*Recipes below*
Goodbye thick, heavenly homemade tzatziki* with farm-fresh cucumbers, dill, mint, and garlic...
Goodbye plentiful, colorful summer CSA bounty (and sweet goodbye to my '09 favorite summertime meal- eggplant, tomato, zucchini, summer squash, onions, and bell peppers --all grilled together making up a drippy, delectable vegetable souvlaki*, topped with a blanket of homemade tzatziki)...
I'm not going to say goodbye to you yet, precious tomato+basil breakfast*...
And even goodbye to soup. Light, lemony sorrel soup*, at least (will be saying hello to many other soups soon)...
I'm not ready to let go yet.
Late summer CSA recipes:
Tzatziki
adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen
2 medium cucumbers, seeded and diced, and salted for 30 minutes prior to using
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
1 tsp finely chopped fresh mint
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 cups Greek yogurt (or regular plain yogurt, strained for a couple of hours)
In a food processor, whiz up cucumbers, garlic, lemon juice, dill, mint, until well blended. Stir this mixture into the yogurt. Taste before adding any extra salt, then salt if needed. Place in refrigerator for at least two hours before serving so flavors can blend.
Vegetable Souvlaki, rough recipe is all you need
Slice zucchini, squash, and eggplant lengthwise. Slice red onion. Season vegetables with salt and pepper, mix with fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, and oregano) and dress with extra-virgin olive oil. Marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Grill veggies until tender with a nice sear on both sides (brown food is good food!).
Chop tomatoes and set aside.
Warm up whole-wheat pocketless pitas, pile up with grilled veggies and chopped tomato, and top with lots of tzatziki. Fold in half and devour.
Tomato+Basil Breakfast, again rough recipe. Keep it simple!
Split a baguette (or whatever fresh, delicious bread you have around) lengthwise and grill or toast until crisp. Top the bread with a nice smear of cream cheese --or as I've been doing lately, marscapone, yum. Slice beautiful, luscious tomatoes into thick or thin slices, whatever you prefer and lay the slices lovingly on the cream cheese or marscapone and season lightly with flaky salt and freshly ground black pepper. Top with fresh, aromatic basil leaves. Cereal what??
Sorrel Soup
adapted from Tea & Cookies
Serves 3 or 4
1 Tbsp butter
1 cup white or yellow onion, diced (about 1 medium onion)
Salt & Pepper
2 cups mixed mushrooms, diced
1 Tbsp flour
5 cups vegetable stock (I used 3 cups mushroom stock, 2 cups veg stock)
3 organic, free-range egg yolks (I get amazing ones from my friend's chickens--going to chicken-sit this weekend!! Expect a blog post about that coming up...)
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 tsp lemon zest, optional
2 cups fresh sorrel, cut into thin ribbons
In a medium pot, bring stock to a boil.
In
a separate large pot, melt the butter and add the onions and some salt and pepper, stirring, 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue to stir, 2 minutes. More S&P. Sprinkle in flour and
continue to stir gently. Cook another 2 minutes.
Slowly begin to add the boiling stock, 1/2 cup (ladleful) at a time, stirring between additions. When all the stock has been added, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes or so.
Separately, stir together the lemon juice and egg yolks. Take 1/2 cup of the hot soup and slowly drizzle it into the lemon-egg mixture, stirring slowly. When this is incorporated and the lemon-egg mixture has warmed, slowly pour the mixture back into the soup, stirring to blend. Add lemon zest and stir. Add the sorrel, stirring it into the soup until wilted (turns khaki brown). Keep warm until serving, but don't allow to boil or the eggs will curdle.
