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​Recently, a new bakery opened in the next town over from me in Spring Lake, NJ, Nick + Sons, from Brooklyn, NY. Owned by Nicholas Heavican, who became baker by chance after vising Reykjavik, Iceland. In Reykjavik he came across Braud & Co. where the aroma of fresh sour dough bread and golden croissants permeated the air. Looking for a career change, Nick was smitten with the idea of baking bread. 
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​I am enjoying the CSA box that I am sharing with my daughter. Our last box brought me fresh garlic and had to do a bit of research to realize that the garlic had to be cured for approximately three to four weeks before using. I strung the heads together and hung them upside down in my basement.
 
I also received a head of bok choy. I was acquainted with this vegetable several years ago when my daughter first started with the Dreyer Farm CSA box. This week I found a recipe on the New York Times Cooking website for Stir-Fried Chicken and Bok Choy from Melissa Clark. The recipe takes just 30 minutes to prepare and is made in a flat-bottom skillet, sauté pan or I used my GreenPan fry pan which is supposed be preheated for five minutes until it’s scorching hot. 
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The challenge of purchasing a share in a CSA box (community sustained agriculture) is finding recipes for produce that you never have eaten before; this week, Swiss chard, was one of them. As I still had zucchini left from a prior box, I needed a meal that would utilize both vegetables. I found a recipe on the New York Times Cooking webpage from Martha Rose Shulman, Provençal Zucchini with Swiss Chard Tart. For those of you who may have never heard of Ms. Schulman, she writes cookbooks that focus on eating healthy with inspiration from the Mediterranean and Mexico. Her recipes focus on produce that is both fresh and seasonal. In looking through the index of my copy of her book Mediterranean Light, I noticed her recipes featured chicken, fish and vegetables. 
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​The other evening, we were planning to meet friends on the beach for a light supper of sandwiches and snacks. Unfortunately, the weather was uncooperative, so we had to reschedule. In the meantime, I had to come up with a meal. I went to Whole Foods and picked up bone-in pork chops which were on special for $4.99/lb.  From the New York Times Cooking website, I selected Grilled Pork Chops with Cherry Sauce for my preparation. Cherries were also on sale ($4.99/lb.) and I was able to purchase just enough for the sauce.
 
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A few weeks ago, when dining out, my entrée came with a side of Mexican Street corn. It was presented with the corn off the cob and served in a mini cast iron frying pan. The corn had a dollop of a creamy mixture that made the corn taste oh so delicious.
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After doing some research, I found a recipe for this tasty side dish. Grilled Mexican Street Corn (Elote) is from the website Simply Recipes. For the recipe you’ll need corn with the husks removed, Mexican Crema or sour cream (I substituted plain Greek yogurt), cilantro (not a fan, so I used parsley) ground chipotle pepper, lime zest, lime juice, lime wedges and cotija cheese. 
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This week's ingredients from my CSA box are: Blueberries, Bok Choy, Green Squash, Onions, Arugula, Rainbow Swiss Chard, Pickles, Dill.

This batch of pickles will be made with the recipe Easiest Fridge Pickles from the website www.smittenkitchen.com. For the arugula, another pasta dish, Gemelli with Chevre, Arugula and Walnuts from the show Christopher Kimball's Milk Street. The green squash and rainbow Swiss Chard will be used in a recipe by Martha Rose Schulman, Provencal Zucchini and Swiss Chard Tart.

I still have last week's garlic scapes and green onions that I'm going to turn into a salad dressing. That recipe is from the website The Spruce Eats. 

This summer we're eating more locally grown produce!

Image courtesy of Joanna Kosinska



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Just an update on my dill pickles that I made using a recipe from the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen. The pickles were delicious. It was a quick and easy recipe. With so few ingredients, homemade pickles will be a welcome treat for your family this summer. 

Whether serving on a hot, steamy night for supper or for a brunch, this delicious frittata takes full advantage of fresh herbs which makes this egg dish so tasty.
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My share of this week’s CSA box was arugula, a beet, green squash, cucumbers for pickling and lettuce.
 
My lone beet was roasted to put into a salad later this week. I might prepare  Marinated Beet Salad with Whipped Goat Cheese or a small portion of  Beets with Dill, Lime and Yogurt as I have fresh dill.
 
For the arugula, Raw Corn, Arugula and Pecorino Salad with Grilled Chicken which I made back in July 2018. My ShopRite has Bell & Evans bone-in split breasts for $3.79/lb. and this would make for an easy supper.
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​The ingredients from my CSA Box, Week 3, were lettuce, escarole, spinach, Breadsmith pizza dough from Cranford, NJ and Antonio Mozzarella from Newark, NJ. My daughter and I split everything with the exception of the pizza dough as I make my own. Last week I prepared Escarole, Capers and Fontina Pizza, a recipe from the Alice Waters cook book “Chez Panisse Pasta, Pizza & Calzone.” The spinach will be part of a pasta dish I found on the New York Times Cooking website, Spicy Butternut Squash Pasta with Spinach, by Yasmin Fahr.
 
For the pizza recipe you’ll need pizza dough, 2 bunches of escarole, an onion 6-7 cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, red pepper flakes (my contribution) and black olives. 
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On Sunday afternoons, Dreyers Farms, Cranford, sends out an email with the upcoming week’s CSA box contents. Before I receive my share, I begin researching new recipes. My share of the box last week was rhubarb, lettuce, radishes, broccoli rabe and escarole. I also had some golden beets left from week 1.
 
With this week’s produce, including my golden beets, I found a recipe for Beets, Rhubarb and Orange Salad on epicurious.com. For the recipe you’ll also need extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt, water, sugar, shallot, honey and feta cheese. 


​meet donna

A former teacher, shop-a-holic, empty-nester redefining quick, family approved dinners.

​If you have questions or comments, click on the envelope icon above to contact me directly. 

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