[Week 14] Three No-Recipe Dinner Formulas + Six More Recipes to Make This Week
Acorn Squash, Collard Greens, Enchilada Sauce & More
Hello Farm Share Friends:
This morning the children returned to school, and while I am not sad to be sitting in a quiet house, there is a trade-off: the return of the chaotic evening, homework and dinner squeezed in while running from activity to activity.
In these harried times, I have my go-to meals — tacos! pasta! pizza! — I can get on the table quickly. But I also have a few formulas I rely on, ones I can adapt to whatever vegetables I have on hand, ones that lend themselves well to cleaning out the fridge.
Here are three that make good use of the current farm share produce:
Tortilla Casserole: Enchilada Sauce + Cooked Veg + Tortillas
If you love enchiladas, you will love this enchilada or tortilla casserole. The key here is the sauce, which start to finish takes 15 minutes to make. It’s made with broiled vegetables (tomatoes, onions, and jalapeño), fresh lime juice, and one chipotle in adobo, and it infuses anything it smothers with heat and spice, smoke and char, sweetness and acidity.
For the vegetable layer, this time of year I like sautéeing diced zucchini, corn, and bell peppers, but it would be delicious with sautéed mushrooms or Swiss Chard or roasted cubes of butternut squash or sautéed shredded Brussels sprouts. Truly, whatever you have on hand will work.
Assembly is simple: enchilada sauce, tortillas, herbs (such as the farm share cilantro and scallions), vegetables, beans if you wish, and Monterey Jack (or other) cheese. Repeat until you have at least 3 layers of tortillas. Top with more enchilada sauce, cheese, and herbs.
That’t it! This one freezes well, too.
Roasted Stuffed Peppers: Sautéed Veg + Boiled Grain + Cheese
Here’s another one that lends itself well to improvisation: roasted stuffed peppers. In some ways, this one is easier than the casserole because no sauce is required. In sum, it's roasted peppers + cooked vegetables + boiled grain + cheese.
For the filling this time of year, I tend to use zucchini, corn, and tomatoes as well as a few of those very large farm share scallions, but roasted eggplant cubes, sautéed collard greens, steamed, diced green beans would all be delicious here.
For the grain, I often use quinoa because it cooks quickly, but you can use any grain you like: farro, rice, bulgur, etc. Beans would be great, too.
These peppers can be assembled ahead of time and popped in the oven when needed. This poblano-corn variation is a favorite, too.
Lentils, Labneh, Roasted and/or Sautéed Veg
This one is not as friendly for the children, but truly I could live on it: creamy labneh (or Greek yogurt + lemon) + cooked black lentils + sautéed greens + roasted vegetables (optional).
The greens can be anything from Swiss chard to spinach to kale to mustard greens. Before you sauté the greens, you’ll nearly caramelize an onion and deglaze the pan with vinegar, which I think is what makes this dish so addictive for me.
I love using black lentils because they cook quickly and hold their shape just as well as the French green variety. And you can use any roasted vegetables you like, but roasted beets (which we are expecting this week) are particularly good (if you like beets that is).
Last year, I shared this recipe for black lentils with salt-roasted beets and labneh over on Mind Body Green, and I have a simpler, no-beet version over here.
Week 14 Vegetables
tomatoes → Tomato Recipes
head lettuce & Arugula → Salads
garlic → Garlic Recipes
peppers → Pepper Recipes
collards → Raw Collard Greens Salad
onions → Onion Recipes
turnips → Use as You Would Radishes
cilantro → Herb Recipes
scallions → Scallion Recipes
squash → Winter Squash Recipes
beets → Beet Recipes
Find recipes for all the vegetables here → Farm Share Vegetables
6 More Recipes to Make this Week
As we transition to fall, the farm share vegetables are coming full circle with greens and turnips back in the rotation. Here are few more helpful posts:
Radish and/or Turnip Tartines with Anchovy Butter
Fellow Farm Sharers: Please share in the comments links to recipes you are loving for your farm share vegetables! Tips, questions, and suggestions are always welcome, too. Enjoy your vegetables! 🥦🥬🥒🌶🌽🥕 See you next week :)
[Week 14] Three No-Recipe Dinner Formulas + Six More Recipes to Make This Week
The vegetable enchilada casserole was a absolutely fantastic. Everything works together so beautifully...the spicy sauce, cheese, fresh bright vegetables and corn/wheat tortillas. I had to lose the cilantro because I had none and sadly the farmers at the market said it was a wonky time for cilantro and I missed the little they had. Will definitely make this again!