CSA Weeks 2 & 3: Rhubarb Pork Chops and Stuffed Butternut Squash

In week 2 of our CSA, we got:

• scallions
• radishes
• rhubarb
• head of lettuce
• mint (we gave this to our share partners for their mohitos)
• collard greens
• spinach

In light of our Memorial Day travel plans, I kept this week's menu fairly simple:

• Wednesday: Stuffed butternut squash, cooked in the solar oven (recipe to follow), with leftover green beans
• Thursday: Leftover coconut curried tofu with rice
• Friday: Leftover butternut squash, with green salad
• Saturday: [travel]
• Sunday: [travel]
• Monday: Catfish parmesan with sweet potato and spinach risotto
• Tuesday: Ditto

Because we'll be traveling this coming weekend and next week as well, I asked our share partners to take our whole box on Wednesday. Now we only have to concentrate on using vegetables from the previous box. Here's this week's abbreviated menu plan:

• Wednesday: Rhubarb and pork chop casserole and citrus collards with raisins
• Thursday: Ditto
• Friday: [date night]
• Saturday-Thursday: [travel]

Last week's stuffed butternut squash was a smashing success, from the adults' point of view, anyway - J turned up her nose at it, which was a mystery, since she normally loves couscous! I adapted it from a recipe in the Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker cookbook. I had about 1 cup of stuffing left over, which I froze; it will work its way into something else eventually. (I also omitted the cup of water in the pan - Wednesday was such a sunny day that my solar oven was at 350 degrees, so I figured (correctly) that the squash would cook quickly and remain moist even without the water.) I'll make this one again!

Butternut Squash Stuffed With Couscous, Apples, Raisins, and Pinenuts

1/4 c raisins
1 to 2 T margarine
1 sm onion or 1/2 lg onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 apple, peeled and cut into smallish dice
1/3 c pinenuts
1/4 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground allspice
2 c leftover couscous
salt and pepper to taste
1 butternut squash (or other winter squash), halved and seeded
1 c hot water

1. Put the raisins in water to cover; set them aside to plump.

2. Melt the margarine in a small frying pan. Add the onion and garlic, and saute a minute or two. Drain the raisins, reserving the water. Add the raisins and apple, and saute another minute or two; apple should still be firm. Add the cinnamon, allspice, and pinenuts, and saute another minute or two; pinenuts should be plumped and golden, but not browned or burned.

3. In a mixing bowl, fluff the couscous with a fork. Add the frying pan mixture (if desired, take a little of the raisin water and use it to "deglaze" the frying pan; add flavored water to mixing bowl as well). Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and toss everything together.

4. If your squash is lopsided, cut a sliver from the bottom so it will sit flat. Place the squash halves, cut side up, in a slow cooker (or in the solar oven pan). Pack the stuffing into the squash halves. Carefully pur the hot water into the cooker (or pan) without disturbing the squash. Cover cooker (or cover pan and place in preheated solar oven) and cook on Low (or as the sun permits) until the squash is tender, about 6 hours (or less, if your solar oven temperature exceeds 200 degrees). Serve hot.

CSA Week 1: A Vegetarian Week

Last week was the first week of the Sandy Spring CSA! In our boxes, we got:

• asparagus
• rhubarb
• salad mix
• a head of lettuce
• spring onions
• baby spinach
• regular spinach
• radishes
• mint

The CSA pickup is now on Wednesdays, so my menu planning now starts midweek, rather than on a Monday the way it did last year. It's a little odd, but we'll adjust.

In trying to shave a little off our grocery bill this week, I made it an all-vegetarian week.

• Wednesday - shell pasta and spaghetti sauce and green beans

I needed a quick dinner, and this let me use up the green beans, which were the last of the farmer's market veggies (had to clear the decks for CSA veggies!)

• Thursday - Indonesian squash and spinach soup (Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant) with a dollup of sushi rice, plus some (vegan) sour cream

I had butternut squash cubes left over from an earlier dish. I halved the recipe, and saved 1/2 c of coconut milk for the curried tofu on Sunday.

• Friday - [date night]
• Saturday - asparagus, carrot, and egg maki, plus green salad topped with asparagus, egg, and strawberry slices

This used up the leftover sushi rice from Thursday, as well as 3 old nori wrappers that had been hanging out for far too long. Everything was a big hit with J!

• Sunday - coconut curried shrimp with radish wedges, over white rice

I had no shrimp, so I used tofu, which I marinated for a half hour in 2 T olive oil, 3 T lime juice, 1 t curry powder, and 1 t soy sauce while I prepared the other ingredients. I didn't have quite enough radishes, so I sliced up a carrot, and threw in the last of the steamed asparagus from the sushi. It was tasty, but very lime-heavy; next time I'll add another flavor to the sauce - maybe fish sauce, or peanut butter, or mandarin oranges, any of which would fit the Thai-style curry. On the positive side, J ate the tofu and every radish piece we could give her - hooray for adding another vegetable to that slim repertoire of hers!

• Monday - [preschool potluck]

I did make a greens quiche to take to our friends P and V, who just had their baby girl - that used up the scallions and the rest of the spinach quite neatly.

• Tuesday - curry-spiced lentils and spinach topped with chopped tomato and mint and (vegan) sour cream, served over half a baked potato, with green salad

This is a crockpot recipe that I cooked in the solar oven, on Monday actually. I added in 2 oz. chopped fresh spinach at the end, rather than 10 oz. frozen spinach at the beginning, so it was a good deal less spinach-y than was probably intended. The tomato and especially the fresh mint changed the dish from ho-hum to extraordinary!

So, after working furiously to clear the decks for the next load of veggies (especially since we're travelling this weekend and next weekend), I have a little lettuce and salad greens left, and all the rhubarb, which hopefully will keep a little while. Whew!