Think Fast Meal: Chilaquiles

Warning

This is not a meal for your weekly meal plan. This is one of those throw-together kinds of meals. You know, the one when you wake up famished and the only thing in your fridge are leftovers from taco night. Or when you’ve spent the entire day playing outside and you have no idea what to make for dinner. Chilaquiles was created as a way to use up leftover stale tortillas and is typically eaten for breakfast or brunch. This is one of those meals that surprises you in its simplicity—and in its deliciousness—and is a fantastic way to use some of those tomatoes you canned last summer.

Ingredients

• That bag of tortilla chip crumbs cluttering your counter

• The handful of rotisserie chicken you don’t know what to do with (or black beans, or leftover taco meat, or roasted veggies. seriously, whatever is staring at you from the refrigerator shelves)

• 1 jar of tomatoes with chiles that you canned in the summer (or enchilada sauce, or taco sauce, or even salsa will do)

• 1/2 cup of water (or 1/2 cup broth)

• 1 spoonful of better than bouillon (leave out if using broth)

• Whatever fresh ingredients you have in your fridge to use as toppings

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°.

2. Heat a cast-iron skillet on your stove. I used an 8-incher for 2 people. If you’re feeding more than 2, you’ll want a bigger skillet, and you’ll want to double the ingredients.

3. Pour tomatoes, water, and bouillon into your hot skillet. Bring it to a boil and let simmer for 3-5 minutes to thicken up

4. Put tortilla crumbs into the skillet and stir slightly to mix. You want most of your chips a little on the soggy side. I know it sounds gross, but trust me. The flavor is astounding in the end.

5. Throw your leftovers on top. Sprinkle some shredded cheese on it if you’d like.

6. Put it in the oven and let it bake for 15-20 minutes, or until everything is warm and your cheese is melted.

7. Take it out of the oven, divide onto plates, and let people dig in. I like to put shredded cabbage, radishes, cilantro on top if I have them in the fridge. If I don’t, then I just eat it as is.

Note

If you want an extra boost of protein, top it with a fried egg. I’m lazy about breakfast so I eat it sans egg, but my husband isn’t lazy, so he goes the extra mile. The egg does make for a very pretty picture.

November

I can homeschool and cook. I can cook and write.
I can probably even homeschool and write.
But I don’t think I can do all three.

These are words I said to my husband a few weeks ago. It was mid-September when I last wrote about how we’re using our farm share. Life picked up its pace when we started homeschool lessons the first week in September. Week after week passed without a true meal plan. We’ve been making it up as we go.

Leaves on the ground are mixing with a chill in the air and we know Winter is on her way. As we continue to pick up food from the farm a couple of times a month through the winter, CSA Adventures will shift to monthly posts rather than weekly. We try to go to the grocery store as little as possible, even during non-harvest months. Each month I’ll offer recipe suggestions using seasonal goods as well as preserved ones; my hope is you’ll find inspiration on eating local year-round.

Much of what we got in our final Summer Shares (and are getting in our ongoing Fall Share) is resting comfortably in a cold room in my basement for now. Although Farmer Jamie said this won’t be a great year to store Winter Squash long-term, we’ve been able to store it for a week or two before using it. I hope to use it or freeze it all before the end of the month.

This month brings shorter and colder days and I’m relishing all the cozy things. Soups, stews, pies, and cakes are finding their way to our dining room table. I’m beginning to meal plan for longer stretches at a time and am leaning on old favorites to get us through the hectic afternoons that come with having one kid in dance and the other in gymnastics several days a week. And with a fridge (and basement) full of fresh produce ready to be eaten, early November seems like the perfect time to start thinking about holiday meals.

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What We Have
to Work With

acorn squash, apples, beets, broccoli, brussels sprouts, buttercup squash, butternut squash, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cranberries, daikon radish, delicata squash, garlic, kale, leeks, onions, potatoes.

Helpful Pantry Goods

Pasta, dried beans and lentils (we love Rancho Gordo), flour, rice, farro

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Meal Ideas for the Month

When we get acorn or delicata squash, I like to make Shepherd’s Pie. After the birth of my second daughter, a neighbor brought me Shepherd’s Pie. Although I was incredibly grateful for their feeding us that night, no one really enjoyed it and I’ve been afraid of it ever since. But a couple of years ago another friend made Shepherd’s Pie for us and used sweet potatoes as the topping. It was like a completely different meal, and I was hooked for life. I use Alton Brown’s recipe, using half potatoes and half acorn squash for the topping. I use 1 lb of meat (ground lamb is our favorite, but ground beef works too) and double the carrots, add celery, and sometimes use green beans instead of peas.

While we’re talking about acorn and delicata squash, this week I’ll make Deb Perelman’s Pork Tenderloin Agrodolce as well as Black Eyed Peas with Roasted Delicata Squash and Beet Greens. The beet greens will come from my freezer and the black-eyed peas just came yesterday in my latest Rancho Gordo shipment.

This basic recipe for Minestrone Soup is a great way to use up any sad veggies in your fridge. We often call it “Refrigerator Soup.” It’s a different soup every time we make it. Sometimes I’ll use beet greens and kale, sometimes I’ll add lentils [this is a great recipe for lentil minestrone], sometimes it has zucchini; other times it has potatoes. Sometimes we add pasta. Sometimes we don’t. You really never know what will show up in a pot of Minestrone Soup.

Speaking of soup, David and the girls got me a Cooks Illustrated cookbook for my birthday. The first meal I tried from it was Lentil Soup, and it was so good there were no leftovers for lunch the next day.

Winter Squash Risotto is one of those meals my kids cheer for. It’s the first thing they ask for when we get winter squash in the share. Butternut is our favorite, but any winter squash will do.

We love this Fried Cauliflower recipe—even my cauliflower-hating daughter will eat it. Instead of tacos, we make grain bowls, topping a bowl of rice or farro with fried cauliflower, cooked chickpeas, pickled daikon radish, sauteed greens, and anything else that sounds good. If you don’t like the idea of grain bowls, make it part of a veggie plate. You could make Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Au Gratin Potatoes (any potatoes will do) to go with it.

In an attempt to catch up on using all the cabbage in my fridge, I bravely made this Kalpudding recipe. Cabbage and meat pudding sounds disgusting, I know, but ya’ll …. this is, quite possibly, the best meatloaf I’ve ever eaten. It uses an entire head of cabbage and is even better reheated on day two. Don’t forget the sauce. We used cranberry sauce in place of lingonberry. (Use what you have friends. Use what you have).

In the spirit of cabbage, this cabbage pasta makes an incredibly fast weeknight meal. Again, I know cabbage on pasta sounds strange, but somehow cabbage turns into something amazing when you cook it in butter and oil for a while. (I add butter to the pan with the olive oil. I like butter, I cannot lie.)

And for breakfast, don’t forget about these Kale Tacos. You need to get your day started off on the right food.

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Holiday Ideas

It looks like we’ll be having a small Thanksgiving for our family of four this year, so I’m not quite sure what we’ll make. I love this Butternut Squash Stuffing—in fact we’ve already had it twice this fall. I don’t use mushrooms, and I add kale or some other green. It makes for a great main dish or a side to roast chicken or pork chops.

If you’re heading to a potluck (do people still have potlucks in a post-pandemic world?) bring these Twice Baked Potatoes with Kale. If you make extra, they freeze well, and will be a great lunch (or fast dinner) later down the road.

If you’re feeling adventurous and want to veer away from the traditional Turkey dinner, why not try this Squash and Sage Lasagna? I made it last night with Acorn Squash instead of pumpkin and it was truly delightful.

Don’t forget the cranberry sauce! It goes well with everything (see my note about Kalpudding above).

Now, for dessert. Growing up we always had Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (I wish I had a recipe to share, but I’ve never made one), Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie, and Apple Pie for dessert. That’s a lot of pie! Or you could make Apple Cake, Pumpkin Cheesecake, or Chocolate Cake instead.

A note about pumpkin: You can substitute any winter squash for pumpkin in any recipe. Buttercup, butternut, and honeynut squash all make delightful pumpkin pies.

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Whew. That’s a lot of food! I hope you’ll save this email and come back to it all month. I’ll be back in your inboxes the first week of December with some ideas for easy meals to get you through the holiday crunch.

Now it’s your turn. Tell me—what are your favorite November meals?

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Did you know I send out a monthly newsletter that isn’t all about food? You can check it out here. If you like what you see, subscribe. The November issue will come out just after Thanksgiving.

Photo by Hello I'm Nik on Unsplash

Summer Week One

We went on a field trip yesterday to Old Sturbridge Village. It’s one of my favorite places to take the girls because we always learn something new. As a family who enjoys historic handicrafts, we really enjoy talking to the costumed historians who illustrate what life was like two hundred years ago. Yesterday was their final Homeschool Day for the school year and the girls had a great time painting a plate and making artwork out of things they found in nature.

We took a detour on the way home to pick up our Farm Share. When I opened the trunk to pull out my baskets—and my phone to take a picture—I discovered my phone was not in my backpack like I thought. There was a small panic in my mind about who might find my phone and hack into it to discover all my photos and terrible writing drafts. Then I realized the Village was closed for the day and hoped other homeschoolers were as honest as we are. When we got home, we used Find My Phone to search for it, and sure enough it was still in the bathroom where it must have fallen out.

The smell of coffee woke me at 6am this morning. Finding my bed empty, I trudged down the stairs to find an empty French Press and a note. “Phone GPS says it’s in the parking lot, not the bathroom. I’ll be back soon.” Anytime he leaves me a note, no matter what it says, my heart goes aflutter. He’s on the road, rescuing my lost phone, and I am here. Making my own coffee and meal planning. He is a true Hero.

And I’m going to need another cup of coffee.

This is the first week of our Summer Share at Springdell and Farmer Jamie does not ever disappoint. We have a Super Share this year plus extra fruit and eggs each week. We are getting a LOT of food, and while it can feel overwhelming during the peak harvest months, I never regret it come Winter. I’ll share tips and tricks with you on storing food, and if you stick with me through Winter, I’ll help you use it along the way. If this is your first year with a CSA, or if you’re considering a CSA for the first time, I do not recommend beginning with a Super Share. Get your feet wet first, THEN dive all the way in. Early summer means a lot of greens, and this week is all about the salad.

Summer Week 1

4 heads lettuce
2 heads cabbage
1 bunch Russian Red Kale
1 pint strawberry honey
1 bunch rhubarb
1 bunch golden beets (with their greens)
7 quarts strawberries

From the Farmstand

2 greenhouse cucumbers
1 half pint cherry tomatoes
4 small yellow onions
1 sweet onion
2 misfit broccoli crowns

Strawberries & Rhubarb

I have a post coming later this week about all the many things you can do with strawberries. Today I’d like to talk about the perfect pairing of strawberries and rhubarb. When I was a kid, my Aunt would make Strawberry Rhubarb pie for every Thanksgiving. I would never touch it. Rhubarb sounded weird, and I didn’t want to eat anything weird. I now know I was being ridiculous, because strawberry rhubarb is now one of my favorite combinations.

I adore this Strawberry Rhubarb Pecan Loaf so much that I make 2-4 of them every year and stick them in my freezer. Come January, when all the fresh fruit is long gone, I pull it out and enjoy it for breakfast with a cup of coffee. You can turn it into muffins too, which makes for even easier winter enjoyment.

I made a variation of this Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp last week. I used equal parts strawberry & rhubarb (1 lb), cut the sugar to 1 cup, and used arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch. I also always use old fashioned oats instead of quick-cooking, because it’s what I usually have in the pantry. It was delightful with ice cream for dessert, and with yogurt for breakfast the next day.

This Strawberry Rhubarb Syrup is an excellent way to use up rhubarb. Many years I take time to can the syrup so I have it later. It’s great to use in making lemonade, or a great addition to Gin & Tonics, or even just a dash in a glass of sparkling water makes a fun treat. And I always save the fruit to put on top of yogurt. No wasting deliciousness!

Lettuce

We grabbed pizza on our way home last night, but with 4 heads of lettuce in the share, I made everyone wait to eat until I had made a side salad. Farmer Jamie’s lettuce is seriously the best lettuce I’ve ever had. The fact that not even my tiniest (who hates lettuce) complained about having to eat a salad with pizza is a huge testament to the deliciousness of her greens. We topped it with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and strawberries (of course).

This Bon Appetit Article made me want Steak Salad for dinner every night for the next week, so I was thrilled with David requested Steak Salad for Father’s Day.

I got a great variety of Red & Green Leaf Lettuce as well as one head of Bibb lettuce this week so I’m excited to mix and match them all. Lettuce Wraps are perhaps my favorite way to use Bibb lettuce. This recipe takes me back to my high school days, when P.F. Changs felt like the fanciest joint around.

If you’re starting out with a CSA for the first time this year, I hope you’re not hit with 4 heads of lettuce like I am. Unless you really love lettuce. It’s taken us a very long time to get used to using 4 heads of lettuce in one week, and I’m always so proud of us when it’s gone before the week is over. The trick is to eat lettuce every single day. Even for breakfast.

When the weather forecast is sunny and beach-worthy, I’m grateful for the ability to pack a quick lunch salad to go. Lunch Salads need no recipe, just creativity. I usually open my fridge and start pulling out leftovers and soon a lunch salad is born. Don’t forget to pack salad dressing. And a fork. A seashell will work as a fork in a pinch, but it’s not ideal. Trust me.

Cabbage

Anytime I get cabbage in my share I instantly think of this Crispy Oven Pork with Cole Slaw. This is a great recipe if you’re feeding a crowd (which I am THRILLED to be able to do once again this year).

Last week I used unloved cabbage from the misfit shelf to make this Asian-Inspired Salad. I made this Sesame Dressing because I’m not a fan of Peanut Butter in my salad dressing. It kept well in my fridge all week, and was an excellent salad to take to the beach.

This Beef and Cabbage Stirfry is one of my favorite recipes for Cabbage. I wish I could figure out a way to freeze cabbage so that I can make this in the Winter. If you know any tricks about freezing shredded cabbage, send them my way!

Russian Red Kale

Russian Red Kale is terrific for salads, and this one uses Golden Beets too! It feels like a huge win when I can combine ingredients to make meals. This White Bean & Kale Panzanella also looks delightful and would be a good way to use up that stale bread in my bread box.

If you need an easy appetizer or snack, Kale Chips are always a win around here.

With as much lettuce as we have this week, I’ll likely blanch and freeze our kale this week because it stores well and is easy to use in soups in Winter. Or maybe I’ll use some of the misfit potatoes from last week and make these Twice Baked Potatoes with Kale. They also freeze well and are a treat in the dark days of Winter.

As for the Kale stems, I try not to compost them. They juice well, or they can be thrown in a blender with some fruit for a fun twist on Green Smoothies. Don’t forget the honey in your smoothie. It will give the smoothie a sweetness that your kids (or you) can’t resist. You can also turn them into Pesto, which will freeze well and will be so welcome in Winter.

Golden Beets (with their greens)

Most people adore simple roasted beets as a side dish or on top of a salad. I have been trying to love beets as long as we’ve had a CSA, and I just don’t. I do like some varieties better than others, but all-in-all, beets are not my favorite thing. I do love a good pickled beet, especially in Winter or very early Spring. This recipe is similar to the one I typically use, but I’m intrigued by this Pickled Beet with Grapefruit and Chili. Maybe I’ll try something new this year.

Surprisingly, I find beet greens to be incredibly easy to use. My kids are huge fans of these Green Treats and I will sometimes substitute beet greens for the chard. Did you know beets and swiss chard come from the same family? Most often I blanch and freeze the greens and use them later when I want fresh pasta. I hardly ever make pasta without some kind of greens sneaking their way in.

Strawberry Honey

I don’t really need to tell you how to use fresh honey, do I? This is the most delicious honey I’ve ever had. With a faint taste of strawberries, we’ve been sticking spoons in and eating it by itself. I’ve long heard that eating local raw honey may help with seasonal allergies. Although there’s no science to back that up, I figure a small taste of honey every day can’t hurt. At the very least, it brings a smile to our faces.

I drizzle a spoonful over plain yogurt for the girls, put it in my coffee and tea, put it in smoothies, and occasionally drizzle some on top of a piece of toast covered in peanut or almond butter. A pint of honey doesn’t last long around here.

Alright friends, that’s a lot of recipes for you to dig through this week. It will only get bigger as the summer goes on. If at any time you feel overwhelmed, please don’t hesitate to comment below and ask for ideas specific to your share. I truly do love helping people learn how to love their farm shares!

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Did you know I send out a Monthly Newsletter? I include a new essay especially for subscribers, include book recommendations, recipes to try, and a few of my other favorite things from the month. You can check out the latest issue here, and subscribe to get the next one in your inbox.