Sauteed Turnips and Carrots

Turnips again. But so very good that they deserve their own post, even though this is similar to at least two other recipes already on here. So in case you have these ingredients on hand and need something quicker than roasting, the combination of sauteing and then steaming works beautifully, allowing the veggies to caramelize and cook through in just a few minutes.

Plus, this is the sort of dish that gets even better if you accidentally forget about it for a couple of minutes and almost burn the bottom. Which is basically my favorite sort of dish (the "of course I meant to do that" kind).

Ingredients
1 stalk green garlic, chopped (or sub 1 clove garlic, pressed)
3-4 yellow turnips, peeled, halved (or quartered if large) and sliced about 1/8" thick
4-5 red carrots, scrubbed and sliced
Olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground white pepper
1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

Heat a glug of olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the turnip and carrot slices, and toss to coat with oil. Continue sauteing for a minute or two, then add the green garlic and stir. Cover the pan and allow to steam as it browns on the bottoms (about 2-3 minutes). Stir, cover, and repeat. The vegetables should release some juices that allow them to steam, but if and when they start to look a little dry, add a pinch or two of salt to coax some liquid out.



Add a tbsp or two of water, cover, turn heat to low, and steam until nicely browned and very tender. Toss with white pepper and parsley to taste, and serve hot.

Serves 2.

Roasted Squash and Fava Green Risotto with Lemon

This was kind of like having pumpkin pie and lemon bars for dinner. The Sibley Squash from our CSA box this week was particularly amazing, but I think the recipe would still be very good with a plain old butternut squash instead. After halving lengthwise and scraping out the seeds, slice the squash crosswise into 1/2" slices, then toss with a little olive oil and roast in the oven at 400 degrees, turning every 15 minutes or so, until browned and tender (about 45 minutes -- sometimes I start with the slices still pushed together in the shape of a halved squash for the first 15 minutes, to keep them from drying out too much, and then spread them out for faster cooking). Let cool for a few minutes, slice the skin off, and dice. If there's extra, you can serve the risotto over the slices.

Ingredients 
2-3 cups diced roasted squash (heirloom or butternut)
4 cups broth (chicken and/or vegetable)
Olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 medium shallot, sliced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 generously rounded cup Arborio rice
White cooking wine
Four big handfuls of fava greens (or sub spinach and/or baby arugula)
Large handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Zest of 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat broth in a covered pot until it boils, then set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a large pot over medium heat. When hot, add a generous glug of olive oil. Add the onion and saute, stirring, until it begins to soften. Add the shallot, stir a few times, then add the garlic. Continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes until soft and fragrant.

Add the rice, and stir to coat the grains. Toast, stirring, for about 2 more minutes, then add 1-2 ladlefuls of wine. Cook, stirring, until liquid is absorbed, then begin adding broth by the ladleful, stirring until each one is absorbed before adding the next.

When you have a couple of ladlefuls of broth left and rice is just tender, stir in the squash. Add another ladleful of broth, and stir. When is has been absorbed, add the fava greens and the remaining broth. Cook, stirring, until the greens are wilted. Stir in some of the lemon zest and parsley, cook for a minute more, then turn off the heat. Add the parmesan, then salt, pepper, and additional lemon zest and parsley to taste.

Spoon into bowls, then allow to cool a minute and sprinkle with a little extra parsley before serving.

Serves 3.

Leaves for Breakfast: Quail Eggs and Greens

Scene: Midnight, inside. Lights are off, all is silent. Husband and wife are on the brink of sleep.

Husband (suddenly, without warning): What do you suppose would happen if we made an omelet out of the quail eggs?

Wife: Mmph.*


*Translates as: "I'm sorry, the person you're trying to contact has already fallen half asleep and can't respond using prototypical language at present, but clearly that's an empirical question that we need to investigate first thing in the morning."
 
Answer: Good things happen. It's not that quail eggs really taste different than chicken eggs, but it was like this had a whole extra layer of freshness and eggy taste to it. If that makes sense. Which it probably doesn't. So you'll just have to make it sometime and see.

Ingredients
8-10 quail eggs, or 2-3 pastured chicken eggs
Olive oil
1 medium shallot, sliced into thin half-rings
1-2 handfuls mild greens (e.g., fava, baby mustard, and/or spinach), coarsely chopped
1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
Ñora pepper
2 slices whole grain bread, toasted

Carefully crack the quail eggs into a bowl without breaking the yolks (use a fingernail to get through the membrane under the shell, and peel back to get the egg out).

Heat a little olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and a pinch of salt, and saute for a couple of minutes until soft. Add the greens and cook, stirring, until just wilted, then add the pepper, parsley, and ñora and stir to mix. Pour in the eggs (still without breaking the yolks) and turn the heat down to low.

Wait about 10 seconds, then slowly stir the eggs and greens together, and continue cooking for a minute or two until the whites have set.

Lightly drizzle the toast with olive oil, top with the eggs, and serve hot.


Serves 2 for a light breakfast.

In Search of the Perfect Pasta

2011 brings with it, among other things, a gratifying spike of new subscribers (welcome!), a distinct lack of the stomach bug that stamped out any lingering culinary enthusiasm from 2010 (phew), and (are you ready?) a new, long-coveted, sleek and silver PASTA MACHINE. Thereby inevitably triggering the latest alliterative quest for whole-grain-infused Italian food.

Our first attempt at multigrain pasta dough was surprisingly uncatastrophic. But it turns out that fava flour, while beguiling in theory, tastes like fava. Strongly of fava. As in, thoroughly permeates your lovingly hand-crafted roasted squash ravioli even when used in very small quantities. But now we know, and, as G.I. Joe would say if he ever attended pasta parties, knowing is half the pasta dough battle.

In the meantime, though, the ravioli filling and sauce (loosely adapted from this recipe) were delectable enough to warrant posting, and will work with plain old egg-and-semolina pasta dough as well as with our yet-to-be-perfected multigrain blend. 

Ingredients
For the filling:
1 cup roasted squash puree (we used a papaya squash, which was wonderfully flavorful and made a very thick puree, but you could also use some other heirloom variety or butternut)
Olive oil
Pasture butter
3 tbsp minced shallot
Salt & freshly ground white pepper
Liberal sprinkling of freshly ground nutmeg
1 tbsp pastured cream

For the sauce:
Handful of freshly toasted walnuts, broken into pieces
Olive oil
1 clove garlic, pressed
6-10 sage leaves, chopped
Several handfuls baby red mustard greens, chopped
(or substitute a handful of regular mustard greens, finely chopped, and increase the spinach)
A handful of spinach, chopped
Handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
Freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano

Melt a small pat of butter and about 1/2 tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook for 2-4 minutes until soft and just translucent, then fold in the squash puree. Continue to saute for a couple minutes (or more, if the squash is on the wetter side -- you want the mixture to be relatively thick). Stir in the cream, sprinkle with salt, white pepper, and nutmeg to taste, and set aside to cool.

Dust your pasta machine and a wooden cutting board with a little bit of flour. Take the pasta dough and break off a piece about the size of a fist (my husband pointed out that it was the size of my fist, not his, so envision a petite female fist as you do this if you're a towering giant like him), and feed it through the thickest setting of your pasta machine (Setting 1). Fold it in half, and repeat a few times (the goal is to make this starting piece kind of wide and rectangular, rather than long and skinny). Then, feed it through again on Setting 2, and continue working your way up the numbers until you reach Setting 7. (Note that it's much easier to do this with two people, so that one person can feed it in and turn the crank while the other guides it back out again). Hang each sheet on a pasta tree (or "pasta rack," if you prefer, which I don't) to dry a little as you prepare the rest.

Cut each sheet into rectangles of desired size (a pastry cutter works well here, or just a table knife, and ours were about 3.5" x 4.5"). Set the rectangle so that the shorter side is closest to you (make sure the surface beneath it has been lightly dusted with flour). Place a spoonful of filling at the center of the rectangle, and fold in half by bringing the furthest side to meet the closest side. Press those two sides together firmly to seal, then press to seal the right and left edges, moving inward until the filling in the center is well-defined. Trim the edges with a pastry cutter, if desired, or pinch to form a wonton shape.

For the sauce, heat a glug or two of olive oil in a deep saute pan over medium heat for about 30 seconds, and add in the garlic. Saute for a minute or two until it softens, then add the sage and stir a few times. Next, add the greens and saute until just wilted. Season with salt and white pepper to taste, and turn off the heat.

Drop pasta into rapidly boiling water and cook for 2-4 minutes until the pasta changes color (if you're not sure, fish one out, rinse it gently with a little cold water, and take a bite). Drain, then add to the pan with the sauce. Drizzle with a little olive oil, add the walnuts, and toss everything together. Serve topped with freshly grated Parmesan and parsley.

Serves 2-3.

Spaghetti Squash with Peppers and Greens

I know this shouldn't come as a shock, but plants, it turns out, have leaves. Or in other (slightly less obvious-sounding) words, we often ignore the leaves of non-leafy plant foods, like beets or amaranth grain, and are for some reason surprised when they turn out to be both edible and delicious (or in the case of amaranth greens, to exist in the first place).

Case in point: Fava greens, which turned up in our CSA box this week for the second time, and which are my new favorite throw-a-handful-into-just-about-anything vegetable. They're similar in this way to spinach or amaranth greens, with a very mild, fresh taste and a lovely fava beany scent when raw.
If they come in clumps, like ours did, you may want to separate the individual leaves from the stem before cooking. We added them to a new recipe for spaghetti squash last night, while we continued our search for oven leprechauns.

Ingredients
1 medium spaghetti squash
Olive oil
Pasture butter
1 large shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
A big bunch of fava greens, amaranth greens, or spinach (all will cook down quite a bit, so use more than you think)
1/2 tsp ñora pepper
2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Halve the spaghetti squash and brush cut surface with olive oil, then place face down on a baking sheet. Bake for 35-50 minutes, depending on size, until a fork inserts with little resistance (you want it to be tender but not mushy, or the noodles won't retain their shape). Let cool for a few minutes, then gently remove seeds with a fork.

Meanwhile, heat a glug of olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and saute until it softens, then add the garlic and a small pat of butter and cook for a minute more. Stir in the peppers, cook for a couple of minutes, then add about half of the fava greens and fold in with the peppers until they begin to wilt. (If you need a bit more liquid in the pan, add just a little chicken broth or white wine). Next, add the ñora pepper, half the parsley, a pinch of salt, and a liberal dousing of black pepper.

Gently scoop the spaghetti squash out of its rind with a big spoon, and add to the peppers and greens mixture. Use the spoon and a spatula to gently pull apart the strands of the squash and mix them into the greens. Add the rest of the greens and more parsley to taste, stir until the greens just begin to wilt, sprinkle with some Parmesan, and toss one last time. Serve hot, topped with some more Parmesan and parsley.

Serves 2-3.

Spaghetti Squash with Tomatoes and Basil

I never realized spaghetti squash was actually like spaghetti until we cooked one last night. I still don't quite understand how the noodly goodness that emerged could have possibly come from a squash, and I'm pretty sure we need to make this at least five or ten more times before I'm convinced that the transformation has nothing to do with oven leprechauns switching the squash innards out for noodles when I'm not looking.

Ingredients
1 spaghetti squash
Olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, pressed
A basket of grape tomatoes, halved
1 regular tomato, diced
A big handful of basil leaves, chiffonade
A small handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
A handful of savoyed green mustard (or substitute regular mustard greens or arugula), chopped
Grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Halve the spaghetti squash and gently remove the seeds (if they're hard to get, you can also wait until after it's cooked, which can make it a bit easier). Brush cut surface with olive oil and place face down on a baking sheet. Bake for 30-45 minutes, depending on size, until a fork inserts with little resistance (you want it to be tender but not mushy, or the noodles won't retain their shape). Let cool for a few minutes.


Meanwhile, saute the onion in some olive oil over medium heat. When soft, add the garlic, cook for another minute or so, then add the tomatoes, herbs, a pinch of salt, and a liberal dousing of pepper. After about a minute, add the greens and saute till just wilted.

Gently scoop the squash out of its rind with a large spoon, and toss with the tomato mixture (either in the pan or in a bowl if the pan's not big enough), gently pulling apart the strands of spaghetti squash. Grate some parmesan over the top, toss once or twice, and serve.

Chayote (or Zucchini) Stuffed Squash

Just when we thought the produce in our produce box couldn't get any more exotic, these appeared.

It seems to me that even the most stalwart of vegetable adventurers might be forgiven for taking one look at these and stashing them in the depths of the vegetable drawer for a couple of weeks.

Fortunately, they keep well. When a second round appeared in our box again last Friday, I resigned myself to having to actually figure out what on earth to do with them.

Step 1: Consult handy weekly insert that explains what on earth is in the box. Insert calls them "chayote." Hello, chayote. You look weird. Not that weird is necessarily a bad thing.

Step 2: Consult the Google. A Wikipedia entry helpfully notes that these are also called choko and pear squash and a handful of other names, and says they are native to Mesoamerica. Also they are edible. Good to know. There are a handful of online recipes, many of which pair it with cilantro, which would require a trip to the store, and some of which suggest peeling it. This is comforting: One is not required to eat the spiny outcroppings. I peel one. It looks light green and shiny and, compared to its pre-peeled state, reassuringly domesticated.

Step 3: Gaze half-heartedly into the depths of the fridge for inspiration. Notice the Thema Sanders Sweet Potato Squash (also from the CSA box, shaped like an acorn squash but colored like a butternut) languishing on the top shelf. (No, I do not know why we put it in the fridge. It's been that sort of month.) Precipitously decide to try something random and hope for the best.

Ingredients
1 acorn or sweet potato squash, halved, with the seeds scooped out
Olive oil
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 rounded tbsp pine nuts
1 chayote, peeled, grated, and squeezed gently to drain excess liquid
   (or substitute a zucchini)
A small tomato, diced
1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
Salt and pepper
A pat or two of pastured butter

Preheat oven to 375. Brush the cut surface of the squash with olive oil and set face down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes until it starts to get tender (when you poke the outside of the squash, it should give a little).

Meanwhile, heat a pan over medium-high heat. Add the pine nuts and toast until they start to turn golden, then add the olive oil and the onion and cook, stirring, until the onion starts to caramelize. Turn the heat down to medium, then add the chayote and saute for about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, a pinch or two of salt, and a liberal dousing of freshly ground pepper, and cook for another minute or two. Last, add the parsley and butter, stir until melted, and turn off the heat.

Turn the squash cut side up. Fill each half with the chayote mixture, then return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes or until the squash is very soft. Let cool for a few minutes, and serve.

Serves 2, and makes for a good dinner party side dish (relatively simple for something that ended up looking so fancy, and got high marks taste-wise from our house guests this weekend).

Beluga Lentils with Yellow Squash and Mushrooms

Found in our CSA box this week: Mystery squash, which were small and round and yellow and apparently a type often used in Indian cooking. This dish was not Indianish at all, but the squash were stars nonetheless.






Ingredients
Olive oil
1 yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
3 + 1 cloves garlic, pressed (divided)
1 spoonful of Aleppo pepper (or a bit of hot pepper, minced)
1 cup beluga lentils, picked through and rinsed
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 tsp sherry vinegar 
8 unidentified small yellow squash (could use pattypan squash or any summer squash), sliced into thick, half-inch pieces
1/2 lb crimini mushrooms, brushed clean and cut into quarters
1-2 handfuls baby arugula
1 large handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Heat a glug of olive oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the onion, and saute until reddish brown, turning down the heat a bit if necessary. Remove from pan and place on a paper towel to dry. Quickly add three of the garlic cloves (pressed) and the hot pepper to the pan with a bit more olive oil, stir a couple times, and add the lentils, broth, and 2 cups of water. Cover, bring to a boil, and turn down heat to simmer rapidly for 20-35 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, heat a nonstick pan over high heat, add a little olive oil, and lay the squash slices out in a single layer on the bottom of the pan. Cook until browned, shaking the pan from time to time to make sure they're not sticking (if they do, you can add a little more olive oil). Turn the slices over, turn the heat down to medium, and cook until the second side is well-browned and the slices are just tender (you want them to be browned without being at all mushy. If they're browning too quickly, before they've had a chance to cook through, you can either turn the heat down a little or cover the pan for a couple minutes). Remove from pan and set in a bowl near the stove so they stay warm.

Add just a little olive oil to the same pan, adjust heat to high, and add the mushrooms. Saute until browned on all sides, turning down the heat a little if necessary and adding a little more olive oil after they've started to brown, if they look a little dry. (To get your mushrooms to actually brown, make sure not to crowd them too much in the pan -- they should only be a single layer thick -- and don't add salt until after they're done cooking). When they're nicely browned and tender but still firm, push them to the side of the pan, turn the heat down to medium low, add a little olive oil on the empty side, and saute the last pressed clove of garlic in it for a minute or so until it softens. Stir into the mushrooms. Add a bit of the parsley and the arugula, stir once, and turn off the heat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and stir a couple more times as the arugula wilts.

When the lentils are tender, sprinkle in a couple liberal pinches of parsley and turn off the heat. Add the sherry vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.


Serve in layers: lentils at the bottom, then some caramelized onions, then a layer of squash, then mushrooms, then a few more onions and a sprinkle more parsley if you'd like.


Serves 2.

Smoked Salmon Risotto with Kale

Ha! Take that, kale. I have cooked you, and you are delicious.

As risottos go, this one is fairly simple to prepare (as in, there aren't too many ingredients, and they don't need to be cooked separately or cut in intricate ways), but the resulting flavor is complex enough to keep things interesting. 

Ingredients
Olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 rounded cup of Arborio rice
About 4 cups of broth*
Dry white cooking wine
1 bunch dino kale, sliced into ribbons, rinsed, and dried in a salad spinner
6 oz smoked wild salmon, sliced crosswise into strips (and separated into individual pieces if necessary, so they don't clump together when you add them to the risotto) 
1 Meyer lemon, zested and halved
1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano

And any of the following that strike your fancy:
Some asparagus, thinly sliced at an angle (diagonally across the stem)
A scattering of frozen peas
A handful of baby arugula


Heat the broth in a small pot until it simmers, then turn off heat. Leave covered on the stove.

Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a big pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent. Turn the heat down to medium, then add the garlic and cook for another minute or two. Next, add the rice, stirring to coat the grains. After a minute or so, add 1-2 ladles full of white wine and cook, stirring, until it evaporates. Add a ladle full of broth, and again simmer, stirring, until the excess liquid is gone. Continue adding broth and stirring until rice is just tender and most of the broth is used up.

Then, add the kale and any other vegetables you'd like along with another ladle full of broth. Cook for a few minutes until wilted or tender (asparagus will take the longest, so add it first if you're including it. Kale and peas seem to need about 2-3 minutes, and baby arugula barely needs any time at all). Next, add the smoked salmon, lemon zest, juice of half the lemon, and parsley, and turn off the heat right away. Stir everything together gently, adding a bit of the remaining broth if it seems at all dry. Pepper liberally, stir in the grated Parmesan, and serve. Garnish with a half-slice of Meyer lemon and a sprig of parsley, or sprinkle a little chopped parsley over the top.

Serves 4, or two for dinner and two for lunch the next day.


*Half chicken and half veggie works well.

Lentils with Parsley and Thyme

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups yellow lentils (half chana dal and half toor dal works well, because the smaller toor dal cooks to mush and automatically thickens the lentils)
2 cups chicken and/or veggie broth
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 onion, chopped
Minced jalapeno pepper and/or Aleppo pepper, to taste (depending on how hot the pepper is and how hot you like your food)
1 1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 1/2 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley
Olive oil
3/4 tsp cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves, pressed


Rinse the lentils well, pick through them to check for rocks, and drain. Add them to a pot with 2 cups broth and 3 cups water and set over medium heat. Just as it comes to a simmer, add the turmeric and turn the heat down to low (make sure it doesn't boil over -- if it comes to a rapid boil, the lentils will get all frothy. If this happens, turn the heat down and skim the froth off the top). Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Stir in the onion, pepper, thyme, and parsley. Cover and continue to simmer for 10-20 more minutes, or until the lentils are tender. (If it's very liquidy, leave the lid ajar to let some of the water evaporate. If it's too dry, add a little more water. The lentils need to be in some liquid in order to cook, but I don't like my lentils very soupy, so if I'm not using toor dal, I puree 1-2 cups of this near the end to thicken it up a bit.)

Turn off heat. In a separate pan, heat 2-3 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the cumin seeds and toast in the oil for 10-20 seconds. Turn off the heat and immediately add the garlic, stir for a few seconds until it turns yellow or golden, then pour the mixture over the split peas and stir.

Serve with a scoop of basmati rice (underneath or on top) and vegetables on the side (carrots or greens stir-fried with mustard seed and ginger tend to go particularly well).

Serves 3-4

Leek and Four Mushroom Risotto

Found at the Coop: Local gourmet mushrooms, leeks, baby rainbow chard
Found in our garden: Fresh thyme, flat-leaf parsley
Found in the cupboard: Arborio rice

Ingredients
Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup Arborio rice
2 ladlefuls of white wine
3 1/2 cups chicken and/or veggie broth*

1 large leek (or two small), halved, rinsed, and thinly sliced into half-rings
More mushrooms than you would think, sliced
(e.g., 6 crimini, 10 shiitake, 10 alba and brown clamshell, 4 royal trumpet)
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
4 sprigs fresh thyme, minced
Small handful of parsley, finely chopped (reserve a few pinches for garnishing)
Small tab of butter
Couple handfuls of baby rainbow chard (could substitute baby arugula)
Handful or two of baby spinach
Half-spoon of Aleppo pepper

Small bowl of grated Parmesan for table


Put broth in a small pot, cover, and heat until simmering, then turn off heat and set aside. Meanwhile, heat a medium dutch oven or other large pot over medium-high heat. Add about 2 tbsp olive oil, then add onion and saute until it smells sweet and looks slightly translucent. Add rice and saute for another minute, reducing heat to medium. Ladle in white wine and cook, stirring, until it evaporates. Add broth by the ladleful, stirring and cooking until each evaporates before adding the next.

Meanwhile, set a wide pan over medium-high heat and add 1-2 tbsp olive oil. When hot, add leeks and saute until soften (about 5-6 minutes), turning down heat a little if necessary to keep from browning. Add mushrooms and continue to saute until they begin to release a little liquid, salting and peppering as they cook. Add thyme, parsley, and greens, and cook until just wilted. Turn off heat.

When the rice is just cooked through, gently fold in the sauteed vegetables, butter, and Aleppo.

Serve (can let sit for 1-2 minutes to cool slightly) garnished with chopped parsley and a bowl of grated Parmesan at the table.


Serves 2 (or maybe 3 with a salad)


* My former favorite, Swanson's vegetable broth, turns out to have high fructose corn syrup and MSG nestled within its paragraph-long ingredients list. I switched to Trader Joe's organic vegetable broth, which surprised me by tasting strongly of...wait for it...vegetables. Half veggie and half chicken made a nice balance here.