In Your Share (Nov 17th edition)

“Cooking is both simpler and more necessary than we imagine. It has in recent years come to seem a complication to juggle against other complications, instead of what it can be – a clear path through them. “

From An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace, by Tamar Adler

My meanderings through this book have been both thought provoking and inspiring. As we approach what is often one of the most elaborate meals of the year, I was especially drawn to her quote about simplicity. Somehow I still find myself in that trap sometimes – of making cooking more complicated than it needs to be. Or I avoid it altogether when just thinking about it seems too complicated. This summer I had some lengthy stretches like that. Luckily, I have a very handy husband who likes to cook so I was still able to eat well during my hiatus. But I’ve missed it and am very glad to be back in the swing of things again!

For inspiration our winter share members have access to the exclusive CSA recipe site at Cook With What You Have for seasonal recipes and cooking tips. This week Katherine has some great ideas for your veggies including a ribollita that I made tonight and it was AMAZING!  Check your email for the password to access the site and enjoy your 24/7 access to recipe inspiration!

This week your share may include…

• Beets: Big fat beautiful red winter beets! Some of my favorite go-to beet recipes are here. These roots also have glorious greens that can be cooked just like their cousins, chard and spinach.
• Carrots: Wow! Love those sweet winter carrots.
• Celery: The hearts are tender but the outer leaves are made of stronger stuff! Chop the flavorful outer leaves and add them to Thanksgiving stuffing or vegetable soup. They also make a great addition to au gratin potatoes.
• Fennel: I’ve been adding handfuls of chopped fennel to the pan almost every time I sauté onions. By the time they cook down the flavor has mellowed considerably and melds nicely with the caramelized yumminess of the onions.
• Garlic: Beautiful Chesnok in the pretty purple wrappers.
• Green Kale: One of my favorite greens and that freezing weather last week made it even sweeter! Sauté it as soon as you get home then add it throughout the week to soup, pasta or fritattas. It also makes a lovely base for roasted veggies – sprinkle it all with toasted nuts or a bit of sharp cheese and toss with balsamic vinaigrette. And it also works well in my favorite raw kale salad.
• Kohlrabi: These are gigantic and super tasty! Make them into matchsticks and mix them into salad. Or cut carrot sized chunks for sweet raw snacks. They also roast up will with the other root veggies.
• Onions: Nice big beautiful yellow onions.
• Pie Pumpkins: I can’t remember exactly when we switched to using real live pie pumpkins, but the cookbook I remember pulling out for the holidays was an old fashioned one and I still have my grandmothers original  recipe – from The American Woman’s Cookbook, circa 1943.
• Potatoes: Your choice of blue or yellow potatoes.
• Rutabaga: I’m evangelical about these this under appreciated vegetables! They’re not pretty, but they’re soooo good. Once you’re logged into Cook With What You Have you’ll find a dozen great recipes at the rutabaga page.
• Winter Squash, Delicata: These Delicata squash are one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions! They make beautiful little squash rings too.

Coming soon… Thanksgiving Dinner!!