Recent Dinners, Part Two: I Ate Peas

I finally remembered a way to use peas that wasn't awful. They weren't my CSA peas unfortunately (though I look forward to using my now-local-pea-enriched compost next year), but at least now I can be prepared should I get them again.

The dish was inspired by one I had at Petit Pois many months ago: gnocchi with a roasted carrot sauce with peas. In my version, I used tri-colored gnocchi, organic carrots, homegrown thyme, a sauteed quarter of a local onion, a clove of local garlic, organic chicken stock, a dollop of local sour cream...and some peas I found in my freezer.

More squash...but aren't they cute?

I seem to be on a bit of a squash kick lately, but I just couldn't pass up this trio of baby rounds from Down Branch Farms via Retail Relay (or Relay Foods, as they are now called). Pretty as the were, I couldn't bear to do anything but simply halve, season, and roast them. As for the leftover zucchini and yellow squash from last week: they had a date with my shredder.

Recent Dinners

As described in my last post, I got a couple's share from Horse & Buggy CSA last week with all kinds of goodies inside. I'm happy to say that I've been able to use every one of those goodies, save one: the peas. I'll admit, I'm not a big pea fan, but that wasn't why I didn't use them. I think it mainly came down to the fact that I have no idea how to cook them. Do you boil them? Blanch them? Split, roast, and mash them?

Pasta Valente: Vegetable Pasta

This was my second dinner based around Pasta Valente's all-natural tri-colored vegetable pasta (I would have reported on the first, had I not forgotten to take pictures). The first, over a week ago, was a play on pasta primavera with zucchini and carrots; this time: goat cheese-stuffed meatballs and organic marinara.

Babes in the Wood: Ground Pork

Mmmm....pork. My favorite protein. Thanks to Babes in the Wood and Retail Relay, I got myself a good pound of the stuff just to make this recipe. I wish I could say that the scallions and the mushrooms were local and organic too, but I can't. Maybe next time. The soba noodles, however, were organic. But enough of that...was it any good?