The chickpea and greens recipe might sound plain but it’s a lovely and complex dish especially when made with home-cooked chickpeas. And the Bruschetta with grilled peaches and basil is so simple and rather impressive looking and tasting. I make dinner of it these days. Happy cooking!
Bruschetta with Goat Cheese, Grilled Peaches and Basil
Summer Vegetable Curry (Greens Beans or Eggplant, Carrots, etc.)
Chickpeas with Greens
Chard Stem Gratin
Cucumber and Onion Salad
Summer Squash “Butter” with Herbs
Roasted Torpedo Onions with Bay and Thyme
Bruschetta with Fresh Goat Cheese, Basil and Grilled Peaches
Peaches and basil are a great combination and it’s simple, gorgeous and delicious.
Serves 5 as a side/starter
5 good crusty slices of bread, toasted or grilled
3-4 ounces fresh goat’s cheese (or fresh ricotta or some other mild, spreadable cheese)
Handful of whole basil leaves
1-2 large peaches, washed but not peeled
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Good olive oil
A little balsamic vinegar
Set your oven to broil or turn on/light your grill. Slice the unpeeled peaches into 1/4-inch thick slices, working your way around the peach vertically. Spread the peach slices on a cookie sheet and broil for about 5minutes until browning in a few spots. You don’t want them to fall apart or burn so watch closely. Alternatively grill on foil on a grill.
Cut your slices of toasted bread in halves or thirds. Spread generously with goat cheese and cover cheese with slices of grilled peaches. Salt and pepper the bruschetta at this point and drizzle with a little good olive oil. Then top with the basil leaves and a very light drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Enjoy!
Summer Vegetable Curry
–adapted from 101cookbooks.com
This is similar to my standard green curry and if you by chance made the green curry paste last week and have some leftover it would be perfect here. Otherwise use a store bought version (Thai and True is a good local brand). This recipe is a great way to use the small-ish quantity of beans or eggplant in this week’s share.
1 14-ounce can coconut milk (full fat preferably but lite will work)
1 onion, finely chopped
1-2 tablespoons green curry paste depending on your taste and desired heat level
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 small potatoes, washed and sliced 1/2-inch thick (optional)
1/4 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into thirds or 1-2 Japanese eggplants, cut into ½-inch dice
2 carrots, halved lengthwise if thick and sliced thinly into half-rounds
1 summer squash, trimmed and cut into ½-inch dice or ¼-inch half rounds
8 ounces extra firm tofu, cut into 1/4 inch cubed
1 lime, halved or quartered
small handful of basil leaves, torn
Spoon a few tablespoons of thick coconut cream from the top of the coconut milk, place it in a large pot over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer.
Add the onion and saute until it softens a bit, 2-3 minutes. Stir in the curry paste and salt, and cook for another minute or two. Have a taste, and decide if you want to adjust the flavor – adding more curry paste or salt if needed.
Add the rest of the coconut milk to the pot along with the potatoes (if using) and carrots, cover, and simmer until they are just starting to get tender – about 10 minutes. At this point add the beans or eggplant, squash and tofu. Let simmer for a about 6 more minutes or until all the vegetables are tender. Add the basil and remove from the heat.
Serve with a squeeze of lime juice and enjoy as is or over rice or rice noodles.
Chickpeas with Greens
–Adapted (slightly) from The River Cafe Cook Book via racheleats.com
This is so delicious with some good bread and cheese for a simple supper.
serves 6
2 bunches chard (you can halve the recipe if you have a half share or supplement with any other braising greens you have to have the equivalent of 2 bunches), stems removed and saved for another purpose (like the squash stem gratin-below
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 torpedo onion or other onion, finely diced
2 medium carrots, diced finely
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 dried chilli, crumbled or ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes or a small fresh Serrano, minced
250 ml / 8 fl oz white wine
1 medium tomato, diced (optional but very good)
3 cups cooked chickpeas
a generous handful of chopped parsley
the juice of half a lemon
more extra good olive oil to serve
In a large pan of well-salted fast boiling water, blanch the greens briefly. Drain them and then once they are cool enough to handle, chop them coarsely and set aside.
Warm the oil in a large heavy skillet, add the onion, carrot and a pinch of salt and cook them slowly for 15 minutes or until they are tender. Season with a little more salt, pepper and the crumbled chilli or red pepper flakes.
Add the wine to the pan and allow it to bubble away until it has almost completely reduced. Add the tomato, greens and chickpeas, stir and cook, stirring every couple of minutes for 10 minutes.
Add 3/4 of the chopped parsley and the lemon juice to the pan, stir, turn off the heat and allow the pan to sit for 10 minutes.
Transfer to a large platter or serving dish, sprinkle with the remaining parsley and a little more extra virgin olive oil and serve.
Chard Stem Gratin
I collect my chard stems in a bag in the fridge if the dish I’m making only takes advantage of the leaves. I usually either dice the stems and add them to soups or sauces but have also made a gratin when I have enough of them. It’s worth the effort and will make you think twice about composting them (which I have been known to do). If you’re shy on the quantity you can round it out with thinly sliced carrots or thickly sliced summer squash.
Chop half an onion. Cut 2 bunches worth of chard stems into 2-inch lengths and sauté both in olive oil for a few minutes with a few pinches of salt. Add 1/2 cup of water and cover the pan and braise them for about 10 minutes until the stems were tender.
For the béchamel:
Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, add 4 tablespoons of flour, whisk and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Add 1 cup of hot milk and 1 cup of hot vegetable or chicken broth, (feel free to heat up together) and several pinches of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Whisk in the hot liquid and cook over medium heat until thickened, about 7-10 minutes. Add a bit of grated/ground nutmeg and handful of grated sharp cheddar or Parmesan or other hard cheese. If there is any liquid left in the chard pan, drain it off and add it to the béchamel as well.
Then I added about 1/4 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg to the bechamel and grated some sharp cheddar. Oh and I added the liquid left in the chard pan to the bechamel.
Put the chard stems and carrots (and/or squash – if using) in a small-ish casserole dish, cover them with bechamel, sprinkle over some bread crumbs if you have some and a bit more grated cheese. Bake in a 400-degree oven for about 20 minutes until nice and bubbly, finish under the broiler. Serve with the below cucumber and onion salad for a simple supper.
Cucumber and Onion Salad
Halve the recipe if you have a half-share and feel free to substitute basil for the dill for a different but equally good salad.
2 cucumbers, scrubbed and peeled if the skin is tough, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced on the diagonal
1/2 Torpedo onion or quarter of a sweet onion if you have it and have run out of Torpedos, thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh dill, coarsely chopped (or basil—see headnote)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
Sea salt and ground pepper
In a large bowl, toss together cucumbers, onion, dill, oil, lemon juice, and vinegar; season with salt and pepper.
Summer Squash “Butter” with Herbs
–inspired by Amanda&Merril.com
Whenever you have a lot of squash this is the prefect thing to do. Grated fine, it cooks down quickly, turning into a sweet and savory side dish or spread. Spread it on toast in place of actual butter or add a thick layer in a sandwich with salted tomatoes or soft cheese. You can use it as a pizza topping or a pasta sauce or a side dish.
About 4-5 medium zucchini or any kind of summer squash (feel free to use less or add extra — cooking times will vary)
1/4 cup olive oil or butter (I prefer butter in this one)
½ a medium onion, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano, mint, basil or parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Squeeze of lemon juice or drizzle of vinegar
Coarsely grate the squash on the large holes of a box grater. Squash is really the easiest thing to grate so it won’t take much time at all.
In a deep skillet, heat the olive oil/butter. Sauté onion for about 3 minutes on medium heat. Add the squash and a few generous pinches of salt and toss and cook and stir over medium to medium-high heat until the zucchini reaches a spreadable consistency, about 15 minutes. If you scorch the bottom, turn the burner down a bit but don’t worry about the browned areas. They will add flavor and be sure to scrape them up and reincorporate. Just before the end of the cooking time add the herbs and incorporate well. Cook another minute or two, taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and a little lemon juice—you don’t need much but just a little brightens it up nicely.
Roasted Torpedo onions
–adapted from Elizabeth Minchilli
I wish I would have come across this recipe when you were getting more of these in your share but I’m still including it, if per chance you have collected a few more or can acquire a few more Torpedo onions or other similarly sized onions this week. It’s a lovely recipe.
4 Torpedo onions
8 bay leaves, plus about 10 more for the pan
16 sprigs of fresh thyme
olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 350F
Cut the green tops off the onions. Slice the onions in half, length wise.
Generously rub the onions with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
Slip a bay leaf and two sprigs of thyme, into each onion.
Place the extra bay leaves on the bottom of an oven pan just large enough to hold the onions. Place onions on top, and pour in about a half-cup water and the wine. Drizzle onions with a bit more olive oil, cover with tin foil and put the pan in the oven.
Keep checking about every 20 minutes, to make sure there is still some liquid in the bottom of the pan. If needed add a bit more wine and/or water. Baste the onions every so often, and take the tin foil off after about 45 minutes.
The onions should take about an hour and a half to cook, and should be nicely browned at the edges.
Serve hot, or room temp.