Paisley Farm CSA blog

Our members eat so well! I’m always inspired how members are using ingredients as well as building on other culinary goodies. Thanks to Alison for sending me this great recipe made using our CSA share from last week (july 21)…and a big thanks to Katie from the MEx location for sharing! This is the original post from her blog Thanks again for spreading the Paisley Farm word! 

I guess this makes her “guest blogger number 1″…welcome! 

When our share including such a lot of fresh mint, I tried a number of things to use it – including a mint pesto I put over pasta and peas, and a variation on Mark Bittman’s cold cucumber soup from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. With those ideas and a new muddler for making mint lemonade, I used the whole bunch by the end of the week and felt as accomplished as if I had crossed four states in a covered wagon.

My roommate and I created this with the mint and cucumber from the Paisley Farm CSA. It was delicious with tortilla chips and a hit at a Fourth of July party.

Mix in one large bowl:

• 2 medium cucumbers, peeled and diced
• 1/4 c torn mint leaves (heaping cup is fine)
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 16-oz container fresh strawberries, cleaned and diced
• 3 tbl white wine vinegar
• 1 bunch scallions, diced
• 1/8 tsp ground bhut pepper*
• Salt and pepper to taste.

*We didn’t have a fresh jalapeno around and in the spirit of experimentation, I used a small amount of ground bhut or “ghost” pepper that my friend Jay is selling at Brooklyn fairs and markets, and that I had in the cupboard.  (http://www.bhut-pepper.com/index.html)  Bhut Jolakia is from India and is referred to as the world’s hottest pepper.  A little goes a long way, but it’s got a nice smoky flavor that sneaks up on you.  I put in about 1/8 tsp of it to start and stirred it.  When serving it again later, I added a little more. 

I’m sure a mashed fresh jalapeno or any other dried chili powder would work just as well.

Today is definitely a soup day and from the looks of it, it will be a pretty soupy weekend too. Luckily we’ve all got some luscious heads of kale and a bunch of snappy mint to keep us company.

Stale Kale Bread and White Bean Soup 

This is a pretty simple soup, lovely for a crowd or just one, and you can adjust all of the ingredients to your liking.

2 tbs. olive oil

2 carrots chopped, 3 celery stalks chopped, 1 onion chopped, 4 garlic cloves chopped

1 handful each curly blue kale and lacinato kale, stripped from stems and torn into pieces

5-6 cups chicken stock

1 TKoz. can whole tomatoes and 1 TKoz. can cannellini beans

1 cup stale bread diced (1 inch)

2 bay leaves, 8 basil leaves julienned, 1 tps. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, 

finely chopped chives and pecorino romano for garnish

Heat olive oil in a large stockpot over medium high heat. Saute carrots, celery, onion and garlic until soft, about 7 minutes. Add kale, chicken stock, tomatoes and beans with their liquids, bread, herbs and spices. Simmer mixture 20-25 minutes, adding more water if necessary. Ladle out a bowl and garnish with chives and grated cheese.

Mint and Lemon Mojitos

Mojitos and soup might not be an obvious pairing, but when you’re pining for summer weather while trying to stay dry, it works pretty damn well.

10 mint leaves, 1 tsp. sugar, 2 slices of lemon with rind already zested (keep zest)

1 1/2 oz. white rum, gin or vodka

soda water and cracked ice

Muddle mint, sugar, one lemon slice and half of lemon zest together in the bottom of a tall glass. Add the ice and pour over the spirits and couple of splashes of soda water. Swizzle the ice and liquids without mussing up the mint and lemon too much. Squeeze the second lemon over top and add the rest of the zest to garnish.

Forget umbrellas and rain boots. Think soup and gin.