In this week’s share:

• Sunshine Winter Squash
• Carrots
• Bell Peppers
• Mustard Mix
• Nicola Potatoes
• Toscano Kale
• Savoy Cabbage
• Curly Cress
• Baby Arugula

More squash to experiment with!

More peppers, too… not sure what to do with them. (I will not be stuffing them, that’s for sure!)

In this week’s share:

• Green Crisp Lettuce
• Fennel
• Carrots
• Chioggia beets
• Peppers
• Green Beans
• Keuka Gold Potatoes
• Garlic
• Sweet Dumpling Squash
• Broccoli

This quick and simple dinner, which showcased many of the veggies from this week’s share, also turned out to be more delicious and satisfying than expected.

The pesto chicken cutlets were a twist on the standard way of preparing a fried chicken cutlet. I followed the same steps of dredging chicken breasts in 1) flour, 2) egg (beaten), then 3) breadcrumbs, but only after whisking one or two spoonfuls of leftover pesto into the egg. I also used panko breadcrumbs, which fry up lighter and crispier than the bland and grainy breadcrumbs usually found in grocery stores.

The lettuce mix from our CSA share formed the base for the garden salad. I added sliced cucumbers and grated carrots – also from the CSA – and tossed everything in a balsamic vinaigrette. The freshness of the vegetables really shone through in the salad, and reminded me of how fortunate we are to have regular access to local organic produce.

I first tried beer bread this summer, when my friend made it for a potluck. One bite of the crisp, buttery crust and the soft, yeasty inner crumb had me sold, and I knew I had to make it myself. This recipe, which originates from another mutual friend of ours, is surprisingly simple, and makes for a hearty addition to a weeknight dinner.

Beer Bread

recipe courtesy of Sarah M. (and Wendy C.) – thanks, guys!

3 Tbsp butter, plus more for greasing pan
3 cups self-rising flour
½ cup sugar (some prefer adding a couple tablespoons more, for a sweeter taste)
12 oz bottle beer (this determines the flavor of the bread)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 9″x5″ loaf pan.

Melt butter; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour and sugar. Add beer, and mix until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan, then pour melted butter on top of batter. (Allow the butter to sit on top of the batter; do not mix it in.)

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until golden.

In this week’s share:

• green beans
  
• lettuce mix
• zucchini & summer squash
  
• cucumbers
  
• green romaine lettuce
  
• green crisp lettuce
  
• scallions
  
• parsley

We were also supposed to receive purslane and Red Norland potatoes – the first potatoes of the season! – but, for whatever reason, there weren’t any in the box. Someone erroneously thought that substituting carrots and (more) beets for these would suffice. Alas: it was a sad, sad day, and a salad-filled week.

This was my first time cooking with fennel, and it actually was a lot of fun. The more unusual the shape and/or flavor profile of an ingredient, the more excited I am to try it out in the kitchen (and on Habanero).

Chicken provided the perfect palette for warm, licorice-scented fennel and sweet carrots (added in my variation of the original recipe), and these were further enriched by the aroma released from a little minced rosemary. This also was the perfect dish to showcase a little of the Italian parsley from Week 5′s CSA share.

Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Fennel, Carrots, and Rosemary

very slightly adapted from a cooking.com recipe

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large fennel bulb (about 1¼ pounds), cut into ½-inch slices
• 8 carrots, peeled, (if necessary, cut lengthwise into ½-inch-thick pieces)
  
• 2 teaspoons dried rosemary, minced
  
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1⅓ pounds in all)
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

In a large nonstick frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderately high heat. Add the fennel, carrots, 1 teaspoon of the rosemary, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the fennel is golden brown and almost done, about 12 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer until the fennel and carrots are tender, about 3 minutes. Remove the vegetables and the cooking liquid from the pan.

Wipe out the pan and heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over moderate heat. Season the chicken with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper. Add the chicken to the pan with the remaining 1 teaspoon of rosemary and cook until brown, about 5 minutes. Turn and cook until almost done, about 3 minutes longer. Add the garlic; cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the vegetables and their cooking liquid and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a simmer. Cover the pan and remove from the heat. Let steam 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley.