Toast the almonds for a few minutes in a single layer over medium heat, being careful not to burn. Steam beans in vegetable steamer over boiling water, for 5-7 minutes. Immediately toss beans with butter, almonds, and thyme. Squeeze the half-lemon over the beans. Salt to taste.
Boil a large pot of water. Throw in cippolines for just one minute to blanch them, then remove and set aside to cool.
Cover beans by 1 inch with cold water, add a pinch of salt and cook at a bare simmer, covered but vented until beans are cooked—about 1⁄2 an hour for canned, 1 hour for dried. While beans are cooking, remove skin from blanched cippoline (it should just peel off) and put the cippoline and tomatoes into a 9 x 13 baking dish, toss with olive oil and salt. Roast, uncovered, at 500 degrees, for 30-45 minutes, until the tomatoes are browned and falling apart. Mix onion/tomato mixture and all juices (these are delicious!) with beans in a large bowl. Sprinkle with chopped basil. Serves 4.
*Hint: If you have leftovers, they are great pureed in the food processor and served on toasted baguette as a white bean bruschetta.
Adapted from Gourmet and smittenkitchen.com
For those of you who don’t like mayonnaise, here is my favorite non-mayo potato salad.
Dressing:
Put the potatoes (skins left on) in a large pot and cover with water by a few inches. Add a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes, until potatoes can be easily pierced through with a fork. While potatoes are cooking, dice the other vegetables. Put dressing ingredients into small mixing bowl and whisk until emulsified. (If they separate, just give another quick whisk before adding to the salad.) Mix potatoes, other veggies, and dressing in a large bowl so that potatoes crumble a bit, but not so much that it turns to mush.. Salt & pepper to taste. Chill for an hour or so before serving.
*For meat-eaters, this is also good with 3 or 4 slices of crispy bacon crumbled in.
This makes enough for 1 pound of any shredded cabbage or kohlrabi. Add shredded carrots, chopped radishes, and/or diced celery for more flavor and texture, if you want.
Whisk together buttermilk, oil, vinegar, shallot, sugar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until sugar has dissolved, then whisk in chives. Toss with cabbage and whatever other vegetables you want to add. Delicious as a side, and also fantastic as a condiment on grilled sausages, hot dogs, veggie dogs.
Adapted from Gourmet.
It wasn’t so long ago that baby spinach so artfully packaged in clamshell plastic containers in the produce section of fancy food markets was the height of green delight. But on a recent trip to San Francisco, I spied multi-hued amaranth, pumpkin blossoms and yam shoots at a farmer’s market in Marin County. And each week, the offerings of greens from our own CSA grow increasingly diverse.
Mild flavored greens include spinach, collards, chard, bok choy, pak choi, and beet greens; stronger flavored greens include mustard, arugula, kale, mizuna and turnip greens. By weight, greens offer significant nutritional benefit, as they are high in fiber, calcium, iron, protein and folic acid. Members of the cabbage family (collards, kale, choy) are also high in vitamin C.
Most greens can be stored in the refrigerator for several days, wrapped in a damp kitchen towel and placed in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. (Alternatively, they can be stored wrapped in a paper towel and loosely packaged in a plastic bag.) Greens begin to wilt after picking, so if you plan to use them raw, refresh the greens in a bowl of ice water, which will restore their “snap”. The more tender the leaf, the quicker they wilt, so plan your meals accordingly.
To prepare greens for cooking, separate any tough stems from the leaves (these can be cooked separately) and discard any bruised leaves. Rinse all greens well in several changes of water to free up any dirt that may cling to the leaves.
A few thoughts on what to do with your CSA greens:
Another great way to use greens – or just about any other vegetable from your CSA distribution – is as a bruschetta topping. Bruschetta can be as simple or as imaginative as your energy and pantry allow, so enjoy some experimentation!
Basic bruschetta: Slice a generous piece of sourdough bread and toast or grill on both sides. Rub one side with a cut clove of garlic and brush with a good quality olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Possible toppings:
Roasted zucchini – cut zucchini lengthwise and then slice into thin half-moons. Toss with olive oil and roast or sauté until golden brown. Season with red chile and mint, and spoon over bruschetts. OR… prepare zucchini as above, but dress instead with lemon zest, tarragon and generous shavings of ricotta salata.
Swiss chard & chickpeas – drain canned chickpeas and rinse well. Sauté in a small amount of olive oil with a clove of chopped garlic and coarsely mash with a fork. Sauté swiss chard in olive oil until quite soft but still bright green; season with salt and pepper. Spread chickpea puree over bruschetta and top with cooked chard.
Kale with olives – boil a pot of water over high heat and season generously with salt. Blanch kale: add leaves to boiling water and cook for 2 – 4 minutes, until softened. Transfer kale to bowl of ice water and, once cool, drain in colander. Squeeze remaining liquid from kale, coarsely chop, and toss with sliced marinated olives. Spoon over bruschetta. Alternatively, mash cannelini beans (as described with chickpeas above) and make kale / cannelini bruschetta.
Fit for guests – spread dollops of creamy cheese (brie is a good choice; ricotta also works) on bruschetta and top with arugula dressed with lemon juice or vinegar, salt and pepper.
Just like Nonna used to make – coarsely chop fresh tomatoes and toss with minced garlic, basil, salt and pepper. Spoon over bruschetta. Need we mention this is good with mozzarella?
