March 5, 2009

Veggies You Love Chowder

IMG_0698-1.jpg picture by hikeramber
Today I received my first shipment for my CSA box from Farm Fresh To You and I spent the afternoon researching recipes that would use a good part of the veggies.  If you are interested in signing up for this CSA program, I can refer you at a discount on the first trial.

After looking through all my Mollie Katzen books (Moosewood) I found one that seemed easy and versatile, Vegetable Chowder.  After making this, I realized the veggie portions are more of a guideline, I would use whatever you have on hand.

What's in it
Butter
2C chopped onion
6 cloves garlic, minced
salt, thyme & basil (whatever else you like as well, I used Caraway Seed)
1 medium potato, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
2C chopped broccoli
1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped
frozen or fresh corn
Diced tomatoes, canned and drained
fresh black pepper
1 1/2C water
1 Qt milk, heated.

How it's made
Melt butter in large pot or dutch oven.  Add onion, half of garlic and basil, thyme, salt.  Satue about 5 minutes until onions clarify.  Add potatoes, celery, carrots, broccoli and saute another 5 minutes or so. Add mushrooms, corn and tomatoes, plus lots of pepper.  Saute another 10 minutes.  Add water, cover and simmer about 15 minutes until everything is tender.  Stir in the milk and remaining garlic.  Remove from heat.  Served topped with fresh herbs.

Obviously you can add or subtract depending on your ingredients.  I added half a bag of frozed artichoke hearts I had on hand, because I love them!  Other good additions are cauliflower, zucchini, etc.  Sorry there are not precise measurements for some of the smaller portions, I don't believe in measuring those amounts.  It will depend on how much veggies you have.

This turned out to be an incredibly delicious soup, very creamy and flavorful.  I also picked up a par baked french bread from TJ's and baked it fresh out of the oven, and it was perfect with the soup.  Yum!

March 3, 2009

Taco Salad

Tonight we're having taco salad "take 2".  We made it last night as well, and there is something so satisfying about eating taco salad.  Maybe it's because I grew up eating it often.  The best part is not having to be confined to a tortilla to get all the goods mixed together, as you are with a taco or burrito.  It's not the fanciest recipe on the block but it's what's for dinner tonight, so here we go.  When serving this salad, we leave all the ingredients separate, just like when we serve tacos, so everyone can make theirs to order.

What's in it
One head of lettuce (romaine) rinsed, dried and chopped
Green onions, sliced
Cheese, grated - use a mixture of what you are craving, such as jack, cheddar or pepper jack
Sour cream
Tomatoes, chopped
Avocado, cubed
Can of corn, drained
Can of sliced olives, drained
Can of beans, rinsed and heated (I prefer black)
Ground beef or chopped chicken
Taco seasoning or packet (I got the spicy taco seasoning by McCormick)
Salsa
Catalina salad dressing

How it's made
Prepare the meat with the taco seasoning packet as directed on the back of the seasoning package.  Prepare the rest of the ingredients.  Set the table with each ingredient in it's own bowl, to have a 'make your own' set up.  I combine the onion and lettuce, and the corn and olives.  You can use any dressing you like - a salsa, Catalina, or that weird creamy mixture that's red and white mixed together and I'm blanking on the name right now.

An alternative to using tortilla chips is frying up a whole tortilla to serve as the base of the salad.