Recipes for CSA Week 6

Fava Bean and New Potato Pasta “Risotto” with Basil
Green Salad with Fava Beans, Scallions and Basil (link to last week’s salad)
Bok Choi Stir Fry with Rice
Chard, Herb-roasted Chicken and Potatoes with Scallion Mint (or Basil) Vinaigrette
Ginger Scallion Sauce

Fava Bean and New Potato Pasta “Risotto” with Basil

This comes together very quickly and even shelling and blanching the favas doesn’t take very long and the reward that awaits you is worth is many times over.

Serves 4

1 – 11/2 cups shelled blanched fava beans (shell and cook in salted boiling water for 4-5 minutes, drain, run under cold water and pinch of skin from each bean)
½ onion, diced
1 – 1 1/2 cups scrubbed, diced new potatoes
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1 1/3 cup tubetti, sometimes called salad macaroni (or ditalini or other small pasta)
4 cups flavorful vegetable broth (homemade veggie bouillon broth) or chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or other hard, grating cheese (Asiago Stella is a good, cheaper alternative)
Salt
Plenty of freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped basil

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, potatoes and a few pinches of salt and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring often. You may need to reduce the heat a bit. Now add the broth or stock and bring to a boil. Add the pasta, stirring well and then simmer for about 10 minutes uncovered. Now add the blanched, shelled fava beans, and cook for another 3-4 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed. At this point add the cream and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Cook uncovered for about 3 minutes until it thickens slightly.

Stir in the Parmesan and the basil and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Green Salad with Fava Beans, Scallions and Basil (link to last week’s salad)

I think last week’s Green Salad would be spectacular with the addition of some of this week’s lava beans.

Shell the lava beans and cook them in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Rinse in cold water and then pinch the skins of each bean and toss with the salad.

Bok Choi Stir Fry over Rice

This is a delicious way to prepare bok choi. And the sauce works beautifully for any other quick vegetable stir fries as well.

Serves 3-ish

1 large head bok choi, stalks separated and wash and stems and leaves cut into 1-inch or so ribbons/slices
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 scant tablespoon minced or grated fresh ginger
3/4 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, crushed a bit
2 whole star anise
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 ½ tablespoons Chinese rice cooking wine (Mirin) or dry sherry
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar 

Steamed rice for serving

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt lightly.

Meanwhile heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and add the garlic, ginger, star anise and crushed pepper corns and sauté for a minute or two until very fragrant and just starting to brown, stirring often.  Add the remainder of the ingredients and bring to a simmer and cook for about 4-5 minutes at a simmer. Scrape all of the sauce out of the sauce pan and transfer to a wok or large skillet.

Drop the bok choi into the boiling water and cook for about 3-5 minutes—taste after 2 minutes. The length of time will depend on the size of your pot/amount of water and strength of burner. Drain the bok choi and add it to the sauce in the skillet. Cook over high heat for just 1 minute or so to combine well. Serve hot over rice.

Chard, Herb-roasted Chicken and Potatoes with Scallion Mint (or Basil) Vinaigrette

This is the loveliest platter of food—blanched chard and roasted chicken are dressed with the same, lemony, minty (or basil-y) scallion vinaigrette. You can also roast the potatoes and cook the chard and use perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs (cover eggs generously with cold water, bring to a boil, turn off heat and let sit in hot water for 8-9 minutes, drain and rinse in cold water) instead of chicken or you could use canned Oregon Albacore. The dressing is really what ties all together.

Serves 4

3 tablespoons sage, finely chopped
2 tablespoons rosemary, finely chopped
1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
1 large bone-in chicken breast half, preferably at room temperature (use eggs or Tuna instead—see headnote)
2 tablespoons olive oil
6-7 medium potatoes, well scrubbed and cut into thumb-sized chunks
1/3 cup water
1 large bunch chard, well washed and stems separated from leaves

Dressing

2-3 scallions, thinly sliced (greens and all)
Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
6 tablespoons good olive oil (use the best you have)
8 sprigs mint, leaves picked and finely chopped or 1/3 – ½ cup finely chopped basil or a combination of the two
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450.

Mix the chopped rosemary, sage and salt with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small bowl. Dry the chicken breast well. Use about half the herb mixture to cover the chicken on all sides, using your hands to thoroughly cover.  Place chicken in an 8” x 13” baking dish.

Toss the potatoes with the remaining herb mixture and arrange the potatoes around the chicken. Add the 1/3 cup water and roast for 35 – 45 minutes. You can test the chicken by carefully cutting into the thickest part of the breast and checking for any pink flesh.

Meanwhile, stir together all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning for salt. It should be quite tart so don’t be shy with the lemon juice.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (use about 1 tablespoon of salt for 3 quarts of water). Chop the chard stems into 1-inch pieces. Pile the chard leaves on top of each other and cut the leaves lengthwise once or twice (depending on how big the leaves are) and then cross-wise four or five times.

Add just the chard stems to the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes, then add the chard leaves and cook for another 2 minutes. Drain well and press out as much moisture as you can against the side of the colander. Return the chard and stems to the pan and cover to keep warm.

When the chicken is done carve the breast into slices. You might need to use your hands to carefully loosen the bottom of the slices from the breastbone. Arrange the chicken on a large platter with the potatoes and the chard and drizzle the chard and chicken generously with the shallot vinaigrette. You can certainly dress the potatoes too, if you have plenty of dressing.

Ginger Scallion Sauce
–from LottieandDoof.com

This is such a quick recipe and makes plenty of sauce to have on hand to enhance anything from chicken to eggs to pasta or any grain or vegetable. . ..Halve the recipe if you’d like.

2 bunches of scallions (about 6 ounces) washed, trimmed and dried and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 ounces of ginger, peeled and cut into chunks
Salt (2 ½ teaspoons or so sea salt—less if it’s very fine grain)
1 cup sunflower oil (or other neutral-ish vegetable oil that handles heat well)
Very small splash of sesame oil (optional)

Put the scallions into a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped but not pureed.  Put the scallions in a large heatproof bowl or pot. Now add the ginger to the food processor and process until it is finely chopped. Add the ginger to the heatproof bowl with the scallions. Salt the scallion-ginger mixture and use more salt than you think is good. You can of course add more later if it’s not bright enough.

Now, heat the peanut oil in a saucepan until it is very hot. Just as it starts to smoke, pour the hot oil over the scallions and ginger. As noted by the original author, Francis Lam: “things are about to get real. When you pour the insanely hot oil over the scallions and ginger and salt it is going to steam and hiss and bubble and scare you. Keep your wits about you! Be careful! Wear long sleeves!”

Let the mixture cool in the bowl and then transfer it to a jar and refrigerate. Use it however you like. It is best at room temperature so be sure to take out however much you want to use well before serving.