Baked Rotini with Ricotta and Collard Greens

When I saw we were getting collard greens in our last box from Driftless Organics, I immediately went and searched through my Google Reader's starred items to find a recipe. I found this recipe for Baked Rotini with Ricotta and Collard Greens from Food alla Puttanesca which sounded perfect! We did really enjoy this pasta that we had with collard greens last summer if anyone else is looking for a good way to use collards not just as a side dish.

This was fairly easy to prepare and used up all the collard greens we got. We also used some of the fresh garlic. I only made approximately half of the recipe, and we still got 4 servings out of it!

HUGE cloves of fresh garlic!




After adding the flour and milk


Ready to pop in the oven!

This was WAY better than I thought it would be! The collard greens were so delicious mixed with the 3 cheeses, and the red pepper flakes added a bit of a kick. I loved this dish and we'd definitely make it again!

CSA Box #3 and Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

Last Wednesday, we were out of veggies from CSA Box #2, so we made Roasted Red Pepper Pasta from Pioneer Woman. I was at work late, so Ben was responsible for making it - he said it wasn't hard, but it was a little time consuming with the roasting of the peppers and all that. He also added some chopped sauteed kale because he's all about the greens lately.

This was DE-LISH-OUS. Yum! We both loved it.

Anyway, on to Box #3 from Driftless Organics! This was ANOTHER good one. I went to pick it up and when I was unpacking it, it seriously didn't end - there was SO much great stuff in this box!

In this box:
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Cucumbers
Fresh Dill
Fresh Garlic
Fresh Cippolini Onions
Green Beans
Red Cabbage
Pickling Cukes
Red Romaine Lettuce
Yellow Summer Squash
Basil

Zucchini Strand Spaghetti

I saw this Zucchini Strand Spaghetti on Smitten Kitchen a long time ago, and immediately added it to my list of things I someday wanted to make. It was the main reason I asked for a mandoline for Christmas :)

For some reason I thought this would be really difficult, but it was actually quite easy! The flavors reminded me a lot of the Disappearing Zucchini Orzo that we made last summer, which we both loved. This is a great light pasta dish for summer!

Lots of basil from our back yard!


Since I sliced the zucchini so finely, I didn't even bother steaming it

Pizza with Chard and Roasted Garlic

Ben whipped up this excellent pizza using the chard we got from our 2nd CSA box about a week ago. We didn't use all of the cheese on the recipe, but I think it would have been even better with the mix! I thought this pizza was very good - we left it on a little too long since the last time we grilled pizzas the crust was a little mushy in the middle, but it was still fine :)

While I wasn't there for the preparation, it seemed like quite an easy meal, especially given that we used store bought pizza dough :) Someday we'll make our own...

On another note, Ben and I finally joined the cool kids club and got iPhones today!! They are glorious and I can't wait to find more cool free apps to add - if you have any recommendations, let me know :)

Potato Salad

It is currently 6:51am in Phoenix, and I've been up now for awhile! I hate that I really can never sleep in a new place on the first night I'm there, no matter how comfortable the bed is! Especially when it's for work and I have student appointments and a presentation today... AND I'm only here for 2 nights total! Hopefully adrenaline keeps me going today :)

Well, this is another item to finally cross of the list - it's been awhile! POTATO SALAD! We got a huge bag of potatoes from our first Driftless Organics box, and since we were having a BBQ at our house last Friday and going over to Becky and Rett's for a 4th of July BBQ last Saturday I figured a double bath of "Dad's Potato Salad" from Simply Recipes would be perfect!

I swear I must have been looking at a different recipe last week, because I do NOT remember any mention of peppers or carrots. Weird! We used scapes in place of the green onions, and I added more hard-boiled eggs because I love them :) We also used stone ground mustard instead of dijon. This salad definitely took a fair amount of time to make, and involved a LOT of chopping, but it was worth it to use so many fresh ingredients from our CSA - potatoes, scapes, and parsley.

Everyone LOVED this potato salad! The double batch was more than enough for both BBQs - we had 5 people at ours, and there were 8 people at Becky and Rett's. Both times it was served with burgers - yum :)

We also made a strawberry, snap peas, romaine and feta cheese salad which was delicious as well, and was made almost exclusively from Box #2 :)


At Becky and Rett's


Adelaide was pretty excited about the 4th of July :)

CSA Box #2 and Pesto

Ben walked over to our pickup site last Thursday and got our 2nd CSA box! Unfortunately, he forgot to pick up the newsletter, which is pretty much my favorite part! Luckily, within a few days, Driftless Organics is great about putting them online!

A little lettuce peeking out!

In this box:
All red potatoes
Broccoli
Chard
Cilantro
Fennel
Garlic Scapes
Zucchini
Flat Leaf Parsley
Romaine Lettuce
Snap Peas
Snow Peas
Strawberries
Yellow Summer Squash

Quite a variety for being so early in the season!

Scapes!

We had seen what we were getting a few days earlier on the website, so we already planned to make Salmon Pesto Pasta with Garlic Scape Pesto (this time we used pine nuts instead of walnuts). Words can't express how good this meal is - seriously one of my favorites.

Pesto, before processing


And after :)


Mmm boy. I know it was only last Thursday, but I already want this again!!

We were MUCH better about actually using our box well this time, so more recipes to come! :)

Up north, finally

We finally got up to my parent's cabin for the first time this year last weekend. It was my grandma's 85th birthday, so the whole family came up for a celebration!

Ben and I took a day off work on Friday and came up Thursday night before the crowds :)

View from the pontoon to the cabin - the weather was perfect!


Lots of bacon for breakfast on Saturday :)


It was pretty ominous for most of the day on Saturday but everyone still enjoyed themselves


My 2 youngest cousins doing a little fishing


On a boat ride with Maggie, who was scared the whole time


Sadie and Maggie


By the time I had risen from my afternoon nap, the sun had come out!


More fishing


Kiddies enjoying the floating devices :)


The pontoon taking a spin for my Grandma's birthday




Tubing behind the boat - I believe this was my cousin Aaron getting thrown off


After we got back, it started pouring again and then out came a rainbow!


Kennedy greatly enjoyed my Grandma's walker :)


The birthday girl! :)


This photo cracks me up - it was supposed to be of all the great-grandchildren (and a few baby holders) but Patrick did NOT want his picture taken :) haha!

CSA Box #1!

Once again, Ben and I are getting a half share from Driftless Organics - it started out great with our first box almost 2 weeks ago!

(Photos courtesy of Ben since I got home late that night!)

In this box:
Arugula
Broccoli
Green Garlic
Butter Lettuce
Green Onions
Mint
Potatoes
Purple Kohlrabi
Radishes
Spinach

We really weren't that creative with our box last time - we used a bunch of stuff in a tuna pasta salad, made egg salad with some of the veggies, and then used the arugula on sandwiches. Most of the spinach went in our morning smoothies. We hope to be better about the next box, which we get tomorrow! Summer has been crazy so far... and it's already July!