Indian-Spiced Vegetables

My fabulous sister-in-law knows I am a sucker for cookbooks, so last time I saw her she showed up with THREE for my reading pleasure.  One of them was an Indian cookbook.  In flipping through it, I saw some lovely recipes for fresh vegetables, simply sauteed or pan-seared with a strong flavor profile.  

While I eat Indian food sometimes, I do not cook with those flavors often.  It was a simple approach to vegetables with some flavors I knew I would enjoy.  I chopped my eggplant and squash, and then got to cooking.  First, some cumin is toasted lightly in some oil in a very hot pan.  Then the vegetables are added to the spicy oil and cooked for a few minutes - with an occasional turn of the veggies.  You can stir some, but you get a nicer sear on the veggies, and some darker marks, if you let it sit some.  Once those veggies were cooked through, I added some freshly diced pepper, some turmeric and some salt.  A few more minutes of stirring, and the lovely, fragrant and richly flavored vegetables were ready for my dinner!

This Week in the Bull Run Mountain CSA

This week was more fun, not only because I got more yummy, gorgeous produce, but also because I got several things I've never cooked with before - including one I've never even tried!

As with past weeks, the haul included more cucumbers, eggplant, squash and zucchini, all of which I am enjoying immensely. I also got more Thai and Italian basil. I've started freezing the basil, because I'm just getting too much of it, but I know I'll use it! Also included were more potatoes, and some teeny, tiny onions - the size of pearl onions. He pulled them early because the heat has done a number on their growth, but I can't wait to use them. There was also more garlic. This garlic is to die for...it's just so fantastic. I'm hoping to roast some this weekend (it should not be as hot, so having the oven on for an extended time is a more bearable concept) and making a garlicky compound butter.

Let's not forget the half dozen eggs...which are proliferating a bit. I need to do more baking, or more frittatas. Of course this week's fruit share was more peaches - if possible, these are even more gorgeous. I've been so lucky to be eating these peaches...I really am loving it!

New this week, and new in my kitchen (though not to my tastebuds) were mustard greens and tomatillos. I'm particularly interested to fiddle with the tomatillos!

And brand new in Amandaland this week - ground cherries! These are amazing little bits of goodness, wrapped in tissue-thin, papery skins that peel away to reveal golden fruits. The flavor is quite unique...a little pineapple, a little raisin, a little vanilla...almost intoxicating. I look forward to experimenting with them!

Eggplant Krapow

There was so much good food from the CSA, I had to cook a vegetarian meal. I decided to utilize some of the eggplant , and use a preparation similar to the Drunken Noodles I made a few weeks ago! I started, as always, by cutting and chopping all the vegetables so they were ready to go.

The chiles and garlic, ready to go.

Once ready, I sauteed the chiles and garlic in some sesame oil. When softened and fragrant, I added some sauce, stirred for a minute, and then added in all the vegetables.

I stirred them into the mixture and flipped them in the pan a few times, then allowed them to cook through, stirring occasionally.

When the vegetables were softened and cooked, I added a smidgen of sugar, some kaffir lime leaves and some fish sauce. I stirred all of this together, allowing the sauce to thicken a little and coat all the vegetables.

Last, I added the Thai basil to the pan, stirring it into the hot mixture to wilt the leaves.

The mixture was fragrant and steamy, as I plated it. As I'd considered, I lessened the amount of sauce ingredients, as the saltiness was overpowering last time, and increased the garlic and chiles. This time, the plate was a perfect meld of tang, salt and heat.

Just Peachy

This week, the CSA email that came was the most exciting in a while - FRUIT IS STARTING!!!

I arrived to a line of folks, all excited about the produce. It smelled wonderful. I wandered through, grabbing my eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber, garlic, broccoli, Italian basil and Thai basil. Then, over to the van...to get some lovely little tomatoes, and of course, I am still getting those beautiful, farm fresh eggs.

Most exciting, I got two Summer Mac apples and 11 (yes, 11!) peaches. These fruits are not huge, but boy are they pungent. The relatively short drive home filled my car with the sweet scent of fresh peaches. When I unpacked the bag, some of the peaches were so soft and juicy their nectar had run onto the basil, which made me ponder peach and basil as a combination...there is probably a good sorbet, or cocktail, or maybe both, in there!

I can't wait to peel, cut open and indulge in those peaches!

Vegetable Parade

Last Wednesday evening, I was supposed to be three different places at 5:30, one of which was picking up my vegetables. I wasn’t going to skip that. On my way to pick up my CSA vegetables, I must have been distracted by the other places I should be…I’ll also blame the intense heat for my absent-mindedness. I didn’t go the usual way to the pick-up point, and instead headed directly home from work. Knowing enough about the area that I could get there, even if in a round-about way, I headed up the highway. When I got there, I realized that way, while less scenic, was much quicker…apparently my brain was working at a higher level than I realized!

The haul for the sixth week of my CSA engagement presented the first real bag chock full of vegetables. I came home with small potatoes, more eggplant, some delicious garlic, additional Italian basil, a cucumber, a yellow squash and a zucchini! I can’t wait to get to eating these. They smell marvelous and, being so fresh and yummy, require little effort to be delicious.

The Veggies Are Coming, the Veggies Are Coming!

For the fifth week of the CSA, I could see the transition beginning. With the heat coming on, and summer going into full swing, the spring herbs and greens are starting to wane, and the full summer vegetables are making their first appearances.

This week, there was more Thai and Italian basil, some fresh arugula, the last of the garlic scapes we’ll see, a beautiful garlic bulb which smells heavenly, oregano, a potted sage plant and some baby eggplants. Next week promises more vegetables, which is exciting to me!

The garlic scapes, in a vase.

I have mixed feelings about accepting the sage plant. I’ve gotten two calendulas, a cilantro plant and two little pots of basil…none of which have survived. While I can blame the calendulas on weather – I had them outside, and it’s been oppressively hot – I must accept the blame for the others. Alas, my thumbs appear to be decidedly brown.

The sage I hope to keep alive...

Purple Rain

It was raining when I got home the other night, making me less likely to walk somewhere to get dinner, even though there was not much in my fridge. What I did have…three beautiful baby eggplants, waiting to be eaten.

With this in mind, I decided I would see what we could do with them. I consulted the Betty Crocker Cookbook first. While it does not have a lot of beautiful recipes with fancy ingredients, it does include some very handy references on ingredients, including a section on vegetables.After consulting this, I decided to simply forge ahead with my eggplant, some garlic and butter and a skillet.

I chopped the eggplant. Because these were small, I cut off the ends, then quartered and sliced them into roughly cube-like shapes. I was NOT exact (where is the fun in stressing over exact dice – this is not Top Chef!).

I then chopped some of that lovely garlic I got from the CSA, and chopped a few of the last garlic scapes. I melted a little butter in the skillet, then added the garlic and scapes, with a smidge of salt and freshly ground pepper. When the garlic began to soften, turn golden and become aromatic, I added the eggplant.

The gentle hiss and wafting aroma made me want to sample the dish almost immediately, but I waited, letting it cook a bit, then swirling and flipping the eggplant in the pan to continue to cook it. After about 10 minutes of stirring and cooking, I sampled it.

The eggplant still had its structural integrity, maintaining the cube shapes, but the insides melted in your mouth. It was divine. I added a bit of salt and pepper and some fresh oregano, gave it a quick stir over the heat for about another 30 seconds, and removed it from the heat.

While it might be nice to serve this over pasta, for example, or as a super-simple caponata on bruschetta, I simply ate it just like this, off of a plate. It was perfect.