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I felt like I should post this dinner—even though it was just pizza takeout and a tomato salad—because it was the last in our apartment in Jackson Heights. Here’s to change and new adventures?

Every year we get garlic scapes in our CSA box, and they are beautiful, and we don’t know what to do with them. They usually end up in a vase—an old glass milk bottle to be precise—and they look pretty on our sideboard until they don’t.

That’s kind of sad.

This year I vowed to actually cook and eat them. Last night I made Red Rice Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Fontina, and substituted nearly every ingredient for something else. The good news is that it’s a very forgiving and flexible recipe.

The substitutions were as follows: Cherry tomatoes roasted with chopped garlic scapes (which is makes a heavenly smell, btw), for the roasted veggies. Fresh chopped spinach added in with the parsley at the end  (the warm rice wilted the spinach nicely). Gouda cheese instead of fontina. It was delicious.

We will make it through our CSA box this week, thanks to this pie (and the fact that we brought some greens to the Cape last weekend).

The pie was loosely based on this Torta Verde, which is a favorite of mine. I mixed it up a bit by using spinach in addition to swiss chard. The prep time was cut significantly by using store bought pastry sheets, and by not measuring any of the ingredients, at all.

The kind of pastry sheets I used were from Turkey and promised “ultimate eating pleasure” on the package. Really! The sheets were big enough that I probably could have added another bunch of greens to the filling.

I don’t know if I’ll ever find those sheets again but I’m thinking any thin pastry sheet would do. Phyllo, for example, might be nice.

For Shane and Rose, we had grilled pork chops and rice. I don’t think either of them touched the pie, but that’s okay because it makes good leftovers, especially cold on a hot day like today.

It took a while, but I think I’m finally ready to eat raw kale salad again. We got some nice baby kale in our CSA box this week. Paired with roasted chick peas, lemon and parmesan, it was a good hearty side to have with simple pasta. Scroll down for the recipe.

The little guy seems to be a big fan of kale, he was double fisting the discarded stalks as I prepared the salad.

• Baby Kale & Chick Pea Salad •
from Once Upon A Chef

When Shane isn’t around for dinner, I sometimes like to indulge my inner hippie by eating something really earthy-crunchy and totally healthful. Tonight was one of those nights.

I toasted up a quesadilla for Rose, defrosted some baby cubes for Sid, and made myself a big salad of dark greens, avocado, asparagus and brown rice with miso dressing. Roasted sweet potato would have been a good addition, but we’re out.

• Simple Miso Dressing •
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
2 tablespoons white miso
2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil

My aunt Dot made truly delicious lentils with cabbage and cumin, when she had us over for dinner recently. They were so good that making and posting about them went right to the top of my Steady Table to do list.

The recipe is originally from Madhur Jaffrey but my aunt found it via Smitten Kitchen, when she was looking for a way to use up her supply of CSA cabbage.

A couple of notes on the recipe. I purchased red lentils that appeared to be split, but I don’t think they’re the right kind because mine were totally cooked—to the point of being mushy, which was fine because I started dinner way late—in less than 30 minutes (the recipe says to cook for 1 1/4 hours). Also, I think the recipe needs a hell of a lot more salt than called for, just keep adding salt till it tastes good to you.

• Red Split Lentils With Cabbage •
from Madhur Jaffrey, Indian Cooking via Smitten Kitchen

Serves 4 to 6

1 1/4 cups red split lentils (masoor dal), picked over, washed and drained*
5 cups water
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 to 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 medium onion, peeled and cut into fine slices
1/2 pound cored and finely shredded cabbage
1 to 2 fresh, hot green chilies, finely sliced (jalapeños work fine)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon peeled, finely grated fresh ginger

Put the lentils and water into a heavy pot and bring to a boil. Remove any scum that collects at the top. Add the turmeric and stir to mix. Cover, leaving the lid very slightly ajar, turn heat down to low, and simmer gently for 1 1/4 hours, or until cooked through and no longer watery. Stir a few times during the last 30 minutes. (See notes before recipe)

When the lentils cook, heat the oil in an 8 to 9 inch frying pan over medium heat. When hot, put in the cumin seeds. Let them sizzle for 3 to 4 seconds. Now put in the garlic. As soon as the garlic pieces begin to brown, put in the onion, cabbage and green chilies. Stir and fry the cabbage mixture for about 10 minutes or until it begins to brown and turn slightly crisp. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Turn off the heat under the frying pan.

When the lentils have cooked for 1 1/4 hours (or until done, see notes above recipe), add the remaining 1 1/4 teaspoon salt, the tomato and ginger to the pot. Stir to mix. Cover and cook another 10 minutes. Add the cabbage mixture and any remaining oil in the frying pan. Stir to mix and bring to a simmer.

Simmer uncovered for 2 to 3 minutes or until the cabbage is heated through.

We’ve had this meal many times before. This time, I made the Farmhouse Baked Ricotta with Manchego, sweet potatoes and basil pesto. It went well with sautéed broccoli rabe and pork sausages from the greenmarket.