Anastasia Member Diary Week #12

This is my sharemate and I’s inaugural year with the Southside CSA and the Bridge share is the highlight of our Mondays. One us is from a ranch on the West Coast and the other is related to the head of Slowfood USA so we were thrilled to find such an awesome option in NYC.  Despite the heat wave last week, we had our oven roaring and put together some fantastic dishes including walnut zucchini bread, a salad with roasted leeks and potatoes and roasted kale and beet quinoa.

Walnut Zucchini Bread

My roommate, the baker, had an interesting experience making zucchini bread without key tools such as a grater, a sifter and a legitimate bread pan. But she was determined to do so knowing it was the perfect recipe for the 6 beautiful zucchini we got in this week’s CSA. The recipe below is adapted from the Silver Palate.

Ingredients

• 1.5 tablespoons unsalted butter (plus extra for greasing the pan)
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cups sugar (original recipe called for 1.5 cups but I cut the sugar)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated unpeeled raw zucchini (I do not own a grater, so instead I used a microplane, the greatest tool of all time, I “grated” the zucchini into a pseudo-pulp (that I later learned upon consumption is great for retaining moisture)).
• 2.5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup shelled walnuts, chopped

1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x5x 3in loaf pan

2. Beat the eggs, oil, butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and thick. Fold the grated zucchini into the egg mixture. I added some lemon zest (Also using the mircoplane) for additional flavor

3. Sift the dry ingredients together. Stir into the zucchini mixture until just blended. Fold in the walnuts.

4. Pour the batter into the buttered loaf pan. Bake on the center rack of the oven until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

5. Cool slightly. For the best flavor, wrap the bread when cool and let it stand overnight before serving.

Roasted Potato & Leek Salad

I started out wanting to make Anthony Bourdain’s vichiyosse. Then I took a realistic look at my postage-stamp sized blender and kitchen and decided to adapt this recipe from Food and Wine instead.

Ingredients

• 4 medium  Southside CSA leeks white and tender – half
• 1 pound of Southside CSA white potatoes
• 4 hard boiled eggs
• A couple sprigs of Southside CSA rosemary
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of mustard
• 2 cups of mixed greens

Quinoa Salad with Roasted Kale & Beets & Feta

Given that it is basically nutritionally perfect, I am always looking for ways to integrate bland quinoa with other exciting flavors. When we received both kale and GIANT beets in our share last week, I adapted this recipe from one of my favorite food blogs Food 52. Between the beets, kale and feta there is great variety in color, texture and flavor in this salad.

For the salad

• 1 bunch Southside CSA kale
• 3  Southside CSA beets or 4 smaller ones
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 1 cup of quinoa
• 2 cups of cup water
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 ounces crumbled feta cheese

For the dressing

• 2 shallots
• 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons water
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• salt to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wrap the beets in tinfoil and drizzle with a little olive oil. Place the wrapped beets directly on the oven rack and roast for about an hour until you can stab them easily with a fork.
2. Meanwhile, cut or rip the kale leaves from their thick stems, and rip into bite sized pieces. Mince the garlic cloves. Place the kale leaves and garlic in a large casserole dish, pour on enough oil to coat, plenty of salt, and pepper to taste, and toss well. Roast the kale leaves in the oven for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they smell toasty and start to brown on the edges.
3. Meanwhile, cook the quinoa. Heat a cooking pot until you can feel the heat radiating from the bottom when you hold your hand at the top of the pan. Add the quinoa and toast for about 5 minutes, shaking the pot frequently, until you can smell the toasting grain. Add 2 cups of water, bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, and simmer partially covered for about 15 minutes until all of the water is absorbed and the quinoa grains have released their little halos.
4. When the beets are ready, remove from the oven and put them in the sink to cool. You can also run cold water over the packets to speed up this process. Rub the tinfoil on the sides of the beets to remove the skin (this is THE best way to remove the skin and not end up with a red kitchen). Cut the beets in bite size pieces then transfer the beets to a bowl and mix with the cooked quinoa.
5. Put the shallots,  water, sugar, and smoked paprika in a cuisinart  blend until smooth. Stir into the quinoa and beet mixture.
6. Assemble the salad. Plate a bed of toasted kale, then spoon on the quinoa and beets, and finally sprinkle over the feta cheese.