Week 3 - What a Bounty

I'm really excited for this week's share. My family has been praying for our farmer's since they told us about their grasshopper invasion. The photos they sent to members made my heart heavy. I'd never seen so many grasshoppers and neither had the farmers. 

When I saw what the share had to offer though, we were very thankful!

I have grand plans for this produce. The yellow squash, peppers, some onions and chard are going into a vegetable soup. The tomatoes are getting combined with some of my basil and super special olive oil for a delicious pasta dish. The zucchini is being made into bread for the kiddos. The potatoes are going to be roasted on the grill with butter thyme and rosemary to go with some chicken or whatever meat I have currently in the freezer. The cucumbers are going to be turned into a yogurt sauce for chickpea cakes. The kale with be fried up into sausage pasta. I imagine every once of produce will be consumed before the next share will be picked up. 

Here's today's dish:

I started by placing a large pot of water on to boil with some salt. Then diced all of my tomatoes. I reserved a pint jar full for tomorrow's vegetable soup which left me with just under a pound of diced tomatoes. 

I then minced a small onion (from last week's share). Placed my favorite 12 inch cast iron skillet on to heat with a good amount of olive oil. This is when I realized I was out of fresh garlic... garlic powder was going to have to stand in. I sauteed the onions until translucent and added the tomatoes.

A minute later the pasta was cooked so it got added to the pot.

I turned off the heat and I chiffonade basil, added that along with a touch of garlic powder and salt.

Basically the dish was done. Except the finishing, which I wasn't able to get a picture of as my phone died in the process :-) such is my life. The final step is plating - drizzle an excellent quality extra virgin olive oil over the pasta and sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Needless to say my children where very quiet at the dinner table tonight.

Tomato Basil Spaghetti

Ingredients:

1 13.5 oz. box of whole wheat spaghetti

2 tbsp. olive oil (don't waste the extra virgin here)

1 small onion, minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed (substitute 1/4 tsp. garlic powder)

1 lb. fresh tomatoes, diced

1/4 -1/2 c. fresh basil, chiffonade

salt and pepper

extra virgin olive oil

parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Place a stock pot with 4 quarts of water on high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and allow to boil. Once rolling boil add the pasta and cook according to package directions (no longer!)
2. While water is coming to a boil heat a 12 inch skillet with 2 tbsp. of olive oil. Once hot saute the onion until translucent, a couple of minutes. Add the garlic, followed by the tomatoes. Cook for a minute until heated through. Add the al dente pasta right into the skillet along with some pasta water if things get too tight. Kill the heat add the basil, salt and pepper to taste. Toss liberally and serve drizzled with good olive oil and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

I hope you enjoy this simple, fresh classic.