Southeast Asian Grapefruit Salad

1/4 cup lime juice

2 Tbsp Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

2 Tbsp chopped mint leaves

1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger

2 1/2 cups grapefruit segments (plus their juice

1 tsp cayenne (or sambal badjak* spice)

2 cups lightly packed Pak Choi or Bok Choy

1. Combine lime juice, fish sauce, cilantro, mint, and ginger in a large bowl.

2. Segment the grapefruit. Use a serrated knife to cut and peel the outer membrane from grapefruit. Cut between inner membranes to release segments.

3. Spoon grapefruit segments into a wide, shallow serving bowl using a slotted spoon, Pour 1/4 cup grapefruit juice into bowl and save remaining grapferuit juice for another use.

4. Add choy and gently toss.

Soup Day, Butternut Squash and Pears

The winter squash has been harvested and safely stored just in time for the first Big Rain Day of the season. The fields are too muddy to muck around in; but it is a perfect day for being cozy inside and making soup.

There's butternut squash in Rio Gozo Farm's CSA box this week so if you don't already have your own favorite butternut squash soup recipe, try mine from Anna Thomas' cookbook, The New Vegetarian Epicure. I've had this cookbook as my number one go to source of dinner inspiration for 10 years. It is still my favorite; however, I haven't read her newest book, Love Soup, (James Beard award winner).

Here's another option for soup this week, click on the link to watch a video with Anna Thomas making a recipe from Love Soup.

Winter Squash and Turnips.

Hooray! yet another idea for using those turnips.

Butternut Squash and Pear Soup

(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

1lb. butternut squash

1 large yam

2 cups vegetable broth

1 1/2 cup water

1 stick cinnamon

3/4 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp butter

2 medium onions, sliced

3 large Anjou or Bartlett pears

1/3 cup half and half

white pepper to taste

cilantro for garnish

Peal, seed, and dice the squash and yam. Put them both in a pot with the vegetable broth, water, cinnamon stick, and salt, and simmer until tender, about 40 minutes. Discard the cinnamon stick.

Melt the butter and gently cook the onions in it, stirring occasionally until it begins to caramelize. Peel, core, and thinly slice the pears, and add them to the onions. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the wine, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the pear mixture to the soup and purée everything in a blender in batches. Add the cream and some white pepper, and a bit more salt if needed. Heat the soup until hot but do not boil. Serve with sprigs of cilantro and with a hunk of your Kate Pepper Bread.

Winter Squash and Turnips.

Still Summer Spicy Zucchini Soup

It's still summer- we know this by the fact zucchini continues to appear in great numbers in the CSA box. Tomatoes are dwindling; and as the weather cooled last week from 106 to chilly with thunderstorms, I couldn't help feel resentful- summer was being snatched away quickly without warning. My casual expectance for certain foods like summer squash, tomatoes, and eggplant began to turn into a heightened appreciation bordering on regret and panic- I didn't yet get my fill.

Before it's too late try these zucchini recipes from Simply Recipes and relish the last zucchini while you can.

Spicy Zucchini Soup

Rosemary Zucchini Bread

Zucchini Gratin

Palak Daal

This is one of those recipes that is worth the effort. It isn't hard, but it does take time. Fortunately, the ingredients are all simple to collect, as many are currently in our shares, and the rest can be had without even venturing out to specialty stores.

I took this recipe from the 101 Cookbooks site. If you are not already familiar with Heidi, you should be, because she makes healthy eating delicious. Her work is critical for us CSA types. In a note at the top, she says that if you can't find white lentils (daal), substitute others.

1 cup / 6.5 oz / 185 g white urid or urad daal, picked over and rinsed

6 cups / 1.5 liters water, plus more if necessary
1/2 pound spinach, washed and finely chopped
1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 medium green chile peppers, minced
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon pure red chile powder
a pinch of asafetida, optional
more salt to taste
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

In a large pot over medium-high heat combine the daal and water. Bring to a boil, then add the spinach, ginger, turmeric, 3/4 of the green chiles, and all of the tomatoes. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the lentils are extremely soft. You may need to add a bit more water during the cooking process to keep the lentils soupy. After an hour and a half, stir in the salt.

In a separate pan, heat the butter and cumin and fry until the cumin seeds start to pop. Now add the red chile powder (and asafetida if you're using it) and fry for another 30 seconds. Taste and add more asafetida if you like. Add this butter mixture to the lentils and allow to cook for another five minutes. Taste, and season with more salt if needed. I also enjoyed a touch of lemon juice added at this point. Serve topped with the cilantro and the remaining green chiles.

Potato Season

Who doesn't love potato season? We are so excited to be getting these little gems in our share each week. Below is one of my favorite recipes, and it knocks off three veggies from the share!

Potatoes and Chard with Green Curry Sauce

(from Jack Bishop)

1 Tb roasted peanut oil

3 medium garlic cloves, minced

1 Tb minced gingerroot

1 14 oz can unsweetened coconut milk, with 1.2 C thickened cream skimmed and reserved

1 - 2 Tbs green curry paste (from an Asian grocery)

1/2 C water

2 lbs potatoes, cut into large dice

4 oz chard (leaves only), thinly sliced

1/2 C packed fresh cilantro leaves

1 Tb lime juice

Heat oil in a Dutch Oven over medium until shimmering. Add garlic and ginger and cook about 1 minute. Add coconut cream and curry paste. Simmer briskly until the liquid in the coconut cream evaporates and the mixture forms a very thick paste that sizzles in the pan, 2 - 3 minutes.

Add coconut milk, water, potatoes, and 1/2 tsp salt and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered 20 minutes. Stir in chard and cook 5 mins more. Stir in cilantro and lime juice. Serve with rice.

Dressing

I was puzzling about what to do with my herbs this week, when CSA member Celia advised me of the perfect solution - add them to dressing! I love this solution because it not only uses the herbs, but also helps with the lettuce abundance. Because we know that you might not have buttermilk hanging around, it's handy to know the following trick: Add 1 Tbs lemon juice to a cup of milk and let sit for five minutes. Obviously, cut that in half to complete the recipe below. Celia advises me that the dressing is just as good sans parsley.

1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
6 T. sour cream1
T. minced shallot or red onion
1 T. minced fresh parsley
1 T. minced fresh cilantro or dill
1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
pinch sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper.

Whisk until smooth. Dressing can be refrigerated up to 4 days; just whisk to recombine.

Simple Aji Sauce

As cilantro slowly turns into corriander (as the bunches in our shares now are), one of the best ways to use it in the kitchen is by pureeing it into a traditional Peruvian-style Aji sauce. Once you have this sauce on hand, you can use it as a topper for grilled meats, shrimp, or quesadillas, just to name a few ideas. I like mine on lentil cakes.

1 bunch cilantro, leaves and stems, chopped
Juice of one lime
3 - 6 Tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. If the sauce isn't coming together, add more oil, or add hot water one Tbs at a time until it forms a nice pesto-like sauce.