Dee’s Corner

Hi everyone and welcome to fall!
With the change in evening temperatures the last few nights, we know fall has arrived. And what better way to celebrate fall than with a colorful hearty butternut squash soup. We are offering two butternut squash soup recipes for you today. You’ll find the more basic one of the two, “Simplest Butternut Squash Soup” by Dorie Greenspan has a shorter list of ingredients and goes together quickly if you’re pressed for time. The second one, “Chipotle-Squash Soup with Fresh Rosemary and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds” has a bit of a kick and is well worth the extra time involved. Since red bell pepper is one of the ingredients called for, it’s a great way to use those peppers in our boxes this week.
On that note, I wanted to mention that I tossed some diced red bell pepper into our main dish recipe, “Apple Cider-Braised Chicken with Parsnips and Kale”. Like many of you, I enjoy a lot of color on my plate, and even though it wasn’t called for in the recipe, I thought–why not?
Yet another way to use your red peppers would be to add some chopped pieces to the chicken fajita mixture from Von Hanson’s, also in this week’s share.  Combine cooked chopped peppers with the Chicken Fajita meat, place in a soft shell taco, add some grated cheese, black beans or rice, chopped fresh tomatoes from our CSA box, and you’ll have a quick lunch or dinner. To the former ingredients, add scrambled eggs or chopped hard cooked egg, cubed cooked potato, roll everything in the soft shell taco, and you’ll have a breakfast burrito. A great way to start the school or work day, wherever that may be for you at this time.
I hope you all have a chance to get out and enjoy these beautiful fall days ahead. Maybe a fall color drive along the St. Croix River or cruise down Highway 61 to Red Wing? Have fun and I’ll see you next week!