Shepherd's Pie

Last night I pulled a piece of salmon from the freezer to defrost in the fridge. I tentatively planned on having it along with roasted broccoli and a crunchy green salad for dinner.

Then I went outside today and was pounded by icy winds and snow flurries and realized that there was only one reasonable option for weekend eating.

So I made shepherd's pie. Beneath the top "crust" of mashed potatoes (crispy on top and creamy elsewhere), lies a rich beefy filling that is brimming with herbs and vegetables: carrot, onion, garlic, green beans, and red bell pepper. There is no comfort food more filling and humble than this pastoral pie. I ate an embarrassing amount.

Bear with me while I gloat: all of it was made from scratch (including the mashed potatoes and gravy, though I did not make my own beef stock) and took me one hour to complete (including peeling, boiling, and mashing potatoes).

***
In other food-related news, here is the CSA update. I haven't mentioned it in a while, mostly because I have been overwhelmed with the quantities lately. It seems like I spend more time rearranging the fridge than cooking.

One of my good friends gave me an excellent recipe to use up some red bell peppers. I thought that I had two of them, but upon exploring the fridge, I found five. No big deal, I thought. Use three, leave two. I could make chili or stuffed peppers later. But then I got another CSA delivery. And I received SIX MORE red bell peppers. So yeah, I may need to make those stuffed peppers soon and freeze them for later eating.

I also received a sign-up form for next year's share in the CSA. I don't have to sign up now, but I get a small discount if I do. I am slightly indecisive. The quantity of food is enormous, and I often wish that I could shop at the farmers market instead. But the CSA has really stretched my creativity. I doubt that I would have become a kohlrabi fan on my own. I imagine that I will probably sign up again. I begged for beet greens, arugula, cauliflower, and rhubarb in the CSA survey, so I guess I should renew, in case my dreams are granted.

Here is a list of the items that I have received in the last two deliveries:
-Lettuce head, red and crispy
-Onions
-Broccoli
-Winter squash: Finally! One acorn (a huge heirloom kind that looks like butternut) and one round colorful one called carnival.
-Beets, red and white striped ones!
-Red bell peppers, lots and lots
-Jalapeno peppers
-Bok choy
-Celery
-Garlic
-Potatoes: fingerling, white, and red-skinned ones. I now have EIGHT bags of potatoes in storage, many of them still completely full.
-Spinach
-Kale
-Cabbage
-Carrots: I now have THREE giant bags of carrots in the fridge. Time to make carrot-dill soup and carrot cake again.
-Salad mix
-Ruby heart radishes: these are so spicy that they bring tears to my eyes!
-Leeks: two more beautiful giants.

I made home-made chicken stock this week, which helped to decrease the quantities of some of the above.