Chomp Zone

Our CSA has finally come to an end, but each week we received more spinach than humanly possible to consume. For example.

This isn’t spinach you can just wash and be done with. No. It’s covered in dirt. And the stems need to be snipped off. One bag took us two hours to wash, snip, cook and package to freeze. But regardless, we still needed to use it up.

Another item we had in abundance were potatoes - both sweet and white. Epicurious saved the day. Inspiration did the rest. 

Here’s what you need -

• 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 10 ounces fully cooked chorizo sausage, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 - 2 pounds of sweet potato, peeled, and cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 - 2 pounds white potato, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices (you should have 3 pounds of potatoes total, so accommodate accordingly) 
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 9 ounces of spinach

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan. Cook sausage until browned, about 8 minutes. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon and place on a plate covered in paper towel to drain. Add onions and garlic to the pan and cook until translucent. Add all of the potatoes and cook until starting to soften, about 12 minutes.

Add broth. Scrape up bits of browned stuff on the bottom. Simmer for 20 minutes until potatoes are entirely cooked through. Add the sausage back in, and the spinach. Cook until spinach is wilted. Stir in remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

It’s pumpkin season! I made this soup over the course of, oh, three days, but it’s really quite simple. Things like traveling for work, yoga and The Office got in the way.

Here’s what you need -

• 3 - 4 lb sugar pumpkin, cut in half
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 gala apple, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup low fat milk (or cream if yours didn’t go bad like mine did)
• 3 cups chicken broth

Preheat oven to 425. Place pumpkin halves, flesh side down  on a cookie sheet. Don’t worry about the seeds yet. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, until a fork can pierce the skin easily. Remove and let cool. Scoop out the seeds and pulp.

In a large sauce pan, melt butter. Add onions and apples. Cook until soft, about two minutes. Add carrots. Add the spices. Cook for another minute or two. Set heat on low.

Cube pumpkin and add to the pan. Set heat on medium/high and continue to cook until pumpkin softens even more. Add two cups of chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Puree mixture in a food process or blender. You may have to do this in batches, depending on what you’re using.

Add pumpkin puree back to the pan, and thin out with the remaining cup of broth. I didn’t all of it, but this depends on what consistency you like. Add the milk and bring back up to a simmer for a few minutes. Serve.

Boston is still hot. Even with AC, I don’t particularly want to turn the stove on. So I decided to try out a cold soup recipe tonight - Avocado and Lime.

Here’s what you’ll need -

• 2 ripe avocados
• 2/3 cup diced red onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp canned chile
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 2 1/2 cups plain non fat yogurt
• 1/4 fresh cilantro
• 1 1/2 tbsp lime juice

In a food processor, puree the avocado, onion, garlic, chile, salt and cumin. Add in non fat yogurt and cilantro and pulse until combined. Transfer to a bowl and add about 1/3 cup cold water and lime juice. Mixed until combined. Serve with salsa and tortilla chips.

Last night James had duck. It was a rather large slab of duck, and neither one of us wanted to eat it aside some potatoes or steamed veggies tonight. We decided to use it in a soup - and to be honest, the only reason we did this is because James said “Duck, duck, soup!” as opposed to “Duck, duck, goose.” Yes, sometimes puns help you plan meals.

Here’s what you’ll need -

• Leftover duck (beef would be a good substitute), chopped into small pieces
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 6 cups water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Combine the following ingredients above, simmer for 30 minutes. While that’s simmering, chop up the following -

• 3 potatoes
• 1 tomato
• 1 cup baby carrots
• 1 cup broccoli 

And you’ll also need -

• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup frozen corn

Add your chopped veggies and the ‘other stuff’ to the pot. Simmer for an hour.

Serve and enjoy!