Red Beet Risotto with Mustard Greens and Goat Cheese

Amanda and I went to a German beer garden and listened to some free music after picking up this weeks share. Every summer, Make Music NY sponsors concerts around the city on the first day of summer: http://makemusicny.org. Due to this fabulous experience, we unfortunately did not cook. Then, on Wednesday, my favorite band, Ozomatli, performed a free concert in Red Hook, so alas, I did not cook again.

Thursday was the first day I was able to look at the vegetables and wash and sort what we received:

Arugula

Purple Broccoli Rabe

Green tatsoi

Purple tatsoi

Mustard greens

Green lettuce

and tazuma

After sorting though what we received, I realized I couldn’t tell some of the leafy/flowery ones apart. They all tasted bitter to me. So, the first meal I made was the pasta dish I made the first week with a mix of the bitter greens sautéed down. I love that recipe…easy to cook the garlic and onion in the broth and cook down the greens. Add olive oil, mix, and then put in the pasta. Easy peasey. Who knew? And, of course, a lettuce salad with strawberries.

However, I want to highlight the recipe I made on Saturday – Red beet risotto with mustard greens and goat cheese. After stocking up on what I needed at Whole Foods (realizing I must look clueless when I shop since someone offered to help me again…ha), and dance practice at the pier, I finally decided to start cooking.

I chopped the white onion (with some tears) and “cubed” the beets. Like the recipe said, I sautéed them in butter until the onion looked tender enough. Fortunately, I had just enough vegetable broth (I should have looked before I cooked!), and so I poured the rice, broth, and balsamic vinegar into the mix and simmered for about 15 minutes. The rice wasn’t completely done, so I added a little more water and let it sit for a few more minutes until the rice was just the right texture.

The recipe said to crumble the goat cheese on top and add the mustard greens. However, I realize I do not like mustard greens unless they are cooked. I cooked the greens down for about 3 minutes (I “steamed” them in a frying pan with a little water) and then mixed them into the recipe when complete. I also added some salt and pepper for flavor.

Add a salad on the side, of course, and voila! a healthy and delicious meal.

Some problems I have encountered:

1. Measurements are hard with vegetables … 1.25cups of onion doesn’t mean anything to me. I just chopped one white onion

2. I didn’t measure the beets so I hoped two smaller looking ones were enough.

3. The beets ended up a little crispier than I imagined but they still tasted good. I plan to cube them into smaller pieces when I make the dish again.

I still have tons of greens left over as of Saturday night. I plan to make a sausage and broccoli rabe pasta dish and an easy stir fry to get rid of the non-salady stuff. We’ll see what happens!

I have to say that I am very proud of my first two CSA weeks. I am not a cook and these recipes all seemed a tad bit intimidating. My criteria for choosing recipes have been ease, time and whether my boyfriend might like the dish. So far, so good.

Here is a picture of the Risotto dish results:

Balsamic Glazed Chickpeas and Mustard Greens; Cilanto Pesto

I should also call this blog "Adventures in Brooklyn." I moved to NYC five years ago and Manhattan has been my haven. After getting of the train in Brooklyn, walking in the wrong direction and calling my boyfriend for directions (no fancy phone yet), I finally found the YWCA and picked up my first week of goodies from the farm share. And let me tell you, this is a good year for farming!

Fruit
One apple (yes! one apple for two people)
My own basket of ripe and juicy strawberries

Veggies
Mizuna
Tatsoi
Red Rain Mustard Greens
Green Star Lettuce
Radishes
Clinatro
Mint
Spinach

Now, for those of you who don't know me,  I am not much of a cook. I've always loved baking: pies, cakes, cupcakes, quiches, etc. But, when it comes to a recipe on the stove-top, I am clueless.

Day 1
My friend Amanda and I decided to try a simple recipe with the greens we bought and made ourselves a fresh salad with the lettuce, mizuna, radishes and a dash of cilantro. We then baked salmon filets topped with olive oil, lemon and dill (for those of you who are curious: bake the Salmon for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees. Extra time as needed). An easy and successful for a first dish. As we waited for our salmon dinner, we shared the apple and ate with a smoked apple cheddar cheese. Delish!

Day 2
The next day I was at a loss! What to do? Amanda wasn't there to guide me. I decided to google what to do with the mustard greens and I found the following recipe: Balsamic Glazed Chickpeas and Mustard Greens.  I also decided to buy chicken and a jar of tikka masala sauce.

Surprising, the chickpea dish turned out fabulous! I admit I am not much of a measurer, which can sometimes work and sometimes not and I also substituted the red pepper flakes with cayenne pepper, sprinkling a pinch in the recipe out of my palm. After much crying (because of the red onion) and sweating (because it is summer!), I finished what resembled the balsamic glazed chick peas. The recipe was simple to follow. I also added some of the spinach to add diversity to the greens.  I juggled the chicken at the same time (and may have overcooked it slightly). I pan fried the chicken until cooked through, then poured the masala sauce on top and simmered for 10 minutes (directions from the jar). Thankfully, my rice cooker saved the day, as this was the easiest part of the whole night.Overall success!

In addition, I remembered another tip from my friend Amanda. I sliced one lime into four quarters and washed the mint (no, I did not measure) and then added them to a jug. I added water and let it sit overnight for a refreshing mint and lime flavored water. 

Day 3
Still with tons of mustard greens, I decided to take part of the preparation for the chickpea dish and make my own olive oil pasta sauce. I simmered the red onions, garlic, mustard greens and spinach in the vegetable broth. When complete, I added olive oil and poured over spaghetti. I fancied up the lettuce salad by adding the fresh strawberries and some blueberries (a nice trick to add more flavor).

Day 4 and 5
Leftovers and BBQ (my boyfriend did the work for that)! I just made a salad as a side

Day 6
So, I still had a lot of leftover greens so I decided a stirfry was in order. I should have bought additional vegetables but alas, that required another trip to the market. Instead, I stirfried the leftover spinach and the rest of the mustard greens in vegetable broth. I added shrimp and simmered until the shrimp were pink and then added soy sauce for flavor. Rice was made in the rice cooker and I poured the shrimp stirfry over the rice. Easy and fast!


Day 7
Pesto! I had not done anything with the cilantro we were given, so upon Amanda's recommendation, I googled a cilantro pesto recipe. I picked out any brown leaves, chopped part of the stems off, added the cilantro to the blender with all the ingredients (I thank the Gourmet Garage worker who saved me from my puzzled look and pointed me to the most basic white wine vinegar ... no need to buy anything fancy). I tried to blend but nothing happened so I had my boyfriend stand at the blender and poke down the top bits. With a quarter cup more olive oil than the recipe called for, we were able to quickly blend a delicious (and slightly spicy) pesto. I cooked bow-tie pasta and then added the pesto on top. As a side, of course, a delicious green salad.

All in all a fabulous week with simply recipes for me!