It’s Week 19 of Dinner Plans and inspiration is finding us in every space!
This week I had the chance to attend the Reel Taste Film Awards at CIA at Copia where I was immersed in all things food. From the Chef's Table: Legends Q&A accompanied by a multi-course, wine-paired, dinner featuring dishes from the notable chefs featured in this mini docu-series to the engaging cooking class featuring Julia Child's classic recipes, these were two days filled with inspiration. It filled my cup in ways I might have needed now. Now, back in the kitchen, I'm mastering salad dressings and adding Duck a l'Orange and Tarte Tatin to dishes I want to hone.
Seasonal Cooking Tip: Springtime Alliums
When it comes to seasonal cooking, this year I'm sharing a weekly tip here focused on preparing ingredients, preserving foods, and kitchen hacks that help you save time.
This week we're talking about the aromatic spring onions. This type of allium is an onion that's harvested before the bulb grows larger. Given their flavor is more mild than a traditional onion, it adds a deliciously delicate flavor to a variety of our favorite spring time dishes. I personally love slicing the white and green parts of the spring onion, or scallion, and cook them alongside seasonal greens in place of onion or shallot. I'll use them in a quiche, this breakfast strata, or even in this colcannon alongside braised lamb shanks.
One fun kitchen tip for extending the life of your farmers market scallions: cut the root ends of your scallions or spring onions and place them in a small jar of water, keeping the roots submerged. Place your jar in a sunny spot in your kitchen or windowsill. Within a few days, green shoots will emerge allowing us to use our spring onions once more. I usually can do this about 3 or 4 times before production slows and it's time to compost them.
Dinner Plans for Week 19
Loads of leafy greens, springtime turnips and radishes, and plenty more citrus for marmalade and curds. I've got a few Napoli carrots remaining that I'll use in a soup and the turnips will be used both in a braise and in a soup with potato and leek. I'm craving tostadas this week so off to the farmers market we'll go for some oyster and maitake mushrooms. I will also pick up leeks for soup. A DIY salad mix is definitely on the meal prep to-do list given the argula, and various leaf lettuce varieties. Lunch salads will definitely be on repeat.
Here’s what we received from our CSA shares this week:
Riverdog Farm:
- Gold Oak Gold Nugget Mandarins
- Arugula
- Cilantro
- Chard
- Mixed lettuce varieties
- Beets
Stepping Stone Farm:
- Hakurei Turnips
- Bacchus Radish
- Esmee Arugula
- Cegolaine Lettuce (a butter/bib lettuce variety)
- Green Garlic
- Spring Herb Mix
- Amazake Gochujang
Our Game Plan for Dinner this Week:
Sunday: Sunday Lasagna using the Chard and Ground Beef
Monday: Salade Niçoise (pg. 542) from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Tuesday: Crispy Marinated Oyster Mushroom Tacos or Tostadas
Wednesday: Arugula Pesto with Roast Salmon or Roast Turkey Breast
Thursday: Pan Braised Turnips with Gochujang (Patrick's recipe from this week's Stepping Stone Farm CSA Newsletter) with Broiled Fish
Friday: Fish in Parchment with Fennel and Citrus
Saturday: Pizza Picnic with Kalamata Olive, Sausage, Caramelized Shallots, and Soppressata
From favorite recipes to new meal ideas using a wide variety of ingredients, cooking delicious food with our CSA definitely gets us out of a dinner rut while reducing food waste. I share meal ideas for our busy weeks with our weekly newsletter. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to be in the know when they’re live. 😉
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