I wanted to have a go at a Gorgonzola-based recipe my brother makes, so I bought a block of it from Costco… a big block. I used it for dinner the last two nights with pretty good results—it has a salty character that doesn’t make things creamy like you’d expect most cheeses to do.
Steamed Asparagus + Mushrooms + Gorgonzola + Sausuage
Well, that pretty much says it all. After tossing a healthy amount of asparagus and whole mushrooms into the steamer, I sliced up a couple of sausages and heated them in a frying pan. When the veggies were tender, I used those as a base and topped with the sausages and a layer of crumbed gorgonzola. Tasty!
Tri-Tip + Leek/Sweet Potato/Gorgonzola
This is actually the recipe I had in mind when buying the gorgonzola—while a tri-tip roasted in the oven (I was too lazy to fire up the Big Green Egg), I steamed some peeled and chopped sweet potatoes. While those steamed, I sauteed some leeks with a little bit of butter. Once the sweet potatoes were done, I added the leeks and a healthy dose of chili paste (sriracha) and did a rough mash (didn’t use the masher—just a wooden fork. chunks are ideal, but the sweet potatoes get so soft that some mashing while mixing is unavoidable). Yum again!
After reading several recipes that each had pieces of things I liked, I decided to just wing it with the ingredients I had on hand (and make it closer to a green bean casserole).
- One head of cabbage, chopped.
- One pound of ground beef.
- One jar of alfredo sauce.
- One can of mushroom soup.
- Fried onion topping.
Steam or boil the cabbage while you brown the ground beef. After draining the beef, add the alfredo sauce and the mushroom soup (no need to add water). Once the cabbage is soft and the beef mixture is warm, transfer everything to a big-ass casserole dish and mix it in pretty well. Top with fried onions and bake until brown on top.
For something that’s ridiculously easy to make and mostly comes out of jars, this was a big hit.
I can probably count the number of times I’ve eaten broccoli soup on one hand, but yesterday’s veggie pickup was just screaming soup: fresh broccoli, soup celery (little miniature celeries), fresh carrots, green garlic, and fresh dill. I picked up some white cheddar on the way home. I browsed around for a couple of recipes, eventually sort of winging it on my own…
Ingredients:
- three pieces of green garlic (diced)
- diced carrots (half dozen or so)
- diced celery (similar quantity to the carrots)
- diced onions (about half an onion)
- a few sprigs of dill
- a crapton of broccoli
- two cups of grated white cheddar
- half a stick of butter
- five cups of milk
- a couple of teaspoons of flour
- salt to taste
- sri racha (chili paste) to taste
Preparation:
I got the broccoli steaming first, then tossed the butter, dill, garlic and onions into a soup pot on med-high with a couple of teaspoons of flour. Once those were nice and clear, I added the carrots and celery, cooking that for another few minutes. Once those were good and cooked, I reduced the heat to medium and poured in one cup of milk. From here, it was basically a waiting game. As soon as the mixture started to boil, I’d add another cup of milk. Once all five cups of milk had been added and the mixture was boiling again, I added the broccoli (we had a lot, so I just added the florets) and the cheddar—stirring until it was all melted. All that was left was to add salt and a couple of squirts of sri racha until I had the taste how I wanted it.
Good stuff!
I dropped off the rest of this week’s veggies at Diama’s mom’s house this morning and she cooked us dinner. Not really having any idea what to do with anything, she peeled everything and tossed it in a soup. The sweetness from the beets went great with the spring flavor of the fennel (for lack of better description), while the parsnips added most of the substance.
Our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) just started back up, so it’s time once again to start experimenting. I was going to cook us up some cabbage last night (a shame our delivery was the day after St. Patrick’s Day), but after taking stock of our ingredients (we also had fresh carrots, parsley, and what I thought were scallions) a cole slaw seemed perfect. I diced the cabbage, carrots, and parsley and got to work on the onions. After trying one of them, I realized it was actually green garlic. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but it was still pretty delicious. I browsed the net for a couple of coleslaw sauce recipes, but none of them seemed all that appealing—so I made my own!
The final recipe went something like this:
- one small head of cabbage, chopped into small pieces
- four carrots, diced
- half a bunch of fresh parsley, diced
- a few pieces of green garlic, diced (though in the future I’d probably stick with scallions)
After tossing all that in a bowl (and, uh… tossing it), I then drizzled over a mixture of:
- 2 teaspoons of sugar
- 1.5 tablespoons of salt
- 0.5 tablespoons of black pepper
- 3 tablespons cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup olive oil
My fiance said I used too much parsley, but my other roommate and I both loved it (I had what was left over for breakfast this morning). According to the Lose It! App on my iPhone, if you divide the above recipe into four servings it works out to 240 calories per serving (not bad for how filling it is).
During CSA season, we usually just toss whatever we have together—but this is something I might actually try to make a second or third time.
