CSA Adventures, Box 14

By Robert Lauriston Mon., Apr. 20 2009 at 1:01 PM

Categories: CSA Adventures, Lauriston, Recipes

In this week's box:

fresh onion, 6 oz.
asparagus, 11 oz.
fennel, 11 oz.
lemons, 12 oz.
red chard, 10 oz.
spinach, 8 oz.
salad mix, 8 oz.
mibuna, 12 oz.
sugar snap peas, 7 oz.

I used the fennel leaves to make baked halibut using the recipe I posted last week (above, before baking; below, after), and served the baby fennel bulbs with salt as an appetizer, along with some chorizo, Marcona almonds, and anchovy-stuffed olives.

As a side dish, I cooked the onion and the chard from both this week's and last week's boxes with chili and anchovies.

Spicy Chard with Anchovies
2 bunches chard
1 can anchovies in olive oil
3 tbsp. olive oil
pinch of hot pepper flakes
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp. salt
1 cup red wine

Using a small knife with a sharp point, cut the chard stems from the leaves. Wash stems and slice crossways into slices about 1/8" thick. Wash leaves and chop coarsely.

Crack open the can of anchovies and let the oil drain into a pot big enough to hold all the chard, then finish opening the can and chop the anchovies.

Add the anchovies, additional olive oil, hot pepper flakes, onion, chard stems (but not the leaves), and salt to the pot. Cook on medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent. Add the wine and cook on high heat until most of the liquid has evaporated and what's left has a sauce-like consistency. Taste a piece of chart do make sure it's cooked; if it isn't, add some water and cook until done.

Add the damp chard leaves, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the leaves are soft but still bright green.