle crisp granules. I'm in NYC- so I'm sure I can find some- the question is just the least out of the way place.

EXTRAS!

Mushrooms:

Due to a generous/lazy person who did want to pick up their mushroom share, I got some creminis to take home. Of course I'd just bought crummy white button mushrooms earlier that day, but doubt I could ever turn these down. I'm going to use them up before I can find the perfect recipe- major mushroom cravings right now.

 

Stone Fruit:

Hooray for the lazy. Also got a bit of a fruit share to try. I'd debated ordering a fruit share- it's one of the few things I'm still always buying at the store- but it would've been way too much for just me. This is a weird mix of underripe nectarines, super ripe peaches, and middling plums. It's already macerating in the fridge for jam. 

I have a bit of a canning problem. If you didn't know that already, you will very soon.

68: Cucumber Avocado Salad

Does this look appetizing? It ended up surprisingly good. I followed this recipe from the internets via food52. Small adjustments- a little less lime juice and salt. Used a white onion instead of red. I realize now than when saying "cut into 1/2" pieces" they didn't mean what I did with the cucumber. So don't be like me and cut it smaller!

I let the flavors mingle in the fridge a little while working on other stuff, then ate some. It was good...but white onion is so much milder than red it wasn't coming through. So I cut up a scallion fine and tossed it in (done after the pic above). Definitely oomphed that flavor up and helped balance the dish overall.

Might make it again, not sure. It's always nice to have an excuse to buy avocados though.

Notes for Improvement: May more attention to the pictures in the recipe. Cut that cucumber smaller.

Delivery 7

I continue to feel like I'm getting the hang of this CSA thing. I've planned out about 80-90% of the things I want to do this week, and went on a little grocery trip already to pick up the extra ingredients. It's nice that things are coming together well.

Summer Spinach - 1 bunch

Summer Squash - 2 pcs

Heirloom Cucumbers (Boothby and Poona Kheera) - 6 pcs

Marketmore Cucumbers - 3 pcs

White Clara Eggplant - 1 pc
Scallions - 1 bunch

Fennel - 1

Amethyst Basil - 1 bunch

Leeks - 1 bunch

Oriental Eggplant - 2 pcs

Cucumbers!

Such a bounty. The CSA email said they thought last week would be the week for cucumbers, so yay? there were a ton on the swap table- understandable- but it's much better than lettuces. If only because I can eat them straight up (confession: I had half a marketmore left over from last week's. Just at it like a handfruit when I gote home). I'd still like to do something interesting with them though. No tzatziki this week- OD'd a little on it- but there are a surprising number of recipes for this. For example: limeade, cucumber avocado salad, bread salad (looks great but too many extra ingredients), easy sesame salad, or soup. 

Amethyst Basil

Not finding too much easily about this kind of basil- other than it's the standard "genovese" style, but just happens to be purple. It's really gorgeous- almost black. The CSA email said it was good to flavor vinegar with- which I could see as it would also dye it nicely- but can be used in lieu of standard basil.

I found a few recipes that call it out specifically: tomato/brie/balsamic sandwiches or biscuits (I keep finding biscuit recipes so it's going to happen one day). But there are a few standards I could do- like cucumber/tomato/basil/feta salad. Or just make crazy-colored pesto.

Eggplant 

White Clara and Oriental varities. The white one has wicked spines on the stem, and I've read it's apparently sweeter than the standard. I'm not finding a ton of recipes for it specifically though, so I'll most likely use it as a standard eggplant.

This veggie was never something I felt super strongly about, but I do rather like it now. Somehow I'd forgotten my favorite Indian dish was an eggplant dish, so I may have to attempt that this week. Baba is also super tasty- but not sure I want to use the food pro more than is absolutely necessary. 

A few other options: eggplant and pickled beet sammies or ratatouille (bonus for squash! and I also love that movie...).

Leeks

I love leeks. True story. I'd always heard they were fussy- required a decent amount of cleaning- so I hadn't tried them until about a year ago. Then, one day, stumbled on them frozen at Trader Joe's. Does any other store have these on a regular basis? They were my go to in scrambled eggs before I started this CSA project. Apparently you can grow them from scraps in a container of water- I may try that.

I want to take advantage of their melty-oniony-garlicky-ness (yep). Example recipes: easy/uses spinach and extra garlicy.
 

Fennel 

I'm not the hugest fan of fennel seeds- or anise flavor. I've grown used to it in certain circumstances (and small amounts), but I'm a little nervous about using it. The recipes I see for it are so varied, though. It seems to go well with the standard savory onion/garlic profile, but there are a ton of recipes with blood orange in particular. A few that stand out for me (mostly for lack of extra ingredients): tarts, dip, simple salad, and nommy caramelized.

Dish 54: Scallion Jalapeno Scrambled Eggs

A little dramatic lighting for the morning?

Monstrous pile of eggs as I had (mostly) whites left over from another project I'll post about soon. Diced a jalapeno (no seeds), and sliced 2 scallions on the bias. Started the jalapenos in a pan with some of my herb butter to take a way a little of their heat, then added the scallions. When those were starting to get a little brown added the eggs. Etc.

Ate it with Black Rooster as that's what I had not frozen. It's less than ideal. The plan was much better than the fruit & nuts version, but once again it's way too hot for this bread. Even early in the morning.

The eggs tho? I didn't even touch the sriracha. Nommy.

Dish 52: Kale, Beet and Feta Salad with Dill Garlic Dressing

Yum!

Based flavor-wise off this recipe. Kale base with roasted beets, scallions, feta and a garlicky dill vinaigrette. 

Only bits of this are from my share. The kale I got as leftovers from a knife skills class. The beets were roasted for another project. The feta I've been using forever now. Will probably finish it up this week.

Remove the leaves from the kale and slice thin. Chop the beets into sticks. Slice the scallions on the bias. Crumble the feta.

Chop the dill as fine as you can manage, mince the garlic and make a paste with kosher salt. Whisk with a little rice wine vinegar, olive oil, pepper and honey. I made that in the morning so the flavors had a few hours to mingle before lunch.

Really happy with this. Was worried the dressing wouldn't balance out the bitterness of the kale, but with the roasted beets it was perfect. Yay!

Notes for Improvement:

- Get a bigger bowl to eat salads at lunch

- Maybe dice the beets next time? Or have more. It was a great bite when I had a bit of everything and those needed to spread around a bit more

- Scallions are awesome. I wasn't missing them but a little more wouldn't hurt.

Delivery 6

Delivery 6! By far the smallest of the bunch- though I guess the greens the past few weeks added a ton of volume. Super excited for everything I have though! 

Bright Lights Swiss Chard - 1 bunch

Summer Squash - 2 
Marketmore Slicing Cucumbers - 2
Eggplant - 1
Scallions - 1 bunch
Caraflex Cabbage - 1 head **these were crazy tiny so I used the swap table to get another container of currants
Currants - 1 box
Dill - 1 bunch
Boothby Blonde/Poona Kheera Cucumbers - 2

Cucumbers

Debating just eating all of these guys raw, or maybe in a little salad with basil and tomato. There are a few recipes for some of the heirloom pickles- this sandwich with the poona kheera looks lovely. There are (of course) also pickles. I do want to try lacto-fermentation of these days. Bittman has a recipe.

I guess the Marketmores are for salads/slicing/etc, while the poona kheera/boothby (not sure which I got) are more pickle-ready.

Dill

Obviously, pickles come to mind, but if I don't mind turning on the oven, there are biscuits. (It is a heat wave now. I do kind of mind turning on that oven. But, you know, biscuits...). Another zucchini dip, though I still have a bunch of the last one in the fridge. May use the flavors of this recipe with quinoa or barley. Ooh tzatziki  or this (actual) barley salad- also bonus for cucumbers. Also grilled carrots, have a bunch of those in the fridge from other recipes. 

 

Currant

Super excited about having a fruit in this veg share- especially fresh currants. If I want to be all clever and resourceful I could use zucchini too and make mini-breads or muffins. I've made jams and curd in the past if I feel like getting out my canning kit (here's a scalable recipe).

There's also this recipe for a salad that uses green onions, zucchini, currants AND dill. So, kinda tempting. Even if I could really go for some shortbread and curd right about now.

Eggplant

Skinny japanese eggplant. May do another Moroccan stew- with more zucchini this time- with amped up spices. I think I still have a jar of tomatoes. Or just roasted with some kind of dip/sauce. I'm feeling simple cooking this week.

Chard

Chard + Dill: crepes or frittata. Or just sauteed. I don't have a lot of greens this week so will try and stretch these.

Dish 49: Faux Cheap Chinese Peas

The secret is adding way too much oil.

Chopped up about 1/2 lb of sugar snap peas, doused in sesame oil (oops) and a little salt and pepper. Chopped up a scallion and mixed it in. Can you tell it's there? I probably enjoyed how similar they looked to the peas a little too much. Took the peas out of the pan, threw in some leftover quinoa and broth to reheat that a bit.

It was good...though as I said a little too oily. If you're looking for that kind of comfort memory totally try it out, but next time I'll probably stick to raw peas and a little hummus. Or even in a salad with a dressing using sesame oil.

Notes for Improvement:
- Less oil (duh)
- Maybe add some herbs to brighten the flavor a bit?

Dishes 46 & 47: Spinach, Scallion and Basil Scrambled Eggs

This weekend's scrambled eggs. Saturday top, Sunday bottom. You know the drill. Bread is Walnut Levain from Runner & Stone I froze last weekend. 

Both started with cinnamon basil by itself in the pan, chopped as fine as my knife skills could muster. I wanted to infuse the oil with the flavor a bit. The lower pic had a few more leaves, which were left by themselves for longer. Added the spinach and scallions, didn't let them go too long before adding the eggs. The lower pic also got additional basil after I'd added the eggs.

I think I'm finally getting the hang of this pan by the way. Can you tell? I may even attempt a legit omelet one of these days.

The color temp is off but the basil obviously infused the oil, hence the paler color (also that first batch had an egg with a crazy orange yolk). The basil flavor wasn't very present in the top- more of a background herbalness- but definitely there in the bottom set. Neither were overpowering, they were both delicious.

I'm not the hugest fan of basil on its own, but when tempered a bit with scallions and greens it can be really good.

And for the record both got pecorino- went really well- and eventually, of course, sriracha. I need to be less afraid of these herbs. Or at least jump into them earlier in the week.

Notes for Improvement: If I'd just posted the original batch I'd say "add more basil" but I did that, so, I'd say it's good to do more back to back versions with variations.

Dish 45: Mango Basil Salsa

For some reason I can't say mango salsa without a bit of a snicker. A few years ago it was just EVERYWHERE and seemed vaguely ridiculous. And I'd done mango and mint last weekend...oh wait, I forgot to post about that. It was just a mango and some chopped mint, mixed with a little lemon juice. Let it sit out for a few minutes. It was delicious. 

Mango and Basil was based off of this recipe.

Ingredients:

- 1 mango, cut to your liking (next time it'll be smaller)

- 5 basil leaves, minced as well as you can (getting better with my knife skills)

- 1 monster CSA scallion- probably about 2 normal scallions- chopped

- Pinch of salt

Mix together. I let mine hang in the fridge for a bit, as I was debating getting lime juice but then got hungry. It was very good- the basil and scallions were a nice savory compliment to the mango.

I ate half yesterday then this morning while cleaning out the fridge a bit I noticed a leftover roasted poblano from harissa. I added a bit (chopped, not more than a tablespoon) and let it sit while I made my breakfast. Nom. 

As much as I still think it's vagely ridiculous it's also delicious. Heat sweet savory tart balance.