Cavatelli with Italian Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

Is your broccoli rabe still sitting in your crisper? Mine was this morning. I suggest making this fancy sounding, but actually very easy pasta recipe: Cavatelli with Italian Sausage and Broccoli Rabe.

• 1/2 pound (about 2 cups) dried cavatelli or other small shell-shaped pasta
• 1/2 pound (about 3 links) sweet Italian sausage
• 1 bunch (about 3/4 pound) broccoli rabe, tough and hollow stems discarded, washed well
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 1/4 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

• Accompaniment: freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a kettle of boiling salted water cook pasta until al dente.

While pasta is cooking, squeeze sausage from its casings into a large heavy skillet and sauté over moderately high heat, stirring to break up chunks, until no longer pink. With slotted spoon transfer sausage to a bowl, reserving drippings in skillet.

Cut broccoli rabe into 1-inch pieces and sauté in reserved drippings, stirring occasionally, until it begins to brown. Add garlic and sauté, stirring frequently, 1 minute. Add broth and raisins and simmer until broccoli rabe is just tender, about 3 minutes. Add butter, stirring until incorporated.

Drain pasta and return to kettle. Add broccoli rabe mixture and sausage and heat through if necessary.

Serve pasta with Parmesan.

I ate mine without the Parmesan because (sadly) I am lactose intolerant. It's absolutely delicous without it, though. I suggest adding about half the broth and leaving the rabe a little crunchy.

Pinto Bean, Tomato, and Butternut Squash Soup

This recipe is just perfect for CSA members. We're getting butternut squash and pinto beans today and we picked up basil plants last week. I know I've also got dried red peppers left over from last season, too, if we don't get more with the pinto beans today.

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups canned vegetable broth
2 15-ounce cans pinto beans, drained
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled seeded butternut squash
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

6 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and celery; sauté until onions are golden, about 7 minutes. Add garlic; stir 1 minute. Add broth and next 5 ingredients; bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until squash is tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer 3 cups soup to blender; cool slightly, then puree until smooth. Return puree to pot with soup. Simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle soup into 6 bowls. Sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon basil and serve.

Enjoy!

Turnips!

Enjoy these turnip recipes submitted by two fellow CSA members. Don't toss the turnip greens out either, they are super nutritionally dense (high in vitamins A, C, E, B6 and folate, calcium, and fiber). They are similar to mustard greens in flavor and preparation.

Crunchy Turnip Crumble

several turnips
2 T butter
1 T brown sugar or agave nectar
2 eggs
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t white pepper
fresh nutmeg, grated
for TOPPING, mix together:
whole grain breadcrumbs
2 T melted butter

Boil peeled, chopped turnips until tender. Mash with 2 T butter. Mix dry ingredients with turnips and eggs, well beaten. (Or puree the whole thing in a food processor). Place mixture in a casserole dish and sprinkle with topping. Bake 25 minutes at 350.
(courtesy of CSA member Hilary)

Root Veggies Casserole

6 to 7 med. turnips and/or sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 2 x 3/8inch strips (whatever root veggies you have)
1 sm. onion, chopped
2 lg. carrots, scraped and cut into 2 x 3/8 inch strips
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. frozen English peas, thawed
1 (4 oz.) jar chopped pimento, drained
1 (10 oz.) can cream of chicken soup, undiluted (cream of mushroom if desired)
1 (8 oz.) carton commercial sour cream
1/4 tsp. dried whole basil
1 3/4 c. herb-seasoned stuffing mix (bread crumbs or smashed crackers)
1/4 c. butter, melted

Place the first 4 ingredients in a Dutch oven; cover vegetables with water, and bring to a boil. Cover and cook 5 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender; drain. Add peas and pimiento; set aside.
Combine soup, sour cream, and basil; stir into vegetable mixture.Spoon into a greased 9 inch square baking dish. Combine stuffing mix and butter; spread mixture over casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 25to 30 minutes. Yield: 8 servings.
(courtesy of CSA member Heather Thomas)

Winter Greens

Here is a handy and informative guide to storage, preparation and cooking tips for the winter greens we will be receiving well into Spring. This comes to us courtesy of the Tucson CSA, which uses Crooked Sky Farms as well for their bounty of goodness. Make sure to check out the rest of the website, they have a ton of recipe ideas!

Creamy Thai Acorn Squash Soup

Last time we had acorn squash I made this amazing soup and it is incredibly easy and simple to make. You just roast the squash, add a can of coconut milk, blend with a bit of broth and add a dash of red Thai curry paste and salt to taste. The result is a creamy, sweet, slightly spicy, coconut dream...yum. This soup would work great with any winter squash as well.

Don't toss out the acorn squash seeds either! Scoop them out, rinse, pat dry, toss with a bit of olive oil, salt, maybe some cayenne, and put them on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Roast them at 275 degrees for about 15 minutes. They are delicious on top of this soup or as snack.

Sustainable Seafood

I thought all the seafood eaters out there might be interested in these guides from Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Blue Ocean Institute. They both offer pocket-size guides to eco-friendly sushi and sustainable seafoods. Hope they help educate your seafood selections!

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/download.aspx

http://blueoceaninstitute.org/pdfs/oceanfriendlysushi.pdf

http://www.blueocean.org/files/Seafood_Guide.pdf

Voluntary Simplicity

A fellow member was kind enough to share this with us. Check it out!

Greetings all,

I wanted to let fellow simplicity minded folks that the Northwest Earth Institute offers a newly updated Voluntary Simplicity study guide for individuals and organizations. This new guide covers topics such as the meaning of simplicity, living more with less, how to make a living while also living simply, our relationship to time, and the interface between simplicity and sustainability.

This guide also includes a personal action plan to move you to further action and towards living a lifestyle even more aligned with the value of simplicity. The guide also includes questions for reflection and additional resources.

Please see the attached flyer for a listing of readings included, and feel free to contact me with any questions. Guides are $18 each. Please visit http://www.nwei.org/discussion_courses/course-offerings/voluntary-simplicity for more information, and for a complete listing of our sustainability and simplicity education and empowerment programs.

Warmly, and for the Earth,

Deborah McNamara
Outreach Team Lead
Northwest Earth Institute
(503) 227 2807

Welcome!

Greetings to all fellow Flagstaff CSA members! The intention of this blog is to have a forum where information about food is shared. Specifically, the blog will be about the wonderful veggies we receive each week, but it will also be a place to find out about all the local food and sustainability related happenings in our community (and beyond!). Be sure to check out the links to our favorite food blogs for recipes a' plenty and the links to our local food sites. Please post comments and email at flagcsarecipes@gmail.com! This blog is designed with the Flag CSA folks in mind so, if you don't like what you see (or do!), let us know! So, to begin us on our journey...

CSA member Betsy Buford is sharing a recipe for a wheat berry salad. She thought some members might still have some kickin' around the pantry from a few weeks ago. Thanks Betsy!

1 cup hard winter wheatberries
Kosher salt
1 cup finely diced red onion (1 onion)
6 tablespoons good olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 scallions, minced, white and green parts
1/2 red bell pepper, small diced
1 carrot, small diced
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place the wheatberries and 3 cups of boiling salted water in a saucepan and cook, uncovered, over low heat for approximately 45 minutes, or until they are soft. Drain.

Saute the red onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat until translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the remaining 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) of olive oil and the balsamic vinegar.

In a large bowl, combine the warm wheatberries, sauteed onions, scallions, red bell pepper, carrot, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the pepper.

Allow the salad to sit for at least 30 minutes for the wheatberries to absorb the sauce. Season, to taste, and serve at room temperature.
(courtesy of foodnetwork.com)