White Beans and Kale

The pork I cooked was so good this weekend, but alas, it is gone! Because of that, I decided it was time to use the kale we got 2 weeks ago. There is a blog I keep running across thathas the yummiest recipes called Kalyn's Kitchen. This week, I found her recipe for Cannellini and Kale Soup and just had to try it. I only had about half the kale I needed, so I balanced with turnip greens. The soup has such a great animal and, personally, I think its quite pretty (Kalyn says it won't win any beauty contests). Well worth the effort.

 Slow-Cooker Cannellini Soup with Kale and Turnip Greens
  Adapted from: http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2012/10/slow-cooker-vegetarian-kale-cannellini-soup.html

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 large onions*, chopped small
• 4 cloves minced garlic*
• 2 tsp. dried Italian Seasoning (contains oregano, basil, marjoram, thyme and rosemary)
• 2 cans (15 oz. can) Cannellini beans and juice
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) whole tomatoes with juice, broken up
• 4 oz. finely chopped kale*, washed if needed (about 4 cups finely chopped kale)
• 4 oz. finely chpped turnip greens*
• 4 cups homemade chicken stock*
• 1/2 tsp. dried rubbed sage
• 1-2 pieces of Parmesan rind to add flavor (optional) 
• freshly grated Parmesan, to garnish (optional)

Heat the oil in a large heavy frying pan; add the onions and cook 4-5 minutes or until they are just starting to brown.  Add the garlic and Italian Seasoning and saute 1-2 minutes more, being careful not to let the garlic brown.  Spray the slow cooker with non-stick spray; then put onions and garlic into the slow cooker. 

While the onions are cooking use a food processor to puree the cannellini beans and juice, keeping them a little chunky if you prefer.  (If you're using freshly-cooked beans I would add about 1/4 cup water.)  Finely chop the kale and turnip greens (cutting away thick center ribs if you have them) and wash kale in the salad spinner if you're using garden kale.  

Put the pureed beans, chopped kale, chicken stock, canned tomatoes and juice, and sage into the slow cooker with the onion mixture.  (Add one or two pieces of Parmesan rind if desired for extra flavor.)  Cook 4 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low.  Serve the soup hot, with grated Parmesan if desired.

 

*CSA ingredients

 

Fresh salad

It seems that this summer I am craving fresh.  So, when I needed to come up with another side for a picnic, I decided to go with cucumber tomato salad again.  However, this time, I had artichoke hearts available too.  I wasn't able to attend the picnic because I am still recovering from the anesthesia from when they removed my IVC filter on Wednesday.  However, I went ahead and made the salad so that my husband could enjoy it this week.

Greek Cucumber Salad

• 1 (15-oz) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 (14-oz) can quartered artichoke hearts, diced
• 1 large tomato*, diced
• 1 medium cucumber*, diced

Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans; remove any loose skins.  Place beans in a zippered bag with olive oil and vinagar: marinate overnight.  Pour beans into a large bowl; dice other vegetables and add to the beans.  Toss with dressing.  Top with feta cheese just before serving, if desired.

 
*CSA ingredients

Salads

It is once again that time of year: time for the departmental picnic.  Every year, our lab manager pulls up the calender for Case's Squire Valleevue Farm to see when we can hold our picnic.  I am really grateful for her because she does all the work: reserving the shelter, picking up most of the food, grilling, sending out emails, getting people to bring sports equipment, water balloons and water guns (yes, we get wet during this picnic).  All I have to do is come up with side dishes. 

Since our boss is celiac, I have, in the past, gone with a quinoa and kale salad.  It's a good fall-back when you need to go gluten free.  However, in the past, I have also managed to eat all of the fruits and vegetables from my share on a timely basis.  This year, I have a lot of more vegetables and fruit available because I eat these things so slowly now.  So, I decided to go with two salads, both gluten-free, that are quite different from quinoa salad.

Summer Fruit Salad
While another person is bringing a fruit salad, I have learned over the years that in the summertime, that usually means watermelon.  I have issues with watermelon due to my seasonal allergies (it makes me itch), so I made a small summer salad without any form of melon.

• 1 medium mango, pitted and diced
• 1 pint blueberries, washed*
• 2 medium free-stone peaches, sliced thin*
• 6 small apricots, quartered*
• 1/3 cup orange juice

Prepare all of the fruit and combine in a bowl.  Pour orange juice over fruit and mix well.

 
Cucumber Salad
Since our lab manager is from Jordon, we always know we will have tabbouli and baba ganoush at the picnic.  This year, I decided to do a fresh vegetable salad with garbanzo beans that I felt compliment The other items.  

• 1 medium cucumber, diced*
• 1 large tomato, diced*
• 1 15-oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp honey*
• 4 oz feta cheese

Prepare vegetables and place in bowl.  Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans and mix with vegetables.  Mix oil, lemon juice and honey in a small bowl.  Pour over vegetable mixture and stir.  Refrigerate overnight to marinate.  Just before serving, mix in feta cheese.

  
*CSA ingredients

Easy Crockpot Chicken

One of the frustrating things about summer for me is that I have no air conditioning in my apartment.  Last week, the temperatures averaged in the high-90's with a heat index in the 100's.  So, obviously, not the type of weather where you want to be firing up your stove or oven.  That is why I LOVE my crock-pot.  I have used a crock-pot since the day I moved away from home because of the convenience.  However, in the summertime, there are weeks where I would not have any home cooking if it weren't for the crock-pot!

This week, I had chicken thighs in my freezer and was really trying to figure out what to make.  I apologize because only one of the ingredients was actually a Fresh Fork product, however, by the end of summer, I can guarantee that almost everything in this dish could be from Fresh Fork.  It makes a really nice spicy chicken that you could serve over rice or noodles or put in tortillas for burritos or over tortilla chips for nachos.

Creamy Spicy Chicken

• 1-1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, frozen (may substitute 4 cups cooked, shredded chicken*)
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes with chiles (substitute 1 large heirloom tomato with one hot pepper, diced*)
• 2 cups frozen sweet corn*
• 1 can Black Beans, drained & rinsed (substitued 2 C cooked black turtle beans*)
• 8 oz Philadelphia fat-free cream cheese (substitute fresh cream cheese, any fat content*)

Place chicken in bottom of crock-pot.  Pour remaining ingredients on top.  Cover and cook on LOW 6-8 hours, stirring every couple hours.  When finished cooking, remove chicken thighs and cool.  Shred chicken and return to mixture.  Allow to cool about 30 minutes before serving.  Serve over rice, noodles, in tortillas as tacos or burritos or over tortilla chips as nachos.

*CSA ingredients 

Kale and Quinoa

Well, here it is, the first blog entry of the summer.  Actually, this is the second thing that I’ve made from the CSA, but this is an eaiser entry as I have made this salad before.  Tomorrow night my women’s choir (all 11 of us) will be having a picnic to discuss the future of the choir.  After a really great first year, we have decided that we really would like to strike out on our own.  When Jenny started the choir, it seemed easier to affiliate with the YMCA/SELREC programs that the old choir was involved in.  In the end, we decided that maybe we would be better off on our own.  Given that I have so many greens from the first two shares, I decided to make this bright summer salad again. 

Basalmic Summer Quinoa Salad

• 1/2 large cucumber*
• 1/4 cup basalmic vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp dried basil (may use fresh)
• 1/2 tsp garlic and herbs (may use fresh)
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth*
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups kale*
• 1 medium tomato*
• 1/4 cup feta (optional)
• 2 Tbsp chopped walnuts, almonds or toasted pignolias (optional)

Wash cucumber, cut into a 1/4 inch dice.  In a small bowl, mix vinegar, oil, basil and garlic.  Pour vinegar mixture over cucumbers and marinate overnight.

In a medium saucepan, bring broth to a boil.  Add quinoa and reduce heat to a simmer.  Cover and cook 10 minutes.  In the meantime, wash kale and remove stems.  Chop into bite-sized pieces.  After 10 minutes cooking, add kale to top of quinoa.  Cover and simmer another 5 minutes.  Turn off heat and allow to steam an additional 5 minutes.

Wash and dice the tomatoes.  In a large bowl, combine quinoa, cucumbers with marinade and tomatoes.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.  Salad may be served this way, or if you prefer, you may add crumbled feta cheese and/or nuts or pignolias.

*CSA ingredients

Where to Begin?

I just got back from picking up my first summer share.  Lots and lots of beautiful greens: collard greens, Red Russian kale, green leaf lettuce, pea tendrils, garlic scapes, radish greens, kohlrabi.  The sad part is that for the next month, I am still limited in the amount of these things I am allowed to eat each week.  Thankfully, I have someone to share them with.  Renee will pick up her portion tomorrow.  But I do believe that I will have to cook some of them and freeze them.

The first disappointment occurred today too: a very small batch of garlic scapes.  Since I have had them before and we are bound to get more (unless the early hot weather affected this crop too), I am going to give them to Renee this week.  So, I think the first thing that I am going to do is make a quinoa salad with steamed kale.  It's been a while since I have done that and quinoa has protein, so it will fit in my diet pretty well.  Rest assured, once I have made it, I will post a recipe and pictures.  So happy to be back to the CSA!!!!!!

Things To Look Forward To!

So the "fun" things included in our share this week will include garlic scapes, Russian Red Kale and pea tendrils.  I have missed the garlic scapes since I used up the pesto I made last year.  I remember that we got scapes for several weeks last year, so I will take the first batch to make another batch of pesto.  I used it in eggs and to roast a chicken last year.  I am thinking it might be good on salmon and other meaty fish as well.  I can't wait to be able to test these theories out.

My coumadin levels were high this week when I checked in with the anticoagulation clinic, which was a little disconcerting.  I am wondering if the Russian Red kale has as high of levels of Vitamin K as the green variety.  I will have to check that out.  I have missed kale all winter.  Buying winter kale that is imported just isn't the same as the fresh tender kale we get from the CSA.  I am going to make myself a quinoa salad with the kale since that seems the perfect way to cook it and gives me a fairly good protein source. The pea tendrils will serve as garnish.

I haven't reported much on my gastric sleeve stuff and I am truly contrite about that.  Not much has happened other than losing weight and getting stronger.  As I mentioned above, my coumadin levels were high this week.  They seemed surprised, but it was creeping up the last time I went in (up to 2.7 from two meetings at 2.5).  Since it had been 3 weeks since I had had it checked, I have to wonder if the dose is too high.  I cannot eat a full serving of greens in one sitting, so I can't be very sure that I am eating 2 full servings in a week.  They told me that they would leave the dosage for another week and have me come back to check again.  We are coming into the home stretch anyway, so I hope we keep it under enough control that I don't have a problem before then.  I make the appointment for a second ultrasound at the beginning of July.  I am excited that this has gone so quickly and look forward to being off the coumadin so I can have my chamomile and grapefruit again!

Now to the update.  I am now officially 60 pounds down.  I have had an ongoing frustration that most of this weight has come off the upper part of my body.  However, I am seeing things that indicate that I am losing down below.  For instance: when I went to a movie this weekend, I not only didn't touch the sides of the seat  when seated straight.  But even better, when I turned in the seat to give my legs more room (I hate stadium seating), I still had room in the seat.  It was a great feeling.  Below is a picture of my progress.  I find I have to do this because I, personally, don't see the changes.  It's very validating!

Boiled dinner

This week we received a nice pork roast in the share. We also received a cabbage, Yukon gold potatoes, turnips, and apples. Since it's snowing outside, and also close to St. Patrick's Day, I figured boiled dinner would be a great comfort meal for today.

 Boiled Dinner

•  1 4-5 lb pork roast*
•  1 large potato*, diced
•  1/2 head cabbage*, wedged
•  1 large winesap apple*, wedged
•  1 large turnip*, wedged
•  1 cup apple cider*
•  7 cups water
•  1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
•  1 tsp sea salt

 Place vegetables and apples in bottom of crock. Place roast on top. Pour cider and water over roast and add spices and salt. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3-5 hours, until roast is 160°F in the center. Remove roast and allow to temper 5 minutes. Turn cooker to LOW and cook until potatoes are fork tender. Slice pork thin and serve with vegetables and apples.

*CSA Ingredients

Winter Vegetables

Today, I need to use up winter vegetables. I also need dishes that will fit into my pre-op diet which is pretty basic. I couldn't quite find a recipe that appealed tome, so I am going to do what we used to call potluck. I am going to take all the vegetables I have and make a fresh vegetable soup. Seems an appropriate dish for a snowy winter day.

 "Pot Luck" Vegetable Soup
 Note: This soup is made with vegetables I had in my kitchen. You may use whatever you have available.

•  1/2 head cabbage*, chopped
•  2 turnips*, peeled and diced
•  1 large Yukon gold potato*, peeled and diced
•  celery heart and leaves (about 4 stalks), sliced
•  6 oz mushrooms, quartered
•  2 cups sweet corn*, frozen or fresh
• 2 cups frozen peas
•  1 small sweet potato*, peeled and diced
•  12 cups water
•  4 Tbsp beef stock flavoring ^
• 1 tsp dried thyme
•  1 Tbsp dried marjoram
•  1 bay leaf
•  1 Tbsp minced garlic

 Prepare all vegetables and place in large Dutch oven or stockpot. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil over med-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until vegetables are well cooked.

^Note:Use a good beef, chicken or vegetable stock if you have one. I did not have one, so I used a stock base.

*CSA ingredients 

Jambalaya

It's that time of year again: Mardi Gras! Today at Murray Hill Market, I found a beautiful andouille sausage. What better to make jambalaya with to celebrate Mardi Gras? I always make my jambalaya in the rice cooker. Fuzzy logic is a wonderful thing!

 Rice Cooker Jambalaya

•  2 cups shredded chicken*
•  1/2 pound andouille sausage
•  2 cups brown rice, uncooked
•  4 cups water (or stock)
•  24 oz crushed tomatoes
•  1 cup salsa (CaJohns Trinidad salsa*)
•  1 cup frozen sweet corn*
•  1 cup baby peas

 Place all ingredients into bowl of rice cooker; mix well. Set to porridge and press Cook. Serving is 1 1/2 cups.

 * CSA Ingredients 

Spelt Flour

The other nice thing about Fresh Fork Market is that we get grains and flour from local producers as well. I have white wheat flour, cornmeal and spelt flour to choose from. Today I decided it's time to try my hand at yeast bread again. The last time I made yeast bread, I had a breadmaker. Unfortunately, it broke down 2 moves ago, so now I have to make it myself. Fortunately, my brother sold me a Kitchenaid stand mixer about a year ago. I used a recipe for spelt bread that normally be made in a breadmaker, because they are so simple. It's rising for the second time as I write and looks like it may work out just fine, so here's the recipe.

Spelt Bread

• 1 1/4 cup skim milk*
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 cups spelt flour*
• 2 1/2 tsp yeast

Place all ingredients in large mixer bowl. Mix with dough hook, adding water if necessary, until proper texture. Transfer dough to a greased bowl. Spray with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until doubled in a warm place. Preheat oven to 350° F. Punch dough down, form into a loaf and place in greased loaf pan. Allow to rise then bake 30-40 minutes until browned and done. Cool on a rack.

 *CSA ingredients  

Chicken

I do love to get whole chickens from my CSA. If you've never gotten a whole free-range chicken before, I suggest you give one a try. You will never go back to grocery store chickens again. As always, I cooked this chicken in the crockpot and am now making chicken stock with the skin and bones. I found a recipe that had a great blend of spices.

 Sticky Chicken in Crockpot
 Adapted from: www.newlyweds.blog.com/2008/09/26/sticky-chicken-in-crock-pot 

• 2 tsp salt
•  1 tsp cayenne pepper
•  2 tsp Paprika
•  2 tsp garlic powder
•  1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
•  1 tsp fresh ground pepper
•  1 large roasting chicken*
•  1 large onion*, chopped

 In a small bowl combine seasonings.

 Remove giblets from chicken , clean cavity well and pat dry with a paper towel.

 Rub the spice mixture into the chicken , both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin.

 Add onions to bottom of crock and chicken cavity.

 Place chicken breast-side down in Crockpot. Cover and cook 8-10 hours on Low.

 To make stock:

 Remove chicken from Crockpot and cool. Remove meat from bones and return skin and bones to Crockpot. Add 8 cups water, cover and cook 8-10 hours on Low. Cool, strain, and freeze for later use.

*CSA ingredients

Sweet Potatoes

Let me start by saying I never really liked sweet vegetables. What I've figured out over the years is that I didn't like winter squash or sweet potatoes because everyone insisted on making them even sweeter. For some reason, both could only be served with brown sugar and/or marshmallows. Well, in my opinion, these vegetables are sweet enough on their own, and even better when prepared in a savory manner. We have gotten a lot of sweet potatoes in the past few weeks. So, today, I decided to treat myself.

 Baked Sweet Potato Fries

•  1 medium sweet potato*
•  2 tsp olive oil
•  cayenne pepper
•  garlic powder 
• salt 

 Preheat oven to 450°F.

 Wash sweet potato and slice 1/4 inch thick. Cut slices into 1/4 inch sticks. Drizzle with olive oil and sprikle with cayenne, garlic and salt. Spread in a single layer on a prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, turning once, until crisp. Cool on papers towels 5-10 minutes before serving.

*CSA ingredients

Super Bowl, CSA Style

Two things about this Super Bowl: First, it's just me this year, so I'm going light on the food. Second, does anyone care about this matchup, really? My friends at work do a pool that I have benefitted quite nicely from for the last 3 years. So, there is my reason for watching: to see if I win anything again.

 That said, you do kind of have to make something to enjoy during the game. This year, I had everything I needed to make spaghetti sauce with Italian sausage. And since I did that and had a pizza crust in my freezer (from the CSA, of course), I decided on sausage mushroom pizza. Here, I must add a shootout to Clark Pope. If you'll remember, we got Berkshire ribs in the last share and I prepared them in the oven using BBQ sauce from Clark Pope. Today, I used another of his products, roasted cherry tomatoes in fig oil. I have used these before, in an eggplant and roasted pepper (also a Clark Pope product) sauce. I cannot express just how much I like these products. It makes me happy that I will continue with the summer CSA, so I can, hopefully, enjoy more of these wonderful products!

Crockpot Italian Sausage Sauce

• 2 jars Roasted cherry tomatoes in fig oil*
• 1 (28-oz) can whole plum tomatoes
• 1 medium yellow onion,* diced 
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb Italian sausage

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet. Add onions and saute until onions are translucent.Transfer to Crockpot. Add remaining ingredients and cook, covered, 6-8 hours on Low.

Superbowl Sausage Mushroom Pizza

• 1 ball seasoned pizza dough*
• 1/4 cup sauce (see above)
• 1 Italian sausage link* sliced
• 1 (4-oz) can sliced Mushrooms
• 4 oz fresh mozzarella*

Preheat oven to 450°F. Stretch dough to a 12-inch circle.Spoon sauce into center of dough and spread, leaving a 1/4-inch margin. Distribute sausage and mushrooms evenly over pizza. Sprinkle with mozzarella.Ideally, bake directly on a pizza stone for a crisp crust. Alternatively, bake on a prepared pizza sheet. Crust will be softer. Bake 10-12 minutes or until cheese is brown and bubbly.

* CSA ingredients

Quick Bread

I miss having a bread maker. There is just something wonderful about dumping ingredients into a machine, walking away and a couple hours later opening the machine to a freshly baked loaf of bread. Alas, mine broke several years ago and I haven't really made bread since. Of course, that makes all of this wonderful whole wheat and spelt flour from the shares taunt me. Looking on Pintrest, I found a recipe for Honey Beer Quick Bread. Wouldn't you know; I have a couple bottles of local honey from the shares as well. So, here you go:

Whole Wheat Honey Beer Bread
Adapted from: http://gimmesomeoven.com/honey-beer-bread/

• 3 cups organic whole wheat flour*
• 2 Tbsp. natural sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp.  local honey*
• 1 bottle (12 ounces) beer (I used Bell's Best Brown ale)
• 4 Tbsp. (half stick) butter*, melted

 Method:
(Makes 1 loaf)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9″ x 5″ x 3″ inch loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Using a wooden spoon, stir the beer and honey into the dry ingredients until just mixed. 

Pour half the melted butter into the loaf pan. Then spoon the batter into the pan, and pour the rest of the butter on top of the batter.  (Use a pastry brush to spread it around if you’d like.)

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until top is golden brown and a toothpick/knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve immediately.

*CSA ingredients

Ribs!

This week we got 2 racks of Berkshire ribs in our shares. I would love to be able to say that I have the dream kitchen, complete with everything, including a smoker. Since I can't say that, I turned to all my foodie friends (and family) on Facebook for the best way to cook them. I was reminded that "low and slow" is best for cuts like ribs. I had originally thought I would do them in the Crockpot. But several of my friends talked me into the oven. I would like to shout out to: Mark Dutcher for the dry rub idea, Steve Pierce, Rebecca Story, Susan Botnick Brill for oven baking instructions, and everyone else for their feedback on using the Crockpot. Here is what I did:

Over Barbequed Berkshire Ribs

 Dry Rub

• 1 part fresh pepper
• 1 part onion powder
• 1 part garlic powder
• 1 part chili powder
• 2 parts kosher salt
• 4 parts white sugar
• 4 parts brown sugar
• 1 to 2 parts smoked paprika

Mix all together in a small bowl.

Cooking instructions

•  2 lbs Berkshire ribs*
•  Dry rub (see above)
•  BBQ sauce (I used Clark Pope's BBQ Sauce*) 

Preheat oven to 300°F. Cover large cookie sheet with foil. Rub ribs with dry rub on both sides until well-coated Place ribs, meaty side down, on cookie sheet. Cover with foil and bake about 2 hours. Pour off fat. Brush ribs with BBQ sauce. Return to oven and bake, basting with sauce every 10 minutes, for another 30-40 minutes, or until meat begins pulling away from the bones.

Note: cooking times will vary based on thickness of ribs.

*CSA ingredients

Brunch

Today is another cooking day. I woke late this morning, a blessing as I have been sick for a couple days. I feel much better today! I decided to go with brunch this morning, making a recipe I found on a Paleo blog pinned on Pintrest.com. I did not follow the recipe directly, but it turned out quite tasty.

 Sausage Breakfast Casserole
Adapted from: http://www.paleoeffect.com/recipes/paleo-breakfast-casserole-paleo-effect/

• 1 med Sweet Potatoes*
• 1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 local hot Italian Sausage*
• ½ red Onion*
• 4 Eggs*
• ½ c skim milk
• ¼ tsp Sage
• Sea Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Grease a glass pie plate. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grate the sweet potatoes (making hash browns) and then place them in the bottom of the greased dish.

Heat oil over medium-high heat. Chop the onion and sausage and add to the oil. Season with salt and pepper and cook until sausage is no longer pink and onions are translucent. Layer the sausage and onion on top of the sweet potatoes.

Put the eggs, sage, milk, ½ tsp of sea salt and ½ tsp of pepper into a blender (or Bullet!) and mix thoroughly. Pour this egg mixture on top of the sausage and onions.

Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

 *CSA ingredients

Blintzes

For dessert, I made a very quick and easy "blintz".

 Easy Cherry Cheese "Blintz"

•  1 homemade flour tortilla
•  1/3 cup part-skim ricotta
•  2 Tbsp Cherry preserves (I used Humble Pie Brandied Cherries*)

 Spread ricotta on tortilla. Spoon cherries over chesses. Wrap blintz style. Heat 30 seconds on HIGH in the microwave.

 
* CSA ingredients

Chicken Chili

Today seems to be a day of getting ideas from Pintrest. I just started a Crockpot of chicken chili. The idea came from a Pin of this blog: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/11/crock-pot-chicken-taco-chili-4-pts.html. I had a little more cooked chicken to use up and this seemed a good way to use it.

 Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili

•  1 can black beans (or 2 cups cooked dried black beans*)
•  1 can pinto beans
•  2 cups fresh or frozen corn*
• 1 (8oz) pkg Frontera Texas Taco Sauce
•  2 (14-1/2 oz) cans Rotel tomatoes w/Chiles
•  2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast*
•  2 cups low-sodium V8
•  1 tsp ground cumin
•  1 tsp dried oregano

 Drain and rinse beans. Put all ingredients into crock. Cover and cook 4-5 hours on HIGH or 6-8 hours on LOW. Makes about 6 servings.

 Note: if you prefer, you may substitute 1 (8oz) can tomato sauce plus a packet of taco seasoning (dry) for the Frontera taco seasoning. It's been in my pantry for a while and I needed to use it.
  

*CSA ingredients

Roasted Beets

Today I am cooking beets. As I was perusing Pintrest, I saw some beautiful roasted beets. I clicked on it and the website reminded me that wrapping the beets in foil and roasting really only steams the beets. I really like the flavor of roasted beets, so I washed, peeled and wedged them and then roasted as follows:

 Roasted Beets

• 1 1/2 lbs beets* (any color will do)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp Balsamic vinegar 
• salt and pepper, to taste

 Preheat oven to 400°F.   Wash beets, then peel and cut into 1" wedges. Place beets in a large Ziploc bag. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. Seal Gag and shake until beets are coated evenly. Spread in single layer on cookie sheet covered with foil. Roast for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, or until beets are cooked (easily pierced with fork). Cool and serve on a mixed green salad. Or, in my case, put in a blender and puree for blended food phase following surgery.

*CSA ingredients