CSA basket #7 and Summer Veggie Medley with White Beans

Last week, our CSA basket was a little sparse because the summer veggies weren't quite ready. No more. This week we got potatoes, big beautiful beets, yellow squash and onions! Feeling in need of some greens to fill out the list, I also bought some red chard from another vendor at Farmer's market.

Summer Veggie Medley with White Beans


1 (15 oz) can white kidney beans
1 Tbsp. oil (about)
1 medium yellow squash (or two small ones)
1 medium zucchini
1 small bunch red chard
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Rinse and drain the white kidney beans. In a 10-inch skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the rinsed beans, basil and red pepper. Stir occasionally while preparing the other vegetables. Slice the zucchini and yellow squash into 1/4-inch thick rings. Cut the stems off the chard and slice those into roughly 1-inch pieces. Add the zucchini, squash and chard stems to the beans with about 1/4 cup of water. Salt and pepper to taste. Put a lid on the pan and simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until the squash is softened slightly. Cut the chard leaves into 1-inch strips. When the squash is softened, toss the chard greens on top of the veggie/bean mix, and return the lid to the pan. Check the chard in about 3 minutes. If the chard is starting to wilt, remove the lid and stir gently until all of the chard is wilted and any remaning liquid is reduced. Serve with grated parmesan and extra freshly ground pepper.

Oh, I also want to offer a word of warning. Pressurized flour can get EVERYWHERE in a kitchen.

For Christmas, we were given a beer bread mix which was cleverly bottled in a liter beer bottle. I thought some good beer bread would be tasty alongside the veggie mix, and decided I should use the mix we had instead of making my own. I preheated the oven, got out a pan, picked the beer I wanted to use... and then I went to open the bread mix bottle. In retrospect, I should have promptly used the bottled mix after Christmas, lest some of the leavening begin to activate. (The bottle was kept in a cupboard next to the stove.) .... Nonetheless, I had no idea that flour would explode like that. The moment I cracked the seal on the bottle a good half the kitchen, and at least half of me, was covered in a fine coating of flour. Some of the mix managed to land in the bowl I had set next to me. The rest of the mix residing in the neck of the bottle was scattered about the kitchen. After several minutes of stunned laughter, I managed to empty out the remaining contents of bread mix into the bowl, scoop any mix off the counters that I could, and promptly clean the rest of the kitchen. By this time, the oven had long preheated. Most of the mix had made it to the bowl, so I used about 10 oz of beer instead of 12 oz and made the bread anyway. It was pretty tasty, and I got the added benefit of a much cleaner kitchen floor. =)