Night Owl's Garden

I count my week #2 CSA basket as a success. I managed to make use of all the cabbage though some of it probably won’t be eaten. The last of the kale will be eaten tonight. I just chopped and blanched the celery, and it is now waiting in my freezer for another day.

Here is what I did with the cabbage and kale:

Kale – I made chopped kale salads. I mixed blue cheese dressing with balsamic and olive oil to make a tangy and creamy dressing.

Cabbage – The cabbage went further than I thought it would. I made three dishes with varying levels of success.

• Dish #1 – Low-carb Taco Cabbage Skillet – I covered this recipe and my modifications in-depth in my previous post. It was by far our tastiest use of cabbage!
• Dish #2 – Parmesan Garlic Cabbage – I made this recipe at lunch one day. I thought it would be wonderful, but it was kind of bland. The blogger who posted it described it as a good side dish, and I could see that. I ate it as a main dish, and it just needed something more. Maybe that something more needs to be a nicely spiced chicken or pork entree.
• Dish #3 – Asian Ginger Slaw – I made this slaw on Friday afternoon with the intention of pairing it with dumplings from a local Chinese restaurant. I think I should have chopped the cabbage more finely. The dish just didn’t seem right. The flavors blended well, and I was able to use the local honey from this week’s CSA basket, but it just seemed a bit off. I do think the chunkiness of the cabbage affected how well (or not) the dish came together. I will try this recipe again with a very finely chopped cabbage. The leftovers are in the refrigerator. I’m afraid my husband and I are not inspired to eat them. Of course, this is the one dish that I caught on camera, and it’s the photo for this post.

We are excited about our next CSA basket! I wonder what adventures we’ll find at pick-up tomorrow night.

Last night I picked up our second CSA basket. This time it included celery, kale, cabbage, and local honey. Like last week some of these veggies will require some new recipes.

When I got home with our new basket, I immediately took the picture attached to this post. Then I peeled away the outer leaves of the cabbage, rinsed it, and started chopping. I chopped about two cups worth of cabbage. I found a recipe for a low-carb, keto taco cabbage skillet. In a skillet with a lid, I fried up some organic hamburger over medium heat and added garlic powder, chili powder, and fajita seasoning. I didn’t have salsa so I added drained diced tomatoes, pickled jalapenos, hot sauce, frozen scallions (from last week’s basket), and a bit of frozen corn (not low-carb but tasty). I threw in the cabbage and brought the dish to a boil. I reduced the heat and let it simmer for about ten minutes. At the end I tossed in some grated sharp cheddar and mozzarella (it’s what I had!). Once plated, I added sour cream and chopped cilantro. It was delicious and easy!

I have no clue what I’ll do with the rest of my veggies, but I am considering a kale salad and/or saute, low-carb/keto eggroll in a bowl, and sesame ginger slaw. I will likely chop some of the celery and freeze it. The rest I will use for dipping in hummus or some kind of dip. Next week I will provide an update on what actually happens.

Our first CSA basket surpassed expectations. We managed to eat or freeze everything in our basket. We ate all the spinach, beet greens, and beets. We used some of the scallions on some baked chicken, and I chopped the rest and put them in the freezer for later use. Graham ate most of the small coconut pound cake, but I did eat the bran biscuits and one snickerdoodle cookie. Here is what we did with the beets, beet greens, and spinach:

Beets – Roasted Beets – I peeled and chopped the beets. Then I tossed them in olive oil, salt, and pepper and roasted them at 450 degrees for 25 minutes. I served them with a bit of cream cheese. We had enough for two nights. They were amazing and turned my beet-hating husband into a beet lover.

Beet Greens – I made two dishes with beet greens.

• Dish #1 – Beet Greens Pasta – I made spaghetti. I mixed in chopped beet greens that I wilted with pasta water and olive oil and then sauteed with more olive oil, garlic, butter, black truffle sea salt, and black pepper. I topped it with sliced almonds and shaved Parmesan. I caught a picture of this wonderfulness and used it for this post. This is the recipe I used as a guide: https://www.anediblemosaic.com/beet-greens-pasta/.
• Dish #2 – Beet Greens Saute – I fried two slices of chopped bacon in a skillet with olive oil. When the bacon was about half-cooked, I added chopped onions for a few minutes followed by chopped garlic. Next I added about 3 tablespoons of Fire Cider along with 3/4 cup of water (the recipe called for apple cider vinegar. I kicked it up a notch.). I tossed in chopped beet greens with stems and covered the skillet. As the beet greens cooked down, I added a bit of sugar and red pepper flakes and a bit of butter. This is the recipe I more or less followed: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/beet_greens/.

Spinach – I made two dishes with spinach.

• Dish #1 – Salad – On multiple days, I made spinach salad with blue cheese dressing. On some days, I added hard-boiled eggs, bacon, and blue cheese crumbles.
• Dish #2 – Frittata – Today, I chopped the remainder of the spinach. I sauteed onions in olive oil, added chopped garlic, and then added spinach in a small skillet over medium heat. I whisked together six eggs, some half and half, Penzey’s Tuscan Sunset blend, salt, pepper, feta, and shredded provolone and mozzarella. After the spinach wilted, I poured in the egg blend. Once the frittata started to set up along the edges, I sprinkled shaved Parmesan on the top and popped the skillet in the oven under the broiler to finish it off.

Altogether our first CSA week has been a huge success! We look forward to our next basket on Tuesday.