In any case, I recently received 5 ears of corn in my CSA.  Long time readers will remember that my CSA is local & organic, which meant… there were worms in my corn.  After I’d taken care of those (shudder) and cut what kernels I could off the cob, I thought about what I wanted to do with it.  Well, I’d also received cilantro… and I had some tomatoes from a previous week… and of course shallots and red onions… yeah, go to the store and pick up some limes and jalapenos, what do you have? 

Something delicious, my friends. 

I “bribed” Beer Boor into making me more fresh tortilla chips by giving him half of the fresh corn salsa, and the trade worked wonderfully.  I even made this batch spicier than I normally do, partially because I thought he’d like it more, and partially because heck, why not? 

I like pushing myself sometimes to eat spicier foods. 

And this, my friends, was bangin’. 

5 ears of corn, cut off the cob – RAW! (feel free to blanch it quickly; see note below)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped (I like the stems a bit so I usually keep some in there too, but you can use just the leaves if you like)
1-2 shallots, diced
1 small red onion, diced (I used the combination because that’s what I had, but feel free to use what you’ve got on hand)
1 tomato, diced
2 jalapenos, diced (I removed the seeds and ribs completely, but if you want it spicier, feel free to leave those in or use more jalapenos)
Juice of one very juicy lime

Mix everything altogether.  Salt to taste (I used very little or no black pepper).  ENJOY.  This was so good on the chips, but would also be delicious with a nice light white fish, or alongside chicken, or … well, with just about anything.  Slightly spicy kick, sweet corn, and just yum.  I had to stop myself from inhaling it all. 

In fact, I decided to make more a week later, since I still had chips but no more salsa.  So I went to the supermarket and finally bought some packaged corn on the cob, and did just about everything the same… but the corn didn’t taste quite as good.  It was a lot starchier and just had this taste to it that might have been washed away, had I blanched it first.  So I guess I learned my lesson: my local organic corn was so much better than the supermarket stuff.  Wah. 

In any case, enjoy the recipe as it is, and let me know how you like it!  I would really like to put this with some flaky white fish for a slammin’ meal… yum yum yum! 

Happy eating!

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: salsa

The first year I joined a CSA, I posted about it on a near weekly basis.  Last year, I posted much more infrequently about it, but I continued to eat my way through boxes of vegetables every week.  And this year, I imagine the posts will be even more infrequent, as, for my CSA duties, I’ll be blogging for them (my first article is here!).  I made the above with the arugula I got the first week this year.  I’ll be honest, I don’t particularly like arugula, so I wilted it a bit to cut through the bitter pepperiness I don’t like.

1/2 pound of campanelle (or other small pasta form)
1 bunch of arugula, carefully washed
diced sausage (I had wild boar sausage, so that’s what I used)
minced shallots (or onions)
minced garlic
peppadew peppers, sliced (optional)
bit of butter

Cook pasta according to directions. 

As water comes to a boil, melt butter in a heavy bottomed skillet over low heat.  Add sausage, garlic and shallots (or onions if using). 

As pasta finishes cooking (about a minute before your desired doneness; it will continue to cook), use a slotted spoon to scoop into the skillet with the garlic/sausage/shallot mixture.  Turn off heat.  Add arugula, tossing everything together until the arugula begins to wilt. 

If you have the peppadews, add them now, along with the excess liquid from the bottom of the container.  If not, squeeze the juice of one lemon over everything, season to taste with salt (no pepper needed!), and enjoy! 

Quick and easy pasta dish that you can make any night of the week with tasty results.  How do you prepare your arugula?  I have another bag in my fridge…

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: One Pot Meals

This was posted over on the Forest Hills CSA website, but I figure if you haven’t seen it, it’s still valid… although it was written in November and it’s February now, so that comment about the weather BECOMING chillier… yeah, not so much.  Enjoy!!!

With the weather quickly becoming chillier, what better than to make soup with your CSA goodies? 

Leeks, sliced and swished through cold water a few times to dislodge any dirt that may have been stuck in them. 

A couple of pounds of Russet potatoes that were then peeled and chopped into cubes. 

Everything added together into a big pot of cold water, just to cover, then set over medium heat until the potatoes were fork tender.  As in, I could slide a fork easily through any given cube of potato. 

Once the potatoes were super tender, I turned off the flame and ran my hand blender through the whole thing until it was super creamy-smooth.  Oh, and I’d been roasting five heads of garlic (they were small! and I love garlic) in the meantime, which I now peeled and added to the pot.  Yum! 

For serving, I scooped a bunch into a bowl and made myself a ‘toppings bar’. 

From top to bottom: sour cream, crispy bacon bits, and shredded cheese (a Monterey jack and cheddar blend). 

Prepping for additions!

A bit of cheese, a bit of crispy bacon…

Doesn’t it look good?

But the finishing touch, a dollop of sour cream to add richness and depth to the soup.  It makes the soup feel luxurious without it being too fatty! 

In it goes…

then, you

swirl!  Enjoy!!!

Roasted Garlic Potato Leek Soup
adapted from Tasty Eating

Five heads of garlic, for roasting (use less if you don’t like garlic that much; mine were really, really tiny heads)
2-3 lbs. of potatoes, peeled and cubed
2-3 large leeks, sliced and cleaned
salt, pepper, to taste

Toppings (optional):
2-3 ounces of bacon, cut into small pieces and cooked super crispy (reserve bacon fat for other uses)
sour cream
shredded cheese
caramelized onions
sausage (sweet or hot), cooked & crumbled

Cut the bottoms off of the heads of garlic; place on foil.  Drizzle with olive oil and loosely crumple the tin foil around the bulbs together.  Roast in an oven at 400 degrees for an hour or until the cloves are super soft, slightly brown, and squishy. 

Meanwhile, put the potatoes and leeks into a pot with enough cold water to cover.  Simmer over medium heat for about the same amount of time, or until the potatoes are so tender that a fork easily pierces straight through it. 

Remove garlic from skins – careful, they will be very hot – and add to pot before blending using hand blender.  If you don’t have a hand blender, a regular blender can be used as well – work in batches and be very careful as hot liquid expands and will try to force its way out of the blender.  A food mill is another option, if you have one of those.  Once the entire pot is smooth (or if you’ve left some chunks because you like that texture in your soup), season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Enjoy as is, or with some toppings! 

Yum, perfectly tasty and warms you to your core on a chilly night!  Also, very healthy, no dairy (without the toppings), not much added fat (just the olive oil in the roasted garlic) and vegan as well!!!  

Happy eating

Check out my adventure with last year’s CSA! 

What do you like to make with your CSA goodies?  Share in comments! 

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: soup/stew

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  Essentially, one purchases a ’share’ in a local farm – much like the stock market, one then has a vested interest in seeing the farm succeed.  Dividends/pay outs come in the form of produce – vegetables and sometimes fruit.  Different farms do things differently; my farm happens to be also organic, and I pick up my box each week – Tuesdays for me – from a local location.  Join me on this journey – my inaugural season with a CSA – as I explore the various vegetables I receive and what I can do with them to turn them into delicious happiness…
For more information on CSAs, click here.  To find a CSA local to you, you can click here or for one in NYC, visit JustFood.org.  I found mine by typing “Forest Hills CSA” into Google – my neighborhood name + the word CSA, and I’m sure that would work for you as well.  Good luck and enjoy the fruits of your labors… har, har. 

Yes, my dears, I joined the CSA again this year!  There was no way I would miss this for the world; the fresh veggies, the reasonable pricing schedule (with 1/2 a share, it comes out to about $10 a week for local & organic produce), which is completely reasonable, cheap even.  I have a few photos of items, though most things I’ve been making magic soup with (even in this horrid weather) or roasting (again, even in this horrid weather – toaster oven, and stay out of the kitchen while it’s going on so I don’t roast myself as well) – many of these goodies then became bento-staples.  (Enter the giveaway while you’re over there, why don’t you?)

In this instance, I actually remembered to take a picture of the “cream of fennel” soup I made.  Simple (and no leeks, which a lot of recipes seemed to call for):

1. Sautee thinly sliced fennel and thinly sliced onion together in butter. 
2. Cook until very, very soft, but do not brown. 
3. Toss a tablespoon or two of flour on top and stir to incorporate/coat, allowing flour to cook a bit. 
4. Add cream or milk slowly, then let come to a small bubble (VERY small bubble) and thicken a bit.
5. Using an immersion blender (or you can use a regular blender if that’s what you have, but be careful!), blend until smooth.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste; serve.

I added the fronds on top just to look fancy but I didn’t eat them.  You can also serve this cold if you like! 

This next one I’ve been posting on Facebook repeatedly as I tweak the recipe to fit what’s in my fridge.  It’s perfect for the hot weather.  You must have seen it on my Facebook because you’re a fan of the Feisty Foodie, right?  Right?  Well, why not?  Anyway, the first time I posted it here and the second time I posted it here… but here are my final tweaks, I think, unless I make it one more time:

poached/cooked/cooled/shredded chicken breast (one) (you can use whatever chicken you like, or even the meat from a rotisserie chicken you picked up! just make the meat bite sized, or shredded so that it’s close in size/shape to the cabbage)
shredded green cabbage, half a head to a head depending on size (you can even buy a bag of this already shredded at Trader Joe’s)
shredded carrots (hey if you’re already at Trader Joe’s, just pick those up while you’re there, it’s next to the cabbage)
shredded radicchio for color and bitterness
dill and/or celery seed
thinly sliced onion
sesame seeds

Really, you can play around with the veggies to find a combo you like – the carrots add a nice sweetness, so when I didn’t use them, I found myself adding a little sugar to my vinaigrette to cut the tartness a little bit. 

Vinaigrette:

juice of a lemon, lime, both, either, or
salt
pepper
dash of sesame oil (do NOT substitute all of your oil and only use sesame oil; sesame oil is VERY strong)
extra virgin olive oil

Whisk to incorporate.  Honey or sugar can be used (sparingly) to cut the tartness if it’s too tart for you.  Taste it, make it what you like!  Have fun with it!

I love making quick and fast salads like so, without mayo (which can be heavy, cloying, or just icky in this horrible heat NYC is encountering currently).  How do you make yours?  What do you put in it?  Share in the comments your quick-fast-easy meals for weekday nights that are too hot to cook! 

Happy eating!

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: salad, soup/stew

Week 22 came fast and left me dizzy.  I’d like to say I made lots of lovely dishes with the items in the CSA, but let’s face it, you already must know that I am struggling to just keep myself fed properly.  I haven’t been eating.  I had two exams upcoming, and a paper due a short moment after those two exams, and have not been able to cook, much less clean up after what I’ve already cooked, and then look, just to keep myself cleaned, semi-fed, and the dog, too – well… let’s just say no one is coming over to my place for a while.  (As my friends will laugh, it’s not like anyone’s come over anyway!) 

I couldn’t even muster up the energy to clean off my table before I took a photo. In fact I think that bowl is still in my sink :X

The one photograph I can show you – aren’t you proud?! – was from the very night I picked up my CSA.  Since it contained BOK CHOI, I quickly rinsed that all clean, and threw together a quick dinner for myself – yay!  Udon in a plain broth, with… yummy… these mini-pork-dumplings I found in the freezer section of my local Asian market.  There wasn’t really a brand name on them, but I liked them – plain little dumplings they are – and will probably try to use them in bento sometime.  If I could actually freaking find time to bento right now… since I’m living off containers of food bought on Sunday, just shoved into plastic containers for lunches throughout the week (ha! and I’ve been throwing the containers away because I just can’t deal with washing anything! oh my god). 

Everything else is still in my fridge or donated to my sister/mother.  Yep.  I finally had to go that route. 

Let’s see if I can start eating again soon… on the bright side, I’m losing a ton of weight!  On the down side, I’m actually having health issues and I’ve caught myself late at night, so hungry I go and dig into the large piles of snacks around the apartment that I usually am so good about ignoring.  SIGH. 

Happy eating!

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2009. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: udon