Fried Green Tomatoes

CSA Produce: Green Tomatoes
Quick, Vegetarian
Serves: 4 (as a side dish)

Ingredients:
3 medium, firm green tomatoes
Salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning (optional)
1/2 cup milk or buttermilk
1 egg
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup peanut oil or other vegetable oil

Directions:
1 Cut unpeeled tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Sprinkle slices with salt. Let tomato slices stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, place in separate shallow bowls: the flour and Cajun seasoning (if using), buttermilk and egg, and bread crumbs and cornmeal.
2 Heat the peanut oil in a skillet on medium heat. Beat the egg and the buttermilk together. Dip tomato slices in the flour-seasoning mix, then buttermilk-egg mixture, then the cornmeal-bread crumb mix. In the skillet, fry half of the coated tomato slices at a time, for 3-5 minutes on each side or until brown. Set the cooked tomatoes on paper towels to drain. These are fantastic with a little Tabasco sauce or remoulade.

Fennel and Kohlrabi Salad

CSA Produce: Fennel, Kohlrabi, Parsley, Red Onion
Healthy, Quick, Vegetarian
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 small bulb fennel, well-cleaned and trimmed
1 small, tender kohlrabi, peeled and trimmed
1/2 red onion sliced into thin half-moons
1 cup flat leaf parsley, minced
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of red pepper flakes
fennel leaves

Directions:

Julienne the fennel and kohlrabi. Toss with the red onion and parsley. Combine the olive oil and and lemon juice, and drizzle on the dressing, add a few pinches of salt and tons of pepper. Taste, adjust salt and acid levels. Plate and give each serving a good squeeze of lemon juice, a pinch of red pepper flakes and a parsley and fennel leaf garnish.

Kohlrabi and Parmesean salad

CSA Produce: Kohlrabi, Parsley or Basil
Healthy, Quick, Vegetarian
Serves 2-4



Ingredients:
1 large kohlrabi
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp shredded Parmesan
1/2 tbsp minced parsley


Directions:
1. First, you need to tame this tricky guy.  Peel off the stems and leaves, so you’ve got a semi-naked kohlrabi

2. Then remove the tough outer layer, so you’ve got a fully naked kohlrabi:

3. Cut the kohlrabi into thin strips, Julienne style.4. Saute in a pan with some olive oil
5. Shred Parmesan cheese over the top and season with salt pepper and fresh herbs of your choosing.

4 Vegetable Stir-Fry

CSA Produce: Cabbage, Carrots, Peppers
Quick, Healthy, Vegetarian
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
5 red cabbage leaves
5 ‘white’ cabbage leaves
1 small red capsicum
1/2 carrot
3 cloves garlic, chopped
a handful of dried shrimps, soaked
1 thumb size ginger, finely sliced
1 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
2-4 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar (begin with 1/2 teaspoon sugar and adjust to your personal taste)
dash of pepper

Directions:
1. In medium heat, add oil in wok.
2. Stir fry garlic, ginger and dried shrimps until fragrant.
3. Turn to high heat, add red cabbage and apple cider vinegar. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.
4. Next add cabbage. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes again.
5. Lastly add carrot and capsicum. Mix in oyster sauce, water and sugar.
6. Lower heat to medium, stir fry until vegetable is cooked. Add pepper. Turn off heat.

Heirloom Tomato Bruchetta

CSA Produce: Tomatoes,
Quick, Vegetarian

Ingredients:

15–18 1/4 inch slices of french baguette bread
olive oil
2 large gar­lic cloves–to rub on baguette slices
fresh moz­zarella, sliced quite thin–an imper­fect edge looks best for presentation
2 cups diced heir­loom tomatoes–1/4 inch dice, let drain in a strainer while prepar­ing the rest of ingredients
20 medium fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces or sliced in a small chiffonade
1/2 cup red onion diced very small
2 large cloves of gar­lic, minced fine
kosher  salt and black pep­per, to taste

Driz­zle slices of baguette with a bit of olive oil, sprin­kle with salt and pep­per. Rub each slice all over the top with the cut end of a clove of gar­lic and place on a bak­ing sheet. Broil in oven until slices are golden brown and quite crisp. Set aside.
Com­bine the toma­toes, basil, onion, and gar­lic. Don’t over do the stir­ring, you want to leave the toma­toes intact.
Assem­bly: Place moz­zarella slices on toasted baguettes. Spoon tomato/onion mix­ture onto slices. Sprin­kle with kosher salt and pep­per to taste. Serve right away.

Apple Salsa

CSA Produce: Apples, Jalapeno, Cilantro, Oregano

Healthy, Quick, Vegetarian

2 tart apples, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and diced
Juice of 1 large lemon
3-4 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh oregano leaves
1/2 tsp coarse salt (optional)

Combine ingredients, mixing well.  Chill for at least an hour then serve at nearly room temperature.

Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Creamy Corn and Oregeno

CSA Produce: Corn, Onions

Serves 6

Marinade-
3 large garlic cloves
1/4 cup fresh oregano
1 tsp coarse salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbl cider vinegar
1/2 tsp pepper

Pork and Corn
2 (1 lb) pork tenderloins
5 ears of corn, husks removed
2 tsp plus 2 Tbl extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/3 cup sliced green onions
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 tsp coarse salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 Tbl finely chopped fresh oregano
Hot sauce (to taste)

1. Coarsely chop garlic; sprinkle with 1/4 cup oregano and 1 tsp salt. Continue chopping unitl garlic and oregano are minced, occasionally using side of knife blade to press garlic on cutting boars to create a paste.  Place in small bowl; stir in all remaining marinade ingredients.
2. Brush marinade over pork; cover and refrigerate 1-4 hours.
3. Heat grill. Brush corn with 2 tsp of the oil. Grill, covered, over medium heat 8-10 minutes or until browned in spots and barely tender, turning occasionally. Cool; cut kernels from cob.
4. heat remaining 2 Tbl oil in large skillet over medium heat until hot.  Cook red and green onions 3-4 minutes until softened, stirring occasionally.  Stir in corn, cream, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5-7 minutes or until cream is reduced by half. Stir in 1 Tbl oregano and hot sauce.
5. Grill pork, covered, over medium heat 15 - 20 minutes or unitl internal temperature reaches 145 - 150 degrees, turning occasionally to brown all sides.  Remove pork; cover loosely with foil.  Let stand 10 minutes, cut into 1/2 inch slices.
6. Meanwhile, reheat corn mixture over medium heat until warm, serve with pork.
Recipe courtesy of Cooking Pleasures Magazine

BLT soup

CSA Produce: Tomatoes, Kale, Basil
Healthy
Serves 4-6


Ingredients:
4 pounds tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1 bulb of garlic, cloves separated but unpeeled
1/2 lb of bacon
1 bunch of kale or chard or spinach
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons sugar
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup heavy cream or half and half (I used fat-free half and half)


Directions:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat to 350-degrees. Arrange tomatoes, cut sides up , in a single layer on a large, shallow baking pan. Nestle garlic in between tomato halves. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast one hour, then cool in the pan on a rack. When fully cooled, peel the garlic. While cooling the tomatoes and garlic, cook the bacon.  Make it a little on the crispy side to add some good texture to the soup. You can reserve some of the bacon fat to saute the kale in.  Set both kale and bacon aside for later.
Cook onion, oregano, and sugar in butter in a 6 to 8 quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until onion is softened, about five minutes.
Add tomatoes, garlic, and stock and simmer, covered, 20 minutes.
Puree soup with an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender (use caution when blending hot liquids), then strain into cleaned pot, discarding solids.
Stir in cream. Salt and pepper to taste, bacon crumbles and kale then simmer two minutes more.
Serve with cheese bread.