CSA - Week 10

In CSA Share Week 10 (halfway!) I received kale, corn, tomatoes, banana peppers, serrano peppers, purple potatoes, eggs, cantaloupe, yellow squash, and cucumber.

I made the following recipes:

Cantaloupe and Prosciutto Appetizer - see an upcoming Italian appetizers post for the details
Kale Chips
Corn Fritters
Tasty Frittata


Roasting vegetables with oil always yields yummy results. These kale chips were great, though they're very fragile and almost dissolve in your mouth. This is an easy, no-coaxing-required way to eat a very healthy vegetable.

Kale Chips

1 bunch kale
olive oil
good-quality coarse salt

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Wash kale and dry it in a salad spinner or between tea towels. (Extra moisture will keep them from getting nice and crispy.) Cut or pull out the tough stems, tear the leaves into chip-sized pieces and spread out on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and toss with your hands to coat well; arrange in a single layer and sprinkle with salt.

Roast for about 10 minutes, until crispy and starting to turn brown on the edges, but not too dark. Serve immediately or cool completely and store in an airtight container until ready to serve.

I don't think I've ever had corn fritters before. They're an easy way to eat more vegetables. They're supposed to be fried, but I used a very shallow layer of oil to cook them instead of immersing them in oil. These fritters are dominated mostly by the corn, even though other flavors are added to the batter. Serve with sour cream.

Corn Fritters
adapted from veggienumnum.com

1 cup flour
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp brown sugar
2 eggs
½ cup milk
3 cobs of corn (3 cups of corn kernels)
1 cup peas
½ red bell pepper, diced
2 green onions, finely diced
1-2 tbsp cilantro or parsley, roughly chopped
1 tsp salt
vegetable oil for frying

Sift the flour into a large bowl, stir in the paprika and sugar and make a well in the center.

Whisk the two eggs with the milk in a separate bowl. Gradually add the egg mixture to the flour stirring until it forms a stiff batter.

Remove the kernels from the corn cobs and in a large bowl combine them with the remaining fresh ingredients.

Gently fold the batter into the corn mixture until well combined.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil over a medium heat in a large fry pan.

Drop heaped tablespoons of batter into the hot oil, cook on either side for a few minutes until crisp and golden. Remove from the heat and keep warm while you cook the remainder adding a little more oil when needed.

I love eggs and this frittata is super tasty, but that's to be expected coming from 101cookbooks. I used the purple potatoes in this frittata for a pretty twist.

Toasting the pumpkin seeds (also called pepitas) is a must. To toast the seeds, place in an ungreased skillet on medium-high heat. Stir frequently. The seeds will toast in just a few minutes - they actually pop and puff up slightly and get golden brown.

A Tasty Frittata
from 101cookbooks.com

Cilantro Chile Sauce
2 large cloves garlic
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 small bunch cilantro
1 green (serrano) chile, seeds removed
2 pinches ground cumin
a couple big pinches of salt

Frittata
6 large organic eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 small potatoes, very very thinly sliced
1/2 cup yellow zucchini or cauliflower, 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
couple pinches of salt

Preheat your oven to 450F degrees. Make the cilantro chile sauce by pureeing the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, cilantro, chile, cumin, and salt until very smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed. Set aside.

In a medium bowl whisk the eggs with a small pinch of salt. Set aside. In a (small) 8 1/2-inch ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat add the olive oil, onion, and another pinch of salt. Saute, stirring constantly, until the onion starts to brown, 5 - 7 minutes. Add the potatoes and zucchini (or cauliflower), cover, and cook for another 3 minutes or so. Slide everything out of the skillet onto a plate and set aside.

Turn down the heat a bit. Using the same skillet, add the eggs and cook over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes or until the eggs are just set and there isn't a lot of liquid running around the pan. To facilitate this, run a spatula underneath the sides of the frittata and tilt the pan so the uncooked eggs run to the underside and cook. Drizzle the eggs with a few tablespoons of the cilantro chile sauce, now sprinkle the potato onion mixture over the top.

Place the skillet in the oven and bake for about 9 minutes, or until well set and puffy. Add a crumble of goat cheese and the pumpkin seeds across the top of the frittata in the final 2 minutes of baking. Remove from oven (be careful the handle is hot!), cut into wedges and serve.

Serves 2 to 4.