Rutabaga Box. 10-7-09

Head lettuce-this may look familiar

Broccoli florets- The other day Christy made this amazing dish with brocolli tofu and peanut sauce real simple and real good here is the recipe; from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, by Molly Katzen who owns Moosewood Restaurant (in Ithaca?)

Part One:

1/2 cup good, unprocessed peanut butter

1/2 cup of water

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 tbs. Tamari sauce

2 tbs molasses

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

(1)  In a small saucepan, whisk together the peanut butter and the hot water until you have a uniform mixture.

(2)  Whisk the remaining ingredients. Set aside

PART TWO: the sauté

1 1 lb of broccoli (exactly what is in the share)

3 tbs of peanut oil

2 tsp. Freshly – grated ginger root

4 medium cloves of garlic, minced

1 lb. Tofu cut into small cubes

-a few dashes of salt-

2 cups thinly sliced onion

1 cup of coarsely chopped raw peanuts

2-3 tbs of tamari sauce

3 freshly minced scallions

(1) Begin heating wok (or large heavy skillet).  When it is hot add 1 tablespoon of the peanut oil.  Add half the ginger and half the garlic.  Salt lightly.  Saute over medium heat for 1 minute,  Then add the tofu chunks.  Turn heat up a little to stir fry the tofu for 5-8 minutes.  Transfer it to the sauce pan full of peanut sauce mix together gently.

(2) Wipe the wok with a paper towel, and return it to the stove to begin heating again.  Add the remaining 2 tbs of oil to the hot wok, and follow suit with remaining ginger and garlic.  Salt lightly.  Add the onions, and grind in some fresh black pepper.  Saute, stirring until the onions are soft.

(3) On another burner begin heating peanut-tofu sauce on a very low flame.  Don’t cook it just warm it

(4) Add the broccoli and the chopped peanuts to the wok.  Add 2-3 tbs. Tamari sauce, and stir fry until the broccoli is bright green and just tender.

(5) Poor the heated peanut sauce over the sauté.  Toss gently until everything is coated with everything else.  Sprinkle in the minced scallions as you toss.

---serve over rice with some hot sauce on the side is my favorite----

Sweet Potatoes- the first of the year, the variety of these sweet potatoes is beauregard,  My favorite way to prepare these sweet treats is cut into small cubes sauté some onions and garlic then fry them for some delicious sweet potato home fries, add some hot pepper to the mix for sweet and spicy Sunday morning dish.  We get asked all the time, Is this a yam?  What is the difference between a yam and sweet potato?  Well we call for google to answer the question.  These were some of my favorite answers.  

1-http://homecooking.about.com/od/howtocookvegetables/a/sweetpotatodiff.htm

2-http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/sweetpotato.html

3-http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-23-a.html

My best friend’s sister made a great sweet potato soup that was the potatoes peeled and cut into chunks and boiled in stock until tender. In a sautee pan, she fried up some onion, garlic, ginger, and a jalapeno. When the potatoes were cooked she added a can of coconut milk, the sautéed ingredients, and blended the whole mixture (I would use an immersion blender, but batches in the blender works, too.) The soup is finished with the juice of a couple limes. Taste for salt and pepper and bon appetit.

Onions- mixed bag of white and red will provide you in all your culinary adventures eaten raw on a salad sauted for a stir fry, base of hearty vegetable soup.  I eat a lot of onions and with this years abundance we all will be blessed with such gems. These have been cured and should store pretty well in an onion basket somewhere dry and cool.

Shallots- Christy is a big fan of making shallot based vinaigrette to top salads.

Garlic- again another staple for anyone who loves to cook. great for broth of mussels and clams

Sweet Dumpling Winter Squash and Honey Bear Acorn Squash.  Little winter squashes that are perfect served as a side in their own skins. Roasting in the oven is the easiest method. Just cut them in half, scoop out the seeds and roast.  Try some butter, maple syrup, brown sugar, ginger, etc if you like to dress it up.

Rutabaga. That large root in the box. Whitish with a purple haze at the top. These are great roasted, especially in a medley of roots. Same baking sheet, tossed with olive oil recipe as usual. Adds great flavor to a stew. I think an old tradition is to boil chunks of peeled “yellow turnip” and mash with some butter, cream, and plenty of salt and pepper for a puree side-dish at Thanksgiving.

 Sweet peppers. Still a few coming along.

 Cherry Belle Radishes. Slice them thin to put on a salad. Good, mildly spicy crunch to these radishes. You can sautee them quickly in butter for a little treat.  We have one CSA member who likes to make pesto out of the tops!

 Celery. Same instructions as before. A flavoring agent, not a vehicle for peanut butter. A fine dice in tuna salad or a burger is great. Perfect as the base to a sauce, along with its friends, carrot and onion.

 Swiss Chard. Our lovely green that is the cousin of spinach and beets. The easiest is to sautee with garlic and olive oil until bright green and tender. Once cooked, it is a lovely filling for a lasagna, calzone, ravioli, etc. Try a Spanish style treat – add golden raisins while cooking, add a dash of balsamic vinegar or other special wine, etc that can reduce down to a nice flavor, finish with toasted pine nuts. Try making thin ribbons by rolling up a few rinsed leaves and slicing thin rounds, this “chiffonade” is great to add to a chicken soup or miso soup. If you don’t feel like eating it now, steam it, wait for it to cool, then squeeze it to wring it out and form a ball, then just freeze the ball. A happy winter meal can be a quick boil of some pasta or spatzle, toss in the frozen chard ball, drain it all then fry it up with some butter and onions and serve with lots of freshly grated parmigiano.