VEGGIE CHRISTMAS (WEEK 3)

Our CSA box this week was exciting, because we got…. STRAWBERRIES! This is always exciting. It’s a small package, but I was able to add strawberries to my morning oatmeal for 3 breakfasts in a row. Organic strawberries are amazing. Dark red and juicy, not orangey and tart like some that you might find at the regular grocery store.

We also received:
Spinach
Salad mix
Garlic leek
Mizuna
Bok choy
Radish

I’m not as smart as you may think. I had to go to Black River Organic Farm’s website to find out what the Mizuna was. And I didn’t realize the garlic leek was a garlic leek. I just thought it was your standard leek.

So I bet you’re all wondering what on earth you’re going to do with the mizuna. Or what the heck it even is. Well, according to Wikipedia, it is a Japanese green with a slightly peppery flavor, similar to but less so than arugula. On the Wikipedia page there was a beautiful picture of a mizuma and daikon salad. This got me thinking: I know that daikon is a radish, and I was wondering what I would do with my radishes this week.

See below for my weekly menu and click on the links to view the recipes. Keep in mind I’m going to a couple of barbecues this weekend, so I won’t need to make dinner every night. I still have lettuce salads most days for lunch and add whatever’s on hand. They have “healthy” snacks for us at work, so I usually add some cheese and almonds. Or apples and craisins.

Wednesday: We didn’t go to dollar taco night this week, because we had so much filling leftover from the stuffed zucchini from last week. (Since I added ground beef to it, it made a lot.) We used it to make soft tacos. I made my own salsa again, but left out the onion and added tiny pieces of chopped up leeks. Making your own salsa tastes so much better than the jarred kind! I’m a fan.

Thursday: Still had leftover filling from the stuffed zukes and leftover sauce from the lettuce wraps on Monday, so we had spaghetti with the filling and the sauce over it. It was actually delicious. A little Asian, a little spicy, and very tasty.

Friday: Perfect Grilled Chicken with grilled leeks and grilled potatoes.
Saturday: No cooking today, wahoo!
Sunday: Roasted chicken, Spring salad with mizuna, radish and roasted peppers.
Monday: Bok choy gratin, leftover spring salad if there is any
Tuesday: Sausage, spinach, potato and sweet potato hash

So my farmer's market shopping list looks like this:
lots of peppers (ended up not finding them...not in season. I'll have to buy at the grocery store)
goat cheese
sweet potatoes
ask about local chicken/beef (pretty good deals for local meat. On the list for next week's farmer's market!)

And I have to be honest, I got most of these recipes online. I wasn't feeling very creative this week. In my research, I came across this amazing website that seems like it's going to offer a lot of good ideas for future CSA box recipes, too. Score!