Eating Out of the Box, with Added Beauty

Who looks at the food when there are these three gorgeous things at the table?

When this week’s CSA box arrived, I faced the challenge of emptying it without spousal help (Jay was out of town), so I enlisted three of the most delightful dinner companions I know to lend me a hand (or a belly, as the case may be).

The booty this week included kale, chard, spring onions, garlic scapes, dill, beets, sugar snap peas, and popcorn on the cob. Since I’ve been planning to do a Sauvignon Blanc tasting for a while, I decided to see if I could match the vegetable goodness in the box to the savage qualities of the SB grape. Luckily, I had three well-developed palates to call upon for assistance.

We blind-tasted SB from New Zealand, France (Loire), Sonoma, and South Africa.

And here’s what I made:

Roasted beet and barley salad with pickled spring onions and goat cheese.

Cucumber salad with sour cream and dill.

White bean & garlic scape dip with sugar snap peas.

And, not shown: a frittata with bacon and sauteed beet greens.

Overall, the wines worked really well, with each region displaying the varietal character of the grape as well as a good amount of terroir. We each had a different favorite: Katie chose the Sonoma, Anastasia chose New Zealand, Colleen like South Africa, and I went for France. Something for everyone!

I used the rest of the dill to make a graxlax with a gorgeous piece of wild coho:

Let this guy cure in salt, sugar, vodka, and dill for a couple of days…

…and you get this! I do truly love a Triscuit.

I admit: I let this over-cure, so it’s a bit too salty. I think it will be fine, though, added to eggs or cream cheese.

And I used the kale and chard to make a mess o’brasied greens, which I ate after a truly punishing workout, topped with fried eggs, avocado, and pickled jalapenos.

Greens and eggs.

The only thing I haven’t dealt with yet is the popcorn, but let’s be honest: I’m just gonna pop it and eat it with scads of butter and salt. Perhaps while watching a Nora Ephron movie.

The final item in the CSA box? 100% local and organic feline.

Chet can’t resist a box.