Getting Adventurous

This week, I joined a CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture) program.  Every 2 weeks I get a basket full of freshly picked, organic produce from local farms.  I'm sharing it with a friend for now, so we can get used to the produce we are getting and make sure we can use it all!  On Wednesday, I picked up my first basket.  There was so much produce in it!  Here's a list of what I got...

Valencia Oranges, Parsley, Turnips, Broccoli,  Kohlrabi, Lettuce, Strawberries, Kale, Sweet Pea Flower Bunch, Chard, Beets, Avocado, Grapefruit, Cabbage, Green Onions, Minneola Oranges, Navel Oranges

Some of this stuff I've never heard of!  But after splitting up the produce with my friend, online I went to find some new recipes so I can use up all this produce!

Tonight, I got adventurous.  I made two dishes.  Ok so that sounds very anti-climatic.  But, it wasn't just "two dishes."  It was two new recipes using ingredients I had never used before!  I probably should only have done 1 at a time, but I was excited.

Recipe #1: Swiss Chard with Beets

• 2 bunches Swiss chard
• 1 small red onion, halved and sliced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 raw beets
• lemon juice from 1 1/2 lemons
• crumbled feta cheese
• sliced almonds

1. Cut stems from chard; coarsely chop stems and leaves separately. Fill a Dutch oven with water; bring to a boil. Add chard leaves. Return to a boil; cook for 1-2 minutes or just until tender. Drain and rinse in cold water; set aside.
2. In a large skillet, saute the onion, garlic, salt, pepper and chard stems in oil for 10-15 minutes or until tender.
3. Gently squeeze excess moisture from chard leaves. Add leaves and beets to skillet; saute for 1 minute.
4. Add lemon juice; heat through.
5. Just before serving, sprinkle with feta cheese and almonds. Yield: 6 servings.

 My notes:
~ I don't know how much is in a "bunch" of Swiss chard.  I think I had maybe 8 leaves/stems or so?
~ I had about 1/2 of a large red onion.  It worked fine.  :-)
~ For the salt & pepper, I just sprinkled some in the pan, I didn't measure it.
~ One of the reasons I used this recipe was to use to beets I had.  I steamed the beets whole for about 40 minutes, then sliced them and used them in this recipe.  If you don't have raw beets or don't want to take the time to steam them, you can use a 14.5 oz can of beets instead.
~ I added a bunch of chicken I had leftover from the whole chicken I cooked the other day, so I added that in to make it more of a dinner meal.  Then I divided it into 4 servings, 2 for us for dinner tonight and 2 for lunches tomorrow!

This was so delicious!  I was so happy as I was eating it with how well it turned out!  It had a mix of flavors & textures that all blended together very well.  I very seriously considered going back for seconds but new it would be just as yummy for lunch tomorrow (so I had some ice cream instead, heehee).

Original recipe: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Swiss-Chard-with-Beets?refurl=&_mid=455702&_rid=455702.1270742942.30655

Tomorrow I will write about the Kohlrabi 'n' Carrot Bake I made to go along with this.  :-)

What's on the menu for tomorrow?  Kale Chips and Crispy Turnip Fries!