Last night's dinner was not super exciting, but it was very tasty! Since this blog is meant to show what you can do with everything you might get in your CSA basket, I have to discuss salad. You can make a salad into a meal and it is one of the easier meals to prepare.
I seasoned a chicken breast - use whatever you like, I used poultry seasoning, dried thyme and black pepper - and grilled it to make it healthier than baking. While it was grilling I chopped up some tomato and cucumber, and washed all the greens - arugula, mizuna, spinach and green leaf lettuce. All the greens went into a salad bowl and I mixed them up, then added the tomatoes and cucumber, some sliced toasted almonds, feta cheese crumbles, homemade salad dressing (the CSA recipe of the week last week), then added the sliced grilled chicken on top. Though it seemed like "only" a salad, it was delicious! I didn't take a picture, but you know what this would look like. The trick is to try to stay away from salt when seasoning the chicken, take it easy with the dressing, and don't be tempted to add bread or other carb-y starchy foods with it, and this can be a very healthy but satisfying meal. Yum!
My CSA recipe from last night: Eggplant parm pasta bake
ReplyDeleteCSA veg: 3 eggplants, 1/2 onion, 15 leaves of basil
Larder: 1/2 lb Ziti pasta (or similar) 1 can tomato paste, one can chopped tomatoes, garlic, mozzarella, red wine, spices
Sauce: Heat a dollop of olive oil in a steep walled saucepan, saute onions, add garlic, and add tomato paste before garlic browns. Mix it all up and toast paste, salt & pepper and then add chopped tomatoes, 1 can water, seasoning (rosemary basil oregano) and red wine. Cook to desired consistency. Feel free to add carrots, peppers, whatever but adjust cooking time accordingly. Or just buy a bottle of sauce...
Eggplant. slice, layer on paper towels on top of cutting boards, salt generously and put a heavy book on top to leach out water. rinse, dry, pat with flour (or breadcrumbs, maybe egg batter?) and saute in olive oil until lightly browned.
cook pasta about 1/2 way (muy al dente), sprinkle with olive oil and layer in bottom of baking pan (i prefer glass/ceramic). Cover with sauce and a little water (it should be juicy because the pasta will soak it up) and a layer of cheese. Cover the top of that with eggplant, sauce and cheese.
Cover with aluminium foil and bake for 30 mins at 400, then uncover to toast cheese.
This is a good one to make up ahead of time and stick in the fridge, just pop in the oven when your guests arrive! I would like to try a pesto version as well and a layer of ricotta (w/ 1 egg and parsley) might make for a nice faux lasaga.
Sounds awesome, thanks Bryan! I'll let you know if I try it. Also like the idea of making it ahead of time, for nights when I get home too late to spend much time cooking.
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