Sustenance, CSA Cooking, a Weekly (or bi-weekly) Dish - July 4 & 11, 2018

Got borscht?

No but I have these bodacious roasted beets with tzatziki sauce.

Food styling from our CSA boxes the last couple of weeks from Pleasant Hill Produce.

Baked Kale and eggs — Whatever shall we do about the kale? Kale, egg, cheese and bread cubes bake. I pretty much bastardized a breakfast strata recipe for this. The trick I have found with kale is sauteing with garlic and / or onion and lots of pepper, salt to taste. This reduces what I have come to call the “gamey” nature of kale. It’s good, but a little too strong for some folks.

Baked kale and eggs with cheese — The baked kale & egg is topped with any kind of cheese. This one I made for a vegan safe meal so the “cheese” is a vegan “cheddar” variety.

kolrahbi and carrot slaw — Kolrabi and carrot slaw, with lemon and olive oil dressing. Salt and pepper.

Table is set for one of my Tiny Planet Focus Groups—Tiny Luncheons. Lots of things to sample from my CSA repertoire as well.

close up of table — Close up of a few of the things for lunch—Baked kale and egg, “feta” tofu, kohlrabi & carrot slaw, roasted beets and tzatziki sauce

Tiny Luncheons

If you have read this far and wonder… “what is this Tiny Luncheon business?” Well, please send me a query with the Contact Us form and I will send you information. You can come to lunch if you are around on one of the dates this summer and are willing to be part of a focus group conversation about my Tiny Planet items. Oh, and to taste some of the things I have been making with the CSA produce!

I am having one a week through August, 2018, first come first served.

There is a survey to take as well. Click here for the Survey Link.

You didn’t think I forgot the eggs and the awesome summer tomatoes, did you?

green chili crustless quiche — My sister’s green chili crust less quiche. A sinful concoction of egg and cheese and deliciousness. We wound up ahead of the game on eggs this week and this beauty takes 10 of them!. I have added my sister’s recipe below.

tomato tart — If you have never had tomato pie you don’t know what you’re missing!. These tomatoes became a tart ’cause I had the puff pastry in the freezer and enough other food for a meal that we didn’t need a whole pie. The tomatoes are on top of a basic tomato pie filling, mostly cheddar cheese, but not a lot of it. Just enough to cover the puff pastry. Baking tomatoes this way really brings out a deep flavor.

Nancy Butler’s Green Chile Crustless Quiche10 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup flour (for Gluten free, use Brown Rice flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound large-curd cottage cheese
3 4-ounce cans (12 ounces) diced green chiles
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pound mozzarella cheese, gratedWhip eggs in a mixing bowl until fluffy. Whisk in the melted butter, flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the cottage cheese, chiles, black pepper and half the mozzarella.

Place the mixture in a greased 13 x 9- inch glass baking dish. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake in a preheated 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and continue to bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the eggs are set and the top is lightly browned. Allow to cool a bit and cut into squares.

Dorothea’s Tzatziki Sauce
Tzatziki Sauce

First—Make yogurt cheese:
Place 1 quart non fat plain yogurt (not Greek style, just the regular yogurt) in fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth lined colander set over a bowl.
Let drain for at least one hour, two or more is better. Discard the liquid.
Note: I use regular yogurt, rather than Greek Style, because I like the resulting “yogurt cheese” texture better for this dish. All experiments are good, try it often and see what you prefer!

For the tzatziki sauce:
½ recipe yogurt cheese
1 cucumber peeled, halved, seeded and then grated on a medium – holed grater
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste
1 – 5 or more cap fulls of red wine vinegar, Note: I started using the vinegar bottle cap because it was an easy way to add a bit at a time. Measuring by taste is really a better plan with this sauce : )

salt and pepper to taste
olive oil for drizzling

Mix all ingredients except the olive oil in a medium bowl; cover and refridgerate. Can be refridgerated over night.

Transfer to a serving bowl, drizzle with olive oil and serve.
Note: it’s only worth drizzling olive oil if you have really good oil, if it does not have much flavor don’t bother.