Tomatoes and Arugula over Pork Medallions

Tonight's supper utilized the beautiful bag of arugula from this week's CSA delivery.

Ingredients:

bag of arugula
2 bunches of tomatoes on the vine (they were on sale this week, any pretty tomato would work)
garlic
balsamic vinegar
parmaseano reggano or other hard cheese
pork loin (not pictured, I don't put meat on the counter)

First, I cut the pork loin into one inch slices and salt and peppered each side:

Then I cut the tomatoes into (roughly) one inch cubes and salted and peppered them:

Then, I toasted about 2 tsp of garlic in my big non-stick fry pan. I removed the garlic and set it aside.

Then I cooked the pork medallions in the olive oil for about 3-5 minutes on each side:

Then I removed the pork from the pan and set it aside.

Next, I added the tomatoes to the pan. I added 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar and one more tbsp of olive oil and let the tomatoes cook until limp in the pork juice and oil. Then I added the garlic back in and tossed in the arugula until it was wilted:

Finally, I put two pork medallions on the plate, spooned the tomato/arugula mixture on top, and topped it off with grated cheese:

Delicious, nutritious, and only one (non-stick) pan to wash!

CSA update: I have been using radishes every day in my lunch salads. So, all that is left of my CSA delivery is a bag of lettuce (I already had a big box of lettuce I am trying to finish before I use this lettuce), several baby assorted summer squash, and 3 radishes. I will use the lettuce for my lunch salads along with the remaining radishes. The squash I will use along with 3 medium zucchinis I have on hand (they were really cheap at the grocery store) to make my first batch of baby food! I will post that early this week.

Basil Chicken and Turnip Gratin

Tonight's supper utilized the big beautiful bunch of basil that came in this week's CSA delivery.

Here are the ingredients for the basil chicken:

4 boneless skinless chicken breast (not pictured, I don't like to get raw chicken on the counter)
3 medium zucchini
1 red bell pepper
1/2 large onion (not pictured, last minute addition)
8 oz sliced mushrooms
2 tsp minced garlic
bunch of basil
olive oil
salt and pepper

First, I cut the chicken into cubes and sliced the zucchini, onion, and red pepper. I washed and sliced all of the basil. Here are the prepped ingredients:

I put about 2 tbsp of olive oil into a big non-stick pan. I added the chicken cubes and salt and pepper. I let the chicken cook about half way. Then I mixed in the rest of  the ingredients, except the garlic. I stirred the whole mixture several times. After about 10 more minutes, I added a few dashes of soy sauce and the garlic. I put the lid on and let it cook for about another 5 or 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Here is what it looked like cooking:

I also made turnip gratin from the recipe I used last year. This time the only change I made was making little casseroles in ramekins. They turned out beautifully. Dinner was delicious:

I also used several radishes in making a big salad for lunch yesterday. It was so darn pretty I had to take a picture:

Stay tuned this weekend. I am making pork medallions over tomatoes and arugula.

CSA Week One

The first CSA delivery of the Spring Season arrived today! Here is what I have:

a bunch of turnips
Two bunches of radishes
A bunch of basil
One bag arugula
One bag of lettuce
4 baby summer squash
one baby patty pan squash

So far, here is my plan for how to use this beautiful produce:

My sister has been raving about this basil chicken recipe she recently made, so I will try that with the turnip gratin I made last year and can not get off my mind now that I have fresh turnips in the house.

I will make baby food from the squash and freeze it.

I will cook the arugula with tomatoes and serve it with pork tenderloin medalions.

I will use the lettuce and radishes in salad for lunches, and maybe also make a batch of radish chips.

New this year, I will also post updates from my own garden. I planted last weekend and we have been blessed with lots of rain this week. Here is what I have so far:

 Herbs planted on top of my rain barrel: stevia, mint, rosemary, thyme.

 Six tomato plants. Three various heirloom varieties and three better boys.

From the opposite side of the raised bed, you can see three okra plants planted near the edge. There is also one red bell pepper plant but you really can not see it in the picture. 

  Three cucumber plants

 Three squash plants

 Three zucchini plants and a little cantaloupe plant off to the left.

I will take pictures once a week and post them with the weekly CSA delivery.

Countdown: One Week

One week from today I pick up my first CSA delivery of the season. Until then, I just thought I would tease with a delicious preview of the beautiful seasonal produce I picked up at Publix this week. Above is a picture of last night's supper: Salmon with roasted asparagus, tomato and fresh mozzarella salad, and a ciabatta roll.

You can now follow us on twitter: adventuroussupp or "like" our facebook page (search for Adventurous Supper, they wont let us have a username until we have 25 fans). We have also have a new web address, so you can reach us at http://www.adventuroussupper.com.

Update and new CSA season coming soon

So back in December I suddenly stopped blogging. Why? I suddenly stopped cooking and otherwise functioning. I hit 36 weeks in my pregnancy, and I was DONE. Done with cooking, done with housework, done with blogging, done with everything beyond my bare minimum mandatory energy exertion. It was all I could do to shower and get to work. So, for the last 2 weeks of the CSA season, I did not pick up my bag.

I had my baby, he is beautiful and perfect, and I would like to think his health and strength is due to my healthy eating habits while pregnant.

So, the spring CSA season starts soon. I will pick up my first bag April 25. This is the first spring CSA season for me, so it will be a whole new set of mystery veggies this time around. I will also begin making and freezing baby food with part of my CSA share.

I hope some of you will follow this CSA season with me....tune in at the end of April for the first post.

Design your own pizza with whole wheat pizza crust and cherry tomato pizza sauce

Tonight for the big game, we made design your own pizzas. My husband and I have drastically different taste in pizza toppings, so I made personal size pizzas and we each put what we wanted on two pizzas.

First, I  made the crusts. Now, these crusts are a little bit of trouble. So, every time I make them, I go ahead and make a bunch and freeze them. I made 3 batches today for a total of 24 personal pizza crusts.

Here are the necessary ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 packets of active dry yeast
2 tsp course salt
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour

First, in a large bowl, combine yeast and water. Let it sit for about 5 minutes until it starts to bubble:

Use a whisk to stir the yeast and water, then whisk in the salt, sugar, and olive oil. Then, with a wooden spoon, stir in the flours. You may have to use your hands to get the last of the flour folded into the dough. Then, take a seperate bowl, and brush the bottom and the sides with olive oil. Put the dough in the olive oil lined bowl. Brush the top of the dough with olive oil. Cover the bowl with saran wrap:

Place the bowl in a warm dry place for about an hour (I turn the oven on and put the bowl on top of the oven), or until the dough doubles in size:

Take the dough out of the bowl, and place on a well floured surface (I just flour the heck out of my counter-top). With floured hands, knead the dough about 15 times. Then divide the dough into two balls. Out of each of those two balls, divide the dough into 4 smaller balls (you will have a total of 8 balls of dough). Using your floured hands, kneed, squeeze, and manipulate the dough into 8 inch disks. Place the disks on a cookie sheet or other hard surface with parchment or wax paper between each disk. Then put the entire thing in the freezer for at least an hour before baking. Or, freeze for up to 3 months (6 months with a deep freezer):

Next I made the pizza sauce. I took 2 weeks worth of beautiful cherry and hierloom tomatoes from the CSA, I washed and took the stems off each one, and I cut them in half:

 Then I drizzled a little olive oil over them, added 1 tsp minced garlic, and plenty of salt and pepper. Then I used my immersion blender to get the mixture going. I did not keep going until it was a puree, I wanted to keep some of the chunkiness of the tomatoes. I had plenty of this left over, so I froze several portions of it as well:

I pulled out the pizza stone, and put 4 of the whole wheat pizza crusts on it. Then I spread about 4 tbsp of the tomato sauce on top. Then we each added our own toppings:

Each of these has 4 cheese mexican mix shredded cheese on top. The pizza in the upper left hand corner has spinach, black olives, mushrooms, and goat cheese. The pizza in the upper right hand corner has sausage and black olives. the pizza in the lower left hand corner has mushrooms, spinach, and goat cheese, and the pizza in the lower right hand corner is just cheese.

I put them in the oven on the pizza stone for 20 minutes at 450:

The pizzas were delicious, and the pizza making went much better than the football game. Here is my sad little Gamecock:

Whipped Sweet Potatoes

In the last few weeks, Sweet Potatoes have been so cheap in the grocery store, I literally can not stop myself from buying them. Today, I decided to make some whipped sweet potatoes to put in the freezer for a quick side dish when I don't feel much like cooking.

First, I bought a bunch of sweet potatoes, put them on a cookie sheet, and stabbed each one a few times. Then I baked them at 350 for an hour and a half:

I let them cool for a good while, and cut a slit in them lenth-wise. Then I pinched the skins off each one and dumped the innards in a bowl:

Finally, I added about 1/2 cup apple juice, salt, pepper, and 4 tbsp melted butter. Then I used an immersion blender to whip them up. Then I put them in dinner size portions in individual containers, labeled and dated them, and put them in the freezer: