Sausage Kale Rice Soup

I know I said I was not going to post. But if I don't write this soup down I will forget and it turned out really great. I was looking for a different way to use the kale that we had received so here it is:

Sausage Kale Rice Soup

1/2 c. of dry Lunberg Farms CountryWild Rice, cooked ahead (2:1 water ratio)
1 large onion (about one c.) chopped
1 green pepper chopped
3 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 lb bulk pork sausage
2 c. chicken stock
4 c. water
4 c. chopped fresh kale

1 - cook the rice 1 c. water per 1/2 c. dry rice. 45 min.
2 - in a large pot saute onion and pepper. Add Kale. Cook til softened, set aside in bowl
3 - in same pot, cook sausage, add garlic.
4 - return veggies to pot, add stock and water. Bring to a boil. Add rice. Cook til heated through.

Enjoy!

A brief hietus

Just a quick note. I am a little busy with my business right now Sappari Solutions and will not be posting regularly for a couple of weeks. I will be back in time to can salsa and make apples into apple sauce. Let me know if there is anything you would like to hear about and I will squirrel the ideas anyway until I am writing again.

Summer Pasta Salad

Here is a way to use many items in your CSA basket at once:

Nettie's Summer Pasta Salad

1. cook 1/2 lb of pasta - macaroni, shells or other small noodle. Drain
2. Meanwhile saute in this order:
1 large chopped onion
1 chopped green pepper
1 chopped red pepper
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 c. chopped squash - zuchini, summer or a combination
1 c. chopped eggplant
2 chopped tomatoes (about 2 c.)
1 can or 1.5 c. black beans, drained
the greens from one bunch of beets (about 1 c.), rinsed and chopped
.25 c. chopped fresh basil

Remove from heat, add .5 to 1 c. shredded cheese: cheddar, pepper jack or other flavorful cheese.

Toss veggies with pasta serve warm or cold.

Cucumbers

This week my fridge drawer was bursting with cucumbers. For whatever reason they seem to be multiplying in the fridge when the door is closed and the lights are down. So, this week has been a cucumber eating week. We have had Tziki Sauce with fried cucumbers and eggplants; cucumber slices and cucumber salad. Other favorites include cucumber slices in a big pitcher of water (it looks lovely for a party) and cucumber soup (nice and refreshing on a hot summer day). You can always try pickling them and storing in the fridge or canning the pickles. So many options but the best part is that cucumbers are ripe right when you need them, the dog days of summer. A cool neatly packaged gift.

If you are looking for recipes on the above items, just ask!