Tonight, I collected a list of the CSA vegetables that we have sitting around and checked out the CSA’s recipe database.

The following recipes are presented in order of preparation. If made in this order, everything ends up being done at about the same time.

• Vegetarian Baeckoffe
• Dilled Zucchini
• Black Kale Gratin
• Kohlrabi Puree

Vegetarian Baeckoffe

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 pound sliced mushroom caps
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 large thyme sprig
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 2 tablespoons 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• Cooking spray
• 4 cups vertically sliced onion (about 2 medium onions)
• 1 (8-ounce) Yukon gold potato, peeled and cut into (1/4-inch-thick) slices
• 2 cups packed baby spinach leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 (6-ounce) turnip, peeled and cut into (1/8-inch-thick) slices
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese

Process

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms to pan, and sauté 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Add wine; cook 2 minutes. Add parsley, thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Uncover and cook 6 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Remove from heat; discard thyme.
3. Add cream cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Remove mushroom mixture from pan. Wipe pan clean with paper towels.
4. Heat pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion; saute for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium; continue cooking for 15 minutes or until deep golden brown, stirring frequently. Set aside.
5. Coat a 6-cup baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange potato slices in dish, and top with spinach. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper evenly over spinach. Spoon the mushroom mixture over black pepper, and arrange turnip slices over mushroom mixture. Top with caramelized onions; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and tarragon. Pour whipping cream over tarragon, and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère cheese.
6. Cover and bake at 350° for 40 minutes.
7. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender and cheese begins to brown.

Black Kale Gratin

Ingredients

• 12 large leaves Toscano kale (or other dark leafy green)
• 1 Tbs. salt, plus additional to taste
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 ½ Tbs. olive oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• ¾ cup whipping cream
• Pepper to taste

Process

1. Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil.
2. Wash greens, slip leaves off stem and chop roughly. When the water is boiling, add 1 Tbs. salt and wait for a rolling boil. Add the greens top the water and cook no longer than 3 minutes; greens should be wilted, but bright in color.
3. Drain greens quickly and plunge in a bowl of ice water. Squeeze dry (or use salad spinner), chop finely and squeeze again. You should have about 1 ½ cups of very dry greens.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
5. In a large pan, sauté the sliced onion, garlic and red pepper flakes in olive oil until golden (about 10-15 minutes). Remove from heat and combine greens with the onion mixture.
6. Stir in the eggs and cream and season with salt and pepper. Turn the mixture into an 8×8 baking dish.
7. Bake for 20-30 minutes. If the top isn’t golden and bubbly, broil for a minute or two.

Kohlrabi Puree

Like mashed kohlrabi

Ingredients

• 4 kohlrabi bulbs with leaves
• 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 ounces mushrooms, quartered
• 3 Tablespoons cream (or milk, chicken stock, olive oil, or water)
• salt and pepper to taste

Process

1. Trim the kohlrabi bulbs, peeling them if the skins seem tough. Rinse the leaves (discarding any that are yellow) pat them dry, and coarsely chop. Set aside.
2. Cut the bulbs into 1-inch chunks. Bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil, and add the kohlrabi chunks. Reduce the heat and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the onion and sauté over medium-low heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, another 1 to 2 minutes. Do not let garlic brown.
4. Add the mushrooms and the reserved kohlrabi leaves to the skillet. Cover, and cook 5 minutes. Then uncover, and cook, stirring, until all the liquid has evaporated, 3 minutes. Set the skillet aside.
5. Drain the kohlrabi chunks and place them in the bowl of a food processor. Add the mushroom mixture and all the remaining ingredients. Purée until smooth.
6. Transfer the purée to a saucepan and reheat over low heat, stirring, 2 minutes.

Dilled Zucchini

Ingredients

• 3 medium zucchini, sliced 3/8″ thick
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 1 tablespoon snipped parsley
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed

Process

1. In a covered saucepan, cook zucchini and onion in small amount of bioling light ly salted water about 5 minutes or just till tender. Drain well.
2. Add butter or margarine, parsley, lemon juice, and dill weed; sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

Impressions

This was all really good and it used up a lot of vegetables. It took 3 hours or so from start to finish, though. I made sure to prep everything before hand (mise en place). I also did pretty well timing things.