Kohl Rabbi and Potato Salad

I gotta say, Josh should take the credit for this one...

He found a recipe here: http://90saladsin90days.blogspot.com/2010/07/kohlrabi-potato-trance-salad.html and made it work for what we had...

In case you don't want to look it up yourself, here's the recipe:

Kohlrabi Potato Salad
2 medium red potatoes, cubed
3 small purple kohlrabi, peeled and cubed (can use green) 
1/8 tsp salt
Put the above ingredients into a pot of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil, uncovered, for about 16 min. Taste to make sure texture is desired (kohlrabi should still have a little crunch). 
Drain water out and place mixture in a bowl. Heat 2 cloves minced garlic in about 1/2 Tbsp olive oil and 1/4 tsp salt. Before the garlic browns, pour over the potatoes and kohlrabi. Place the bowl in the freezer for about 10 min so that everything cools off before doing the next step. 
Mix together with:
1 cup diced green onions ... we used regular onions and green garlic 
1/2 cup fresh dill, chopped (use less if you prefer) ...and no dill

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp cider vinegar
1/4 tsp lemon pepper (or 1/4 tsp pepper and some lemon zest)
1 tsp Dijon mustard 
Salt and pepper to taste

Apparently I'm not so good at the in-between photos... sooo... we're done... dig in.

It was good, but i think we got a little kohlrabi-ed out by the time it was gone. 

Week One.

Okay. With Week One behind us, i can officially say, this CSA thing is pretty awesome. We've been doing pretty well keeping up with the abundance of new food in the house (even if that means trading a bag of lettuce for two apples with a friend from work) and stretching our creative foodie muscles to come up with ways to use everything. So far we've had lots of salad, a kohlrabi and potato salad (potatoes weren't from the share but had been in the pantry for a while and needed to be used up!), spinach and green garlic quiche, couscous with mushrooms and turnips, cole slaw with cabbage and carrots, and pesto pizza with arugula and goat cheese.

Week One, Day One
CSA from Red Fire Farm in Granby, MA

Salad, the first dinner with Red Fire Farm...

Dessert! My homemade triple chocolate ice cream with strawberries...why didn't we make more!??!

mmmmmm mmm mmm. Next: Kohl Rabi and Potato Salad.

Our CSA has finally arrived!

Clearly I have not been keeping up with my foodie documentation on here! Still taking lots of pictures and uploading to facebook for friends (and myself) but my goal was to keep a better log of my cooking so that I can go back to favorite recipes chronologically and remember how well things worked or didn't work. Therefore, blogging is a better way to not only keep track of the pictures but also keep track of the recipes or links to the places I found them! I think this week may be a great re-starting point because we just (as of last night) got our first share of veggies from our CSA (community shared agriculture) which we are doing through Red Fire Farm in Western Massachusetts. They have a local pickup which is pretty darn convenient and about a five minute drive away from Josh and I's apartment.

Last night we picked up a ton of salad greens (which I hear is how the season usually starts…) and our fruit share which consisted of a quart of delicious stawberries. But the full tally includes: a bunch of kale, a bunch of green garlic, spinach, arugula, mixed salad greens, a bunch of turnips, two kohlrabi, two heads of lettuce, and a bunch of cilantro.
Our refridgerator is a little overwhelmed.

And now we begin the hard part…planning some meals that will use everything up over the next week or so before we pick up our next share next Thursday!

See how pretty those strawberries are!!

First steps first.

My recent attraction to cooking and recipes and photographing leads me here... to share my latest endeavors with trying new things and documenting them along the way. What better way to start than with a new twist on an old favorite. Mac and Cheese...with greens! Although i grew up eating a plethora of greens from our family garden, just ask my Dad, eating them in my adult life without the proximity to local greenery has proven more difficult. Making my selections from the local supermarket, midwinter, i decided to pick up some collard greens and when i found this recipe i knew i had a winner. My boyfriend thought so too.

YIELD: Makes 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

• 1 (16-ounce) package rigatoni or penne pasta
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound collard greens, washed, drained, and chopped...can also use spinach or kale
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Panko for topping

Preparation

1. Prepare pasta according to directions. Drain and set aside. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

2. Heat butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; sauté onion 5 minutes or until just brown. Add garlic, and cook about 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low, and add greens; cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes or until greens are tender, stirring occasionally.

3. Sprinkle greens with flour. Cook uncovered, stirring constantly,

1 minute. Gradually add milk, stirring well. Cook 5 minutes, stirring often, until thickened and smooth. Remove from heat; stir in cooked pasta, mozzarella, and next 5 ingredients. Place into prepared dish, and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan and Panko.

4. Bake at 350° for 15 to 20 minutes.

Adapted from: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/baked-rigatoni-with-ricotta-collard-greens-10000001585370/

Ta da!

We decided to serve it with a yummy little brew...

peeper. if you're anywhere near Maine, try it. and try the mac and cheese. YUM.