Fast-Cooking Polenta Saves the Day

We're happy to report that the long-awaited CSA season has arrived. Our first box, from Great Country Farms in Bluemont, Virginia, was heavy with fresh goodies, including a big bunch of kale, a pint of tart cherries, spring onions, summer squash, and zucchini.

Over the years we've been CSA members, we've learned that "the box," as we reverently call it, provides a great service in addition to its reliable load of produce: it reliably provides dinner. As long as our pantry has some grains, herbs, and spices, we always can pull dinner together.

Take last Friday. An exceptionally stress-filled week had left us exhausted, to the point that we didn't even want to go out for a quick bite. At the same time, we hadn't had time to shop for groceries, so the refrigerator shelves were pretty bare. What to do?

We remembered that big bunch of CSA kale. Combined with polenta, it would make a fast, nutritious, delicious dinner. So we trimmed the kale, cut it into thin strips, and sautéed it with a little chopped garlic. We heated the oven to 400 degrees. And we made polenta.

Basically cornmeal mush, polenta is one of the fastest-cooking dishes you can make. You just boil water, whisk in the yellow grains, stir for a few minutes over low heat, and there you have it: an excellent base for just about anything. You can rich it up with globs of gorgonzola or goat cheese, or just a few tablespoons of grated Parmesan; you can cool it and slice it for grilling.

In this case, we combined the mushy cooked polenta (dressed up with a little Parmesan) with the cooked kale and garlic, then transferred the mixture to a pie pan. We baked the polenta pie for about 20 minutes (if we hadn't been in a hurry, we would have let it bake for an additional five or ten minutes, for a light-brown crust). Combined with a fast tomato jam and a crisp chardonnay, this made a fine fast dinner.

Good Fast Food: White Beans with Greens and Sausage

How versatile is this dish? For one thing, it can be served cold as a salad* or hot as a stew. Room temperature also would work just fine. The ingredients are nearly infinitely adaptable, depending on what you crave or happen to have on hand.

Our last batch was inspired by some leftover greens from the CSA box. We still haven't identified them—they resembled broccoli raab sans blossoms—but after we sautéed them we decided that they were a bit too chewy and strong-tasting to eat on their own, even with a splash of fruity fig vinegar. Though we were definitely not crazy about them, we're committed to using every molecule of our precious (and not inexpensive) CSA produce, so tossing them was out of the question.

We remembered that greens go well with white beans, so we cooked a pound of Great Northerns with plenty of crushed garlic and sage. When the beans were done, we removed most of the cooking liquid (saving it for soup) and added the mystery greens (cut in smaller strips to mitigate the bitterness), a can of fire-roasted tomatoes, four crumbled veggie sausages, a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper.

(Though we cooked our beans from scratch, you could use a few cans of rinsed white beans for a nice fast meal.)

Our impromptu stew was wonderful; the bitter greens played well with the mild beans and salty sausage. But any kind of greens would do—chard, kale, collards—and roasted red peppers would have made an excellent substitute for the tomatoes. Plain diced tomatoes or halved grape tomatoes also would have worked. Chunks of Italian sausage (or Tofurky!) would have been delicious.

The lesson: Don't give up on something you've cooked, no matter how much it has disappointed you—chances are that with a little tweaking, it can be part of another dish that you'll like much better.

If you opt for a cold salad, remove all of the bean cooking liquid and add a little more olive oil.

A Box of Great Meals

Last night we managed to polish off our first half-share box from our CSA. Here's how we did it:

Asparagus Risotto

Crispy Noodle Cake with Kale and Mushrooms (we included our single CSA garlic scape, minced)

Grilled Spring Onions

Green Salad with Bloody Mary Dressing

Strawberries for breakfast

As we move into the summer, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to finish a boxful of vegetables and fruit in a week, but we promise to give it our best shot.

Broccoli "Rice" Side Dish

Broccoli has its detractors, but we've always liked this year-round vegetable. The worst we could say — and we often did — was that it is BOH-ring.

Broccoli crowns were ridiculously cheap the other day at our local market, so we loaded up with a couple, and then checked our ever-growing shelf of cookbooks for a different way to love its green goodness. We ran across something called Broccoli "Rice," which wasn't rice at all.

The broccoli is minced into small pieces the size of a grain of rice, and the preparation gives broccoli a very fresh taste and creative presentation. It makes this winter vegetable into a summer surprise. And who would have ever thought of putting mint in a broccoli side dish? Brilliant.

The recipe is the brainchild of Eric Gower, author of "The Breakaway Cook." Serve this side next to any meat or protein, or under it as we did last night, as shown in the photo above.

Broccoli "Rice"

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, minced
Kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper
1 medium head of broccoli, minced to rice size

Dressing
2 Tablespoons Greek or plain yogurt
1 Tablespoon citrus juice (we used lime)
2 Tablespoons minced fresh mint

Melt the butter and olive oil in a large pan or wok over medium heat.
Add the onion and salt and pepper liberally.
Cook, stirring once in a while, until softened but not browned.
Add the broccoli and continue to cook for about 10 minutes, until the vegetable is cooked through.
While it's cooking, blend the dressing ingredients, and add to the broccoli when it is done. Cook for another couple of minutes to blend flavors. Test for seasoning.

Serve under meat, fish or tofu and with a fresh, crisp white such as sauvignon blanc, viognier, or light chardonnay.

We served it with scallion-coated tofu and grilled spring onions from the CSA box.

Asparagus Risotto: Using the CSA Box Veggies

With the arrival of the weekend one day after our first CSA box of veggies, we decided to open a swell bottle of Zinfandel and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and make something delicious with our first bounty of the season.

We decided to alter one of our favorite risotto recipes to take advantage of what we had. Instead of the green beans the recipe called for, we subbed in our large bunch of asparagus, which we steamed lightly to soften it up and cook it just a bit. Then we cut it into 3/4-inch pieces, saving the cute tops for garnish.

People avoid risotto because it requires more or less constant attention for 20 minutes, but it's really pretty easy. And we've never made a risotto that we didn't love.

The Recipe is from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. It's actually pretty low-fat and healthy.

1 Tablespoon olive oil
5 cups broth
1.5 cups arborio rice
1 bunch asparagus, lightly steamed and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 small onion
1 tomato diced
1/3 cup grated parmesan
1/3 cup pesto (optional), either basil- or cilantro-based
salt

Start with a Tablespoon of Olive Oil in a large saucepan or dutch oven on medium high. Add a chopped small onion until it softens (not browned). Add a cup and a half of rinsed arborio rice and stir it to coat the rice with the oil.

While you're getting ready to cook, heat 5 cups of broth (chicken or veggie stock will do) to a simmer in another saucepan.

After the rice is coated, add a cup of the hot broth and stir until all of the liquid is pretty much gone. Add another cup and stir until almost gone. Add a third cup and stir. When the broth from the third cup is almost gone, add the asparagus, which has been steamed and cut.

Add the last two cups of stock, one at a time, or even half a cup at a time, stirring to absorb the liquid each time. This slow cooking will cook the rice. Test to see that the rice is tender but still a bit al dente. Add salt to taste.

Add the tomato, parmesan and optional pesto. For pesto we used our fave cilantro pesto because we had some on hand, and it added a marvelous tang. (The original recipe calls for 12 cup parmesan, but we lowered the amount to 1/3 cups and it was great.)

We served it with steamed swiss chard with a splash of fig-infused vinegar. The sharp chard was a nice balance to the almost sweet and tangy risotto. They tasted great with both the red Zinfandel and the white Sauvignon Blanc.

New CSA Season: A Box of Veggies a Week Through the Summer and Fall

We finally found a local farm that sponsors a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program — after two years of being without the basket of local goodness.

The CSA farm is in a town fairly far away (considering the horrendous traffic), but has a pickup arrangement with a local farmers market where we can pick up our box.

The first week's box is always small and predictable, but we consider it a warmup for the mid- and late-summer boxes that are a challenge to eat in one week. In fact that's the biggest CSA hurdle: eating everything you are given.

This week the box contained a large head of red leaf lettuce, a small basil seedling for planting, a bundle of asparagus, a box of strawberries, a bunch of kale and several spring onions. All grown locally and tasting great because they are fresh picked.

Squash Pasta: An Autumn Delight

This is the time of year that our gardens and grocery stores are displaying a bounty of winter squash. Acorn. Butternut. Pumpkin. Spaghetti. And heirloom varieties of all kinds.

Our solution to this wealth of Cucurbita maxima from Central America used to be the tried and true Baked Squash with Butter and Maple Syrup. We got tired of it and, frankly, never like it THAT much. Last week we gave you a wonderful recipe for Pumpkin Soup.

Here's an idea that Tim's brother Ron picked up at a cooking class. It sounds weird, and looks a little boring. But it is very complex and works as either a vegetarian main dish or as a main if you add shredded poulty: Pasta with Squash Sauce.

Cut a large (3 lbs.) squash of any winter variety in half lengthwise, spoon out the seeds and bake cut side down in a 350-degree oven with a sprig of Thyme and a clove of garlic underneath and a drizzle of olive oil over the top. Test for doneness by spearing with a knife. It might take about 30-45 minutes depending upon the size and shape of the squash.

Spoon the squash meat and the garlic cloves into a food processor (remove the thyme sprigs). Add 3/4 cup of vegetable stock (you could use chicken stock), 2 Tablespoons of cream, a teaspoon of curry powder, a teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves (1/3 teaspoon of dried) a half-teaspoon of dried pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste. You don't need much pepper, but you should start with a teaspoon of salt, and you can adjust again later if it's not enough.

Meanwhile, cook 1 lb. pasta (we used linguini) in boiling water. Drain the pasta and immediately mix in the squash sauce. (Taste the sauce again for salt, curry and pepper flakes before mixing.) Top with shredded chicken, if you're inclined. Either way, garnish with some thyme leaves and sprigs and parmesan cheese.

Serve with more grated parmesan at the table.

The curry and faint hint of heat from the pepper flakes give the otherwise mono-tasting squash a depth and complexity that is very fulfilling.

This recipe would taste great with a crisp and un-oakey Chardonnay, but we served it with a Zinfandel from the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma, which nicely complemented the spice in the dish.

Butternut Squash and Sage Risotto

Note: Sorry for the lack of food photos, but our camera is still waiting to be unpacked.

When we moved to Virginia from Connecticut, we expected to enjoy a nice mild winter, but one week into our new southern life we got hit with a storm that dumped four inches of snow and ice upon us. We could have reacted to this cosmic joke with bitterness, but instead we decided to celebrate the onset of winter by using up part of our butternut squash collection (among the last offerings from the past summer's CSA box).

We got this recipe years ago from our friend Ed Lempinen, and it has served us well whenever we crave cold-weather comfort food.

Butternut Squash and Sage Risotto

1 medium butternut squash

1 largish but not gigantic onion

2 hefty cloves garlic

1 T. olive oil

6 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

1 T chopped fresh sage (more if you love sage)

5 T. grated parmesan cheese

salt, pepper to taste

1. Halve, peel, and seed the squash. Cut into half-inch cubes, scatter them on an oiled baking sheet, and roast them in a 425-degree oven until they are soft—about half an hour. When they're done, turn off the oven, but leave the pan in the oven so the cubes can caramelize while you prepare the risotto.

2. Bring the stock to a simmer and leave it simmering throughout the preparation of the risotto.

3. While the stock is heating, finely chop the onion and garlic. Heat the olive oil in a good-size heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven.

4. Sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil. When they are soft and beginning to brown, add the rice, and stir it in the oil and vegetables for a couple of minutes.

5. Add one cup of the hot stock, and stir until it is almost absorbed by the rice. Then add one-half cup of stock and stir until that is almost incorporated. Keep adding stock in half-cup increments. stirring constantly but gently, until the rice is cooked to your satisfaction. This should take almost all of the stock and 15 to 20 minutes of stirring. You want the rice cooked but not overcooked and gummy.

6. When you are satisfied that the rice is done, add the chopped sage and parmesan. Taste and add salt and pepper—a hearty grinding of pepper is good, but the salt will be determined by the cheese and stock you use.

7. When the cheese is melted into the risotto, stir in the roasted squash cubes and serve, with extra grated parmesan on the side.

This dish goes wonderfully with any wine, but a crisp Chardonnay is especially delicious.

The Frugal Pantry: Hominy

Whenever we mention that we use hominy in soups and stews, we usually get the same response: what in tarnation is hominy? People know that it has something to do with grits, but that's misleading, as "grits" makes people think of corn mush, whereas hominy adds chewiness, texture, and a delicious tortilla-like flavor to any dish.

Even though we've been using hominy for years, we had to go to Wikipedia for an explanation, which we're sorry to say does not do justice to this wonderful ingredient. Nonetheless, in the interest of full disclosure:

Hominy or nixtamal is dried maize kernels which have been treated with an alkali.

Commercially available canned hominy may have a slightly stronger scent when compared to the traditional preparation. The traditional U.S. version involves soaking dried corn in lye-water (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide solution), traditionally derived from wood ash, until the hulls are removed. Mexican recipes describe a preparation process consisting primarily of cooking in lime-water (calcium hydroxide). In either case, the process is called nixtamalization, and removes the germ and the hard outer hullfrom the kernels, making them more palatable, easier to digest, and easier to process.

OK, that doesn't sound very appetizing. But the other night, using up our last batch of produce from this year's CSA box, we made a giant pot of vegetable soup. It included the usual suspects—onions, garlic, carrots, celery, potatoes, tomatoes, spinach—and even though it tasted perfectly serviceable, it needed something. Fortunately, our pantry contained a big can of white hominy, which we added to the simmering pot. Twenty minutes later we had something that tasted much more interesting than vegetable soup.

Most supermarkets carry hominy in their canned vegetable or "Hispanic" sections, and you can also find it at Hispanic groceries.

Again with the Kale Chips

This will be our last post on this subject, we promise. But last week's CSA box offered up a gigantic, ruffly head of curly kale, so we decided to try making chips again. Our first attempt, with dinosaur kale, resulted in delicious but very fragile chips; we wondered how the tougher leaves would work. So we cut away the stems, tore the leaves into palm-sized pieces, tossed them with about a tablespoon of olive oil and a little salt, and roasted them for about 40 minutes at 250 degrees.

The results were even better than our first batch: the thicker leaves resulted in more-substantial chips, and the longer roasting time made them so addictively crunchy that we ended up consuming the whole batch in about 24 hours.

Usually we split our CSA box with Kevin and Cynthia, but Cynthia had given us the whole bunch of kale, claiming that she didn't like it. But once she tasted the chips, she was astonished and converted.

Vegetable Hash

With an influx of vegetables every week, thanks to our CSA membership, we've had to develop a triage system for avoiding waste.

First, we eat the lettuce and greens. If we can't get to things like chard and kale, we cook them and freeze them to use later in soups or polenta. Then we move on to the broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, and leeks, which can last a week or more in the fridge. This system means that the vegetables with staying power, such as potatoes, onions, garlic, and carrots, tend to pile up.

So last night we made a big vegetable hash, and it turned out great. You know how sometimes you throw something together without a recipe, and it's so good that even as you eat it, you're worried that you will never be able to re-create it? This hash was like that.

And it couldn't have been simpler. We cut five small potatoes into tiny dice, for fast cooking, then tossed them into a couple of tablespoons of hot olive oil. Next we sliced four small onions and added those.

A small cauliflower had spent a lonely week on the refrigerator shelf, so we chopped that into small pieces and added them to the pan. Finally, we had a couple of cups' worth of green beans that were a bit past their prime but tasted wonderful cut into small pieces and added to the mix. We sauteed everything until it was brown and a little crispy, salted and peppered it, then served it with a generous dollop of ketchup.

Poached eggs would be really good on top of a pile of this hash. If you had leftover meat, chicken or cooked tofu, those would be fine additions.

Kale Chips Part II

Because we know you just can't get enough of them! 

We want to try this version from ValleyWriter's blog, partly because they take less time to bake than the Bon Appetit version, partly because her other recipes sound so good that we trust her. Check them out! 

Last night, faced with a big bunch of Swiss chard from the CSA box, we tried to make chard chips. The oven was already running at 400 degrees for a batch of crispy smashed potatoes, so we figured we'd just keep a close eye on the chips. We don't know if the hotter oven was the problem or just that a wet veggie like chard wasn't up to the job, but the resulting chips, though edible, were much less tasty than their kale predecessors.

Most Unpopular Post Ever?

We debated putting this one up because, let's face it, kale is not high on most people's favorite-food list. But last week's CSA box delivered a fat bunch of dinosaur kale, just as Bon Appetit serendipidously posted an intriguing-sounding recipe for kale chips. We're suckers for any kind of chips and, by this point in a summer of heavy CSA boxes, desperate for any new vegetable recipes, so we tried it.

The result was very crisp, very delicate, with a concentrated kale flavor and nice salty crunch. The chips resemble very thin nori. 

The whole recipe uses only one tablespoon of olive oil, so you can indulge guiltlessly. 

If you love kale, you should definitely try this, but save a few for your kale-resistant friends. You may make some converts! 

These would be good with cocktails or crumbled on cheesy or garlicky pasta.

Following a Recipe Doesn’t Make you a Cook

[NOTE: Here's the second installment from guest blogger Kevin Ireton:]

The idea of me writing a blog about cooking is truly laughable, though friends who have been to my house will claim otherwise. “Kevin’s a good cook,” they’ll say. But this much, at least, I have learned about cooking: It is not the same thing as being able to follow a recipe. I can follow a recipe, but I’m a long way from knowing how to cook.

At heart, I am a carpenter. I have worked at the trade, first for money and then for pleasure, for the past 30 years. Give me sufficient tools and materials, ask me to build something—a cabinet, say, or a house—and I will figure out a way. I understand plumb, level, and square.  I understand 2x4s and plywood. I know lots of different ways to cut, shape, and assemble them. So it is with cooking.

True cooks understand tools, techniques, and ingredients such that they can take what’s on hand and make something tasty. If I live long enough, I may get to the point where I can do that consistently enough to call myself a cook. But even now, I am occasionally forced by circumstances to take what’s on hand and assemble a meal, however humble, without a recipe. That’s what happened last night.

Like a lot of people, I tend to use food as a reward for myself, and last night I wanted something tasty. But all I had in house was a bunch of damned vegetables (our share of CSA box that we split with Tim and Ruth). What to do? I started with oven-roasted potatoes. They’re not quite as good as French fries, but close, and still a ready vehicle for ketchup.

Preheat the oven to 450.
Roughly cube the potatoes.
Coat with olive oil and salt.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, turning once halfway through.

While the potatoes were roasting, I turned my attention to the main dish. The box contained fresh sweet corn, tomatoes, onions, and a banana pepper. I actually tried to find a recipe that included all of these things, but couldn’t, so I forged ahead, figuring “How bad can it be?”

I probably didn’t have to, but I boiled the corn first, and then trimmed it off the cob. After frying the chopped onions and diced pepper in a little olive oil for 10 minutes or so, I threw in the corn and some diced tomatoes just long enough to heat them up.

My Midwestern farmboy of a father would have said, “Where’s the beef?” But I sat down to a reasonably healthy, very satisfying meal that tasted good enough for me to feel rewarded. 

Tomato Challenge: Roasted Tomato and Garlic Quinoa

Here's another submission to our Tomato Challenge, which was actually issued by another follower, Anonymous, who said she was drowning in tomatoes late in the season and had run out of ideas. This idea comes from Jamie Farley.

I don't have an exact recipe per se, since I just like to throw things together, but I like to do the following with my tomatoes for a healthy whole grain side dish or meal:

Roasted Tomato & Garlic Quinoa

I like to simmer several whole peeled garlic cloves in extra virgin olive oil (enough to cover the cloves) in a small pan over the stove on very low heat until the cloves get nice and soft....

Roast several vine ripened tomato halves (de-seed if you wish) in the oven with fresh thyme on top - these don't take too long to get nice and roasted...

At the same time, make a few cups of Quinoa. (See How to Cook Quinoa.)

Roughly chop the roasted tomatoes and cooked garlic cloves and add them to the Quinoa with a few teaspoons of the garlic flavored olive oil.

Add a few fresh thyme leaves and salt and pepper to season to taste.

Hope you like it as much as I do ...

Jamie Farley

Crunchy Kale Salad

We were happy to open our CSA box this week and see a big bushy head of kale sitting atop the scallions, potatoes, and corn. For a long time, we had trouble dealing with this vegetable, which is very nutritious but can also be fibrous, bitter, and difficult to cook properly. 

But last year Fort Hill Farm thoughtfully provided a recipe for a salad that marinates raw kale overnight, turning it into something ambrosial. Yes, we just used "kale" and "ambrosial" in the same sentence. We're hooked. The recipe works great with any of the stronger greens, including broccoli raab and collards, as well as softer-leaved vegetables like chard. 

Kale Salad

1/2 bunch of kale, stems removed, rough chopped

1/4  head of red cabbage, shaved

1/2 onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings                    

2 to 3 T. olive oil                                                          

4 t. Bragg’s Liquid Aminos  

2 T. lemon juice      

1 to 3 T. cider vinegar   

1 to 2 T. sesame oil                                                    

salt and pepper to taste            

1. Mix together the chopped kale, sliced onion, and shaved red cabbage in a large bowl. 

2. Whisk together the olive oil, Braggs Liquid Aminos, lemon juice, cider vinegar, and sesame oil in a small bowl.  Taste and adjust ingredients to your liking; season to taste with salt and pepper.  

3. Pour the dressing over veggies, toss well to coat, cover, and refrigerate overnight. 

Serve Chilled.

It's Tomato Challenge Time: What Do YOU Do with All Those Tomatoes?

Our regular "Anonymous" commenter dropped a challenge on all of us in reacting to the Clean-Out-The-Fridge Slaw post:

How about some tomato recipes? It's not even August and we're almost overdosed! I've been freezing some sauce using a simple and tasty Rick Bayless recipe:
*Half a dozen tomatoes, blackened on both sides under the broiler, then peel and deseed.
*Several cloves garlic, toasted whole on stovetop, then peel & mince
*1 T. chipotle adobe sauce (or to taste)
*Salt & a pinch of sugar

Blend these together, then cook down in a very hot saucepan for 10-15 min.

So, let's hear from you about your favorite tomato recipes. Send them as a comment to this post and we'll repost them, or send them to EatWellEatCheap@me.com, and we'll post them.

We hadn't thought of this yet because here in the Northeast we're suffering from tomato blight and farmers are bulldozing their crop to get rid of the fungus.

But here's our favorite. (No photo because we don't have any tomatoes.)

Macedonia Salad for 4

1. Cut one onion in half and slice both halves as thinly as you can. If the onion is too strong or pungent, soak it in ice water or milk for at least 15 minutes.

2. Slice three or four large tomatoes fairly thinly.

3. Make a mustard vinaigrette dressing with 1 T. dijon-style mustard, 1 T. balsamic vinegar, and 3 T. Olive oil. Mix very well.

4. Place a small bed of lettuce on four salad plates.

5. Divide the tomatoes and lay equal amounts on each bed of lettuce.

6. Separate the onion slices into individual half rings and scatter them on the tomatoes.

7. (Optional) Place four to eight anchovy fillets on the salad in a star pattern.

8. Cover with an appropriate amount of the dressing.

Salt and Pepper to taste.

We discovered this salad in a tiny restaurant in San Francisco 25 years ago. It's delicious.

Clean-Out-the-Fridge Slaw

The CSA farm where we get our box of produce each week during the summer, Fort Hill Farm, is very good about including recipes for how to use the bounty. Getting a big box of vegetables sounds great, especially when you eat as many as we do, but it can be intimidating to keep up with two stuffed crisper drawers and loaded refrigerator shelves.

This week the Fort Hill Farm newsletter included instructions for something called "clean-out-the-fridge slaw." We followed the recipe somewhat, but the beauty of it is that you can substitute pretty much anything you've got. We managed to put a slight dent in our surplus.

Here's what we used:

4 small turnips

6 smallish carrots

1 small red onion (or 5 radishes)

1/2 red cabbage

1/2 white cabbage

Coarsely grate all the vegetables, then mix them together in a big bowl.

Dressing:

1. Dissolve 1 T. sugar in 1 T. water, then mix with 1 T. cider vinegar.

2. Add enough mayonnaise (or Vegenaise) to achieve the consistency you want (we used about one cup).

3. Add 2 T. dried dill, or 3 to 4 T. fresh dill; 2 t. celery seed; and salt and pepper to taste.

Toss the dressing with the veggies, cover, and chill for a hour or more.

Serves at least six. We had it with fish, but this slaw works with everything from barbeque to burgers to poultry—or, of course, tofu or veggie dogs.

Black-Eyed Pea And Eggplant Gratin

Normally we wouldn't think of summer as casserole weather, but our summer has been wet and cool. Yesterday it barely got to 60 degrees, so we made our favorite all-in-one dish, which has been a huge hit everywhere we've served it.

The recipe comes from the Greens Cook Book (from the celebrated vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco) by Deborah Madison.

The book calls for white beans, but we use black-eyed peas because they cook faster, making this gratin easy to throw together quickly.

3/4 cup black-eyed peas

4 teaspoons fresh sage or 2 teaspoons dried, chopped

2 bay leaves

2 garlic cloves peeled but whole; 3 garlic cloves peeled and chopped

7 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and Pepper

2 teaspoons fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried, chopped

2 large yellow onions sliced 1/4-inch thick

1 can diced plum or regular tomatoes (1 pound, 12 ounces) with juice

1 large eggplant, cut into 3/4-inch squares (skin on)

1 cup bread crumbs

Wash black-eyed peas and cover with at least 2 cups boiling water.

Let stand one hour, rinse and cover in a sauce pan with 4 cups fresh cool water.

Bring to a boil with half the sage, the bay leaves, the 2 whole garlic cloves and a tablespoon of olive oil.

Simmer for 30 minutes, add teaspoon of salt and continue to simmer until tender. Drain the liquid and set aside.

Warm 4 tablespoons of oil in a wide skillet with the rest of the sage and the t

hyme. Then add the onions, chopped garlic, and a teaspoon of salt. Cover and cook until the onions are soft.

Add the eggplant squares, stir well, cover and cook over medium heat for at least 10 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and their juice, and continue cooking until the eggplant is tender.

Preheat oven to 350.

In an lightly oiled casserole or gratin dish, add the eggplant mixture to the black-eyed peas and add plenty of fresh ground pepper and more salt — to taste. There should be enough liquid to come halfway up the side.

Spread the bread crumbs over the top and drizzle olive oil over the crumbs.

Bake about 30 minutes, until the gratin is hot and bubbling. Serves six.

Serve with a green salad, a piece of meat if you like, and a robut red wine, such as a zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, or merlot.

The Box Is Growing Heavier

As we move into the heart of the growing season, our CSA box is getting much weightier, loaded with potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, squash, and more. Salad for dinner tonight, clearly.

Speaking of which, Mark Bittman has a great mega-column in the New York Times Dining section today, listing 101 salads as well as dressing suggestions. When we first saw it, we thought, "Who needs more salad ideas?" Then we took a look at the salad of shredded carrots, blueberries, and sunflower seeds and realized that we hadn't begun to explore this summer standby.