Brew-sketta

Yes, that is how “bruschetta” is pronounced, or so I’ve been told by my Italian-speaking friends.  And it’s what’s for dinner!  I had always thought of it as an appetizer, so who knew it could be so filling?  Thanks to the first pick-up of my CSA shares, I now have a ton of new greens, some of which I’ve never heard of.  Hon tsai tai, anyone?  Why, don’t mind if I do!  This little gem looks like giant mint leaves with gorgeous little yellow flowers, both of which are edible, and mild and flavorful.  I’m not a huge fan of turnips, but their greens suit me just fine; it’s important to use these greens right away, though, as they will dry out quickly.  So—time being of the essence—I decided to take advantage of their fleeting flavor and nutritional offerings and use them all, including some of the arugula from the sustainable student farm.  I ended up with about a pound of greens, chopped rather small (fingernail-sized pieces).  Loosely using a recipe from the cookbook I got with my CSA shares years ago, I first sautéed them with a freshly chopped bulb of young CSA garlic, then added enough vegetable broth to cover.  I then braised them for about 15 minutes, adding ¼ cup of Malbec near the end.  Meanwhile, I cut six generously thick slices of my husband’s whole-grain bread and slipped them into the toaster.  While still warm, I rubbed them with a halved clove of garlic, then topped them with the greens mixture, which had turned into a kind of paste.

OK, that doesn’t sound good.  Paste. Think pesto, but with wilted greens.  That doesn't sound good either, but I promise it tasted divine; especially topped with an Italian four-cheese mixture and popped under the broiler for a couple of minutes.  Yum!  Just two of these bruschetta made a surprisingly filling dinner, and were huge on nutrition—imagine, a third of a pound of greens per serving!  Brew-sketta (bruschetti?) are a convenient way to use up lots of odds and ends of veggies in your fridge.  Mix and match, chop fine, add garlic and olive oil, top with cheese, broil, and you have a light, vegetarian meal with a name you can be proud of serving and pronouncing properly.

Good Doggie Bag

So…I caved.  There it was, on the way home from swimming, and we were all starving.  The restaurant was not local, but it was close and convenient.  Smoke Que & Brew (which I’m still not quite sure how to pronounce correctly—“Smoke Q?”  “Smoke?” “Smoke-kay?”  as in, Smoke What?!) seemed to have what we needed—food and fast, without being fast food.  As soon as we tasted our burnt ends and my son’s smoked sausage, we knew it wasn’t our beloved Black Dog (a locally-owned, always-crowded barbecue place which uses lots of local farm goods), but we were hungry.  After an unsatisfying tear-in, we asked for a container and took home half of our burnt ends (which were incredibly fatty), half a baked sweet potato, and a couple of ounces of smoked sausage.

The next day, nobody wanted to eat them.  The following day, I knew I had to use them somehow, or guiltily toss them—complete with Styrofoam containers—into the landfill-bound trash can.  I have a really hard time throwing away a half a pound of meat, so I had to be imaginative.  Fortunately, on the same day, I read on the e-bulletin board at work that my college’s sustainable farm had picked its first crop, and would have greens and radishes available for a small donation.  For five dollars (which seemed an extremely reasonable donation to me) I got two quart bags of arugula, two quart bags of spinach, a quart bag of kale, and a huge bunch of radishes. Everything was sparkling clean, and gorgeously dark green.  I had to sample the arugula before I even got everything home.

At home I thawed a quart-sized container of black beans I had cooked and frozen previously and added four cups of vegetable broth; I sautéed a large onion, then chopped up and added the quart bag of kale (a very nice-sized bunch) for about five minutes.  These were added to the beans and broth and brought to a boil.  I chopped the burnt ends and smoked sausage, then decided to add the leftover half of the sweet potato cut into very small pieces as well.  A little of my favorite gourmet garlic salt went in right before I put on the lid.  I left it on for a slow simmer for my son’s 45-minute swim lesson.  When we got home…oh, what an aroma!  The burnt ends lent a smoky flavor to the beans, the potato a touch of sweetness.  The fresh kale gave just the right earthy backdrop.  And, best of all, we felt like we finally got our money’s worth from the less-than-perfect eating out experience.