Monthly Archives: October 2020

Harissa Stewed Chickpeas with Roasted Potatoes, Kale, and Garlic Yogurt

Posted on by under Recipes

Flavorful, saucy chickpeas, greens for a little bitter bite, crispy potatoes, garlicky yogurt, and a finish of herbs and spices make these bowls a dream. Vegetarian, warming, full of flavor, but not heavy. If you want to make them vegan you can follow the inspiration recipe from The First Mess more closely as Laura tops them with a lemon tahini sauce instead of yogurt.

My last Potter Hill CSA of the season included tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, green tomatoes, leeks, shishitos, potatoes bok choi, kale, mustard greens, perpetual spinach, and radishes. Radish greens went alongside frizzled chickpeas. Sauteed bok choi and perpetual spinach, and raw, chopped radishes went into tofu bowls with citrus tahini sauce. I’m planning to use some greens and carrots from a past week in bibimbap. For breakfast this weekend I’m thinking about a winter version of this potato, tomato, and leek frittata with shishitos sauteed alongside the leeks and the tomato omitted (I find tomatoes at this point in the season are better if cooked more, but I might finish with some cheddar cheese on top).

If you’re feeling like soup, this is my favorite recipe for leek and potato. Curry butternut squash soup with coconut milk is really the only squash soup I make (and I love it so). Please forgive the terrible photo, but this chipotle black bean soup is another winner.

Harissa Stewed Chickpeas with Roasted Potatoes, Kale, and Garlic Yogurt

Serves 6. Adapted from The First Mess.

  • 2 lbs new potatoes
  • 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 5 garlic cloves, 3 minced and the other 2 grated (kept separate)
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon harissa
  • 3 large tomatoes, chopped (about 1.5 lbs total)
  • 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 bunch kale, chopped
  • 1/2 lemon
  • 1 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves
  • Aleppo pepper for serving

Preheat the oven to 400F. Cut potatoes into 1/2″ thick wedges and toss with 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread between two baking sheets and roast for 35 minutes, stopping at 20 minutes to slip the potatoes, and switch the pans. The potatoes should be thoroughly crisp with the centers cooked through.

While the potatoes are roasting heat a large pot over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and when it shimmers add in the onion. Cook for 5 minutes, or until they are translucent and starting to brown at the edges. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and harissa. Cook for 1-2 minutes while stirring to coat the onions and garlic. Add in the chopped tomatoes, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper, then bring to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes, until the tomatoes start to break down. Add in the chickpeas, return to a simmer, and cover. Let simmer on medium-low heat until the potatoes are done. Taste and season again if needed.

Heat a pan over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and when it shimmers add in the kale. Cook for 2-3 minutes, tossing so that the kale wilts completely. When it is just cooked, remove from the heat and squeeze the lemon half over.

Stir the grated garlic into the yogurt.

Build the bowls with the chickpea stew on the bottom, followed by greens, potatoes, yogurt sauce, parsley, and aleppo pepper. Dig in!

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Quick Fall Slaw

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In October I love the appearance of storage vegetables but I’m not quite ready to dive into cozy food all the time. Thankfully many root vegetables are just as good raw as they are cooked and retain a delightful crunch. This slaw combines the colors and flavors of kohlrabi, salad turnips, and watermelon radish. It works equally well as a side or a topping (or both!!). I used it as both with my absolute favorite black bean burgers.

My full share this week was tomatoes, shishitos, kohlrabi, arugula, celeriac, watermelon radishes, salad turnips, kale, and perpetual spinach. Tomatoes and a butternut squash from last week are going into this tortilla casserole. I used the shishitos instead of the poblanos called for in the black bean burgers I served with the slaw. The perpetual spinach and radish/turnip tops were sauteed and stuffed into quesadillas with charred onions and leftover chicken for a super easy dinner. All these root vegetable are perfect for roasted root vegetable bowls.

Quick Fall Slaw

  • 1 watermelon radish
  • 1 turnip
  • 1 kohlrabi
  • 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
  • 1/2 tablespoon full-fay mayo
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Wash and peel all root veg (leave on stems as a handle if you are using a mandolin to julienne!). Use a mandolin with the slicing blade inserted to make lengths about 1/8″ wide. If you don’t have a mandolin you can practice your knife skills to cut them (good tips in this video).

In a small jar add the remaining ingredients and shake to combine. Pour over vegetables, toss to coat, and serve.

October CSA Ideas

Posted on by under Inspiration

I don’t have a recipe to post this week, but wanted to share some ideas for CSA cooking. My full Potter Hill Farm share this week included tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, husk cherries, shishitos, turnips, lettuce, chard, perpetual spinach, and mustard greens.

Got tomatoes? Red and green? The recipe booklet at the bottom of this post has an excellent tomato and chickpea curry with coconut milk (plus many other great ideas for tomatoes). Roasted tomato and eggplant soup is a dream, even if the color makes you think otherwise. I’ve been eyeing these fried green tomatoes, mostly because the sauce looks incredible (and every sauce needs a vehicle!). Charred green tomato salsa is also an excellent option.

Greens on your mind? I have big plans to make this spanakopita pie with my wealth of greens (I always use couscous, and it soaks up the extra liquid perfectly). Bok choy rice bowls are so easy and flavorful.

Root vegetables have your heart? This roasted carrot and farro salad is excellent as is, or with other root veg mixed in. Celeriac and apple slaw is refreshing and crunchy – a perfect side with roasted chicken or grilled pork chops.

What fall delicacies are you cooking?

Late Summer Hurrah Pizza

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This pizza is a celebration of vegetables we associate with late summer, but are still coming in strong in early fall. It’s heavy with roasted eggplant and tomatoes, sauteed shishitos, kale, cheese, and finished with garlic oil. So…perfection?

My full share this week was green tomatoes, red tomatoes, kale, garlic, shishitos, mustard greens, celeriac, perpetual spinach, and watermelon radishes. I made burritos with sauteed perpetual spinach/radish tops, roasted sweet potatoes, beans, rice, and avocado. This risotto with beans, sausage, and bitter greens is a wonderful start of fall meal – hearty and warming but not heavy. I’ve been eyeing this bibimbap recipe for the weekend, which is a perfect way to use up any random veg you have. I also have a craving for Thai green curry, but I haven’t found a recipe I want to use yet (do you have one?!).

Late Summer Hurrah Pizza

As I’ve written before, this is my go-to pizza dough recipe, and I usually sub half of the white flour for wheat. It is a very wet pizza dough which I spread it on a Silpat on a baking sheet and cook it on the lowest oven rack. If this is your first time making pizza dough, I suggest this recipe for a slightly easier to work with dough. This makes 6 servings, which for me is a half sheet pan and a quarter sheet pan of pizza (or you could make 2 smaller pizzas instead of 1 large and 1 small).

  • 1 pizza dough, storebought or homemade (see note)
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved (or quartered if large)
  • 1 pint fairy tale eggplant (or 1 regular eggplant), chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 pint shishito peppers, thinly sliced
  • 1 bunch kale, stems removed and thinly sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 lb low moisture whole milk mozzarella, shredded
  • Red pepper flakes
  • 1 handful basil leaves, chopped

Preheat your oven to 400F. Place the cherry tomatoes and eggplant on a baking sheet and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil and the salt. Roast for 15 minutes, stir, and roast for another 10 until the eggplant is soft and the cherry tomatoes have shriveled a bit. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Turn the oven up as high as it will go (mine goes to 550F).

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium high and saute the shishitos for 5-7 minutes, or until softened. Remove the peppers from the pan and add the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Heat for 1-2 minutes until the oil starts to shimmer, then pour over the minced garlic.

Spread your dough on two baking sheets (I like to use a Silpat underneath, or you could use parchment paper).

Build the pizzas with the eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers first, then the kale, followed by the cheese. Finish by drizzling with the garlic and olive oil (use it alllll up!).

Bake for 10 minutes, or until the bottom is crispy and the cheese is browning and bubbly. Finish with basil and serve with red pepper flakes.

Stewed Chickpeas with Greens

Posted on by under Recipes

Dinner: Changing the Game by Melissa Clark has soared to the top of my favorite cookbooks in recent years. The recipes are incredibly varied, assertively flavored, and chock full of vegetables. Aptly named, each recipe is dinner in its entirety, so I never have to think about what else I should make to fill out the meal. I really love any combination of beans and greens, but I was blown away by how this humble pot is transformed from beans and greens in a watery broth to a thick, rich stew with just a few blitzes of an immersion blender. Really good bread is a critical vehicle for the stew, and don’t skimp on the olive oil.

My full share this week was kale, perpetual spinach, mustard greens, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, basil, shishitos, husk cherries, and acorn squash. I made 1.5x the recipe below and used all three bunches of greens. The tomatoes are going into this ridiculously good eggplant curry. Last week I made a “use-up-all-the-veg-in-the-fridge-meal” of roasted vegetable pasta inspired by this with greens, shishitos, mushrooms, and broccoli that was so great. This roasted squash salad is one of my favorites for fall – the sweet squash is perfectly balanced with bitter greens and acidic dressing.

Stewed Chickpeas with Greens

Serves 4

Adapted from Dinner by Melissa Clark

  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving
  • 2 bunches greens, such as chard, kale, perpetual spinach, or mustard greens, stems removed and roughly chopped
  • 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • A large pinch of chili flakes, plus extra for serving
  • 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup stock or water
  • 4 slices of bread
  • Smoked paprika
  • Flakey salt
  • Pepper

Thinly slice 4 cloves of garlic. Halve the last clove and save for serving (I like to put it on the table so I don’t forget it.

Heat the half cup of olive oil over medium high heat in a large pot (all the greens need to fit in it uncooked). Add the sliced garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, until it starts to brown at the edges. Add the cumin and chili flakes, stir, and cook for a minute more. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, or until it starts to brown at the edges.

Add the chickpeas, greens, and stock. Stir, bring to a simmer, and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring once or twice. The greens should be totally wilted, but still a vibrant green.

Using an immersion blender, partially puree the mixture so it is more stew like, but still has intact beans and greens. Serve with toasted bread rubbed with garlic, smoked paprika, chili flakes, flakey salt, pepper, and olive oil for drizzling.