Squash and Tortillas

Just as I expected, more squash! Which is just fine, because I’ve got more squash preparations up my sleeve. Please try the squash burritos recipe that was in the CSA email this week. I know its sounds weird but I made it last year and they were awesome! I’m going to make them this week, and for those who read this blog but don’t get the farm emails, I’ll give a brief explanation of the recipe.

This week’s seasonal menu

Hot Wings with Sugar Snap Peas, Carrots, and Ranch

Actually I’m using chicken drumsticks, but I’m still going to slather them in buffalo sauce and grill them. And I’m making my ranch dip using a packet of dry ranch dressing mix and mixing it with plain yogurt and sour cream to cut some of the fat.

Local produce used: sugar snap peas and carrots

Squash Burritos on Homemade Tortillas

You don’t HAVE to make your own tortillas. Store-bought would work just fine, but because homemade tortillas are SO good. I’ll include the recipe below. If you don’t have the recipe for the squash, basically you sauté your squash, add a taco-type seasoning and black beans, and wrap in a tortilla with your favorite burrito fixin’s.

Local produce used: summer squash

Grilled Fish on Rice with Toasted Walnut Zucchini

I’ll give the recipe for the zucchini below. It’s easy. This whole meal is super simple, but super delicious.

Local produce used: zucchini

Peanut Stir-Fry

This stir-fry features a spicy peanut sauce and stir-fried sugar snap peas. You can also add thin sliced chicken to the mix and broccoli if you have it. I’m going to serve mine over rice noodles, but I’ve also served it over rice or spaghetti noodles, too. I’ll give the recipe below.

Local produce used: sugar snap peas, broccoli

Squash Patties and Quinoa with Steamed Broccoli (or a Spinach/Arugula Salad)

If you didn’t use all of your squash for the burritos, you can finish it up with this dish. I’m serving mine with broccoli, but if you have spinach and arugula on hand, a salad would be great, too. And quinoa… it cooks up very similar to rice, however it’s really a seed rather than a grain, so it’s a nice protein boost on those nights when you’re going meatless. The recipe for the patties is here: Summer Squash Patties

Local produce used: squash and broccoli

Recipes

Homemade Tortillas

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ cup oil (I use olive)

1 cup warm water

Combine water and oil in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients and lightly knead just until the dough stays together in a ball-like form. Cover and let sit about 10 minutes. Grab dough by the handful and roll into a ball. 

The dough ball should be about this size

Repeat with the rest of the dough. You should end up with about 12-15 balls. Cover and let rest for about 10 minutes again. In the meantime, hook up your nonstick electric griddle (or a nonstick pan over medium heat) and set it to about 350-375°F. Dust rolling surface with flour and roll out a ball of dough about as thin as you can get it with out it breaking (this takes some practice – don’t get discouraged, just try, try again!). If the dough sticks, lift it frequently and dust surface with flour. 

Toss the tortilla on the griddle. Flip it when you see little bubbles popping up and cook a minute more. 

Showing off her tortilla flipping skills, my daughter helps with this step.

Immediately transfer to a tortilla warmer or large pan with lid while you cook the rest of the tortillas.

*note: 1)Keep the dough and completed tortillas covered whenever possible. It’s crucial to keep the moisture in.  2) Once you get really proficient at rolling, if you’re using an electric griddle, you can get multiple tortillas cooking at once, which saves you some time. I like to let my daughter flip the tortillas for me while I do the rolling. It’s a fun “team” recipe :)

Pile tortilla high with your favorite filling...

... and roll, for finished homemade deliciousness!

Toasted Walnut Zucchini

2 medium zucchini, sliced in  ¼ - ½ inch medallions

handful of walnuts

drizzle of olive oil

ground nutmeg (fresh ground is best)

kosher or sea salt to taste

Toast walnuts in a pan over medium heat until lightly browned and fragrant. Set aside to cool. Drizzle a large nonstick pan with olive oil and bring to medium heat. Add zucchini (try not to crowd the pan too much). Don’t stir – let sizzle a couple minutes then flip the medallions. Once flipped, use a microplane to grate nutmeg over the top (or sprinkle with ground nutmeg) and sprinkle with salt. Cook another couple minutes, then serve with toasted walnuts on top.

Peanut Sauce for Stir-fry – about 4 servings

* I warn you, the measurements are approximations. I usually just taste it until its how I want it. Also, I like to cut the richness with broth, which is why I’m using it, when authentic recipes do not.

½ cup peanut butter

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 tsp grated ginger root

1 clove garlic, minced

1/8 tsp red pepper (more or less for heat)

½ cup chicken or vegetable broth

Mix peanut butter, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and pepper. Add broth gradually, mixing often until smooth. Stir fry vegetables of your choosing. Serve atop rice or noodles with a drizzle of peanut sauce.

Closing Thoughts

Be creative, flexible, and lighthearted. Here's a shot of the Roasted Beet and Gorgonzola Pizza

Beautiful isn't it? However, the opinion of it in our house is nothing short of comical. My daughter lured in by the bright colors, begged for a bite while I scarfed a slice driving up to the farm to pick up our veggies. I indulged her... and in a matter of seconds was debating if I should pull over to administer Heimlich. My husband, when forced to divulge his opinion, told me that it took a lot to get it all down. To which I replied, "You DO realize you didn't even have a full slice? You had one bite off my plate." He sheepishly said, "Oh I did?" ....... so basically it comes down to this: As far a beets go, I thought it was delicious... as far as pizza goes, the general opinion is that I went too far. Oh well... laugh it off, and don't let it stop you from trying the next crazy thing - it might be a masterpiece!

May 20th Meal Plan

What’s on the table this week? Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve got quite a bit of squash on my hands, and because I know that squash can be a generous bearer of fruit, I’m bracing for more of it. Fortunately, squash is a very versatile vegetable (say that three times fast!), and can be employed from sautéing to baking, and from savory to sweet. I used some squash last week, so in a bit, I’ll show how, and this week I’m going to use it in a couple of familiar applications.

The Menu

Hamburgers with coleslaw and sweet potato fries

There was a good looking coleslaw recipe in the farm email. I, personally, will be mixing mayo, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper, until the dressing tastes familiar to my mom’s coleslaw :)

Local produce used: cabbage and carrots

Pizza night! Featuring roasted beet & gorgonzola pizza

Its not just crazy talk – I’m doing it! I’m going to use my own pizza crusts, but for convenience you can also pick up some fresh dough from a friendly bread vendor when you visit the market. Basically, I’m roasting beets and onions and topping an oil brushed crust with them and a little (or a lot) of gorgonzola (feta or goat cheese  would be good too, I think)

Local produce used: beets

Vegetable platter: squash casserole, sautéed chard and beet greens,  and black-eyed peas

If you have broccoli on hand you might add a broccoli salad to this dinner, or you could also replace the black-eyed peas with roasted turnips too.

Local produce used: summer squash, chard, beet greens, (broccoli and/or turnips)

Vegetable omelet with zucchini bread

When you sauté veggies, make extra to include in an omelet, later. For this omelet I’m going to use the vegetables from my polenta dish a couple days ago. I will give you my zucchini bread recipe below.

Local produce used: carrots and summer squash

Quick snacks: sugar snap peas and hummus or boiled egg and sugar snaps

I’m currently trying to shape-up a bit, and, no, that does not mean I’m sporting the popular Sketchers shoes. It means I’m exercising and eating smaller meals throughout the day. I’ve found that sugar snap peas are a really easy thing to grab when I feel the munchies coming on. Pairing them with a protein source helps curb the appetite for longer.

Local produce used: sugar snap peas

An idea for your herbs

I know we didn’t get any herbs in the CSA share this week, but if you have fresh herbs at home (and water them) they might be going a little crazy, right now. Such was the case with my oregano, necessitating a little trimming back and while it made a pretty center piece on my table, I thought it should be put to a culinary use. There are a thousand (maybe – I haven’t actually counted) things I could do with those herbs, but on this occasion, I chose to use them in parmesan herb crescent rolls. Once again, if you don’t want to make your own dough, you can pick some up at the market. Pizza dough would work just fine for these.

Just roll out the dough. Brush with oil or butter, and sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese and your chopped herb.

Make diagonal cuts along the shorter length of your dough, so that you end up with long triangles. Then start rolling the dough from the base of the triangle to the point. You’ll end up with something like this.

Let your dough rise for about an hour, or until double (if you’re very observant, you’ll notice in the pictures that mine are not quite doubled, and that’s because I got a little impatient. They were still delicious.) Bake on 425° for about 10-15 minutes or until just starting to turn golden.

Polenta and Sauteed Vegetables

Another one of the dinners that I did last week was the polenta with sautéed vegetables. As usual, it turned out awesome, so I thought I’d share it with you. I have to also add that this particular dish is not of my own genius, but it’s a dish that I stole from my step-dad.

You start with polenta. One can certainly buy their polenta from the store. Its often found in the same section as the refrigerated vegetarian items, such as tofu. However, for the same price as one tube of store bought, you can make enough  homemade polenta to feed and army. This is what I did. Try this recipe from the Food Network: Polenta Recipe

I added flavor to mine by replacing about 2 cups of water with broth and adding in about half a cup of shredded parmesan. You can make the polenta a day ahead of time. In fact, it grills up better that way.

When you’re ready to prepare your dinner, julienne (or to the layperson cut into matchstick-size pieces) about half an onion, one summer squash, and two carrots. Sautee in some olive oil and butter.

Cut the polenta into about ¾ inch thick slices. Brush both sides with olive oil and grill. I like to keep a cast iron skillet on the grill for things like polenta, which could easily fall through the grates. Once both sides are crisped, plate and pile high with the sautéed vegetables. Yum!

Here’s the zucchini bread recipe:

Zucchini Bread

1 ½  cup whole wheat flour

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup granulated honey (dehydrated cane juice or sugar works too)

½ cup oil (grapeseed is my favorite for baked goods)

2 eggs

1/3 cup water

1 cup zucchini, grated and drained

½ tsp lemon juice

½ cup walnuts, chopped

Mix dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry. Mix. Fold in the walnuts. Pour into an oiled loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 1 hour.

And just to leave you with more pictures… I tried the kale chip recipe. They were truly awesome!

Before baking

After baking. Voila! Kale chips!

Meal Plan and Catching Up

Well, the post for last week just didn’t make it to the blog. Sorry. I started it three times, but the pressure to study for final exams, finally hit and I just had to do it. But… I’m through!!! And that means more time for all the things that have been put off, which this week has included, but isn’t limited to home gardening, children's playdates, end-of year dance performance, consultations for eye surgery, baking goodies, mother-daughter knitting lessons, picnics, cooking and, now, blogging!

First, because I now realize that I almost enjoy pictures of food as much as the food itself, here’s some samples of things made that didn’t get the privilege of being blogged about.

Secondly, ok, here are some things that I have been chewing on ALL week and now must be said:

1.      1. If you haven’t already done so, get up right now (seriously, don’t put it off ‘til the end of this post) and go cut the greens from your root vegetables. Those turnips, beets, carrots, and radishes have a pretty amazing shelf life for a veggie, but only if its not losing moisture and its rigidity through those attached leaves. You can keep the greens. Just detach them.

2.     

        2. Speaking of greens… what about those carrot tops? I want to use everything utterly possible, so I’ve done a little research on the lesser popular portion of the rabbit’s delight, and I’ve come to the conclusion that MINE will be best put to use in the compost pile. There is some debate over this subject. While recipes using the carrot tops abound, there are those in non-culinary circles who insist that carrot tops contains certain toxins. Considering the abundance of other nutrient-rich, flavorful greens in my CSA share, I have chosen to be a chicken and not take my chances with the carrot top. I don’t profess to be an expert on this opinion, so do your own research, but MY carrot tops will be fine nitrogen matter in the compost pile.

3.       3. Speaking of composting… do it. Your plants will be so much happier for it, and next time you go to prepare a flower bed, you won’t have to run off Home Depot for topsoil, fertilizer, mulch, yada yada… you’ll have it all right there in your compost pile for free. I’m sure there are plenty of ways to complicate and sophisticate the whole process, but in a nutshell, all you have to do is toss your non-animal, biodegradable waste in a pile, and BAM! Composting begun. For more thorough instructions see: Composting 101

4.       4. So, we’re starting to see some more familiar veggies like carrots, broccoli, squash. These are all things that we’d see as a “steamed vegetable medley” on a typical restaurant menu, and I imagine many of us have also duplicated it at home. Hooray for quick and easy cooking methods! But have you tried roasting? It’s equally as easy, but in my opinion, provides a more concentrated, deeper flavor. It’s also my go-to cooking method for when I’m given a vegetable I’m not very familiar, for example, beets and kohlrabi made their debut on my dinner table in roasted form. Here’s a link to get you started, if you’ve never roasted before: Roasted Vegetables (just insert your own veggies if you don’t have the ones in the recipe)

Whew! Since I’ve got all that off my chest, now, I will get to this week’s meal planning:

Chinese Chicken Salad with Red Chile Peanut Dressing: Haven’t made this before, but the ingredients are right up my alley.  Only, I’m going to tweak it to conform to what I have on hand. Here’s the link: Chinese Chicken Salad with Red Chile Peanut Dressing

Local veggies used: Lettuce & snow peas

Braised greens with beans and cornbread: Incredibly southern, I know, but its so good and it makes a hearty (inexpensive) meat-less dinner

Local veggies used: Kale and/or any other greens that need to be used up

Broiled/grilled fish with roasted broccoli and radishes: This is a really quick and easy dinner. I’ll save it for a night that I know I’ll be short on time. Serve with rice or bread.

Local veggies used: radishes & broccoli

Grilled polenta with julienned vegetable sauté: This is a pretty one. Pictures will be posted when I make it. You can make your own polenta or use the store-bought kind. I will pair this either a grilled meat or grilled portobello.

Local veggies used: squash/zucchini, carrots

And for those who wanted my coconut soup recipe from a week ago. Here it is:

Coconut Soup: The Michelle-ified version. Serving size: 3 main dish servings 

Ingredients:

14oz can of coconut milk

1 cup chicken broth

½ lb. very thin-sliced chicken breast

1 lime, zest and juice

3 T fish sauce (this is absolutely necessary. do not omit. its found in the ethnic aisle of the grocery)

1 T sugar

½ - 1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 cup other veggies, sliced (I like snow peas, red bell pepper, and onion)

Cooked rice or noodles

cilantro, rough chopped

scallions, chopped (optional)

Stir fry the chicken in a little oil in a 5-quart pot. Add the other vegetables, and briefly stir-fry. Add the coconut milk, broth, fish sauce, zest and lime juice, and sugar. Bring to boil, and it’s ready. To serve, pour over a serving of rice or noodles and top with cilantro and scallions.

Hint: to get the chicken slices super thin, don't let it defrost all the way (assuming you're pulling it from the freezer). Let it get to the point where it's still frozen but you can press it down a bit in the center. Slicing it when it's at this point allows you to get those slices really, really thin.

A Meal Plan in Progress

Well, I attempted the first “meal plan” blog, and I just had to stop and laugh at myself in the middle of it, because anyone who knows me, knows that “planning” anything is absolute torture… or at least putting the fine details down on paper is, anyway. I realized that my typical “meal plan” goes something like this, “Ooooh! Arugula! Yes! I’m going to make that favorite salad of mine one day this week!” and that’s followed a few days later by writing up a grocery list and desperately trying to think of something to make with my arugula, with the faint memory of being excited about making…something.  Maybe you might have this problem too.  I‘ve found the best solution is just to sit down and make myself do it.  In the case of the persons reading this blog, you can just steal mine (which is really the whole purpose of this rambling in the first place). It WILL save you some money at the grocery, and help you to use your CSA vegetables more efficiently. That being said, as  I write this, I decided not to be unrealistic by posting a set-in stone guide for what I’ll do with my week’s share. Instead, I’m posting a “meal plan in progress”. It’s a flexible plan that, maybe, will evolve into something better as I go along.

So here’s what I’m making this week… I think. 

I’m not going to detail all of the recipes, but if you see something I’m making and want to know how. Just leave a comment and I’ll post the recipe.

Strawberries: I’m not cooking with these beauties. If the kids don’t eat them all the first day, we’ll serve them raw as a side with breakfast or lunch.

Lettuce: I'm making Broiled Salmon with Tuscan Salad dinner one night. And since I still have some extra lettuce from the last pick-up, I’ll also make some salads and veggie wraps for lunch.

Arugula: Umm… I’m still not settled on this one, but I THINK, I will make it into a pesto which will either be used for pesto focaccia OR a pesto pasta with scallops. What do you think?

Cilantro: How do you feel about this herb? To be honest I used to not be a fan, as my most frequent encounter with it was in mediocre latin food. And then I discovered Thai…mmmm… I want some right now, and it’s only 8:30am as I’m writing this. Anyway, what I’m trying to say without my mouth watering, is that if you’ve tried it before and not liked it, try it again in a totally different application. In my case, I loved it in Thai food, then tried it again in GOOD latin cuisine and loved it there too. So, be open minded. This week, I’m using my cilantro in some Thai Coconut Soup and possibly in some hummus that I’ll use for my lunch veggie wraps.

Green onions: They are going in my salads and in the Coconut Soup.

Swiss Chard: This green will be accompanied by some other vegetables and rice for a delicious, Southern-style veggie plate, which I will expound on in a moment.

You might notice that I haven’t mentioned the spinach, turnips, or Napa cabbage. It’s because my family has subscribed to the half-share, so we don’t have these items this week. However, IF I did, I would DEFINITELY make the Napa Cabbage according to the recipe on this week’s harvest list. I’m a little jealous, just thinking about it, actually. And for those who read my post about spinach, you better believe I’d be making that spinach salad this week. The turnips, I would add to Swiss Chard veggie meal, which I’m finally going to reveal.

The Chard:

Isn’t chard pretty? They say to eat a rainbow of fruits and veggies everyday, and this vegetable just about contains the entire rainbow in and of itself. This should be an indicator that it is packed with phytonutrients, which is why I’m going to cook the brightly colored stems along with the greens.

First, run your hand along the stem and tear the green portion from tougher stem. You should end up with something like this.

 I used the salad spinner to wash the leaves and set them aside. Then I ran the stems under running water and felt carefully to make sure I had washed off all of the grit.

Next, drizzle some olive oil in a sauté pan and let it get hot over medium heat. Meanwhile, chop the stems and about half a large onion. Also, mince some garlic and set it aside. When the pan is hot, toss in your stems and onions, and sauté until they are tender (about 5 minutes). 

Toss in the garlic, stirring constantly for about a minute, then add the greens. Toss the greens around, mixing them with the stems and onions until they are wilted. Salt and pepper and serve immediately.

I topped these with fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano (as suggested in the Farm’s Garlicky Greens recipe) and they were great! The kids even chose to eat the greens over the rice, black-eyed peas, and “baked” fried okra that I served them with, and THAT’S really amazing, because, as many parents know, green anything at the dinner table is like pediatric cryptonite :)

Hope you all get the chance to enjoy this dish too!

Here's What I Did with My Spinach...

The spinach directly from the farm is quite possibly the best spinach ever. I almost consider it an injustice to do anything with it other than prepare a salad from it. A few toasted pecans, cranberries, blue cheese and a drizzle of a fruity vinaigrette over a a handful of those crinkly, dark-green leaves is simply divine... Alas, such was not the fate of MY spinach leaves. As "unjust" as it might have been, the spinach just didn't get slated on the menu for a salad. I had quite a bit of lettuce, and since lettuce has fewer alternative preparations, it got designated as the "salad" green. Using the spinach for a salad would mean an awful lot of salad eating, and since man can not live by salad alone... that's probably not true- I can't back that up... anyway, since my family needs some dinner variety, I put my spinach to other uses, and I thought I might share those uses with you.

Spinach Omelette
That's right. I did just suggest vegetables for breakfast. It's not a crazy idea - it's downright genius. In fact, should you have extra vegetables that might not make it on your dinner list, I recommend roasting or sautéing a big batch and serving them with eggs for an easy, well-rounded breakfast. I served this spinach omelette with a pumpkin muffin to my husband and my brother, who's facebook post, today, was (and I quote), "I love eggs....and meat....and cheese..." and I didn't hear one pining for the lack of bacon or sausage while they devoured their breakfast. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of this creation since I made it prior to the blog, and my compulsive need to photograph my meals, but maybe you'll make it for yourself and get to see it in person.


Ingredients:
half an onion, diced
a couple of handfuls of spinach, chopped
drizzle of olive oil
shredded cheese of your choice (feta would be good too)

two eggs
splash of milk
salt and pepper to taste


Saute the onions in the olive oil, over medium heat until translucent. Add the spinach and saute until wilted. Remove form heat and set aside.
 Whisk eggs, milk, and your salt and pepper in a bowl. Heat a little olive oil in a small nonstick pan. Pour egg mixture into pan. Let cook until you can slide a spatula underneath without breaking the firming egg. Flip the egg. Spread spinach mixture and cheese (I added jalopenos, too, cause I like heat) across half of the egg circle and fold over. Cook another minute, or just long enough for cheese to get melty. Slide onto a plate and enjoy!




Chicken, Spinach and Rice Soup
Soup is another good way to use vegetables that might otherwise go to waste. I had not planned on making this soup, but a last-minute, executive decision to soothe sore throats resulted in the recipe below.  I can also tell you that just about every soup I make starts the same way, so keep that in mind in case you want to improvise.

Ingredients:
1 large onion, diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
olive oil
Enough spinach to fill a large salad spinner
7 or 8 chicken tenderloins (or leftover baked chicken would be even better) 
6 cups of chicken or vegetable broth 
2/3 cup brown rice
salt and pepper to taste


Saute onion, celery, and carrots in a little olive oil over medium heat in a 5 qt or larger pot. I use my oval dutch oven for most of my soups 'cause it has a large, even-cooking bottom that serves well for sauteing and browning meat that is going into the soup. Once the onions begin to look translucent, add the garlic and saute for about a minute. Now, unless your chicken is already cooked, let's cook the chicken. When I'm making soup, I really hate to dirty up multiple dishes so here's what I do. Using your spoon, push the vegetables off the the sides of the pot. In the center, add your tenderloins. Let them brown on one side then flip them over to brown on the other. Shift the veggies back over the chicken, and add just enough broth to cover the chicken. Cover and let simmer for about 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from pot, chop or shred, and return to the cooking pot. Add the rest of the broth and bring to boil. Add the rice and simmer for 50 minutes (20 if using white rice or quinoa) covered. About 5-10 minutes before rice is done cooking add the spinach. When the rice is tender, the soup is done. Add soup and pepper to suit your tastes.


*A note about this soup: I used several "quick fixes" for this recipe that ideally I would not promote because they are less sustainable friendly and they add to your grocery bill, BUT... they are good to have around as back-ups, in case you have to swing a change in menu as I did. Those ingredients are the tenderloins and the broth. Typically, I would suggest this soup the day after I baked a whole chicken. I would shred the leftover chicken meat and boil the rest of the chicken to make my own chicken broth. Not only is your own chicken broth going to be more flavorful, but you'll be getting more use out of the WHOLE chicken, and stretching your dollar in the process!

Cooking Up CSA Deliciousness!

Well, this is it! The first official blog post. It wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the prompting of my sweet, supportive hubby, who insisted a facebook note wouldn't do my rambling justice. So what random preoccupation has earned itself the VERY first post? The answer is CSA, which is Community Supported Agriculture for those who are unfamiliar. 

Every Spring we cast aside our frozen and canned, grocery purchased veggies, in trade for a fresh, delicious, local, and nutritious share in agriculture. This is our third season, so before I even got the first harvest list, my mind was churning with how I was going to use what I knew from previous experience, would be a wealth of lush greens, and earthy root vegetables. Had this been our first pick-up, however, I might have been a little overwhelmed, and lost at how to use the whole share, how to cook it up, and how to decrease my overall grocery bill. Therefore, I would like to use this blog to help some newcomers learn some of these things. I will begin (I think) by posting the recipes of the meals I cook using our CSA share. If I can keep  that up, then I might start posting meal plans and grocery lists, as well... we'll see... for those who know what "searching for vines" means, they know what might become of my intentions :)

So here we go!

Stir-Fry with Pak Choi and Green Garlic

Stir-fries are one of my favorite things to do with my CSA veggies for many reasons, but to name name a few:

1. It's quick 

2. You can use several vegetables all in one dish

3. You can eat it with chopstick's, and that just makes any meal fun!

I got the base recipe for the sauce from this link: Sauce II for Stir-Fry Vegetables, but as I tend to change every recipe I get my hands on, my version is below.

Ingredients

Sauce:

2 1/2 tsp cornstarch

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup white wine

3 Tbsp soy sauce

1 clove garlic

about 1 Tbsp microplaned ginger root

The other stuff:

2-3 Tbsp of high-heat oil (I used grapeseed)

1 bunch of pak choi, washed, coarse chopped, and stems separated from the greens

3 stalks of green garlic, chopped

4 ounces sliced mushrooms

handful of snow peas (optional)

4 ounces udon noodles, cooked according to package directions 

sesame seeds for garnish

First, get your veggies ready to go. Wash 'em, chop 'em, set 'em aside. 

I would like to take a moment to sing the praises of the salad spinner. Yes, your vegetables from the farm might have dirt (gasp!) on them. The salad spinner is the quickest and most though way I've found to wash greens (and just about any other vegetable for that matter). Fill the spinner with greens and water, agitate, drain, repeat, then spin. Voila! Clean greens!

Next, mix up your sauce ingredients. Start with the cornstarch, add a splash of broth, whisk with a fork until the cornstarch is smooth, then add the rest of the broth and the other sauce ingredients. Set aside.

Hint: Keep ginger root in the freezer for just such occasions as these. Nothing beats fresh grated ginger in stir-fry!

Now is the time to cook your noodles if you haven't already done so. You can also serve your stir-fry over rice, too, if you prefer, but manage your time accordingly, remembering that white rice takes 20 minutes to cook and brown rice a whopping 50. Set your carb of choice aside when you're done.

So, while your noodles are boiling, put some oil in your fry pan and heat it up over medium-high heat. I don't like to use my nonstick skillet for stir-fry. I like my veggies crisp, and since my nonstick can't take the heat (no pun intended) the veggies tend to get soggy when I use it, so I don't. Also, I know olive oil is super-healthy, but... don't use it for stir-fry. It has a low smoke point, and should you dare it over med-high heat, you might end up with flames... I speak from experience. Grapeseed and coconut oil are two of my favorites for high-heat uses. You can use canola too, I just don't because I try to avoid genetically modified stuff.

Ok, ready? Here we go. Green garlic and pak choi stems go first. Stir constantly with wooden spoon for a minute or two. Add mushrooms and snow peas. Again, stir a minute or two.

Next, add the greens. They'll take up the whole pan, but don't worry, they'll cook down. Stir them until they wilt. This will only take a couple minutes.

Next, stir your sauce, and add it to the pan. Stir about five minutes. This particular sauce is very soupy, so don't expect it to become gravy-like. I was a little iffy about that, at first, but it turned out to be the perfect sauce for noodles!

 Get your bowls ready. Noodles first. Ladle the vegetable and sauce mixture over the noodles. Sprinkle with a few sesame seeds and

Enjoy!

Oh... and if you went to the trouble to open a new bottle of wine for the sauce... waste not. It pairs nicely with the meal ;)