chicken enchilada casserole

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 cup chopped fresh onion
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 clovesgarlic, chopped
• Dash of ground red pepper 
• ~30 oz beans (2 cans.  we used our kidney and great northern beans)
• 2 cups boiled or sauteed chicken 
• 1 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 18 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 2 cups (8 ounces) cheese
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro 
• 1 (16-ounce) jar green salsa
• 10 tablespoon sour cream 
• cilantro ..loads of it
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Preparation

• cook the beans, i recommend soaking them over night.
• heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onion; cook  until tender, stirring frequently. stir in spices; cook 1 minute. stir in beans; cook 2 minutes. remove from heat. add chicken, 1/2 cup green onions, and 7 tablespoons ripe olives; stir well.
• preheat oven to 350°.
• layer 6 tortillas on bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. spread 2 cups chicken mixture over tortillas; sprinkle with 3/4 cup cheese. repeat layers once. top with remaining 6 tortillas.
• combine milk, chopped cilantro, and salsa in a blender, and process until smooth. pour over top of tortillas. cover and bake at 350° for 35 minutes. uncover, sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese, remaining 1/2 cup green onions. bake for a few more minutes or until cheese melts. Serve with sour cream. garnish with many many cilantro sprigs.

a midsummer garden

  
we had a heat wave a week ago, same as the rest.  it did a number on our crops, but overall everything is doing well.  the heat bolted lots of lettuces, broccoli, herbs and burnt the roma green  beans (luckily we already picked the majority of them). the high temperatures also stunted the growth of the second plantings of green beans, spinach and edamame.  
so... the past few shares have consisted of zukes, mesclun, new potatoes, beans, lettuces, broccoli, bok choi, kale, chard and various herbs.  we've been busy squishing beetles on our edamame and potatoes, keeping an eye out for hornworms, and watering plants.

beautiful kale

autumn crops have dominated our garden thoughts lately.  we planted some super sugar snap peas for the fall, and loads of plug trays full of brassicas (who isn't smitten for fall kale?!) and lettuces.  but that seems far off, because next week we're expecting the first tomatoes, and soon after the first planting of corn and edamame. those are some high ticket crops!
also, the firecracker sunflowers are coming up - yowza! 

easy great northern bean dip

this is an easy, hummus-like dip that's delicious on some focaccia, or other bread.  it's also using the beans that we grew in the garden and put in the shares.  we're getting in bean mode these days, so

ingredients:

1 1/2 c gn beans

2 - 4 tbs yogurt

4 tbs olive oil

jalepeno pepper  (3-7 slices, diced)

1-2 tsp rosemary (to taste. parsley would be a good replacement)

1/2 tsp cumin

2 tsp garlic (4-6 cloves chopped)

1 tbsp lemon juice (to taste)

s+p to taste

soak the beans over night (or quick cook them if you prefer).  drain them and put them in 7or 8 c of water over medium heat for 40-45min - until soft.  in a food processor, fill half with beans.  add the rest of the ingredients and blend.  taste it as you go along, so you can decide if it is too flavorful or not enough.  add tsps of warm water to make the dip creamier, and more gn beans to thicken it.