Summer Squash Enchiladas

This week in my CSA drop, I got two of the cutest zucchini you've ever seen! Zucchini is one type of summer squash (see how much I'm learning from being a CSA member?). Last week, I got two yellow summer squash - so there I was...with four summer squash and a million ways of cooking them. Luckily, I have a cookbook called "The Classic Zucchini Cookbook: 225 Recipes for All Kinds of Squash," and on page 78, there is a recipe for "Summer Squash Enchiladas."The link is to the recipe, but the site credits it to the "Joy of Gardening Cookbook." The only difference I noticed between the one I used and the one online is that the online version calls for vegetable oil (mine used olive oil) and calls for the squash to be steamed before it is added to the onions and garlic (mine just called for it to be added to the onion/garlic mixture).

I just love a shot of the ingredients!

Yes, that's half & half...I don't normally use milk for anything, and the half & half at my market comes in the perfect sized containers, so I went with that. :) If I ever make this again though, I will probably just use milk, because the sauce was too thick. The sautéd squash mixture was delicious by itself, then adding the scrumptious cheese mixture added dimensions of taste and texture.

The sautéd squash

I planned to take pictures of the sautéed squash, the cheese sauce, and then the two mixed together, but in my excitement to get everything together I forgot to shoot them before I mixed them! :(

The baked enchiladas

 I used lavash instead of tortillas (there's a story here, but I won't bore you with it), so rolling the enchiladas was a bit challenging, but it worked ok. There was enough of the squash and cheese mixture left over for my dinner, so I will have to wait until tomorrow to have an enchilada. I'm excited to put tomatoes and sour cream on one and enjoy it! These enchiladas look deeeeeeelicious!

Cabbage Kielbasa (Organic Turkey Sausage) Supper

Ok, so I said I got a head of cabbage with my CSA drop this week, and what better way to eat it than with Kielbasa? I found an easy slow cooker recipe for cabbage Kielbasa supper, so I'm giving it a try. Believe it or not, I've never cooked with cabbage before. Growing up, I associated it with things like sauerkraut and horseradish, and I didn't want to have anything to do with it if I could help it. Funny thing - I love coleslaw, but I didn't know it was made of cabbage when I was younger! As an adult, I never thought you could do much with cabbage other than coleslaw, and that always sounded like a lot of work!

A few weeks ago, I had cabbage and Kielbasa soup for the first time. Tentatively, I dug in, and before you could say "cabbage and Kielbasa," my bowl was empty! I loved it, and it was the first thing I thought of when I chose my head of cabbage on Thursday. Add the bonus of finding a slow cooker recipe, and I'm one very happy girl!

I wasn't about to ruin the organic amazingness of my locally grown cabbage with some random, pre-cooked conventional cow/pork parts ground up and shoved into casings...oh NO! Instead of Kielbasa, I got organic turkey sausage. :) AND...instead of frying it on the stove, I GRILLED it! Since cabbage and potatoes are pretty bland, I figured grilling it would add a really nice taste dimension to the dish (take that, Gordon Ramsay!).

Grilled organic turkey sausage is WAY better than pre-cooked conventional sausage.

Step one: cut the cabbage. Well, um...I figured there's got to be a "best" way of doing this, and thanks to the magic of the interweb, I found this handy tutorial.

I LOVE the step-by-step directions + photos!

Step two: peel and cut the potatoes, chop the onion, and throw everything into the slow cooker!

Um...well...this was JUST the cabbage. See step three.

Step three: take out some of the extra cabbage and replace as the mixture cooks down.

Here is the finished dish - DELICIOUS!

Step four: ENJOY!

Holy Blendtec, Batman!!!

It's here! It's here! It's here!!!!!

I can hardly believe it's finally here - the Blendtec blender I've been lusting over for months and months! I finally broke down and bought it for myself as a sort-of birthday present, so happy birthday to me! So long, Toastmaster - Hellooooooo, Blendtec! I think I'm going to name her Marge, because she's definitely large and in charge!

Isn't she gorgeous?!?!?!

This is not your mother's blender. No...she might have a Vitamix, but she doesn't have a Blendtec...at least not the Wildside, 3 qt BPA-free pitcher, 4" blade, 2 hp, 25 preset cycles, 1560 watt Blendtec. :) Um...yeah...my garage door opener is only 1/2 hp...so this is 4 times more powerful than that!

Marge came with an insane cookbook, too. She can make bread dough! Ice cream, soups, pancake batter, smoothies, about 50 different coffee drinks, the list goes on and on. Oh, and she can grind coffee and flour, turn oats and various nuts into milks, and brush my dog! Ok, I lied about that last one...wishful thinking! Since I bought my Blendtec through Green Smoothie Girl, I got a free copy of her ebook, "12 Steps to Raw Foods," and she's got some great green smoothie recipes I plan to try. The train for Smoothieville is now boarding at gate 7...

Simmons Farm CSA

It wasn't until about a year ago that I first heard the term CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). It's a brilliant concept where (non-farmer-like) people from the community pay a local farmer (up-front) for a share in her/his harvest throughout the growing season. Yes, it can be a little pricey, but I believe it is totally worth every penny (and more!). This year, I'm a member of the Simmons Farm CSA - let me list the reasons why I'm happy to be participating:

• The farm is less than 5 miles from my house (4.6, to be exact);
• The farm has been around since about 1643, and it has stayed in the same family that entire time;
• In 2004, the livestock and the 102 acre farm were certified organic;
• I know my farmer, Karla, on a first-name basis, and she knows me, too;
• I can see where the fruits and veggies are grown;
• I can get organic eggs, cheese, and meat from the farm, too;
• I can meet the animals and see how they are treated;
• I'm exposed to veggies I probably wouldn't eat otherwise;
• I'm learning how to eat what's in season;
• It feels good to support a local, organic, family-run farm!

There are plenty more reasons why I'm so grateful to be participating in the CSA at Simmons Farm this year. Here are some of them:

The week 6 bounty - it's too much to list!

As you may or may not be able to see from the picture, I've got cabbage and zucchini to use this week. I think I will make cabbage Kielbasa supper with the cabbage, but can you believe I've never cooked with cabbage? There will definitely be a blog post about that. :) I thought about baking with the zucchini, roasting it, or even grilling it, but I've got an awesome cookbook called "The Classic Zucchini Cookbook," so I decided to poke around in there to see if anything sounded good. I found a recipe in it for summer squash enchiladas that sounds to die for (maaaaaybe it's all the cheese in the recipe, but who knows!), so watch for that post, too!

A closer look at the AMAZING pork chop that was my meat share this week.

As an add-on to my veggie share, I chose to participate in the meat share, too. Simmons farm also offers egg and cheese share add-ons, but I decided to stick with just veggies and meat. I've already gotten and enjoyed some breakfast sausage (seriously, the BEST sausage I've ever tasted EVER) and some hamburger (oh. my. gawd. best. burgers. ever!). I'm currently hoarding another package of ground beef and a package of sweet Italian sausage in the freezer! I already know what I'm going to do with the sausage...stuffed eggplant...YUMMY!

Gotta run...I've got some cooking to do!

French Press + Iced Coffee = Heaven

For my birthday this year, M got me an awesome gift - a french press! I'll be honest - she got me the 8-cup, which I exchanged for the 12-cup...damn those European cup sizes! Someday I want to try coffee in Europe...a cute little 4 oz. cup of coffee that is really espresso and not coffee. Of course, here in the U.S. we like everything to be bigger and badder, so we'll guzzle 24 oz. of coffee while the rest of the world sips 4 oz. But I digress...

So, now that I have a french press of my very own, I decided to try the DIY iced coffee thing, too. I found a great blog post with the recipe from the NYT that started it all, and it is SO EASY!!!! This recipe says to put in room temperature water and leave it sit over night (or 12 hours). Seriously...it could NOT be easier! It takes a little experimenting to figure out how much ground coffee to use based on the amount of water you add, but it really is a matter of taste. I always use filtered water, and obviously you don't "plunge" the grounds until the next morning after it's sat over night and had a chance to "brew." This results in a very smooth coffee that doesn't have the bitterness or acidity hot coffee can sometimes have. I don't think it requires as much cream/milk or sugar, either.  Ohmygoodnessitissofreakinggood!!!!! :)

The Bodum Chambord 12-cup coffee press...magical!