More cooking!

I've been getting into trouble in the kitchen again! As Tom pointed out, I keep trying recipes that are way more difficult than I can handle. Thank goodness I have a supervisor!

On the 4th of July, we (emphasis on the we) made risotto with fresh mozzarella, grape tomatoes and basil. We got a basil plant from the CSA a few weeks ago, and I wanted to start using it, plus we love caprese salads, so I figured why not. Yeah, risotto is a bit more complicated than I realized -- thankfully Tom has made it several times and bailed me out about half-way through. It came out pretty well, with two exceptions. The mozzarella melts almost instantly and really thickens the risotto, so as Tom pointed out, this is a dish to make when you're going to eat it instantly. The recipe also had you boil down balsamic vinegar (there was some technical term Tom used that I forget - caramelize?). When everything was said and done, this sauce had thickened so much that we ended up pouring it over the entire risotto, rather than over each dish. Worked out fine. I felt like the salty chicken stock was a bit overpowering -- maybe more basil?

Tonight I tackled some of our leftovers from last week's CSA. Of course, after buying cucumbers and green onions at the store, what did we get? Cucumbers and green onions. We also got a totally wild looking root vegetable called kohlrabi. Looks like a beet, sort of tastes like jicama.

So first plan of attack was the kohlrabi. I found an interesting recipe online called kohlrabi and apple salad with creamy mustard dressing. The recipe called for heavy cream, but some of the posters who critiqued the salad recommended using sour cream. Tom picked up some fantastic ground mustard -- nice and spicy. I used dried parsley instead of fresh -- eh, should have used fresh. Definitely a 1:1 ratio apple to kohlrabi works just fine. Instead of julienning either one, I also went with the recommendation to use a box grater (use the widest slice) - far easier than using Tom's professional-grade knives!! Great tangy taste; unfortunately since Tom's semi-allergic to lemon, he'll just have to take my word for it.

My last dish tonight was dilled potato salad with feta -- another attempt to use up cucumbers, green onions and some more dill. Aside from the fact that I think I boiled the potatoes too long, this was pretty easy to make. It's chilling in the fridge -- I'll try it shortly -- but the colors are fantastic. A nice alternative to regular potato salad which has mayo -- both Tom and I hate mayo enough that we've been known to return sandwiches when sub shops make the mistake of adding it. Unfortunately Tom hates dill and cucumbers (I'm not sure what his opinion is on feta), so it would be cool if I could figure out some substitutions here. Anyone ever have a spicy potato salad?

So I still have one zucchini (what can one make with just one?), a few garlic scapes, some green onions and yet more cucumbers. Suggestions? Next veggie CSA pick-up is tomorrow. Please, please, please send us veggies that my husband likes!