Too Many Onions???

Do you have a large quantity of onions that you need or want to use quickly? Here's a recipe Rachel found and made with her best friend several years ago. We enjoyed it again the other night after harvesting a complete row of Texas Super Sweet onions and separating out a large quantity of "seconds" for home use.

Onion Pasta Serves 4-6

5 onions, thinly sliced
1/2 c olive oil
4 T butter
1 c water
1 t dried basil
1 T chicken bouillon
1 pinch black pepper
1 lb. uncooked pasta
Parmesan cheese

Sauté onions in oil and butter until golden brown. Add basil, pepper, water, and bouillon. Cook on low 10 minutes. Boil pasta in separate pan. Add onion mixture to cooked pasta, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, toss, & serve.
NOTE: Good with chicken pieces added.

Two Kale ideas

Kale is useful for more than a garnish that will look crisp in hot weather! Really!

Many people tell us they've tried to use kale, but haven't cared for it. These are two recipes that we've enjoyed...the first one given to us by former CSA customers who moved to another state and the second by a former intern. Oh, look, both recipes call for potatoes and one uses some of the mid-summer onion supply!

Restaurant-style Zuppa Tuscana 6 servings

1 lb. smoked sausage, cooked and cut into 1/2" slices
2 potatoes, cut into 1/4" slices
3/4 c chopped onion
6 slices bacon
1 1/2 t minced garlic
2 c kale, washed, dried, and shredded
2 T chicken soup base
1 quart water
1/3 c heavy whipping cream

Fry onions and bacon together. Remove bacon pieces and crumble. Add garlic to onions and continue to fry for 1 minute. Add soup base, water, and potatoes and simmer 15 minutes. Add bacon, sausage, kale, and cream and simmer 4 minutes longer. Serve hot.

Mashed Potato Spinach Casserole

5 lbs potatoes
2 or 3 10 oz-pkgs chopped spinach--or substitute washed & shredded kale.
1 t salt
Dash of pepper
1/4 c butter
Dill weed
1 c sour cream
1/2 c grated cheddar cheese

Peel, wash, and cut potatoes in smaller chunks. Put in large cooking pan with lid. Add water up to half the potatoes. Cook until potatoes are very soft. Drain, reserving "juice." Add butter, sour cream, salt, pepper, and dill weed to potatoes. Beat with mixer until fairly smooth. If too dry add some of the potato "juice" or milk.

In second pan, cook spinach or kale until soft. Drain off liquid until dry. Add cooked, drained spinach or kale to mashed potatoes and mix well. Put mixture into a greased oven dish. Sprinkle grated cheese over top evenly. Bake at 375ºF for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and dish is heated through. This is good served with cooked sausage.

"Strawberry Fields Forever" -- Reprise

OK, so I know this is cheating, but the best new list of strawberry recipes I've found is at www.about.com. Paste the link below into your browser to see the likes of....
Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie with Almond-Filled Crust
Strawberry Chiffon Cake
Strawberry Mousse
Strawberry Cordial
Strawberry Rhubarb Tart

http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/fruits/tp/strawberries.htm?nl=1

Or, go back to our archive entry in this blog from June 2009 titled "Strawberry Fields Forever" for another nice list featuring a number of recipes from our favorite seasonal resource, "Simply in Season" (pub. Herald Press)
Includes:
Strawberry Bread
Strawberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
Strawberry Pie
Strawberry Daiquiris

An equally important thing to do, in my opinion, is to squirrel away some berries for the rest of the year. (You may need to get some more from us!). It's simple to do: Just wash and trim, then spread out on a tray and freeze, then pack into freezer bags for storage. Let us know if you need more! All our varieties have a very short shelf life, even on a shelf in your frig! So use promptly.

"Strawberry Fields Forever!"