Eggplant and Sun-dried Tomato Pasta

I can't think of a more creative name for this dish besides eggplant and sun-dried tomato pasta. I guess because it's really simple and there isn't much more to the dish, so any other name would be too complicated for such an easy and quick meal to make.

This meal can be adapted to other vegetables, such as broccoli. There is no real "recipe", but here are some steps to make this dish:

1. Sauté 1 chopped onion and 1 garlic clove over medium heat in a preheated pan with oil, until soft.
2. Add chopped eggplant, that has been presalted to drain some of the water content. Cook 10-15 minutes, until soft and the eggplant turns brown. Season with salt, pepper, and chili pepper.
3. When eggplant is cooked through, add sun-dried tomatoes (in oil). Stir until warm.
4. Add to pasta, cooked according to package directions. Top with fresh mozzarella balls. Enjoy!

Pretty simple, right?

The Kale That Never Ends!

Three weeks ago, I picked some kale from the farmer's market, assuming it would get eaten quickly. Somehow, the kale has seemed to multiply in the refrigerator! It's been used in three dishes and has had a starring role in each, unlike the fennel that played a supporting role when it was used three times. Without further ado, here's how the kale has played out since it came home with me three weeks ago:

Delicata and Kale Salad

Delicate and Kale close up!

When I saw the delicata squash at the farmer's market, I had NO idea what to do with it. Another woman who was picking up her produce casually mentioned that it tastes great roasted in a kale salad. Of course, there was kale that week, so I picked up some kale and planned to make the dish my fellow CSA-er had raved about. That's how this bunch of kale made it in my shopping bag in the first place. Here's the recipe I used for Delicata Squash Salad with Kale and Cannellini Beans. I was shocked at how much my husband loved this salad. His idea of salad is a piece of steak with a carrot garnish! The salad was warm, hearty, and filling - all words that are not normally used to describe a salad! It was both sweet and salty, and it was perfectly for a cold fall night. Definitely something I would make again!

A little blurry, but you get the idea!

Broccoli and Kale Soup

Meal #2 was a mistake! I wanted to make The Joy of Cooking's cream of broccoli soup, but unfortunately the two stalks of broccoli did not weigh enough. I substituted some kale (which was really more like half a bunch!), and proceeded with the recipe. The kale didn't affect the taste of the soup at all, and it pureed very nicely with the immersion blender. The soup was a perfect consistency without the cream, so it was left out. It was great with a (store-bought) thick slice of asiago bread.

Kale and Arugula Flatbread

The last time I went to visit my parents, my mom gave me a jar of olive and walnut spread because she didn't want it. I wasn't entirely sure if I would be able to put it to use - the spread has a very strong olive taste that is not the least bit subtle. I wanted to find a way to use a lot of it at once, not because it was bad but because it is a random thing to have in the kitchen! I didn't want it to expire before I could use it all. I came up with this flatbread pizza:

It's very simple to make, using store bough pizza dough. There's no real "recipe" since you can use as much or as little of each ingredient as you prefer. I like a lot of cheese and a lot of greens.

1. Preheat oven, following directions for the pizza dough. Prepare pizza dough as directed, as well.
2. Saute greens in olive oil until wilted, with minimal salt and pepper. Remove from heat and allow to cool, 5-10 minutes, until warm to the touch.
3. Coat rolled pizza dough with olive and walnut spread, as the base for the flatbread pizza, in place of tomato sauce. Amount of spread is a personal preference depending on how much you like (or dislike) olives!
4. Place wilted greens onto pizza, covering in a single layer (again, how much greens you use is personal preference)
5. Grate tallegio (or substitute with gouda or fontina) over pizza. Bake as directed.
6. Drizzle honey over flatbread. Allow to cool and serve with a chilled glass of white wine!

And in case you were curious, here's the olive and walnut spread I used:

CSA Week #25: The End.

Wow. It is hard to believe 25 weeks went by that quickly! I really enjoyed our half share of the CSA, and it is definitely something that I'd do again. At times, it was hard to come up with new and different ideas for the produce that was available. It was a great way to change things up in the kitchen and experiment with new foods and new cooking techniques. For anyone who enjoys cooking (or eating), I would recommend participating in a local CSA - it is a great way to support local farms, and nothing beats fresh produce!

Here's what the last four picks of the season were:

Butternut squash, kale, beets, and arugula.

Some of my favorite recipes from the past 25 weeks are listed below:

• Butternut Squash Lasagna
• Mexican Poblano Chile Lasagna
• Pepper Poppers
• Eggplant Caponata
• Pasta with Swiss Chard and Goat Cheese
• Purple Sweet Potato Fries

Even though the CSA has ended, I still have a few (ok, maybe more than a few) recipes that still need to be posted. Keep checking back to see what I've cooked!

CSA Week #24

One week left - how quickly time flies! Here's what was picked up this week:

Pimiento peppers, spinach, red potatoes, and chard!

Potato, Patata

Sliced potatoes

A few weeks ago, I posted the potatoes that came from the CSA and I wondered about what to make with them that wasn't mashed potatoes or roasted potatoes. When I asked my husband if he had any ideas, he seemed to know exactly what we should make - tortilla de patata. My husband studied abroad in Spain, in a small town outside of Madrid called Alcalá, and tortilla de patata aka tortilla española aka Spanish omelettes are a popular dish in Spain. It consists of eggs, potatoes, and onions - kind of like scrambled eggs and hash browns that you can enjoy all at once!

The finished product - delicious!

Tortilla de patata takes a bit of work - you need to thinly slice a lot of potatoes and onions, which is not such an easy feat. This must be the third time since I've been blogging that I've needed a mandolin. Maybe it's time to finally purchase one! This dish also takes a bit of fancy flipping - halfway through cooking, you need to transfer the tortilla onto a plate then flip it upside down back into the pan so that it can finish cooking. Easier said than done, that is for sure!

Profile shot - check out those layers!

Tortilla de patata is obviously a great breakfast, but it also is good for lunch alongside a salad or bowl of soup. It would also make a great dish for a brunch!

CSA Week 23

This week's CSA was picked up a little later than normal - I usually get produce on Tuesdays from the farmer's market, but this past week (and next week, too) I had a work field trip so I missed the usual pick up. Instead, I got the produce at this cute little general store that had tons of local produce, meat, and diary items. There were a lot of bulk food bins, too, so I picked up some banana chips - YUM!

Here's what I got:

Acorn squash, broccoli, arugula, and purple sweet potatoes!

Something's Missing...

If you have read the tagline of this blog, you have seen that it clearly states "cooking.crafts.life". Two of those things have been showcased quite often throughout the time this blog has been around. But something is clearly missing - CRAFTS! Sadly, there are only 3 weeks left of the CSA. Once the CSA is over (and I've caught up on all the food-related posts), this blog will have a lot more crafty posts! I already have a few projects in my mind, so you will have to stick around to see what is made.

This blog is also missing pictures of Winnie - so here she is:

What a cutie :)

Butternut Squash Lasagna

Another variation on traditional lasagna: roasted butternut squash lasagna! This dish is so delicious and perfect for a cold autumn night. The tomato sauce is replaced with a creamy béchamel sauce. The recipe calls for blending the butternut squash after it's been roasted, but it was so soft that it was easily mashed with a fork. The filling was so good that I was tempted to eat it all before it went into the pan!

I know that the picture doesn't really showcase the different layers, but it does seem to adequately show how creamy the lasagna was! But the creaminess is a bit deceiving, as it really is mostly mashed butternut squash. Yum - this lasagna was so delicious, I can't wait to eat it again!

Easy Add-Ins

One of the easiest ways to use up extra produce is to add it to other dishes to give them some extra flavor. This post is a similar to this one, in that these are just some simple ways to make your meals a little more exciting!

Here's some soup to which I added leftover kale. The soup is from a dry mix, and even though it doesn't look so appetizing, it is actually really good! A mix of beans, lentils, and alphabet pasta reconstituted with veggie broth. The soup has to simmer for close to an hour before it is ready to eat, so I just added the kale in at the beginning. I didn't notice much of a change in flavor, but it gave the soup more texture, which is always a good thing with soup.

And here's some boxed mac n' cheese with some added broccoli that had been blanched. Blanching vegetables is a quick alternative to steaming vegetables, but you end up with a similar end result of soft, less bitter vegetables. While the pot of water is coming to a boil, wash and chop the vegetable into bite-sized pieces (or however big or small you'd like), and then add to the water once it boils. Let it cook for 5 minutes - for broccoli, you can tell it's done when it turns bright green. You can just eat it like this...or add it to other dishes!

These are also some go-to single lady meals. I made both of these on nights when it was just me and Winnie because the husband was working late! It's hard to cook intricate meals when you are just cooking for one!