CSA Summer Weeks 5 and 6: Bacon, Kale, and Potato Comfort Dinner

Wow, computer issues have plagued me, and between that, the kids going back to school, and me starting a new job, I feel like I've totally neglect the blog for the last couple of weeks.  Yikes.

So, it's time to jump back in, full speed ahead!

I have 2 weeks of CSA shares that I'm back-logged on, but luckily, the recipe I have for you today uses things included in both of them.

Week 5 brought tomatoes, more ground cherries, potatoes, garlic, hot and sweet peppers, spinach, a leek, and kale.

Souper Douper: Pasta e Fagioli

What makes soup good?  I'm sure it differs for everyone, but I have some high soup standards.  It should be warming, comforting, and tasty.  Good soups have layers of flavor and texture.  It can be hard to get that done quickly.  This Italian bean soup recipe manages to layer the flavor without taking hours of simmering.

I based it on a Giada De Laurentiis recipe for pasta e fagioli.  It's a great lunchtime soup, terrific with a slice of warm bread and a salad.  My kids like to dip, so the bread is a must around here, and Costco carries a great natural frozen french bread that can be in and out of the oven in the time it takes to make a pot of this pasta e fagioli.

Banana Snack Cake...No, Even Better...Banana BACON Snack Cake!

I'm not a huge baker, but I do love a good quick bread or muffin that I can throw together and see results quickly.  I love having something warm from the oven for an afternoon snack for my kids to come in from the cold to.

I also like recipes for getting rid of mushy bananas.  My family tends to go through banana phases, where sometimes I can't buy enough, and then other times, I'll get 5 and 3 of them will go brown.  I hate being wasteful, so I package and freeze the mushy ones for baking, if I'm not ready to bake with them right then.  I have quite a few bags of mushy bananas in my freezer at any given point.