Girls' Night Stir Fry!

Since I've started me CSA I've been a little resistant to stir frys. It seems that many of the veggie/vegan farmers and CSA subscribers are inclined to stir fry all their weeks offerings, regardless of what's in the bag. While this is no doubt a very healthy option, it is not what I set out to do (which was to explore interesting ways to cook these seasonal ingredients and try to bring out their best flavor). I must say though, this weeks offerings (carrots, broccoli, squash, garlic, onion) did seem to lend themselves well to a stir fry.

So, when Lindsey came over for dinner and I wanted a fast, tasty, healthy meal to put on the table I turned to stir fry. I picked up a few extra veggies to make it even more vibrant and Lindsey brought over some lovely kale.

First I browned two cubed chicken breasts in a little bit of peanut oil and set it aside to rest.

For the veggies, I started by sauteeing a clove of garlic, about half a knob of ginger, one small serrano chile and a couple little red onions in peanut oil until soft. I then added my vegetables one by one based on cooking time. I think it went something like this: carrots (with a splash of water to create steam), then red pepper, then broccoli, then squash. I added the kale and a handful of cashews at the end.

Then I made a quick sauce out of 6 tbsp. oyster sauce, 4 tbsp. soy sauce, and 2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar and tossed it with the stir fry for a few minutes.

I topped it with a squeeze of lime, some fresh basil and served it with rice (cooked with the other half of the ginger root in the pot).

Urban Farming

My friend, Libby, who works at ALOUD @ Central Library, a public lecture series produced by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles recently introduced me to Novella Carpenter, an urban farming hero. She runs a farm called Ghost Town Farm out of a vacant lot in Oakland, California.

Her attitude towards food and farming is both refreshing and inspiring, and her anecdotes describing some of her more unconventional methods are just plain funny.

Click here to listen to a podcast of her fantastic lecture at ALOUD.

It's great food for thought!

For your viewing pleasure, here are some of her happy, healthy animals. Check out more pics on Novella Carpenter's Flikr page.

Friend Share

My dear friend, Lindsey Cash, took home the veggies that didn't get eaten at the dinner party and made another beautiful meal. She used the lettuce, zucchini and broccoli for a truly green salad; made couscous with the garlic and her own locally grown onion and mushrooms, and served it with some delicious Colorado peaches. Yum.

Food SHARE!

I recently had to leave town to visit my family in California. This meant that I would be missing a sumptuous dinner party my girlfriends were throwing. In lieu of my actual presence, I decided to donate that weeks GORGEOUS veggies (lettuces, fennel, garlic, carrots, broccoli, etc.) to the party. My friends made a perfect simple salad and were also kind enough to photograph the bounty (thanks Lib!).

Pan Seared Snapper with Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

I've never been a huge fan of beets, so when I got them I wasn't immediately sure what to do with them. Based on recommendations of friends and the internet I went with a roasted beet and goat cheese salad with a citrus vinaigrette. First, I roasted the beets. Next, I made a vinaigrette out of fresh orange, lemon, and grapefruit juice. I made about twice as much as I needed and used the rest to make a pan sauce for my snapper (more on that later). To assemble the salad I just lightly tossed my gorgeous Abbondanza lettuces with the vinaigrette then topped with beets and crumbled goat cheese.







Next, I pan-seared the snapper in a tiny bit of olive oil for about 2-3 minutes per side. I removed the fish to rest then added some thinly sliced shallots to the hot pan. Next, I added half of my citrus vinaigrette and let it cook down for a couple of minutes. I poured this pan sauce directly over the snapper and finished it with fresh basil.

Hiatus

So I haven't posted on a while for several reasons. Firstly, I was in the middle of a move which sort of made cooking and blogging a little difficult. Secondly, due to an especially rainy summer Abbondanza was unable to move some of their crops from the greenhouse to the field. For this reason they also decided to change to a schedule of pick-ups every other week as opposed to every week.

This meant that I was truly able to see the effect of my local weather on my local food!

So, now I'm playing catch up. Expect posts of a meal made last month (but never blogged about) as well as what friends did with the veggies I shared during the time my kitchen was out of commission...