Creamy Sorrel Soup

We're behind in posting! In the off season, I hope to catch up on posting all the recipes we've cooked for the CSA in order to give our members an online resource for recipes.

In our weekly recipes, we do our best to highlight ingredients that may be unfamiliar to our members. This week's recipe highlighted sorrel, in addition to the onions, carrots, celery, potatoes and thyme that all were in this week's share. This recipe was a huge hit -- the sorrel added a fresh, lemony tang to the soup.

One recipe makes about enough for four; if you want to fill a crock pot, you'll probably need to triple it.

Creamy Sorrel Soup

Adapted from this recipe on Food52.com

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup yellow onion, small dice

1/4 cup carrots, peeled and diced small

1/4 cup celery, washed, trimmed and small dice

2 cups starchy potatoes (any of the CSA potatoes will work well), small dice

1/3 cup basmati rice

4 cups vegetable broth

1 cup cream

2 1/2 cups sorrel, washed, spun dry and chopped

2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced

Salt and fresh ground pepper

Place a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add the butter and as it melts add the onions, carrots and celery. Season them with ½ teaspoon of salt and several grinds of fresh pepper.

Let the vegetables sweat until tender, then add the potatoes, rice and vegetable stock. Bring the soup to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer.

Cook until the rice and potatoes are tender, 20 and 30 minutes. Once they are tender, add the cream, sorrel and fresh thyme. Heat the soup through and until the sorrel is wilted. Taste, adjust seasonings (it will probably need salt) and serve.

Salsa Chicken

Looking for a way to use up your CSA greens? Here's a simple and easy recipe from CSA members Denise and Art Cuestas for Salsa Chicken. You can use cilantro from the herb garden this week!

Salsa Chicken

1 Family Pack of Wegman's (or other brand of your choice) boneless/skinless chicken thighs (Bone-In works very well too)
1 15.5 oz  Salsa (medium) - they use the Wegman's organic brand, in the Latin Foods section
Chopped Cilantro
Cut mixed greens of any variety
Rice of your choosing
Taco seasoning (optional)
Grated cheese for garnish.

Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker, then pour 3/4 bottle of salsa over the chicken.  On a low setting, it usually takes about 3 hours to cook.  On a high setting, about 2 1/2 hours or so.  the best way to check to see if it is finished is to check a few times as it is cooking.

Prepare rice (quantity of your choice) while chicken is cooking.

When the chicken is fork tender, it should be finished.  Mix in the rest of the Salsa, and if you like some taco seasoning of your choice.  Add chopped cilantro to your taste.

On dinner plates or pasta bowls, place a large helping of a variety of cut greens (any kind).  Spoon as much or as little rice on top of the greens.  Top the greens with the chicken salsa mix from the slow cooker. Top with a little more fresh cilantro and grated cheese for garnish.

Odds and Ends Dinner Pancake

Odds and ends dinner pancake. Try substituting extra veggies that you've been meaning to use!

1 medium onion, diced
2 small heads of broccoli, cut into very small pieces
3 leaves of kale, ribs removed and roughly chopped
2 carrots, diced

2 tbs olive oil, plus more for the pan
1 cup corn meal
3/4 cup whole spelt flour (or any whole grain)
3 eggs
1/2 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Over medium heat, sauteé the carrots, kale, broccoli, and onion in the 2 Tbs olive oil for about 7 minutes, until softened a bit.

Mix the sauteed veggies with all the other ingredients in a mixing bowl, it should be the consistency of pancake batter (plus veggies, of course).

Heat the extra oil over medium high heat in a non-stick pan, use just enough oil to coat the surface of the pan, and gently pan fry 3/4 cup of batter at a time. Allow to cook on one side undisturbed for 4 minutes, flip and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

We ate them warm over a bed of baby spinach, with a spicy pepper sauce on top. Very yummy and versatile!