October 2 weekly menu | fall table

Farm Fresh

carrots, celery, chard, fennel, gourmet greens, kohlrabi, romaine, red onions, sweet peppers

What’s for Dinner?

I keep thinking the summer’s sweet peppers are done, and lo and behold, more appear in my box! I’ll make good use of them for sure. Fresh and crunchy, in salads, and soft and golden, in a Spanish vegetable paella. And the cortland onions I got will meld with nearly everything, from pizzas and curries, to soups and salads. It’s a perfect mixture of farm-fresh produce this week, for so many comforting early fall meals.

Friday – pizza night

fennel sausage & onion pizza (Food Network)
fig and fennel salad (Culinate)

Saturday – krazy for kohlrabi

beef and barley stew with kohlrabi & carrots (Nourish Evolution)
hearty country bread

Sunday – sunday supper in spain

green salad with lemon vinaigrette (Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa)
multi-vegetable paella (Yotam Ottolenghi, Plenty)
bread, spanish olive oil

Monday – the perfect union

roasted carrot and fennel soup (Serious Eats)
chopped salad (Bon Appetit)
crusty bread

Tuesday – veggie coconut curry

coconut curried chard and sweet potato (Cookie and Kate)
basmati rice
naan

Wednesday – post-soccer one-pot

pasta with sausage & chard (Mark Bittman, The Best Recipes in the World)

Thursday – sammie night

chicken salad with fennel and celery (Martha Stewart)
crudites & dip

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Friday – pizza night

fennel sausage & onion pizza (Food Network)
fig and fennel salad (Culinate)

I scoped out the Ken’s Artisan Pizza menu for a little autumn pizza inspiration this week. I had to look no further than the ultra straightforward sausage and onion version. This Food Network recipe is just a guide and walks you through the caramelizing of the onions and browning of the sausage. Very straightforward, the important tidbit being “low and slow” for the onions so they do not brown too quickly. I’ll pick up some sausage with fennel mixed in. This particular recipe uses blue or gorgonzola cheese, which would be rich and fabulous. But use whatever cheese you like – mozzarella, fontina, etc. This is a “no sauce” pizza; the olive oil and caramelized onion provide the base instead (try it with a little sprinkling of crunchy salt too!). Follow this prior Pizza Night post for a no-fail dough recipe I rely on each week. It makes enough for two pizzas, even three if rolled out in the super thin, best-for-crispy-pizza style. To complement the Italian sausage, I’ll make a favorite fall salad, chock full of sweet figs and crunchy fennel (to simplify, I’ll skip the prosciutto). My bag of gourmet greens will be a nice base for this; I’ll also buy some extra arugula for both the salad and a pizza topper as it’s pulled from the oven. Just like Ken’s heavenly pies!

Other seasonal pizza combinations:

spinach and chive pizza
leek, chard, & corn flatbread
kale, sundried tomato, & feta pizza
pizza with green garlic & arugula
pizza bianca with goat cheese & chard
zucchini, sliced tomato, & leek pizza 
grilled pizza with kale, mushroom, & sausage
fresh ricotta and red onion pizza
sweet onion pizza
pizza with grilled fennel and parmesan
eggplant & tomato pizza
caramelized onion, kale, & corn flatbread
classic margherita pizza
potato & rosemary pizza
pizza with red and yellow peppers

Saturday – krazy for kohlrabi

beef and barley stew with kohlrabi & carrots (Nourish Evolution)
hearty country bread

I’ve sure seen lots of knotted purple and green kohlrabi at the market lately. It’s a fantastically versatile vegetable, with a taste somewhere between broccoli stalks and cabbage. It can be eaten raw (like a radish) or cooked (like a potato). It is sweet, yet peppery. Give it a whirl! I just cut the ends off, then with it standing on one flat end, take a sharp knife and peel down the sides to remove the outer layer.  It’s ready to chop into any shape at this point. I love this soup recipe because it uses so many additional veggies – carrots, onions, and even kohlrabi! It’s a prime one for substitution – squash for carrots, leeks for onions, potatoes for kohlrabi, etc. Visit your local bakery for the heartiest, chewiest, tastiest homemade country loaf you know. Served alongside (and as a dipper for) homemade beef barley soup, this combo is a proven crowd-pleaser.This comforting soup-for-supper menu is does a fine job of continuing to transition our dinner habits. Fall is tasting mighty fine, for sure!

Sunday – sunday supper in spain

green salad with lemon vinaigrette (Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa)
multi-vegetable paella (Yotam Ottolenghi, Plenty)
bread, spanish olive oil

I’ve always been a little intimidated by paella, widely considered Spain’s national dish. To get the rice just right, not burned on the bottom or mushy throughout, is just the start. Often the recipes seem downright overwhelming, or somehow very “special occasion”. But I pulled out Plenty knowing I’d find a veggie-centric Sunday supper I couldn’t resist. This multi-vegetable paella jumped right out, a wildly colorful, one-pot main course. With red peppers, onions, fennel, and tomatoes (believe it or not, I’ve still got ’em coming), I can’t not give it a whirl. Smoked paprika, turmeric, saffron, and a little cayenne, as well as a finishing sprinkle of lemon juice, combine to create a flavor combination that is sure to wow. While the ingredient list may seem lengthy, there’s nothing wildly exotic or unavailable. My veggie delivery provides the bulk, with the rest easy to come by. If I don’t see frozen fava beans at the market, I’ll pull out my always-on-hand edamame. For an extra special treat, pick up some premium Spanish olive oil. It will take any simple salad up a notch, and be the perfect dipper for some crusty bakery bread.

Monday – the perfect union

roasted carrot and fennel soup (Serious Eats)
chopped salad (Bon Appetit)
crusty bread

The ingredient list is short, and right in line with my veggie box. It’s a stand-out soup, where the veggies are roasted until caramelized and rich. Once the carrots, onions, and fennel are golden and soft, toss them in a soup pot, and after adding the little bit of butter, wine and broth, puree with an immersion blender. Done! While I’m roasting the veggies, I’ll toss together a chopped salad. This one calls for fennel, red pepper, and romaine; “chopped” to me means whatever fresh vegetables (plus salami or chicken or chickpeas or…) you’ve got and love. A simple balsamic vinaigrette and some sprinkled parmesan will pull it all together. Add your favorite bakery bread for soup-dipping.

Tuesday – veggie coconut curry

coconut curried chard and sweet potato (Cookie and Kate)
basmati rice
naan

My attempt at this recipe was inspired not by anything in my box, to be honest. I adore sweet potatoes, and neither of my CSAs seem to grow or deliver them. I had a hankering, and somehow came across this Cook’s Illustrated recipe for a coconut curry dish, highlighting kale and sweet potatoes. As I quite often do, I substituted based on what I love and what I have. This week, chard instead of kale! It’s a hearty, greens-filled, Indian-type dish that I’ll serve with both basmati rice and naan. A new discovery…the tandoori naan in the freezer section of Trader Joe’s is quite good! When you lack time for a stop at your favorite Indian restaurant or food cart, this fits the bill nicely.

Wednesday – post-soccer one-pot

pasta with sausage & collard greens (Mark Bittman, The Best Recipes in the World)

Always in search of those weeknight meals that are one-pot (I don’t count the pasta boil pot!) and can easily be made ahead. With a quick warm-up during the frenzied post 8 p.m. rush in the door, this healthy and hearty dish will soothe both stomaches and souls. Even if you don’t make it ahead of time, this dinner can be made in the amount of time it takes to boil pasta. I’m opting for a pre-cooked turkey sausage that I’ll just slice and brown with the garlic and red pepper flakes. I’ll save a step, throwing all of my chopped collards in with the pasta, cooking them together. That’s it – drain, toss together with the other ingredients, and pass lots of freshly grated parmesan.

Thursday – sammie night

chicken salad with fennel and celery (Martha Stewart)
crudites & dip

After a chicken-salad-for-supper experiment recently, I vowed to incorporate this healthy, simple, salad-ey meal into my dinner plans more often. I am drawn to the no-frills, relatively healthy versions, that deliciously utilize the goodies in my veggie box.  As for the chicken part, roast or poach anew, or better yet, buy a pre-made roasted one at the market. I’ll use lots of fresh chopped celery, fennel, and red onion (instead of chives), skipping the grapes to load up on more veggies. I certainly can’t skip the apples, with the season upon us, though.  I’m doing this chicken salad minus the watercress, mounded atop my chopped romaine dressed with a simple lemon-olive oil vinaigrette. Serve with any sort of hearty, whole grain bread for those that would like that option as well. Guaranteed, come week’s end, there’ll be veggies ripe for a crudite platter…carrots, sweet peppers, fennel, celery, kohlrabi. A platter of those, and some favorite store-bought dip, will make the perfect side.

“What the Kale?!?”

Don’t panic and get out the compost bin if all of the sudden you have a giant veggie delivery coming your way, and you still have a fridge full.  Here are a few suggestions for preserving the bounty!  (Soups and stews freeze wonderfully in those gallon zip lock freezer bags.)

• red bell pepper soup (Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food)
• creamy kohlrabi soup (about.com)