Ten Days of CSA: Day 4, Spiced Chocolate Zucchini Cake

There are a lot of chocolate zucchini cake recipes out there. Epicurious has a good one from a 1995 issue of Bon Appetit, which is similar to my recipe but has a little less going on in terms of spice. Sandra Lee has a semi-homemade one, naturally, using a chocolate cake mix. There's a Bundt cake that sounds pretty good, using real chocolate instead of cocoa, plus Bundts are quite attractive, in my humble opinion. So many options when you have a thousand pounds of zucchini (or yellow squash, presently) to make use of!

The one I go back to over and over again, however, is from the ever-so-democratic Allrecipes website. It was submitted by someone named L. Dart in 2008, and once you make this cake you will be in love with and forever indebted to L. Dart. It's just excellent, particularly if you like the combination of chocolate and spices, which I do v. much, plus it's super moist and rich, and the chopped chocolate sprinkled on top makes it all dimply and cute to boot once it's baked and cooled.

It is sitting on my stove top right now, tantalizing me until this evening, when I'm having company for dinner. And I'm not even going to talk about how good it makes your house smell. On one of the first days of fall, a dreary, overcast day, one of those days when I'd be otherwise stressing about what exactly I'm supposed to be wearing for the next month or so and cursing the winter that it just around the corner waiting to make me homebound and stir-crazy, the smell of warmth, chocolate, and spices that welcomed my daughter and me as we returned from lunch at Grandma's was reminiscent of Christmas and the cookies that our moms make every holiday season and... well, I just can't wait to eat this cake. It's been about a year since I made it last. I should have invited my friends over for a 4 o'clock dinner. Seven is so overrated.

[Post-script, pre-post follow-up: Dinner went well. We had carnitas tacos and black bean soup and wine and, yes, finally, the cake. Did I mention its crumb is just absolutely unbelievably perfect? It was everything I'd remembered and I wanted seconds. But occasionally, particularly when I'm in the company of skinny women, like I was last night, I can practice self-restraint.]

Spiced Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Adapted (but not much) from Allrecipes

Yield: one 13X9" cake; 12 huge servings

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup grapeseed oil or other mild oil

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup plain yogurt (or buttermilk)

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups flour (I used 1 cup all-purpose + 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour)

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

2 1/2 cups grated zucchini (or any summer squash)

8 ounces dark and milk chocolate bars, chopped - pretty, eh? - or 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13 X 9" cake pan.

Using a wooden spoon, cream together butter, oil, and sugars. Add yogurt or buttermilk, then the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, stirring well after each addition.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and cocoa powder. Stir in the baking soda, salt and spices.

Gradually add wet ingredients to dry. Stir in grated zucchini.

Pour cake batter into prepared pan and smooth out using a rubber spatula. Evenly distribute the chocolate chunks or chips on top of cake. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a knife in center comes out with only melted chocolate on it, and not uncooked cake batter. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting and serving. (This isn't a must-be-served-warm cake. It's good on day three or four or seven, in fact.)

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If, by the way, you find yourself still overwhelmed with zucchini after you make this fantastic cake, here are a few other tried-and-true recipes for you to add to your mix. The Paula Deen one is phenomenal.

Zucchini Salsa Verde - great as is, but wonder if roasting veggies first would be even better?

Summer Squash Enchiladas - super good homemade enchilada sauce; feels v. fancy!

Paula Deen's Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Corn-Squash Fritters

These I have not tried but want to: Peanut-Soy Squash Pancakes. Hopefully I'll make them before my ten days are up. Heaven knows I have the squash for it.

Ten Days of CSA: Day 3, Watermelon-Cucumber Popsicles

These are so good! So refreshing! I am eating one as I type, and it's wonderful.

Which reminds me... I heard once that even though men's computer keyboards look way grosser than women's, women's computer keyboards have more germs/bacteria/whathaveyou because, perpetual multitaskers that we are, we eat at our desks more often than men. And eating can be kind of germy, I guess.

I invented these one afternoon because (1) it was 90 degrees and humid out and I really wanted a popsicle, (2) I had a lot of cucumbers in my refrigerator and had been inspired to try something sweet with them after my successful go of watermelon gazpacho, and (3) my really cute popsicle molds had never been used! It was time.

Here's how it's done:

1. Chop up about half a medium-sized watermelon and 1-2 peeled cucumbers into 1" chunks, so that you have a total of 4 cups of watermelon and 2 cups of cucumber. (I did not seed my cucumbers, but I have a VitaMix. If your blender is not of similar caliber, maybe seed your cucumbers.) (Also, you could use any kind of sweet, juicy melon, and any kind of cucumbers. Mine were lemon cucumbers. They're not often found at the grocery store but CSAs love 'em.)

2. Put the watermelon and cucumber into a blender. Add 1 cup vanilla yogurt. Or peach yogurt or strawberry yogurt or raspberry yogurt. Or plain yogurt + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract + 1/4 cup sugar. Blend everything on highest speed until smooth smooth smooth. (And it should end up smooth smooth smooth, and quite thin, because all the ingredients have such a high water content. Mine was the consistency of foamy milk.)

3. Pour into your popsicle molds and place in freezer.

4. You will probably have extra. I poured mine into a jar and called it "homemade kefir" - albeit v. thin, cucumbery kefir. My 1-year-old loved it. Who knew?

5. After a couple hours, check to see if they are frozen solid. (They probably will be, as popsicles are not terribly large, and freezers are rather cold places.) Once they are, enjoy! (Ideally on a hotter day than today.)

It is impossible to get a non-naughty-looking picture of a popsicle. Impossible. Impopsicle.

Ten Days of CSA: Day 2, Vegetable Beef Stir Fry

I guess yesterday, when instead I talked about accents and Trainspotting and Flight of the Conchords, I should have given some sort of explanation for the "Ten Days of CSA" in the title of the post. Not that "Ten Days of CSA" is terribly confusing - you probably figured I was going to post recipes using my CSA vegetables for ten days, because you are a genius. So, I suppose all I need to add is my motivation: ten days in a row of posting is sort of a goal for me, as is ten days in a row of actually using my CSA vegetables, which at this point in the summer (or autumn, it seems) are driving me mad and ending up in the garbage more often than I'd like to admit. (Because, seriously, how many cucumbers can you eat in one week? NOT EIGHT.) Putting a public commitment out there is about as strong a motivation as I can create for myself these days, so I boldly wrote that into the title at the last second, a promise to you and a promise to myself and a promise to my poor rotting vegetables. Aren't we all lucky?

Hey, you know what makes vegetables taste even better than vegetables?

Steak.

We eat red meat (by which I mean meat from a cow) about once every two weeks in this household, if that. That's why there aren't many meat recipes on this blog. (In fact, until today, there has been one. (CORRECTION, 9/14/10: two.)) I don't love meat, but I appreciate it every now and then, and I think when I make it my husband likes me a little more. (But, actually, as I recall, my husband made this dish. I just told him what to do. He is v. good at executing. And I think he still liked me more once it was made because it was super yummy and because I had done a good deed by simply buying the meat and finding the recipe and *BONUS* it used up a lot of veggies.)

Before we get to the recipe, let's talk about one of the vegetables I used: kohlrabi. I'd never heard of kohlrabi before I lived in Minnesota and was a member of a CSA farm. In fact, the first time a kohlrabi arrived in our big brown box, I thought it was a decorative item, like a gourd.

Maybe you are similarly unfamiliar with the kohlrabi plant. Well, allow me to introduce you.

"Hi. I'm kohlrabi. I look like sputnik, can be green or purple, and my flesh is like a crunchy jicama, but less sweet."

Now you say, "Hi, kohlrabi. I'm [insert name]. Nice to meet you."

Some people like to peel kohlrabi (see above) and eat it raw, plain, sliced, like a celery stick. It's also a nice addition to a crudite platter. I tend to throw it in anything that calls for radish or carrot, like my sweet potato tacos. It's just crunchy and uncomplicated. Not a super strong flavor, but refreshing and earthy at the same time. My world got better once I met kohlrabi.

But when you get TONS of kohlrabi, you can only eat so many raw. (Like cucumbers!) So I've started to throw it into soups, casseroles, and this here stir-fry, with great success.

"Did I mention I'm versatile?"

As a final word before we get to the actual recipe, let me just say that this is a perfect, malleable, quick weeknight meal. Substitute chicken or tofu for the beef. Throw in some frozen stir-fry vegetables if you don't have a CSA or garden overflowing with summer squash, eggplant, and kohlrabi. (But if you do that, only cook them for a couple minutes.) Crank up the spice by throwing in some Sriracha or more red pepper flakes at the end. This is just a full-proof stir-fry. I think you're going to like it, especially when you're eating 30 minutes after you started cooking and you realize you only have one pan to clean once you're finished.

Vegetable Beef Stir-Fry

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Yield: 4 servings

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons apple juice

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/4 pounds flank steak, cut diagonally across the grain into 1/2-inch-by-3-inch strips

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 1/2 pounds mixed fresh vegetables, chopped into 1" pieces (I used 1 kohlrabi + 2 summer squash)

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper

In a large bowl, mix soy sauce, apple juice, vinegar, honey or maple syrup, garlic, and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Add meat; toss to coat. Let marinate for 15 minutes. Transfer meat to a plate; reserve marinade.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat. In two batches, cook meat until lightly browned, turning once, about 2 minutes per batch. Remove meat. Add 1/2 cup water to pan; stir up browned bits with a wooden spoon. Pour into marinade; whisk in cornstarch.

In same skillet, saute vegetables in remaining teaspoon of oil over high heat until bright in color and al dente, tossing often, 2-5 minutes, depending on your combination of vegetables. Add 1/4 cup water and cook for 2 more minutes or so, until vegetables are slightly soft.

Give the marinade a good stir, add to pan with red pepper flakes, and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring, until thickened, 30 seconds. Return meat to pan; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot, over rice or noodles.

Ten Days of CSA: Day 1, Grilled Vegetable Kebabs

But you have to say "kebab" like Flight of the Conchords and all non-American English speakers say it: keh-bab. With the v. pure "a" sound like the a in "bad". None of this kabob rubbish.

Okay, now you try it.

Close!

Just keep trying.

It's a fun exercise.

Another fun exercise is to read Trainspotting out loud, trying out all the accents that the book covers, which are several. Just be sure to do it in the privacy of your own bedroom. It can get ugly. But it's never not fun.

But about this recipe, which is what I'm here for and you're here for, because you probably don't love accents as much as I do, and I probably shouldn't be talking so publicly about my behind-closed-doors adventures, even if they are as innocent as reading a book out loud. This is a simple, nice little recipe, found on the wonderful internets through a little "marinated grilled vegetables" search. I got a lot of no-go's, but this one is good. I'll probably make these guys again, actually, because grilling vegetables (even on my cheap grill pan) is a tasty way to prepare and serve vegetables, especially of the squash variety, of which most of us might be tired at present. CSAs (and gardens, I hear) can really do that to you.

Also I have a lot of skewers left.

I'm not doing a v. good job selling these, am I? I think it's because the fact that grilled vegetables are delicious is a given. Once you read how simple the marinade is, and you see the pictures, you'll be immediately sold regardless of what else I have to say in this post.

Especially if you have a CSA.

Note that the veggies listed are totally replaceable with any other vegetable that you think is grill-worthy. I tried an onion and it just broke into bits once I tried to skewer it. Just so you know. Probably whole shallots or pearl onions or something small like that would work better.

Grilled Vegetable Kebabs

Adapted from Guy Fieri

Yield: 4 skewers, for 2-4 people

For kebabs

1 bell pepper, trimmed, seeded, cut into 1" chunks

1 yellow summer squash, cut into 1" chunks

1 zucchini, cut into 1" chunks

1-2 eggplants (mine were small), cut into 1" chunks

4 metal or wooden skewers

For marinade

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon dried dill or 1 tablespoon fresh dill (I used the latter - excellent!)

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice

Carefully arrange the prepared vegetables onto skewers, and put them on a baking sheet. Whisk together the olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, dill, honey and lemon or lime juice in a small bowl. (Tip: if the honey is not quite liquid, microwave it for 10 seconds before adding the other ingredients to your measuring cup.) Brush the marinade on the kebabs and let marinate for 15 minutes. (I don't currently have a brush. I just drizzled the marinade on the kebabs and rotated them every couple of minutes so the excess marinade on the plate could coat them fully.)

Preheat a grill or grill pan (worked fine!) to medium heat. Put the skewers on the grill and cook on all sides, about 6-10 minutes total.

Finally, this is a really great little marinade. If you just wanted to pour it into a pie plate and let the veggies, unskewered, soak in it for a while before grilling them solo, they'd be just as delicious, albeit less beautiful, as they would be kebabified.