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.

Sweet Potato Pie

In honor of Thanksgiving, here's my favorite sweet potato pie recipe, adapted from this one at Allrecipes. I actually prefer it to pumpkin pie!


Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients:

1 1-lb sweet potato (or a 1-lb portion of a larger sweet potato)
1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c evaporated milk (or regular milk if you don't have evaporated)
2 eggs
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t ground ginger
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1 t vanilla extract
2 T lemon juice
1 - 2 T flour
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust


If using a whole sweet potato, pierce it several times with a fork and microwave 5-8 minutes until soft, turning over halfway through cooking time. Peel and mash. If using a portion of a larger potato, peel and cube the potato in 1/2 inch cubes, then steam a few minutes until soft. Mash with a potato masher.

To mashed potato, add butter, then mix well with mixer. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, spices, vanilla, and lemon juice. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Add 1 T flour, then beat again; if mixture looks too liquidy, repeat with another 1 T flour. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a souffle, and then sink down as it cools.

Sandy Spring CSA: Fall Season Begins

The Fall season of the Sandy Spring CSA started this week. We got:

• Swiss chard
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Turnips
• Red Delicious apples
• Mustard greens
• Butternut squash

I gave our share partners the squash, in exchange for all the broccoli and carrots. This past spring, when we had put compost on our front flower beds, we got some "volunteer" vegetables growing due to lingering seeds in the compost - so we actually have a volunteer butternut squash that is ready for harvest now!

For this week's menu, I'm actually still working through some of the previous CSA vegetables.

• Monday: baked chicken with lemon and herbs, with leftover rice and leftover veggie stir fry
• Tuesday: [dish for our weekly potluck] beets and carrots with West Indian spices
• Wednesday: the rest of the chicken, the rest of the beets, and mashed potatoes
• Thursday: lima bean casserole (Joy of Cooking) and sweet potato stuffing (Vegetarian Times Cookbook) with tomato gravy (Vegetarian Times Cookbook)
• Friday: [date night]
• Saturday: ditto Thursday, with the addition of a green salad
  
• Sunday: butternut squash and pear soup, either broccoli or salad, and tofu turnovers (Cooking with Tofu)

The sweet potato, the broccoli, and the salad greens are from last week's CSA box, and the potatoes, the tomatoes, and the pears are from the farmer's market this past Saturday.

As for this week's produce, I may make another greens quiche to freeze. I'm thinking I may do another stirfry with the broccoli and carrots. Then for the turnips, there's a wonderful recipe that my husband invented with turnips, pears, and sausages, that I'm looking forward to trying again.