I Can't Believe It! Garlic Scapes!

I will admit that when this season started I thought I was going to miss out on all my favorite strange veggies.  Gotta hand it to the farmers at the Midland Farmers Market!  They have come through for me! This morning, I found garlic scapes!  It's been a couple years since I have had enough scapes to make pesto and I ran out of my stock about a year ago, so you can imagine that I am thrilled to have found these.  As with any recipe I make, what I put into it depends on what I have available.  Since I didn't buy anymore greens this week, I had to rely on what I have growing.  So, this pesto turned out a little less green than the batches I've made before.  What I had available was basil (which I have never included in my garlic scape pesto before) and burgundy Swiss chard. I have always used spinach in the past which kept the green theme going.  The burgundy chard did not change the color THAT much, but you can tell it's not the same.  I also didn't have pine nuts this time, so I decided to try almonds.  It definitely gives a different flavor to the mix.

Garlic Scape Pesto with Swiss Chard and Almonds

• 1 bunch garlic scapes**
• 5 leaves burgundy Swiss chard**
• 1/4 cup basil leaves**
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup roasted almonds
• Olive Oil

Wash the scapes, chard and basil leaves to remove grit.  Cut scapes into 2" pieces and add to the blender.  Break chard and basil leaves into bite-sized pieces and add to blender.  Add parmesan and lemon juice.  Place top on blender and process, on Puree, slowly adding olive oil until the mixture reaches the desired consistency.  Add the almonds and puree, adding more olive oil as needed, until smooth.  You may store in the refrigerator for up to a month or freeze.  I find it works very well to pour into ice cube trays to freeze as that size is about what you need for recipes.

**Farmers market ingredients

Chard, Ramps & Sun-dried Tomatoes

I  picked up Swiss chard and ramps this past weekend at the farmers market.  I knew I wanted to use them in this week's quiche, but wasn't sure what else I wanted to include.  I went to the local bulk foods store, Beyond Measure, to get some almond flour and I noticed they had sun-dried tomatoes.  It's been a long time since I've had those, so I bought a small container.  I also had some thick-cut bacon and the remaining feta cheese from last week's quiche.  So, this week's quiche is a summer vegetable quiche with bacon.  I love to use young spinach or chard because you can put it into the quiche fresh and it cooks perfectly.  Saves a lot of time and tends to taste a lot fresher.

Chard & Ramp Quiche with Sun-dried Tomatoes

• 1 small bunch young Swiss Chard*, chopped
• 1 small bunch ramp leaves*, chopped
• 8 sun-dried tomatoes**, chopped
• 6 slices thick-sliced bacon, chopped
• 2 oz feta cheese crumbled
• 4 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 6 farm fresh eggs+
• 1 1/2 cups 1/2% milk
• salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning; to taste

Wash the greens and chop into bite-sized pieces.  Roughly chop the sun-dried tomatoes.  Cook the bacon in the microwave, 3 slices at a time, between double layers of paper towels for 3 minutes.  Allow to cool and then chop into bite-sized pieces.  Mix all of these ingredients and place in a prepared baking pan.  Sprinkle with cheeses.  In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until smooth.  Add seasonings and milk and beat until well mixed.  Carefully pour over fillings.  Bake in a 350F oven for 45 minutes or until a knife, inserted into the center, comes out clean. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

*Farmers market ingrdients
**From Beyond Measure bulk foods store
+CSA ingredients

Baby greens

I found a bag of baby spinach, kale and chard at Kroger and needed to use some of it up.  I cooked some bacon, cut up some artichoke hearts and used a mix of goat cheese and Italian cheese and, voila, quiche!  This one is not only pretty,  but tasty.

Baby Greens Quiche

• 1/2 bag baby greens (spinach, kale, chard)
• 4 slices thick-cut bacon
• 6 artichoke hearts, quartered
• 4 oz 6-cheese Italian blend
• 2 oz crumbled goat cheese
• 5 eggs
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• sea salt
• Italian seasoning

Wash greens and dry between paper towels.  Cook bacon in microwave oven (1 minute per slice); cool.  Quarter the artichoke hearts.  Place greens, crumbled bacon and artichokes in bottom of casserole.  Sprinkle with cheese.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs with milk.  Season to taste.  Pour carefully over the fillings.  Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 35 minutes or until knife inserted into the center comes out clean and top is browned.

Chicken Chard Quiche

Looking through my refrigerator, I find I have leftover chicken, ramps, bacon and Swiss chard. I thought that would make a very tasty quiche. If you've never had ramps, you are definitely missing out. The only thing that makes me sad about them is that they are only available a couple weeks a year. But I made pesto this year, so I will get to enjoy them longer. This quiche, however, uses the green leaves. I'll have to try it with the pesto sometime.

 Chicken Chard Quiche

•  1 cup cooked, leftover chicken*
•  4 slices thick-cut bacon*
•  1 small bunch Swiss chard
•  1 small bunch ramps leaves*
•  1 cup sharp cheddar
• 1/2 cup fresh shredded parmesan
•  5 eggs*
•  1 1/2 cup 1% milk
•  salt and pepper

 Wash Swiss chard and remove stems. Place chard and ramps in a microwave steamer with 1/4" water and cook on high for 2 minutes. Allow to steam while cooking bacon (1 minute per slice in microwave). Uncover vegetables and cool to handle.  Squeeze out moisture and chop into bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle chicken, vegetables and bacon into pie plate. Sprinkle with cheeses. Whip eggs with milk and seasonings. Pour over fillings. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 35 minutes.

*CSA ingredients

Minestrone

I will be the first to admit that despite my Italian heritage, I have never dabbled in trying to make a minestrone.  However, I ended up with many of the ingredients to do just that with this past week's CSA, so I decided to play around and see if I could manage to do the soup justice.  Let me first mention here that I love making soups in my Crockpot.  It just makes life easier because I don't have to watch it and stir it every few minutes, etc.  So, while this is a minestrone-like soup, I wouldn't call is a real minestrone.  I am not sure than most people would know the difference, so in the end I could probably call it minestrone, but I do feel a little strange putting it out there as such.  You can be the judge.  Oh, yeah, and there is one other thing.  The recipes all call for carrots, which I did not have.  I did, however, have golden beets, so I chose to substitute those for the carrots.  It seemed to have worked, although, again, normally, you do not have beets in a minestrone.

Crockpot Vegetable "Minestrone"

• 2 cups chopped cabbage*
• 1 bunch Swiss chard*, stems and leaves chopped
• 6 Roma tomatoes*, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 3 golden beets*, quartered and sliced
• 1/2 medium Cousa zucchini*,  cut in thirds and sliced
• 4 cups chicken stock*
• 1 (15-oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15-oz) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 Tbsp dried basil
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Fresh grated parmesan cheese

Place all ingredients, except parmesan, into crock of Crockpot.  Cook on HIGH for 1 hour, then reduce heat to LOW and cook for 6-8 hours or until cabbage is tender.  Adjust seasoning.  Serve sprinkled with fresh parmesan.

*CSA ingredients 

Noodle-less Veggie lasagna

So today's adventure starts with two medium zucchini's.  I have both zucchini and yellow squash, some beautiful tomatoes and swiss chard.  Since I have never worked with swiss chard and I have always wanted to try lasagna with zucchini "noodles", I decided to try and use all of these items and throw together a lasagna.

Swiss Chard Tomato Lasagna with Zucchini Noodles

• 1 bunch Swiss chard*
• 3 large tomatoes*
• 2 medium zucchini*
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp dried basil (I would use fresh, but I don't have any)
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 (15-oz) container part skim ricotta
• 1 large egg*
• 2 cups part-skim mozzarella, split
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan, split

Wash chard and remove stems; coarsely chop.  Fill a large Dutch oven with water; bring to a boil.  Add chard to water and simmer for 1 minute (after returns to boil).  Quickly remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice water.  Squeeze water from the chard and lay out on paper towels; set aside. 

Wash and cut and X into bottom of tomatoes.  Bring water to boil in same Dutch oven.  Carefully put tomatoes into boiling water.  Allow to boil for 1 minute or until skin starts to pull away from flesh.  Remove to ice water.  Peel tomatoes, remove cores and dice into 1/2 inch dice.  Heat oil in large skillet.  Add garlic and saute until fragrant.  Add tomatoes and spices.  Bring to a simmer and cook 15 minutes.  Add Swiss chard and cook until heated through.

Wash zucchini, cut ends off, then thinly slice lengthwise (1/4 inch slices).  Boil water, add slices to water and then simmer for 2 minutes (after water boils again).  Remove to ice water, then layd out on paper towels to dry a bit.

In a medium bowl, beat egg.  Add ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup mmozzarella and 1/4 cup parmesan; mix well. Heat oven to 350F.

To assemble lasagna, spray large baking dish with cooking spray.  Place a layer of zucchini "noodles in bottom of pan.  Spread 1/2 cheese mixture over "noodles".  Spread 1/2 tomato chard mixture over cheese. Repeat layers.  Add third layer of zucchini noodles and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and parmesan.  Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and brown.  Makes 8 servings.

Note: because there is no starch, this is a very wet lasagna.  Serve in a bowl with a spoon.  The liquid could be drained to make it easier to serve, but I find it very tasty and serve it with the lasagna.

*CSA ingredients