Recipe: Sauteed Sweet Potato Greens

Last week, we received sweet potato greens through our CSA. Sweet potato greens! Who knew? As with all of the new greens we’ve tried in the last few months, I sauteed these in a little butter and garlic. I tossed some of the more tender stems in the mix as well and added some stock to cook everything further.

The weirdest part is that when the greens first hit the butter, it smelled like I was roasting sweet potatoes. As for taste and texture, they reminded me of collards. Only more tender and less bitter.

We served them with grass-fed NY strip and roasted cherry tomatoes with goat cheese. Yum.

Our five year-old loved them and demanded we have them again the next night as part of her "Kindergarten-eve dinner." he next evening, I tried to use some of the thicker and they stayed too tough. So my advice is stick with the leaves and only the most tender of the stems. Here’s hoping we get more of them this week!

Recipe:

One bunch of Sweet Potato Greens
2-4 Tbsp butter
1 smashed clove of garlic

• Saute until wilted.
• Test the stems.
• If they are soft enough, salt and serve.
• If they are still tough, add a cup of stock, cover, and simmer until they reach the desired level of tenderness.

That’s it. hocofood@@@

Pappardelle with Garlic Scape Pesto

I’m loving our new CSA. Last week they gave us three things I had never before tried: red Russian cabbage, bok choy, and garlic scapes. I’d always heard great things about garlic scapes, but I had never tried them.

I decided the best use for the scapes was to make a pesto. It turned out great. It had the aroma of fresh garlic but a milder flavor. Don’t get me wrong though – it’s still an intense garlic flavor.

I used about a tablespoon of the pesto to flavor the sautéed red Russian cabbage. On Sunday night, I made pappardelle and tossed it with about 1/3 cup of the pesto. It tasted like summer. This pesto would also be great on toasted crusty bread. And I think putting a little on a piece of grilled salmon could be great. hocofood@@@

Pappardelle with Garlic Scape Pesto Recipe

• Cook pasta according the instructions on the box
• Toss with 1/3 - 1/2 cup of the pesto
• Eat

Grilled Romaine Recipe

I always see grilled romaine on menus. For some unknown reason, not only have I never ordered it, but until last weekend, I had never tried to make it myself. I like romaine. I like grills. Why not?

Thanks to a beautiful head of romaine from our CSA, I made grilled romaine on Saturday night. It was great and super simple. The heat intensifies the flavor and the crisping adds to the texture. Mrs. P90 described the flavor as almost asparagus like. I agree. I served it with just a little Caesar dressing and some crumbled feta. It would also be great with a basic balsamic dijon vinaigrette and some goat cheese. I’ll try this next time. hocofood@@@

Grilled Romaine Recipe

• Heat your grill on high
• Cut a head of romaine into quarters (length wise)
• Soak the quarters in water and spin in a salad spinner
• Grill the romaine for 20-60 seconds (on each cut side)
• Place on a plate grilled side up and dress lightly  

Grilled Tofu with Gorman Farms Bok Choy

If you’ve read my musings previously, you know that 1. I love grilling and barbequing and 2. I haven’t met many animals I didn’t want to eat. Heck, I once surmised that dolphins must taste like a magical cross between tuna and venison (this was a joke, please don’t contact PETA). But think about it, you know they do.

I won’t deny loving meat, but there is no reason to eat it daily and about a million reasons not to. Add to this that one of the P90 girls is a strict *vegetarian (Chic-Fil-A chicken nuggets not withstanding) and you can see why I have been trying to cut back on our meat consumption and looking for other protein sources.

*She’s three, so I assume it’s for taste/texture reasons and not issues of compassion or animal welfare. Side note, Mrs. P90 claims to have never eaten a fast food hamburger (aside from In-N-Out Burger or Five Guys) in her life and to have been a mostly vegetarian child. So who knows if this will stick. I’m fine with it. There is no reason to eat meat if you don’t like it. 

But back to our scheduled topic. Last week, we received bok choy from Gorman Farms CSA. Oddly enough, I had never cooked bok choy. I did what I always do with a “new to me” food and checked How to Cook Everything to see what Mark Bittman suggests. I made grilled tofu with stir-fried bok choy. It was delicious. Here's the recipe. hocofood@@@

For the Tofu:

1. Cut a brick of tofu into four slices
2. Marinate in Trader Joe’s Soyaki (or the marinade of your choice) (if you use the Soyaki, you might want to use 2 parts Soyaki to 1 part water. It’s very salty and the tofu really soaks up a marinade)
3. Grill over medium-high heat for three minutes per side (baste with a little more soyaki as you grill)

For the bok choy:

“Sauce”
2 tablespoons of water
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons of fish sauce
hot pepper flakes to taste
¼ teaspoons of Chinese five spice seasoning (if you like)

1. Cut the leaves from the stems of the bok choy. Trim the stems as necessary, then cut them into 1-inch pieces. Cut the leaves into wide ribbons and keep them separate from the stems.
2. Put 3 teaspoons of peanut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the bok choy stems and cook, stirring occasionally, until they just lose their crunch, about 5-10 minutes.
3. Add the bok choy leaves and the “sauce.” Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates and the bok choy is fully tender, 5 to 10 minutes; add a little more water if necessary.