Tilapia with Succotash and Turnip and Kohlrabi Au Gratin

Tonight's Supper utilized 5 CSA ingredients: Green Beans, 2 Roma Tomatoes, 1 large Tomato, 1 small bunch of Turnips, and 2 Kohlrabi

The Tilapia was the quick easy part of this dish. I just cut the fillets in half length wise (for portion control), salted and peppered both sides, then pan cooked them in a little olive oil and lemon juice in a non stick skillet on medium heat for about 2 minutes on each side. The only downside is that they fall apart pretty easily when cooked. (Hence the fish pieces on the plate).

Here are the Succotash ingredients:

2 Roma Tomatoes
1 large Tomato
1 medium Tomato (from grocery store)
Green Beans
2 ears of Corn
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper

First, I washed and cut the ends off the green beans. Then I cut the green beans into chunks, about 1 1/2 inch long:

Then, I blanched the green beans in salted boiling water for 5 minutes, drained, and set aside.

Next, I cut the corn off the two ears of corn and set aside.

Then I peeled the tomatoes. For those of you who have never peeled a tomato, it is actually very easy. You slice a small cross in the tomato on the side opposite the stem. Then you drop the tomato in boiling water for 30 seconds. Then you drop it in ice water for 1 minute. The peel comes right off with your fingers very easily.Then I chopped the tomatoes into about 1 inch chunks. Here are the prepared ingredients:

Then I added the tomatoes, corn, butter, and salt and pepper to a sauce pan. I brought the mixture to a boil, then simmered it for 10 minutes. then I added the Green Beans and simmered for another 10 minutes. In the end, it was a beautiful dish:

This dish tasted very good, and is a beautiful way to honor the ingredients by not altering them too much. This Succotash came out a little acidic for my tastes. This could be because one of the Roma Tomatoes was still a little green. I have also never made this with Green Beans before. In the past, I have always used Lima Beans, which add more starch to the dish and probably do a better job cutting the acid of the tomatoes.

Here are the ingredients for the Turnip and Kohlrabi Au Gratin:

6 slices of white bread
1 bunch of small turnips
2 kohlrabi
1/2 medium onion
4 oz. Gruyere Cheese
salt and pepper

First, I took a small casserole dish and sprayed it with pam. Then I washed and sliced the turnips and Kohlrabi:

Then I blanched the turnips and Kohlrabi in salted boiling water for 3 minutes, drained them, and set them aside.

I tore the white bread into strips. First, I put a single layer of white bread strips in the casserole dish. Then I put one layer of turnip/Kohlrabi slices. Next I salted and peppered the the layer of turnips and kohlrabi. Then, I sliced the onion very thin and put it in the dish in a single layer. Then I grated 4 oz of the cheese, and put half of the grated cheese in the dish as a layer. Next, I put on an additional layer of bread, turnips/kohlrabi, the rest of the cheese, then salt and pepper on top. Here is what the casserole looked like going into the oven:

I baked it at 325 for 25 minutes. Then turned the broiler on for about 3 minutes to get a nice brown on top:

I was working from a recipe from simply recipes. Since I had the Kohlrabi and had not yet been brave enough to use it, I decided to toss it in with the turnips. This dish tasted fantastic. Occasionally, I cook something that is seriously restaurant quality, this is one of those dishes. The Gruyere was a bit of a splurge, but I was happy to find it at Publix, it cost $6, and I only used half of it. Plus now I have another fun ingredient on hand to experiment with for next week's CSA delivery.

Supper:

Here is a picture of our plates:

All I have left from the CSA is 3/4 of a medium green bell pepper (I will slice it and eat it raw at lunch tomorrow), and about 1/2 dozen large beets. I will probably roast the beets tomorrow night.

Speaking of tomorrow night, we will have roasted beets and leftovers. Tuesday I am making a beef roast in the crock pot with carrots, onions, and new potatoes. This is a comfort food, and nothing spectacular or interesting, so I will probably not post the recipe. However, Tuesday is the next CSA delivery, so I will be checking in with the new ingredients!