Five years ago I didn’t know what a Rutabaga was. I’d never tried Mustard Greens, Collard Greens, Kale, or Swiss Chard. Fennel, Endive, Beets, and Arugula were foreign to me. I wasn’t picky, I just didn’t know about these foods and had no real reason to try them.
And then we signed up for a weekly delivery of fresh produce, through Abundant Harvest Organics. A whole new world of food was opened up to us. We got to know all of these ingredients real quick.
The main way I learned to cook with them was by adding them, substituting with them, in new and old dishes. At this point in my culinary journey, I was discovering just how much I loved to cook, so it was relatively easy to play with our food.
About a year ago, I invested in a book called The Flavor Bible. It has been a tremendous help in knowing what foods and flavors will go well together. I think I have a pretty good sense, in general, but it’s great to have a resource that I can turn to. It’s also given me some ideas for flavor combinations that have led to new recipes. My Red Cabbage and Apple Tarts and Wowza Steak Salad happened because I was researching cabbage, I think, and all these ideas came to me when I saw the list of complementary flavors. It’s fun!
This past year things like Black Spanish Radishes, Korean Daikon Radishes, Komatsuna (Japanese Mustard Spinach), Sinqua (Chinese Okra), and Yellow Watermelons have surprised me. I was tentative, at first, with some (Sinqua!), and pleasantly surprised with many of them (singua in Ratatouille!).
If you’re new (or a vetran!) to this lifestyle, please ask for help if you don’t know what to do with your rutabagas! I have an “Ask Rachel” section on here, or you can email me (demacuisine@racheloberg.com), or visit me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. I love to come up with meal ideas, so I hope you will take me up on this!
If you’re really stuck, I offer a menu planning service. I’ll plan a weekly or monthly dinner menu for you, with links to recipes or without (there’s a small price difference). It’s available to you. All you have to do is ask! (I can even plan it around the AHO box, if you’re a subscriber! Or, if you subscribe to another type of CSA, I can work with that list too.)
Since we get a weekly AHO box, that’s what I plan our menus around. Last week, in the post with episode 51, I shared a list of ideas for things to cook with the contents of the AHO box. It’s a different approach from the menus I was doing last year. But, I’m planning to continue to do it this way and hope you find it useful and helpful!
Today, amidst the busyness, I’m taking time to reflect on this day one year ago. My Oma died that day. And while life has gone on, we continue to survive, remember, cherish; I was right, it isn’t the same.
We visited my family over Christmas. It was wonderful. But, there was a huge hole where Oma and Opa should have been. My dad reminisced about how they, especially as they became older, their hearing less sharp, would just sit, with quiet smiles on their faces, watching their family. Content. So happy to be with us.
Photos of them decorate our home. I have one, in my kitchen, of Oma and Opa when they were much younger. It’s one of my favorites. Maybe second only to the one I took the last time we saw my Opa, when we visited to say goodbye. They were married for 61 years, and the look on their faces shows me that it was the kind of love that movies are made about. No, not the romantic comedies. The real, tough, make it through anything kind. The real life love stories.
Amidst the sorrow, there was joy. My parents became Oma and Opa to my precious niece. It’s so fun to see them love on their granddaughter. And, I can’t help but wonder what my own grandparents were like with us, in our early years. Did they act as silly? Would they make just about any face for a smile? Did they hold us tight and rock us to sleep. I know the answer to this. It has to be yes. A thousand times, yes.
It’s been cold here lately. I grew up in Ontario, Canada; I’ve visited Alaska in January, and Minnesota in February, so I know what cold winters are. Our winters, here in LA, are not particularly cold. But, the past two weeks have been pretty darn chilly. Yesterday morning when I was walking the dog, I slipped on some ice on the sidewalk. WHAT?!
That’s the second time I’ve slipped on ice in less than a month, in two different countries. This time I didn’t fall. I did look silly. There was someone in a car that had just pulled up to the curb right behind me. I hope he laughed. I hope it made his day. Thinking about it is making me giggle. Oh and I think I yelled “WHOA!” as I was flailing. Now I’m laughing out loud at myself.
Want to know something else that’s totally unrelated? We re-use plastic bags in our home. But, I have a confession to make: I hate washing them. Hate. Sometimes, when I think they’re too dirty, I throw them away. And it makes me happy to not have to wash one more bag.
Do I have anything else random to tell you? No. I don’t think so.
Since it’s cold, it’s the perfect weather for warm foods like soups, stews, and Shepherd’s Pie. Husband really loves Shepherd’s Pie. I do too. (Good that we both like it. It’s a bummer when one person hates the dinner and the other is gobbling it down while making yum yum noises.) I love that it’s easy to tweak – it’s a whatever veggies you have on hand kinda meal. You really could do a lot with it. I keep it kinda traditional, in that it has the ground beef and veggies layer, topped with mashed potatoes, and then sprinkled with cheese. But, if you wanted to, you could do polenta instead of potatoes, shredded chicken instead of ground beef, BBQ sauce instead of the balsamic sauce, corn and collard greens for the veggies… Hey! I think I like that idea. With some cheddar biscuits on the side!? I’m gonna make this sometime!
Anyhoo, my point is that it’s a pretty versatile dish. You can swap out veggies that your family prefers, or that you have on hand. I based this particular recipe on what came in our Abundant Harvest Organics box. That’s why I used Korean daikon radish, mustard greens, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and broccoli raab.
Does anyone else pronounce it “broccoli rob”? No? Just me. OK.
This meal re-heats really well too. After dinner, portion out some single servings into containers and refrigerate or freeze them. If you have any salad left (um, make a huge salad so you do!), do the same… maybe don’t freeze it though… Then check “make lunch” off of tomorrow’s to do list. I did this last night and I’m eating the leftovers right now, as I type.
I used leftover mashed potatoes, from last week, that I’d frozen. I didn’t show you how to make them on this episode. If you don’t know how, this older episode will show you. Speaking of past episodes, did you watch last week’s? It has bloopers.
1/2 to 1 C cheese, grated (creamy jack and cheddar)
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 350F. In an ovenproof skillet, cook beef. Drain (wipe out pan, if desired) and set aside. Add olive oil to skillet and let it get hot. Add all veggies and seasonings except mustard greens and garlic. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until veggies are tender.
Whisk cornstarch with water, dijon, balsamic vinegar, and garlic. Pour over veggies. Stir in beef and mustard greens, and cook for 10 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. If the liquid evaporates too much, add more water.
Remove from heat. Taste, and adjust seasonings if needed. Spread the meat and veggies evenly in the pan (if you weren’t cooking in an oven safe skillet, now’s the time to transfer to a greased, ovenproof dish.) Cover meat mixture with mashed potatoes. Top with cheese and sprinkle with smoked paprika.
Bake at 350F until the potatoes are hot (165F) and cheese is melted. With fresh, hot mashed potatoes, it should only be 10-15 minutes. With cold potatoes, it could be about 30-40 minutes (at least it was for me!).
Notes
Individual pies would also be a fun idea, especially for a dinner party! Great with a simple Green Salad, or Coleslaw. * To roast garlic: Slice the top off a head of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and wrap in foil. Bake at 350F for 45-60 minutes. Once it’s cool, squeeze garlic from skin.
3.2.1284
If you are like me, you like to make lists. If you aren’t, you don’t. We can still be friends. And, since we’re friends, I’ll share one of my many lists with you. When I find out what will be included in the upcoming AHO box, I usually make a list of things that I could make with the contents. Here are some ideas using this week’s box. Enjoy!
1/2 to 1 C cheese, grated (creamy jack and cheddar)
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 350F. In an ovenproof skillet, cook beef. Drain (wipe out pan, if desired) and set aside. Add olive oil to skillet and let it get hot. Add all veggies and seasonings except mustard greens and garlic. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until veggies are tender.
Whisk cornstarch with water, dijon, balsamic vinegar, and garlic. Pour over veggies. Stir in beef and mustard greens, and cook for 10 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. If the liquid evaporates too much, add more water.
Remove from heat. Taste, and adjust seasonings if needed. Spread the meat and veggies evenly in the pan (if you weren’t cooking in an oven safe skillet, now’s the time to transfer to a greased, ovenproof dish.) Cover meat mixture with mashed potatoes. Top with cheese and sprinkle with smoked paprika.
Bake at 350F until the potatoes are hot (165F) and cheese is melted. With fresh, hot mashed potatoes, it should only be 10-15 minutes. With cold potatoes, it could be about 30-40 minutes (at least it was for me!).
Notes
Individual pies would also be a fun idea, especially for a dinner party! Great with a simple Green Salad, or Coleslaw. * To roast garlic: Slice the top off a head of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and wrap in foil. Bake at 350F for 45-60 minutes. Once it’s cool, squeeze garlic from skin.
