Recipes
Recipe sharing for neighbors, by neighbors.
Life as a member of a CSA brings with it both joys and frustrations. There is the joy of learning about new and exciting vegetables and the frustration of “Ok, so what am I supposed to do with it?”
This recipe page is meant to be a place where we can all come together and share in the joy and collectively overcome the frustrations. We invite you to please share any recipes and idea that you may have for cooking with the seasonal vegetables that Urban Patchwork grows.
(Leave a comment below with your recipe)
Radish Salsa (from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian)
Contributed by Molly
2 cups (about 1 pound) chopped radish
1/2 English cucumber, peeled and diced
1/2 small red onion, minced
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon fresh chile, or to taste, or hot red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Combine all the ingredients and mix thoroughly. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Fresh Chopped Herb Cream Cheese Dip
Gather a “handful” of each of the following fresh garden herbs”
Chives
Red Onion
Sage
Oregano (the best was our cuban oregano we had in the fall)
Basil
Tarragon
Chop each very finely. Add the finely chopped herbs along with a dash of salt and spicy pepper flakes to one pint of cream cheese. (Add to a smaller container for a more concentrated herb flavor). We liked the original Philly cream cheese the best.
Stir the mix completely and serve with your favorite crackers or as a spread on sandwiches.
Tastes tons better than the dry herb mixes at the store.
Braised Radishes
Contributed by Molly
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound radishes, trimmed of tops and bottoms and sliced if large
1/2 cup broth or white wine
salt and pepper
Bring all the ingredients to a boil in a saucepan with a lid. Reduce the temperature to low, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until tender. If the liquid starts to boil away too soon, add more.
Uncover and raise the heat to reduce the liquid until almost all of it has evaporated. This should take 4 to 5 minutes. Adjust the seasoning, and sprinkle with whatever herbs you like.
Roasted Radishes
Contributed by Molly
radishes
olive oil
salt
Trim the radishes of their roots and leaves. Halve or cut into equal sized chunks. In a roasting pan, drizzle the radishes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes, until fork tender. Radishes cooked this way are a lot less bitter and sharp than raw radishes.
Roasted Roots
I love to make a big dish of the following and eat off of it all week, take it to a potluck, or freeze parts of it for later weeks when I’m lazy or busy.
1 cup of each of the following:
Potatoes
Turnips
Beets
Onions
Squash (including pumpkin, acorn, winter, yellow, zucchini, etc.)
A dash of each of the following:
Salt
Pepper
Fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano, tarragon, sage
Olive Oil
Cut the root veggies, onions and squash into 1.5 inch cubes. Mix and spread in a glass casserole dish. Evenly drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the cubed veggies and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.
Finely chop all fresh herbs. Mix and sprinkle liberally over the veggies. Cover the casserole dish with aluminium foil and put in the over at 350 degrees. Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until turnips and potatoes are firm when pricked by a fork but not hard (the fork can travel into them but not *through* them…too mushy is not the goal!)
It’s ready to serve! Or save.
Super easy, healthy and filling.
Ideas for using lavender:
Lavender butter:
1 stick butter at room temp.
1 T honey
1/2 T lavender, minced fine
Combine, roll into a log on wax or parchment paper and the refrigerate or freeze. Yummy on breakfast and sweet breads.
You could also make a similar spread using goat cheese, honey, lavender and sea salt. Or omit the honey and add more savory herbs like thyme, rosemary, mint or oregano and spread on a baguette.
And dried lavender makes a nice infusion with black tea, just go sparingly so it doesn’t make it too bitter.
***
My friend gave me this recipe (which I believe came from Gourmet magazine). I have not made it myself, but I ate too many of these treats when she made them, and she promises it’s a very easy (and rewarding) recipe:
Lavender Shortbread:
1 1/2 cups (3/4 pound) butter, at room temperature (no substitutes)
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons very finely chopped lavender florets (fresh or dried)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
2 1/3 cups flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Cover bottoms of two baking sheets with parchment or brown paper. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, lavender, and mint with an electric mixer. Mix until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add flour, cornstarch, and salt and beat until incorporated. Divide dough in half. Flatten into squares and wrap in plastic. Chill until firm.
On a floured board, roll or pat out each square to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Cut the dough into 1 1/2 -inch squares or rounds. Transfer to baking sheets, spacing cookies about 1 inch apart. Prick each cookie several times with a fork. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until pale golden (do not brown). Cool slightly, then transfer to a rack.
I found this recipe on epicurious.com. I used the rutabaga this week and have used turnips in the past –I’m sure you could use any root vegetables.
2 tbs butter
2 1/2 lbs turnips (I usually adjust this amount down and then the other ingredients accordingly depending on how much I have that week)
1 tbs thyme
1/2 tbs savory
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 cup half&half
1 cup fresh grated Parmesean (or any cheese you prefer)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat large oven proof skillet and melt butter. Slice turnips almost paper thin. Make one layer of slightly overlapping turnips in skillet. Sprinkle with herbs and make 2 more layers of turnips on top. Cook 10 minutes. Add cream and cook 15-20 minutes more. Sprinkle with cheese and move skillet to oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden.
This weekend, after thinking I had eaten radishes every conceivable way, I found a new method, and quick pickled them. This is a modification of Jack Bishop’s “Sweet and Sour Radishes” from his cookbook Vegetables Every Day:
20 medium radishes, scrubbed and trimmed
1 t kosher salt
1/2 c rice vinegar
3 T sugar
2 t toasted sesame oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 small dried chile pepper, mild variety
1. Cut trimmed radishes into 1/4 inch thick circles. Toss the radishes and salt in a colander and set aside to drain, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes. At least 1/4 of salty juices should drain out.
2. Bring the vinegar, garlic, sugar and chile to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool to room temp. Whisk in sesame oil.
3. Transfer radishes to a bowl and pour vinegar mix over. Marinate, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Drain if desired (less messy to eat) and serve.
Grilled Okra
Discussed at Sunday’s UP potluck. Hesitate to call it a “recipe,” but here’s the method.
Take whole okra pods and string them up with two skewers (like a ladder) so you can flip them. (Trust me on this.) You can butt them right up against each other on the “ladder”…I often get 10-12 on the pair of skewers. Brush liberally with sesame oil and shake a bunch of big sea salt on them. Grill for at least five minutes a side. We like them when they start turning really dark — nigh unto being burnt. They are SO GOOD. And Paige says: There will be okra, so mark this well!
Frozen pie crust
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
white pepper
salt
2 cups steamed broccoli
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
chopped green garlic
chopped rosemary
parsley
kale
Bake the crust in oven on a cookie sheet until golden brown. (About 5 min. at 400 degrees.)
Saute green garlic and rosemary in the olive oil.
Mix all ingredients together and pour into crust.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
At Paige’s request, this is my favorite simple way to eat fennel. It’s only good for those who appreciate the mild licorice flavor of it, which is not diminished at all when it is eaten raw.
Shaved Fennel Salad:
-2 large fennel bulbs, green fronds trimmed and reserved
-About 1/3 c olive oil
-Juice from 1 good-sized lemon
-Wedge of Parmesan cheese
-Salt and Pepper
Clean and trim the fennel (remove any blemishes from the outside with a vegetable peeler, and cut a thin slice of the root end). Halve the bulbs, and place in a large bowl, covering them with water and a handful of ice. Let sit for a half an hour.
While fennel sits, finely chop some of the fronds to make about 1/4 cup.
Remove the fennel from water, place on a cutting board, flat (cut) side down and slice as thinly as you can with a knife or vegetable peeler (or if you have a mandoline, this is the sort of thing it’s ideal for). Place the fennel in a serving bowl.
Drizzle with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper and the chopped fronds and toss.
Using the mandoline or vegetable peeler, cut long curls from the wedge of Parmesan and let as much or as little as you like fall on top. I like a lot – about 1 part cheese to 3 parts fennel. The textures and flavors really mingle together nicely.
***
This recipe lends itself to versatility. You can add anything with crunch in with the fennel, though it will make the licorice flavor less intense. I like to put a mild onion in the water with the fennel and slice it the same way. Anything crunchy you have around will probably work though – a cucumber (I would seed and peel it, then slice it into long slivers), an apple or a pear, even the kohlrabi or endive that came in this week’s box. Anything crunchy, sliced thin. Slivered almonds might be good, too.
Buen provecho!
Squash with Thyme and Mint
This dish is very quick to make and a savory favorite of ours!
Two summer squashes of medium to large size (could be pattypan, zucchini, etc)
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh thyme (or other favorite herb from garden like marjoram or oregano)
1/2 tsp fresh, torn mint leaves
1 tbsp sour cream or chevre
Dice and saute squash. Saute in olive oil on high for one minute. Add salt. Stir and saute for three more minutes or until al dente. Add herbs to pan. Transfer squash and herbs into serving dish and mix in sour cream or crumbled chevre. Stir to distribute and eat it hot!