BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH PISTACHIO, PESTO, FETA & POMEGRANATE SEEDS

From CSA member Salome Blignaut.

From Persiana - Recipes from the Middle East & beyond by Sabrina Ghayour

Featured CSA veggies: butternut squash, fresh herbs

Notes on the cookbook: Persiana’s strength is bringing out incredible flavor from simple and fast preparations. It’s my go-to cookbook for low-pressure and yet impressive meals to serve at gatherings or holidays. I wanted to share this butternut squash recipe that we’ve paired with more than one lamb recipe from the same book for fantastic Thanksgiving and Christmas meals.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH PISTACHIO, PESTO, FETA & POMEGRANATE SEEDS

“Middle Eastern people often perceive butternut squash as bland. Taking inspiration from an Asian pesto- and-squash dish made by my friend, the chef Tony Singh, I came up with my ownPersian pistachio pesto, adding salty crumbled feta cheese and a handful of vibrant pomegranate seeds for a burst of flavor. The result? It has become one of my most popular supper club dishes of all time and has proven itself to be the dish that converts those who were formerly not the greatest of squash fans.”

SERVES 2 AS A MAIN COURSE OR 4 AS A SIDE DISH

INGREDIENTS
1 large butternut squash, quartered lengthways and deseeded 4 tbsp olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
5 1/4 oz (150g) feta cheese
3 1/2 oz (100g) pomegranate seeds

For the pesto
3 1/2 oz (100g) shelled pistachios
24oz (70g) Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese, chopped into rough chunks olive oil
1 small bunch of cilantro, leaves picked
1 small bunch of parsley, leaves picked
1 sm bunch of dill, leaves picked3 tbsp chili oil
juice of 1 lemon

In a food processor, blitz the pistachios and cheese together, adding a generous amount of olive oil to slacken the mixture. Put all the herbs into the food processor with a little more olive oil, as well as the chili oil and lemon juice, and blitz again, then add some crushed sea salt and give the mixture one last whizz. Taste the pesto, ensuring it has enough salt and acidity, then allow it to rest in the refrigerator until you need it.
Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Once the oven is hot, rub each wedge of butternut squash with the oil, season generously with sea salt and black pepper, and place it.on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast the squash for about 45-50 minutes, or just until the edges have begun to char slightly. You want to blacken the edges a little--this gives them a nice chewy texture. To check the squash to see if it is properly cooked, insert a knife into the flesh-if it slides clean through, the squash is ready. If you feel resistance, return the squash to the oven for a few more minutes.
Serve each wedge of butternut squash on a plate, drizzled generously with the vibrant green pesto. Crumble the feta cheese on top and scatter over the pomegranate seeds to finish.

Marinated Beet Salad with Pistachios and Dill and Pearl Cous Cous with Roasted Cabbage

From CSA member Maya Binyam and Evan

Marinated Beet Salad with Pistachios and Dill (Maya)

For an autumnal meal that gets better as it sits in the fridge, I make marinated beets. After scrubbing and trimming the beets, I wrap them in aluminum foil, and bake them in a 375-degree oven until they’re tender (but haven’t yet turned to mush). Once they’ve cooled off a bit, I remove the skin, and crush them with the flat side of a knife, rip them into irregular bite-sized pieces, and place them in a large, heat-proof glass tupperware. In a small skillet, I fry fennel seeds in a few tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is hot and the seeds are toasted, I pour both over the beets, and mix in a few splashes of aged sherry vinegar, as well as a big pinch of salt. I let the beets sit at room temperature for a few hours, and then either move them to the fridge, or prepare them for a salad. When I’m ready to eat, I mix them with chopped pistachios and dill. If I have citrus around, I’ll sometimes segment an orange or grapefruit and mix that in, too.

Pearl Cous Cous with Roasted Cabbage (Evan)

Cabbage is the best vegetable. It’s crunchy, it’s sweet, it’s big and round. What more could anyone want from a vegetable? In this simple recipe I roast my cabbage until slightly charred, and then finish in a skillet, to eventually serve over pearl cous cous. Slice the whole head cabbage in wedges (usually in eighths, but this can depend on the size of the cabbage) so that it is in chunks, with several leaves attached at a corner point. Dress the cabbage in olive oil, salt, sumac, aleppo pepper, and a drizzle of pomegranate molasses, and roast in the oven at 450 degrees. While the cabbage is roasting, prepare your cous cous. Cook minced onion and garlic in hot oil for a few minutes. Add a cup of cous cous, salt, and sumac, and fry until the cous cous starts to toast a bit. Add 1.5 cups chicken or veggie (or even miso) stock, and cover. Cook until all the liquid is absorbed. In a frying pan melt butter. Once melted add sliced onion and cook. Remove the cabbage from the oven when is it is soft and starting to char around the edges. When the onions begin to caramelize, add the cabbage wedges and all of their liquids. Toss to combine in the pan, and add lemon juice and chopped dill. Serve the cous cous on a platter with the cabbage and onion mixture spread on top. Zest a lemon and sprinkle some dill over the top.

Braised Winter Squash With Cilantro and Caper Sauce

Shared with us from CSA member Maya Binyam

In the early months of fall, when fall produce began arriving in our CSA share but the temperatures were still in the 70s and 80s, I began cooking squash on the stove. I use this Bon Appetit recipe for quick-braised squash as a base, substituting delicata for kabocha and deploying whatever aromatics I have on hand: rosemary, bay leaves, sherry vinegar, etc. (I also skip the butter and honey, to make the recipe vegan.) Once the squash is braised and seared, I top it with a make-shift knife pesto. I fry capers in a few tablespoons of hot olive oil, pour both into a bowl, and mix them with a few teaspoons of sliced preserved lemon, a palmful of golden raisins, crushed walnuts, salt, pepper, and a fistful of whatever chopped herbs I have on hand, most often cilantro or mint.

Roast *Almost* Everything Salad

From CSA member Camie Hoang

After looking at what was left of our box, the easiest way to use it all up was to roast almost everything.
I find that when you get lettuces from the local farm, sometimes it is a bit bitter and rough. Maybe someone will know and can answer why? Is it because it's later in the season that it was harvested or because it is a strain that is bitter? or?!?

But I find that if you roast it in the oven, it counteracts the bitterness and actually adds a bit of sweetness. So here is my version of a roast *almost* everything salad

ingredients:
1x head of lettuce - from CSA
1x red cabbage - from CSA
4 sections of Garlic(half clove) - from CSA 3x zucchinis - from CSA
1 bunch radishes - from CSA
olive oil -6 glugs... so maybe 1/2 cup
salt - 1/2 tbsp
1x lemon- for juice and zest
Parmesan (as desired)
***seasoning

what you'll also need: 2x sheep pans
large mixing bowl

Directions

Pre-heat oven 380F degrees
Do a rough chop of the zucchinis, cabbage and garlic.
Slice radishes into slivers approx same size as the veg above, set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the chopped zucchinis, cabbage, garlic, and half of the salt and olive oil together. Coat well.
Place on a sheet pan and spread evenly.
Place on the lower rack of the oven. Roast of approx 30 minutes. Give it a turn once or twice. Add more olive oil if it's looking dry.

In the meantime, slice the head of lettuce in half and place on a sheet pan. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt on top. Place on the top rack of the oven. This should take approx 15min., The desired result is to have a bit of char but the body of the lettuce should be slightly wilted. Remove and plop on some parmesan, it's as much or little as you want. Now, this is ready to eat as is or you can cut it up and set aside to put in with the rest of the vegetables at the end.

Back to the rest of the vegetables- they should be ready at this point (see photo). Remove and place in a salad bowl. Put in the radishes (the only non-roasted member of the team).

Zest the skin of one lemon (or as desired) onto the vegetables.
In a small bowl, you will make a dressing by using 3/8 cup (just a little over 1/4 cup) of OO, half of a lemon's worth of juice, and salt to taste, and beat with a fork until it looks cloudy.
Mix the dressing into vegetables and serve with the lettuce! I've also made a version with some leftover pasta (for anyone who needs a carb version).

Enjoy!

CHERRY BANANA BREAD

From CSA member Sarah McDowell

Yield: 1 loaf | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 60 mins

Ingredients

2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup (1 stick or 115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 cup (150g) packed brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1/3 cup (80g) plain yogurt or sour cream, at room temperature 

2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 large ripe bananas)

1 cup pitted cherries

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan and set aside.

2. Mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.

3. Using a handheld or stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy (approx. 2 minutes).

4. On medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. Beat in the yogurt, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract on medium speed until combined.

6. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no flour pockets remain. Do not overmix.

7. Fold in the pitted cherries with a spoon.

8. Spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 60-65 minutes. Loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil after 30 minutes to stop the top from getting too brown. A toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf will come out clean when the bread is done. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely before slicing (good luck waiting!).

9. Cover and store banana bread at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.