Monthly Archives: September 2011

The Thursday Stash

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Ashley| 2 Comments

Welcome once again to another installment of the Thursday Stash here at the Drunk Squash!

This week we’re straddling summer and fall, and I’m clinging to the summer vegetables (and fruits I suppose) for as long as I’m getting them!

We have a big handful of Red Russian Kale,

kale

Some skinny, deep purple eggplants,

eggplants

Colorful, plump heirloom tomatoes,

tomatoes

Some hilariously furry edamame,

edamame

A big beautiful watermelon,

watermelon

Some salvaged corn (that I liked setting up mugshot-style),

corn

and these weird things that I have no idea about!

whoknows

They’re round, a light yellow color, and smell like salad.  And we just can’t figure out what the heck they are.  If you have any ideas do tell!  And I’ll definitely share information when I cut one or both open.

I’m hoping to make some fresh salad with the corn, utilize some of the chard as burrito wrapping, and maybe make a roasted eggplant and tomato dip?  I have a tasty pepper and eggplant dip from last week to share with you too… so prepare yourself!

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Posted in CSA

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Garlic and Turmeric Polenta Fries

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Ashley| 4 Comments
Cook

Life!  It gets in the way sometimes, don’t you know?

I thought I’d share a recipe that, on top of being experimental and fun, is easy enough to be done during those in-between moments when you’re procrastinating or have found a second to breath.  I saw on Foodgawker that somebody posted a picture of polenta fries and I was immediately intrigued.  As you may remember from this summer, I’ve had a lot of fun with fries in the past.  In fact, I got a little bit obsessed with them.  But I didn’t venture far into the wide wide world of fries.  In fact, I’ve never even made sweet potato fries, which seem to be the most oft-adored fry substitute.  (Don’t worry, next time I get my hands on one of those babies it’s fry-time).

pan

But anyway, I saw this bizarre thing that looked like a rustic, tasty fry, but was apparently in a wholly different realm than I had ever experienced before.  Basically, it was polenta that had been formed into a rough fry shape and then baked.  And that’s it!  Just make polenta, give it a fry shape, and then bake the little sucker.  I didn’t follow a specific recipe, just went with what seemed to work, and boy oh boy did it work.  I’ve also seen that they can be fried (I suppose making them truly fries), but I decided to go the healthierish route.

cut

So what’s the point, you may be asking?  Well, for me initially it was just curiosity.  What is that and can it be made in my oven?  Then there was my general interest in polenta- it’s always seemed like a great meal option, I just never know what to do with it to spice it up.  But once I got started, I was amazed at all the polenta fry options that could be out there… polenta is basically a blank slate that can soak up all the tasty flavors that tickle your fancy.  I went with garlic and turmeric polenta fries this time, but I want to try curry ones, barbecue ones, sweet cinnamon ones… the list goes on.

Here’s the recipe.  If you’re feeling curious or creative, here’s a blank canvas and a seal of approval from me at the Drunk Squash.  Officially Drunk Squash approved. Go make some and snack away!

Linep

Garlic and Turmeric Polenta Fries
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Recipe type: Snack/Appetiser
Author: Ashley @ The Drunk Squash
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 40 mins
What Do You Need?
  • 3/4 cup polenta
  • 3 cup water
  • 3 tsp turmeric
  • 3 tsp garlic powder
  • salt and pepper
Make it Happen
  1. Bring water to a boil.
  2. Stir polenta into boiling water in a steady stream.
  3. Add spices.
  4. Bring heat down to simmer for 20 minutes.
  5. Butter or oil or Pam a pan, then spoon polenta into it.
  6. Let the polenta cool and then place in fridge for at least an hour.
  7. After an hour (or more) remove polenta from the pan and then slice it into fry-shapes.
  8. Heat oven to 400F and bake polenta fries for 20 minutes, turning them over halfway through.
Notes

Can start them one day and finish the next!

Also, the turmeric helps spice up (haha) that pretty yellow color.

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Fries

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Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipe, Snack

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Curried Egg Salad Sandwich

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Ashley| 2 Comments

Eggs

I feel like I start every post these days with “sorry it’s been so long, I’ve been sooo busy.”  So I wont say it again.  Suffice it to say that I just dropped in to give off some Drunk Squash love and it’s criminal the way I’ve been treating this blog lately.

But enough of that, onward!

I’ve been enjoying some belated heat here in my lovely East Bay city, and in honor of those sweet summer afternoons I wanted to share a sweet little sandwich tip.

Curried

Last month I saw a recipe for Curried Egg Salad on Baker by Nature and was immediately excited in the belly.  And in the tastebuds, too.  I was just really excited.  See, I’m definitely a fan of egg salad sandwiches.  I know they’re not healthy (soo much mayo) and not usually fancy, but they are still just so comforting and tasty.  They were my special pals when I was a fourteen year old cutting meat out of her diet and trying to convince my parents that I’ll be okay without it.  Yeah, that wasn’t the best way to prove that I could be a healthy, well-balanced vegetarian, but at least I had something to order off of the lunch menu.  And even now that I’m a pretty staunch vegetarian sandwich orderer, I still find myself looking longingly at the good old egg salad sandwich.

So when I saw this recipe for CURRIED egg salad, I was immediately obsessed with the idea of making it for myself.  I didn’t have all of the ingredients (namely celery salt, Tabasco, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, mango chutney, celery, or scallions), but I definitely made do with what I had.  I realize that I just named over half of the recipe as “something I didn’t have,” so I’m going to admit that my own version was a loose interpretation that made do with spicy yellow mustard, regular salt, and Sriracha sauce.  Yet I still had the best egg salad sandwich I’ve ever had.  So one can only imagine what sorts of culinary ecstasy comes along with ALL of the ingredients.

Sandwich

If you’re in any way a curry fan, I implore you to try adding it to your next egg salad sandwich.  Better yet, follow this recipe directly and let me know what I missed out on!

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Posted in Lunch

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