Like wasabi but leafy

I was inspired, both culinarily and artistically this weekend. Inspired to try something new in my life. I didn't actually do anything out of the ordinary, but I was feeling extraordinary. Some of the vegetables from the CSA this weekend helped me realize many new aspects of myself. One of these new and exciting vegetables is a mizuna, or Japanese mustard green. It is the jagged-edged leafy green in the center of the picture.



We also picked up:
Kale
Beets
Red and Green Lettuce
The Largest Chinese Cabbage ever.



I am serious about the cabbage, it was huge. Look what I found inside of it.



From the farmers market we bought baby carrots, early green onions, multigrain bread, cheddar cheese, flowers, strawberries, milk, butter, and the most amazing ice cream ever. Blueberry Ice Cream from Ronnybrook Farms is the happiest ice cream I have ever tasted. It is blue and soft like butter but thick like cream. The blueberries are buried in there like treasures. For those of you who don't know, I consider the blueberry to be the fruit of the Gods.

We also splurged on some seriously fresh tuna caught off the coast of Long Island. James made Sesame Crusted Tuna for dinner Saturday night and we finished off the asparagus from the other day. After James and I quit smoking we started getting the malodorous urine commonly associated with asparagus. Any ideas of why that happened after quitting? Did you know it is the same chemical that makes a skunk spray smell?

A couple of months ago I decided to let the beet root into my heart. I think it an outrageous vegetable. The fuchsia is so beautiful and uplifting . In high school I used to dye my hair that color. It was Manic Panic and the color was called Flamingo Pink or something. Roasting the beets made the taste that much sweeter and deeper, I will never boil a beet again. The beets went into a salad of arugula, red and green lettuce, mizuna, and crumbled goat cheese. I have a standard dressing I make, a supreme olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. The mizuna really adds a spice to mixed greens. Usually I find salad boring no matter what the other ingredients. Mizuna was just what I needed to make salad interesting again. Like wasabi but leafy.

Remember I said I was inspired? I was telling Mother about the Chinese Cabbage and saying I had no clue what to do with it. She said the leaves would make a fine dolma. Then I think I heard her mouth start to water. Who knew a cabbage would inspire me to learn how to make dolma. Dolma is something I was always too scared to try on my own. As if being born in America somehow voided my dolma making gene. As it turns out I make a quality dolma. I am ready to stuff everything with that meat filling. To pay further tribute I prepared one of my ( and Brothers) favorite rice dishes that Mother makes divinely, what we call Tomato Rice. Essentially white rice cooked in diced tomatoes. We topped our Turkish dinner with heaps of cool refreshing yogurt and a pile of multigrain bread to soak up the dolma juices with.



Dessert had a simple answer. James spent the day strawberry picking in South Jersey and came home with 29 lb. of sweet red strawberries.



What does one do with 29 lb. of strawberries? If you are James you spend the next 2 days filling the freezer with jam. If you are me, you stand around stuffing your mouth with strawberries while he makes jam. Being the pup that he is, he picked me a box of first of the season blueberries. They are a bit tart, but I never refuse a blueberry. Dessert was a bowl of fresh picked berries and heavy whipped cream. In the midst of all this culinary enlightenment I was even able to produce some non-food related photographs.