CSA Basket 14

This week's basket contained: Carrots, Chard, Summer Squash, Winter Squash, Cucumber, Green Beans, Cilantro, Parsley, Eggplant, Jalapeno, Basil, Grapefruit, Apples, Pluots, Red Leaf and Red Butter Lettuce, Valencia Oranges, Grapes, and Nectarines. Please excuse the indoor picture. It was raining, which I find quite shocking . . . a sign I have officially been lulled into submission by the gorgeous climate of southern California.

I traded in the summer squash for more winter squash. The carrots, two of three winter squashes, green beans, eggplant, apples, and nectarines have all been made into baby food. Actually, we've advanced to the eating of small pieces of squishy fruit, so the nectarines aren't really processed into baby food so much as diced while feeding like the grapes. The carrots and squash, along with some store bought organic white potatoes, were diced and steamed for more self-feeding baby fun. The green beans, eggplant, and apples were all steamed and run through my trusty KitchenAid FVSFGA Fruit/Vegetable Strainer and Food Grinder for Stand Mixers.

The chard is probably going to be frozen for my go-to Black Bean Chilaquiles from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites: Flavorful Recipes for Healthful Meals. This tome falls open to page 164 because I make chilaquiles (pronounced: chee-lah-KEE-lays, though I have been known to refer to it as Shaquille O'Neal, which is still better than what I used to say back when I first got this cookbook in 1998 "chill-LAH-kway" . . . which reminds me of how this girl in my dorm in high school used to pronounce fajitas . . . which was not appetizing at all) every other week and it serves eight, so we probably eat it on average twice a week. The recipe calls for a bunch of steamed chard, but I've found that freezing it in water breaks down the cell walls sufficiently to make the chard layer nicely and it leaves more of the chard-y flavor in the dish. I used a similar trick to make stuffed cabbage. In fact, I've got a cabbage in my freezer awaiting that very fate.

The cilantro and basil shall become pesto, as usual.

I'm contemplating making Spicy Orange Salad, Moroccan Style, like I did starting with Basket 3 in May. We're kinda out of our tagine phase. So any suggestions for something North African to pair with the orange salad would be greatly appreciated.

I might make pickles with the cucumbers. I finally ate some bread and butter pickles dear Cousin Eartha made for Presidents Day. So good! If I could figure out how to make those, I would disparage this overload of cucumbers so much less.

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