I can’t believe I haven’t blogged since last Wednesday! A lot has happened since then. I started the weekend excited to have no plans and spend time away from the computer. I ended the weekend…
…engaged!
Yes, Matt proposed this weekend, at the top of the lovely stairs pictured above. I can’t believe we’re getting married!
The kicker? Matt planned a surprise trip to Vegas THIS weekend! He has never been and wanted to do something special for us to celebrate our engagement. We leave on Friday, right after work!
I don’t know how I’ll be ready in time, but who cares?! I’m going to Vegas!
I picked up week one of my CSA subscription last Thursday. They reuse all their boxes, so I emptied everything into my bag and hauled it home. Here’s what I received in one share:
- Two kinds of lettuce
- Radishes
- Kale
- Bok Choy
- Broccoli
- Garlic scapes (use like garlic!)
- Spinach
- Mixed salad greens
- Quart of strawberries
Amy from Three Rivers warned us that we’d have a lot of greens for the first few weeks and she was definitely correct! As soon as I got home, I started processing the greens.
I washed everything, then put the salad mix into our salad spinner. The other greens I dried and wrapped in paper towel, then put them in plastic baggies (that I will reuse next week).
I am certainly eating well with all this produce. I’ve eaten a salad with every meal so far, and the radishes, broccoli, and garlic scapes invite plenty of experimentation.
One of the most interesting things I’ve done with the veggies so far is to sauté the radishes.
The Sauce Magazine recipe stated to sauté them with butter but after making BLT’s for lunch, we had plenty of bacon grease to use instead of butter. First, I sliced them with a mandoline. You can also chop or dice!
I then sautéed them in about 2 tablespoons of grease for 3 minutes. I added about 1/4 cup of stock, then cooked that down over medium-high heat until the liquid was gone. I took it off the heat, added 2 tablespoons of butter, and a sprinkle of parsley and scallions.
They certainly aren’t pretty, but they were delicious!
I also made a quick batch of kale chips. Cook chip-sized pieces sprayed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. That’s it!
More to come, including beer-braised greens!
Question: What would you do with all these greens? I need more ideas!
 |
I really want to try some new radish recipes. Have fun in Vegas! i am jealous!!!
I saw the news on Marla’s facebook page, and was eagerly awaiting it here so I could officially say Congratulations! Have fun in Vegas!
Congratulations on the engagement!
Eat the greens for breakfast.
One of my favorite breakfasts that satisfies me for hours is as follows. I caramelize a whole onion in bacon fat/butter/lard in my cast iron skillet. I then add about two cups of greens. Once they are cooked, I push them to the side and crack an egg into the open space. While it cooks, I press a clove off garlic on top of the greens and onion mix and add crushed red pepper and salt. Once the egg is cooked to my liking, I scrape everything into a bowl and mix it together. It tastes wonderful and I get the benefits of the almost raw garlic without choking it down! My favorite green for this is spinach, but anything works. I even used up some leftover salad with cucumbers and peppers in it once and that wasn’t too bad.
So far we’ve used our greens in Italian wedding soup (kale) and a breakfast casserole (spinach). Tomorrow we will have lettuce wraps and we’re having company on Friday so we’re serving up a big salad.
Congrats on the engagement! I am also a member of Three Rivers and look forward to seeing what you make with the weekly share!
Congrats on the your engagement!
A tip on the kale chips: Waiting to add the salt until after they’re baked will help them get and stay crispier.
For greens like kale, spinach, and Swiss chard, prep a big batch for easy use. After soaking (if you add lemon or vinegar to the soaking water, it’s supposed to help reduce the oxalic acid in the greens), chop into whatever size pieces you want (remove kale stems before chopping).
Heat some oil or butter in a large skillet, then saute-steam the greens by stirring for a few minutes to coat with the oil before covering the pan for steaming (spinach will cook faster than Swiss chard or kale). You can also start with cooking some onions and garlic in the pan and adding the greens to those.
Use the pre-cooked greens for part of quick, easy meals throughout the week: a great addition to grilled cheese sandwiches, quesedillas, scrambled eggs or omelets, or mixed in to various pasta or other grain dishes.
garlic scapes make RIDICULOUS pesto.
i eat a ton of kale and collard greens – my go-to is to dice up a slice of bacon and let it render for a minute while i tear up a bunch of kale or collards, then saute them in the bacon with a little salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. a friend mentioned that he likes collard greens sauteed in olive oil with crushed garlic and ginger, which i’ve been meaning to try. kale is good raw, too, as an alternative salad base – i coat it well with olive oil, lemon juice, a little vinegar (something light – like rice/cider/coconut vinegar), granulated garlic, oregano and kosher salt.
Thank you!!
That sounds absolutely divine, Martha.
That sounds like a really great menu plan!
Thank you! I can’t wait to post more.
Thanks! Good to know about the kale chips. And thanks for the instructions!
ohmygosh that was exactly what I wanted to make with the scapes and I just ran out of time this week. I think I like greens simple, like you mentioned, just sauteed with onion (and maybe bacon!).
So where are those beautiful stairs?
They are on the scenic drive through Pere Marquette, in Grafton Illinois!
Three Rivers Rocks
At our house, we don’t only make kale “chips”- we also use our turnip greens (waste not, want not! those greens are good!) as well as spinach and collards as a mix in the same way. Add parmesan and a little squeeze of lemon juice on top when they are done baking and simple chips become just divine. Seriously my favorite food. Mmmmm 
We probably have this as an appetizer or side for almost every CSA meal, haha.
They do! I will try making chips with the other greens. And I definitely know not to throw the radish/turnip greens away!
Yippeeeeee! That is such wonderful news! Congrats, Stacy and how incredibly sweet he whisked you away to Vegas. So very happy for you guys!!
P.S.-haven’t tried sauteeing radishes because I always love to munch on them raw but will def try this!