Potato, Tatsoi, and Caramelized Onion Enchiladas

Creamy mashed potatoes and tender tatsoi greens, flavored with caramelized onions and salsa verde, fill these vegetarian enchiladas. Topped with plenty more salsa verde and cheese, it's a filling meal.

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You can make this dish ahead, freeze it, and thaw it to bake later. I did--just to see if it worked and report back here.


In the months after the fresh farm share vegetables are long gone, when there's at best one pie pumpkin left in the Strategic Winter Squash Reserve, I turn to my freezer stash to keep us fed. I frequently freeze components of meals like pesto, caramelized onions, pizza dough, or grilled vegetables. I'll thaw and use these components later in the year, one of the ways I feed my family local foods throughout the year while living in a place with winter.

Freezing entire meals, though? Not my usual style. However, I had plenty of filling and tortillas and only 3 eaters while my spouse was deployed, so I figured instead of loads of leftovers I'd try freezing a pan of these to eat later.  It worked. You can do this, too.

Fish Tacos with Bok Choy and Peppers

Flakes of seasoned fish nestled against sautéed bok choy and peppers in a warm tortilla, topped with avocado slices and crumbled queso. Use the farm share in unexpected ways with these tacos.

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One of the ways I use less familiar produce in our farm share boxes is to tuck it in alongside other, more familiar to my family, foods. This tip the first one of my Five Tips to Feed Your Family From the Farm Share. When I picked up some marked down pre-seasoned mahi mahi, I thought it would go nicely with the dark purple bok choy from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share in a fish taco.

A typical late Fall farm share box.

Bok choy is a pretty terrific workhorse in a typical cool season [late Spring or Fall, like the photo above shows] farm share box. The mild flavor of this dark leafy green is great in Asian-inspired meals (like this Fried Rice with Greens and Chicken), it's quick in a pasta dish (like this Fast & Easy Greens & Pasta concept recipe), and can usually be substituted for spinach or Swiss chard just about anywhere.

Bacon and Parmesan Turnip Fritters

Shredded turnips flavored with freshly grated parmesan cheese and crispy bacon, bound up in these savory fritters, make an excellent dinner side dish or brunch entree.

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Folks, I've got to level with you. Turnips are something I used to endure about a farm share. I've found that some oil and some cheese make them actually quite delightful, and if you throw bacon into that mix my family gets on board, too.

It's funny how eating seasonally from a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share broadens your palate. Over the years I've gone from tolerating beet greens to friskily anticipating my first Sautéed Beet Greens with fried egg brunch plate. I've gone from scratching my head at garlic scapes to popping cubes of garlic scape pesto into all sorts of savory dishes like Shrimp and Garlic Scape Scampi.

Turnips have remained a stubborn nut for me to crack, so to speak. I've had plenty of failures (never made it to the blog, occasionally featured on my FB page) trying to find ways to love these frequently-appearing beasts. I may never crave them, but I'm pretty comfortable with getting turnips in the box now. I've got plenty of options in my toolkit (shared on my Turnip Recipes Collection) and am willing to try new things. My latest, not ready for blog time recipe, is using farm share turnips in a homemade Branston Pickle spread. My son loves it, and it's a meatless sandwich spread for him while he works to lower his bad cholesterol and boost his good cholesterol.

Swiss Chard with Bacon and Roasted Potatoes

Fill your plate with vegetables--this dish consists of a heaping helping of sautéed Swiss chard and a side of roasted potatoes. A bit of bacon for flavor and you're ready to eat.

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I did not choose the name Farm Fresh Feasts for this blog because I create fancy feasts out of the farm share box each week. Instead, I felt that even a simple meal, prepared with fresh goodies from local farms, can be a feast.

I've long viewed Swiss chard as a comfort food simply because I grew up eating the chard grown in our suburban backyard garden. [This makes me curious what my kids will grow up to view as a comfort food, actually. Not any beet preparations, except maybe Chocolate Cherry Beet Brownies. Perhaps turnips in Pasties. Possibly kohlrabi in Chirashi Sushi. Certainly Yakisoba and homemade farm share Spaghetti sauce.]

This meal could be seen as comfort food by my family--they sure devoured it and I was glad to have snapped some photos before we ate. Something as simple as chard and potatoes can't be seen as high falutin' food but it sure does hit the spot.

Turnip, Potato, and Sausage Soup

A hearty soup, thickened with turnips and laden with chunks of potato and sausage. You can make this with as little as 5 ingredients!

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All the best soups seem to come out of what's handy and needs to be used up in the fridge. Even if they have fancy names, like Italian Wedding Soup or Mulligatawny Soup, I'm willing to bet that the very first pot happened because the cook tossed together what was on hand. It worked, so the ingredient combination was remembered, repeated, and eventually written down.

This soup was inspired by the need to use 2 kinds of turnips--salad turnips plus a bunch complete with greens, from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share. My first version used only 5 ingredients and the family plowed through it for supper with a loaf of good bread, while my daughter polished off the leftovers at lunchtime.

I made it again, taking care to write down the ingredient amounts, and added an additional ingredient (onion) which made the soup even better I think. So no matter if you want to say "5 ingredient soup" or if it's not terribly outrageous to use 6 ingredients in your soup, if you've got turnips with greens, give this a try.

I used a combination of salad turnips and red turnips from the farm share in this soup. If you don't have both kinds, just use whatever turnips you've got on hand, and add some initially and save the rest for later in the recipe. I've made this soup with Italian sausage links and with crumbled sausage. I prefer the crumbled sausage because I liked how it distributed nicely throughout the soup, allowing the chunks of potatoes and turnips to take center stage.

Just like in my Spicy Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder, and my 6 Ingredient Spicy Mustard Greens Soup, using some sausage in a pot of soup, along with a flavorful stock, is an easy way to get a lot of flavor in a short amount of time with a short list of ingredients. I've got some stock recipes on the blog (Ham Stock from Easter leftovers, Vegetable Stock in the Slow Cooker, Thai Turkey Stock, Beef Stock) but those jars of soup base are quick ways to get loads of flavor as well. I even found one that fits my beloved canning jar storage caps (Amazon affiliate link) which was such a thrill for me I posted it on Instagram. It doesn't take much to thrill me.

For more recipes using turnips, please see my Turnip Recipes Collection. For more recipes using potatoes, please see my Potato Recipes Collection. These collections are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me scrambling to deal with the onslaught of multiple kinds of turnips from the farm share. For more soup recipes, check out the drop down menus on the right side bar in the Soup category.

Chicken, Pumpkin, and White Bean Chili

A hearty white chili with cubes of roasted pumpkin and spicy Hatch chiles, chunks of chicken breast, and creamy white beans in a beer-spiked broth.

Subtitle: Pumpkin Chunk'n Chicken White Bean Chili

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Would you like another change-of-pace chili using abundant seasonal produce? One that does not use tomatoes, green or otherwise? I would. So I made this one. I'm all about using the available veggies in new and creative ways. While I adore the simplicity of a Summer Tomato Sandwich [and in fact have been enjoying several each week with the final tomatoes of the year] when life give me lots . . . and lots and lots . . . of pumpkins I get inspired.

Since what I'm blogging about is what we're eating, primarily I focus on savory foods. While Tasty Pumpkin Treats and Pumpkin Eggnog Chocolate Chip Waffles are fun ways to eat the pumpkins that volunteer in the back yard, reality is I just can't eat like that all the time. Nor do I want to! We need a foundation of wholesome meals underneath the treats. Like this chili. It uses up the copious pumpkin in a healthy and flavorful way.

Normally I don't share a photo of what I looked like while fixing this dish, but it just happened that I was interviewed for the local paper the day I made this. You can read the article here.

For more recipes using pumpkins, please see my Pumpkin Recipes Collection. For more recipes including beans, please see my Beans (Legumes) Recipes Collection. For more recipes using Hatch chiles, please see my Hatch Chile Recipe Collection. For more recipes using chicken, use the search function on the blog because I haven't gone that far in my Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. It's a resource for folks like me eating seasonally from the farm share, and right now my farm share doesn't give me chicken. I've got boards on Pinterest devoted to piles of chicken, though. Want to know how to use this blog? Click here.

Beef and Turnip Pot Pie

Ground beef and sautéed turnips topped with pie crust and baked in a skillet. Hearty comfort food from the farm share.

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Can we talk about turnips? Well, it's my blog so I guess the question is rhetorical. Turnips are a cool weather crop that typically grows well for the farmers who've supplied our farm share. What grows well you tend to get in plentiful amounts.

A decade ago, before I'd ever heard of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and when local eating was the tomatoes I'd grow each summer or the fruit we'd get at a 'let's take the kids, it'll be fun' pick your own outing, I rarely ate turnips. I had no recipes that called for turnips--but if rutabagas weren't available in the store when I wanted to make pasties I'd substitute a turnip.

A single turnip, a few times a year.

Now I get a bag of turnips at least a couple times a month at the beginning and the end of the CSA season when the cool weather crops are flourishing. [Let me put it this way--if you're getting tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini you're probably not getting turnips. All other times you're getting turnips.]

Instead of fighting the turnip, I'm embracing it's uniqueness. [Somewhat like my darling Robert Barker's uniqueness.] Sometimes the turnips stand alone, like in turnip pickles and turnip fritters. Most often, though, I combine turnips with meat or other vegetables. Sometimes I have failures, like the watery scalloped turnips and salami I shared on my FB page [I'm intrigued by Cindy's suggestion to brine turnip slices to draw out the moisture before cooking]. Other times I have a success, like this Beef and Turnip Pot Pie. This is a variation on my Beef & Bok Choy Pie, flavored similarly to a pasty but using ground, not cubed, beef.

You can find all of my turnip recipes in the Turnip Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. This is a resource for folks like me eating seasonally from the farm share, the farmer's market, or grocery store specials [not that I've ever seen turnips on special but you never know]. I've got turnip recipes pinned on Pinterest--you can follow me here. For more info on how to use this blog, click here.

How to Make Easy Spiced Caramel Pumpkin Butter

Roasted pumpkin puree baked slowly and simply with caramels, spices, and butter. This sweet treat is easy to make and can even be frozen for winter giving.

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Right now pie pumpkins are $1.49 each at the grocery store. Cans of pumpkin puree are 3 for $5 ($1.67). Considering that a pie pumpkin makes more pumpkin puree than is in a can, it would be frugal to make your own. As much as I crow ramble babble about how my compost grows volunteer squash, if yours does not--NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY PIE PUMPKINS. Here's how I process a pile of them, and Bobbi has an even easier way in the slow cooker. Do you need to make pumpkin pie with your pie pumpkin? Heck no! I've got 12 pumpkin pie free recipe ideas in my Pumpkin Recipe Collection. Here's another one.

I've got nothing against a can of pumpkin. In fact, canned pumpkin is a more consistent product than what my garden produces. If it's been a rainy season my pumpkin flesh will be more moist after roasting, and I need to adjust my baking to account for it. My pumpkins are volunteer, which means there may have been some chromosomal shenanigans going on in the compost bins. Could my pumpkins be GMO? Sure could--naturally and spontaneously genetically modified, though, by the whims of whatever lurks in the compost, not deliberately altered by me or anyone else.

The thing is, as much as I've been putting up endless farm share produce as salsa after this year, last year I was getting creative with the pumpkin. I made a large batch of Easy Spiced Caramel Pumpkin Butter just for grins and giggles. I froze some for a test (shown above) and stored the rest in the fridge.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Onion Enchiladas

A vegetarian enchilada casserole of corn tortillas stuffed with spicy sweet potatoes and onion, covered in roasted tomato sauce and plenty of cheese.

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Welcome back to your normal How To Use the Vegetables from your Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share box programming. Did you enjoy the week of desserts? I won't lie, it was loads of fun making them--especially the Killer S'mores Blondie!

I thought I'd settle back into a routine with a vegetarian enchilada recipe. I've been sitting on this one since the ladies at the Thrift shop raved about it last winter, and now that I'm getting sweet potatoes in the farm share--blue ones, too--it's time to put it up on the blog.

I can't tell you why I veered away from the standard "sweet potato and black bean" combo, other than everyone else is doing that, so why should I? Instead, I used a filling of roasted sweet potatoes and sautéed onions, spiced up with some salsa verde. Yum! We get plenty of protein in our diets, we sure don't need a can of black beans to make or break things. [Heck, yesterday at the Ohio Renaissance Festival I ate not one but 2 Scotch eggs--one for my honey since he couldn't be there. That's a hard cooked egg covered in sausage and deep fried. Yeah, some protein. And oh so good.]

I've shared plenty of enchilada recipes on this blog, vegetarian and otherwise. Some you can find on my Clickable Collages of Recipe Suggestions page. Since that was published I've added Turnip Enchiladas, Cranberry, Chicken and Leek Enchiladas, Easy Cheesy Vegetable Rice Enchiladas, and Beef Tongue Enchiladas. You could say I have a thing for enchiladas--they are a terrific vehicle for getting dinner on the table.

For other recipes using sweet potatoes, blue or otherwise (I still don't know what to make with them, good thing potatoes store for a long time in the Strategic Winter Squash Reserve) please see my Sweet Potato Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating seasonally from the farm share, the farmer's market, and whatever's plentiful and cheap at the store.

Apple Oatmeal Muffins, A Whole Grain Muffin #MuffinMonday

Chunks of apples mixed with buttermilk-soaked oats in a whole wheat muffin, topped with streusel for a sweet and wholesome treat.

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I realized that my muffin recipes, over on the drop down sidebar, are lacking in basic apple muffins. I've got sugar-less Apple Cider Muffins. I've got savory Cheddar Apple Multigrain Muffins. I've got 'throw everything in there' Cranberry Apple Pecan Tangerine Mini Muffins. I didn't have a basic apple muffin recipe. Until today. For my inaugural recipe with the #MuffinMonday crew [thanks for having me] I thought I'd remedy the deficiency.

This muffin has a streusel topping which is fancier than my typical 'feed the kids muffins for breakfast or a snack' muffin although I did keep the sugar inside at my usual amount. I made them for a morning coffee that I ended up missing because my visiting folks arrived at the same time. I did manage to snag a picture before I dropped them off, in true food blogger fashion. I even had enough batter to bake some regular-sized muffins to greet my folks.

NOTE:  The base of these muffins is my standard Soaked Oatmeal Muffin base. You can start these an hour before baking by combining oats and buttermilk in a bowl on the counter, or you could plan ahead [boy I wish I were the plan ahead type] and fill a bunch of wide mouth pint canning jars with a cup of oats and a cup of buttermilk. Screw on a plastic storage cap [Amazon affiliate link] and store in your fridge for up to a week for soaked oat muffins in a jiffy. (Shown are not wide mouth pint jars, they were all full of salsa.)

I used a blend of apples in these muffins--Gala and one other from the farmer's market that wasn't labelled--and I recommend any eating apple (i.e., not a cooking apple) for these. Chop them into small pieces, but do leave the peels on--they provide a pretty color.

As I was serving unknown guests at the morning coffee, I left out nuts. I think some chopped pecans would be an excellent addition to the streusel topping if nuts are not an issue.

For more recipes using up the seasonal abundance that is my fridge and spilling over onto the kitchen counter during apple season, please see my Apple Recipes Collection. This is part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks eating seasonally like we do. I've got a fruit board on Pinterest for ideas from around the web. Want to know how to use this blog? Click here.

Easy Butternut Squash & Burrata Pasta, a 5 Ingredient Farm Share Meal

Cubes of butternut squash, Italian sausage crumbles, hot pasta and creamy burrata cheese. An easy, simple, and satisfying Fall supper using 5 main ingredients (plus oil, water, salt and pepper).

There's rice on this plate. Yes, rice with a pasta dish. It was my daughter's desire to have pasta with a side of rice for her lunch, and ever since we did child-led weaning I've supported her food choices.

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I have been sitting impatiently on this recipe until I could declare "Happy Fall, Ya'll" and stay true to my seasonal eating roots. No matter that winter squash is long-storing, and that I used the last of the butternuts from the 2014 Strategic Winter Squash Reserve in April and May of this year. [Yes, one of the ways I feed my family from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share 12 months out of the year when we get farm fresh produce 5 months out of the year is the SWSR.]

Sometimes we add freshly grated Parm on top.

It is so good. It is so easy. It is so not vegetarian. [Please see my Easy Artichoke Arugula Pesto and Burrata Pasta for a similar but vegetarian option.] Carnivores--grab 5 items from your favorite local purveyors: a pound of pasta, a pound of Italian sausage (sweet, hot, your choice), an onion, a butternut squash, and a tub of burrata cheese.

Ripping up burrata cheese and adding to the tossed pasta.

The fancy cheese counter of my local Kroger sells burrata for $10 a tub. I am sure it is worth it. However, I am a cheap so and so. That means every time I make a milk run to Kroger I'll cruise for magical markdown stickers in the fancy cheese area. Five dollars a tub is well worth the splurge to me.

I would also like to comment that, while I am highlighting the paucity of ingredients, good food usually takes time and longer ingredient lists. You are worth putting some effort into your food. Anyone else you feed is worth putting some effort into the food. Don't shortchange yourself by seeking out meals based solely on a tiny number of ingredients. You're missing out on flavor over convenience.

Instead of sharing ten photos of the exact same plate of food taken during the exact same photo shoot, I'm sharing a variety of photos because I kept on making this dish and for some reason my spouse happened to be taking pictures. I think we had company at least one of those times. It is so yummy, so cheesy, and such a nice balance of sweet creamy roasted squash with savory sausage all wrapped up with gooey cheese.

This version used leftover grilled vegetables reheated on top of the sausage. Note the saved pasta water.

This pasta is also simple to make. Grill or roast a butternut squash (heck, I've used leftover grilled zucchini in this as well). Alanna's directions on how to efficiently turn a butternut squash into cubes can be found here. You can even cook the vegetables a day ahead while cooking another meal. They'll keep in the fridge, then simply toss the cooled cooked veggies onto the cooked sausage to warm up while you're working on the pasta. Combine everything in a big bowl, crack open a burrata on top, and toss it all together.

This pasta reheats well for a midday lunch, if you're lucky enough to come home for lunch.

For other recipes using butternut squash, please see my Buttercup/Butternut Squash Recipe Collection. This is part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks who eat from the farm share and farmer's market. I've got more squash recipes and plenty more pasta recipes on my Pinterest boards. Want to know How to Use this Blog? Click here.

Roasted Potatoes with Squash, Peppers and Kielbasa

Roasted potatoes, peppers, yellow squash and zucchini with kielbasa. Fresh ingredients simply seasoned for a simple dinner when you don't have a plan in mind.

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You walk in the door after a busy day with no clear plan for dinner in mind.

The dogs rush to greet you, and you give everyone some love. [Did you know that dogs get a Happy Hormone rush when they are petted? Their greetings are just a way to get their fix, not some sort of altruistic 'let me lower your blood pressure' reason.]

Hit the kitchen, crank on the oven, and start washing some potatoes. No matter what else will be for dinner, you've got a giant pile of potatoes from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share so you may as well start with them.

Survey the fridge. Notice that the yellow squash, zucchini and peppers did not get the memo that Fall is nearly here and it's time to make room for the acorn and butternut squashes. Find a package of kielbasa and a bottle of beer and realize that dinner will come together just fine.

Open the bottle, have a healthy sip, grab a knife, and get busy.

For other recipes using potatoes, please see my Potato Recipes Collection. For other recipes using summer squash, please see my Summer Squash Recipes Collection. These are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, and bountiful gardens. For other ways to make the most of the farm share, please see my How to Make The Most of the Farm Share board on Pinterest. Want to know How to Use This Blog?

Spicy Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder

A creamy soup of corn and sweet potatoes cooked in corn stock and spiced up with chorizo. A wonderful way to enjoy the bounty of late summer vegetables.

For other recipes using corn, please see my Recipes Using Corn Collection. For other recipes using sweet potatoes, please see my Sweet Potato Recipes Collection. These collections are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, or the bounty of the garden.

One of my current failings with raising kids is my lack of follow through. [There's a corn cob connection here, but I'll meander first. Skip ahead to the recipe if you're squeamish.] I've got the "give your children chores" part down, I'm not always thorough on the follow up to see that the chore has been completed. Some chores are easy to follow through on--taking out trash, putting away clean laundry, clearing the table, walking the dogs.

My kids are in charge of emptying the compost bucket into one of the compost bins outside. Because an empty bucket comes back into the kitchen, I assumed the task has been satisfactorily completed.

Then I took Robert Barker on his morning walk and noticed what appeared to be chewed up corn cobs. Guess what? Corn cobs don't get digested, either. [That's the squeamish part, I'm deliberately being vague.]

Still, I didn't put it all together until my girl told her brother "just don't throw the compost, put it in the bin!" Aha! Apparently the raspberry canes had grown so much that he stopped bothering to lift them out of the way like she did. I sent him out with trimmers and now the path is clear and the compost is going into the bin.

Follow through--something I need to work on.

How to Make My Family's Favorite CSA Vegetable Spaghetti Sauce

Practical advice for how to save ripe summer farm share vegetables--by roasting--for use in a kid-friendly spaghetti sauce all year long.

The purpose and timing of this post reflects my mission for this blog: to provide practical support for local eating. We chose to get a large Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share not because I'm a masochist and like to torture myself with overwhelming quantities of vegetables for the kids and I to eat while my spouse is deployed because it's a good value and I know if I put up the produce properly, I'll be feeding my family from the farm share all year long. With a couple of tried-and-true techniques, including #4 from this post, and a substantial Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient filled with ideas for what's in the box, my goal is to help you feed your people from your farm share as well.

Let's talk fantasy versus reality, especially as it pertains to spaghetti sauce. In a fantasy world, I'd start with ingredients like this and spend a leisurely day chopping and simmering in my spotless kitchen [this is my fantasy, after all]. Tomatoes would always be ripening in m weed-free back yard [no need to watch where you step either], basil would be fresh for the plucking, and I'd have an interesting assortment of eggplant, peppers, fennel and squash to make flavorful sauce. [Oh, and plenty of freezer space while we're talking fantasies].

In reality, this is what the start of my spaghetti sauce often looks like. It's a bit beetier, no? I grab a bag of vegetables and a piece of Parm rind out of the freezer, a jar of tomatoes out of the pantry, and 30 minutes later I've got sauce. Homemade sauce in a half an hour is possible only because I did some prep work in the late summer, as in right about this time of year. Typically I roast my vegetable surplus and freeze it in bags as shown, but this year I'll be throwing the farm share on the grill.
When I have more propane.

Funny, how propane is a necessary ingredient when you have a gas grill. Sunday night I came back from sled hockey camp [my son plays, I'm a hockey mom] planning to Grill All The Things in the crispers. I'd forgotten I was almost out of propane when I made pizza last. I turned on the oven instead. Using my previous little grill, a tank lasted almost 2 years. Now it lasts about 4 months. Just like you need lids and jars when you're ready to get canning, or a fresh roll of bags when you're freezing produce (Amazon affiliate link), you need propane to grill. If you have a gas grill, that is. Lesson learned.