Cooking With This Week's Box
Burgundy and/or
Japanese Sweet Potatoes: Japanese Sweet Potato Oven Fries with Wasabi Aioli
Russet Potatoes: Carrot and Potato Mash
Baby Red Beets: Blueberry Beet Muffins
Spaghetti Squash: Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai
Kabocha Squash: Red Lentils with Winter Squash & Greens
Green Curly Kale: Red Lentils with Winter Squash & Greens
Celeriac: Wild Rice & Celeriac Gratin (see below); Celeriac Salad with Buttermilk Dressing (see
below)
Green Top Red
Radishes: Fried Fish Sandwiches with Radish Slaw
Kohlrabi: Kohlrabi and Apple Slaw; Kohlrabi & Chickpea Curry
It’s time to transition to hearty fall and winter fare. Braised vegetables and meats, casseroles,
hearty stews and crispy root vegetable winter salads. Lets dive into this week’s box and tackle
celeriac first. You may be surprised by how far even one medium celeriac will go, and
it’s a pretty versatile vegetable to use.
I really enjoy the how the flavors of wild rice and celeriac go together
as both are very hearty and slightly earthy.
You’ll enjoy this combination in this week’s featured recipe for Wild Rice & Celeriac Gratin (see
below). This dish can stand on its own
as a main dish or you could serve it as a side dish along roast beef or braised
pork. The other recipe we’re featuring
this week is for a simple raw Celeriac
Salad with Buttermilk Dressing (See Below).
This recipe calls for celery, which I don’t have right now so I’m going
to use shaved carrots instead. If you
don’t have fresh pomegranate seeds, you could also use fresh or dried
cranberries in place of them.
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| Kohlrabi & Chickpea Curry Photo from DishingUpTheDirt.com |
Wait until you taste the kohlrabi in the box this week! We don’t always grow kohlrabi in the fall,
but thought we would include it this year so we have another crispy, crunchy
option to enjoy in salads and just as a raw vegetable after all the other fresh
vegetables are harvested. If it seems too big for you, don’t think you have to use it all at
one time. Just cut off the portion you
want to use and return the remainder (unpeeled) to the refrigerator, well
wrapped to keep it from drying out.
Richard’s been asking for Kohlrabi slaw, so this week I want to make
this Kohlrabi and Apple Slaw using some of the apples we got in our fruit share last week. I’ve never used kohlrabi in any kind of a
curry dish, so I’m intrigued by Andrea Bemis’s recipe for Kohlrabi & Chickpea Curry.
I have a big jar of red lentils on my shelf, so this week
I’m going to make Red Lentils with Winter Squash & Greens. We featured this recipe in a previous
newsletter and recommended using mustard greens or spinach. We’re done with both mustard greens and
spinach so I’m going to use the green curly kale in this week’s box.
A few weeks ago I made this simple Carrot and Potato Mash and it was so delicious! I usually put
about 4-5 different roots in our root mash, but opted to keep it simple and the
result was so good. It’s light, fluffy
and slightly sweet. We’re going to have
this for dinner this week with pot roast, with a little gravy of course.
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| Blueberry Beet Muffins Photo from TheLeanGreenBean.com |
I usually opt for simple steamed beets or a beet salad, but
I have to try this recipe for Blueberry Beet Muffins! I never would have paired beets and
blueberries together, but think about all the antioxidants you’ll get in these
pink muffins! This was a recipe a member
shared on our Facebook group. Thanks for
sharing this Greta!
I have really been enjoying trying new spaghetti squash
recipes this year. Thankfully these
squash have been storing well despite the fact that this variety historically
is one that we try to use sooner than later.
This week I’m going to try this recipe for Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai.
I hope you enjoy trying some of the Japanese sweet potatoes
this week. We don’t have many, but we’re
going to include a little bit in as many boxes as we’re able to. I want to try this recipe for Japanese Sweet Potato Oven Fries with Wasabi Aioli. Of course this recipe will work with regular
orange sweet potatoes as well so I’ll be using both, which will look really
beautiful along with some white and black sesame seeds sprinkled on top. These will go well with Fried Fish Sandwiches with Radish Slaw. The recipe for the radish slaw calls for
salad turnips, but I’m going to use kohlrabi instead.
We’ve reached the bottom of yet another CSA box and have
quite a variety of recipes in the lineup for this week. Just because we’re heading into the season of
storage vegetables doesn’t mean our meals can’t still be diverse, flavorful and
exciting to prepare and eat! Have a
great week and start thinking about Thanksgiving. It’s time to start planning
the menu and getting the recipes lined up!—Chef Andrea
Featured Vegetable: Celeriac
Celeriac, or celery root as it is also known, can be a bit
intimidating if you’re encountering it for the first time. However, as with all vegetables, there’s
really no need to be intimidated…it’s just a vegetable! Celeriac is in the same family as celery. The difference is that celeriac is grown for
its root and celery is grown for its stalks.
The stalks on celeriac resemble celery and have a lot of delicious
flavor in them, however they are more tough and fibrous than celery and are not
usually eaten as you would eat a celery stalk.
While this week’s celeriac do not have tops, we do sometimes deliver
green top celeriac. If you ever get
celeriac with the tops still on, don’t throw them away! Their flavor can add depth to a pot of stock
or soup.
Now for the root bulb.
First, scrub the exterior of the root the best you can. Next, thinly slice away the top and bottom of
the root so there is a flat side on the top and the bottom. You’ll probably need to take a little more
off the bottom to get past the majority of the roots and get into the more usable
bulb portion of the root. At this point,
I usually cut the root in half or into quarters so it is easier to handle. Using a paring knife, carefully trim away the
outer skin. Once you’ve removed the outer
skin, rinse the remaining piece of celeriac and clean your cutting board if
there’s any residual dirt. The inner
portion of the root is white, solid and entirely edible.
Celeriac has a subtle celery flavor that provides a
background to soups, stews, and root mashes.
It also makes a delicious soup or gratin on its own or combined with
potatoes or other root vegetables. It
can also be eaten raw in salads and slaws paired with other fall fruits and
vegetables and a simple creamy dressing.
There is a classic French preparation called Remoulade which is
basically a creamy celeriac slaw. I like
to make a slaw based on this concept, but add apples and fresh, chopped
cranberries as well as parsley when available.
I’ve noticed more “paleo” recipes are encouraging the use of celeriac as
a substitute for starchy potatoes, noodles, etc.
Celeriac stores quite well, thus it is an important part of
our seasonal winter diets. It can
actually be stored for up to 6 months! Keep
it in your refrigerator loosely wrapped in plastic or in the crisper drawer
until you are ready to use it.
Celeriac Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
Yield: 4 side salads
1 celeriac (about ¾ pound)
¾ cup Buttermilk Dressing (recipe follows)
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 cup peeled and shaved celery
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Kosher salt
1 celeriac (about ¾ pound)
¾ cup Buttermilk Dressing (recipe follows)
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 cup peeled and shaved celery
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Kosher salt
- Use a vegetable peeler to peel the celeriac, and then finely julienne it. In a bowl, dress the celeriac with ½ cup of the buttermilk dressing.
- In a small bowl, combine the pomegranate seeds, parsley, celery, olive oil, and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt, and toss well.
- Spoon 1 Tbsp of the remaining buttermilk dressing on each plate, and spread it out with the back of your spoon. Divide the dressed celeriac among the plates, and then spoon the pomegranate, parsley, and celeriac salad evenly over the top.
Buttermilk Dressing
Yield: 1 cup
½ cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp crème fraiche
½ tsp kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Combine the buttermilk, mustard, lemon juice, mayonnaise,
crème fraiche, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Whisk to combine, and serve. The dressing will keep in the refrigerator
for 5 days.
Recipes borrowed from The Broad Fork, Recipes for the wide
world of vegetables and fruits by Hugh Acheson
Wild Rice and Celeriac Gratin
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
¼ cup minced shallot or onion
3 Tbsp butter or oil
2 Tbps flour
1 ½ cups milk, scalded (can be nondairy milk)
½ tsp sea salt
Freshly milled white pepper
½ tsp grated nutmeg
1 Tbsp butter
1 small celeriac, peeled and grated
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp chopped parsley, plus extra for garnish
Sea salt and freshly milled pepper
3 cups wild rice, cooked
½ cup grated Gruyère
¼ cup freshly grated parmesan
- Cook the shallot in 3 Tbsp butter in a small saucepan over low heat for 3 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes more. Whisk in the hot milk all at once, then cook for 20 minutes, stirring frequently, or for 30 minutes in the top of a double boiler. Season with ½ tsp salt, a little white pepper, and the nutmeg. Set the sauce aside.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly butter or oil a baking dish. Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the celeriac with the lemon juice, garlic, and parsley and cook until tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Combine the wild rice, celeriac, and sauce and stir in the cheeses. Turn into the dish and bake until firm, about 25 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.
Recipe adapted from The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison
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