CSA week 12 wrap-up, week 13 start-up

There are a few things left to mention from last week. First, I did try the potato-tomato-green bean salad cold and it was very good indeed. The roasting change times I suggested are probably still a good idea, but the dressing just needed a dose of hot sauce to add a bit of bite. I should have known from the start that any dish involving mayonnaise is better chilled.

I also tried another variation on the shredded kale salad. This time I mixed the shredded, macerated kale with shredded lettuce and added thinly sliced onion, mushroom and radish, crispy bits of bacon and a poached egg. I intended to add capers too but I forgot. Even without, pretty tasty.

And finally, soft tacos are becoming my new go-to don't-really-feel-like-cooking dish. This time I simmered chunks of pork and a link of chorizo in a richly spiced broth, like I did the chicken for the taquitos. It'll be even easier next time since I saved the broth to re-use as a master sauce. My Chinese master sauce has been sitting unused in my refrigerator since I started it, but since tacos use the leftover avocado, radishes and cilantro I keep ending up with, I can see using this one more often.

That leaves me with most of the lettuce, a few beans and a bit of shredded kale leftover and three canistels that look about ready to use. I'm still not quite settled on exactly what I want to use them in. Probably a pie of some sort.



On to this week. The yukina savoy in the upper left corner. Maybe it's a little obvious, but it's been a while since I did a proper Chinese stir fry and yukina is particularly well suited for such. With a black bean sauce maybe.

I want to be less obvious with the kale and not braise them. Those big leaves are good for wrapping things in. Fish or chicken or, ooh, sticky rice! I'll have to get some twine.

For the carrots, I'm thinking of a Tuscan carrot top soup with either rice or potatoes. The recipe I googled up is a little different from the soup in newsletter and I'm thinking of maybe adding beans to make it a little heartier.

That leaves the avocado, tomatoes, cilantro and onion. That sounds like three quarters of a Mexican recipe. Exactly what I'll figure out later.

And, finally, the mint. I'm not a big fan. I'm heading back to Theine, my CSA drop-off point, for lunch and I think I'll take the mint with me and toss it in the extras bin.