Guest Post - Sam & Cooking My Way Through My CSA: Brooklyn Locavore Cheesy Greens & Mac

Good morning sugar muffins! We are graced by Sam @ Cooking My Way Through My CSA today! Enjoy her post and also check out my guest post at her blog by clicking here. Horray for Mac & Cheese swaps!

Hello Gastronomical Sovereignty readers!

I’m Sam. I live on the complete opposite coast from Kristy and blog about my adventures trying to eat locally in Brooklyn, NY (and get my partner to eat something other than white bread, cookies, and dry raman) over at Cooking My Way Through My CSA. I started blogging, as you might be able to guess from the blog’s title, to document my adventures eating locally after joining a CSA. I am particularly lucky that my CSA extends into the winter, which is not always the norm in the Northeast. Kristy and I “met” through blogging and seem to be on the same page about almost everything food and ecology related. We’re definitely “blog-friends” now. If we lived on the same coast (or country), I’m sure we’d hang out. But since we don’t, we’ll just do guest posts.

So, like most ideas now days, the idea for this swap materialized on Facebook. Kristy asked what she should have for dinner. I commented that I was thinking about making mac and cheese with butternut squash and collards. Long story short, we both had mac and cheese for dinner. And thus the idea for a mac and cheese blog swap was born. We would both make a mac and cheese that highlighted what was in season (or, in my case, local and preserved) near us. It had to include at least one veggie. Easy.

The mac and cheese I made that night was the thick, gooey, bechemel-based cheese sauce topped with bread crumbs and baked in the oven kind my mom used to make. Well, the American cheese slices were swapped for cheddar and Parmesan and half of the macaroni was swapped out for vegetables. It was absolutely delicious, but there’s only so many times you can eat that in a two week period. Or maybe it’s more that there’s only so many times you should eat that in a two week period. Then inspiration struck, as it often does, nestled at the bottom of my CSA box and in the bulk section in the back of Choice Greene Market.

A bag of frozen Lacinato kale.

An 8 oz container of cheese curds.

Another (sigh) giant bag of onions, but with two tiny surprise heads of garlic inside (woot!).

and...(at the market)

Flour City Pasta Radiatore!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have dinner. A simple cheesy pasta-bake--heavy on the greens, light on the pasta. Toss in a couple of chopped up oven-dried tomatoes I made in a mishap-riddled tomato preservation attempt. Amazing.

The thing about cooking locally in the northeast during the winter months is that you do rely a great deal on either locally preserved foods or foods you’ve preserved yourself. There actually are a lot of farms that do grow greens all winter. Dark leafy greens tend to do quite well in cold weather. My farm just happens to preserve them. There are plenty of other veggies available locally during the winter months; however, the nature of the CSA is that (just like in a classroom) “you get what you get and you don’t get upset”. So I worked with what I had. 

 

Brooklyn Locavore Cheesy Greens & Mac

½ lb of Flour City Pasta Tomato-Basil Radiatore (or other short pasta)

olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large onion, cut into quarters, then into thin slices

2 cloves of garlic, minced

12 oz kale, chopped

1 T dry white wine (I had some from Long Island in my fridge, though apparently someone has a rooftop vineyard and makes wine in Greenpoint)

3-4 oven dried tomato halves, chopped (or sundried tomatoes)

8 oz cheese curds (or torn fresh mozzarella--it may have been less, I ate a few curds while cooking)

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a large oven-proof skillet, heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions. Season with a bit of salt. Cook, stirring, until the onions are softened and beginning to take on a bit of color (about 5 minutes).

Add the garlic, tomatoes, kale, and wine. If you’re using frozen kale like me, it will take about 10 minutes for it to thaw and cook through, covered. If you’re using fresh kale it will take between 3 and five minutes to collapse and cook through, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

Add the pasta to the pan with a bit more olive oil. Toss. Add the cheese. Season with salt and LOTS of freshly ground black pepper. Toss again.

Put the pan in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown a bit. 

Serves 4.

This post is linked up with The Hearth and Soul Blog Hop via The 21st Century Housewife; Tasty Tuesday; Slightly Indulgent Tuesday; Tueday Talent Show; This Chick Cooks; Cast Party Wednesday; Simple Lives Thursday; Full Plate Thursday; Tastetastic Thursday; Fight Back Friday; Fresh Bites Friday; Seasonal Inspiration Saturday; Seasonal Celebration Sunday.