Menu Plan Monday: It Gets Easier

Last week, I talked about starting to menu plan and how it had always seemed overwhelming to me. I also did a big Sunday cook-fest where I tried to prepare as many meals for the week (and the freezer) as possible. It was a lot of work, and I thought I would be burned out, but it was really great having real meals (i.e., meals that included vegetables) to eat for dinner.

VEGGIE CHRISTMAS (Week 7)

So I've been a bit of a slacker. No Veggie Christmas post for Week 6. I guess I wasn't that creative, although I did use all my veggies except for the swiss chard. We got kohlrabi last week, which was a nice surprise. I love using veggies I've never tried before.

Kohlrabi has been described as tasting like broccoli stems, but I thought it was even milder. It almost tasted like potato. I ended up making Kohlrabi, Corn, and Cheese Empanadas with it, and Banana and Chocolate Empanadas for dessert. Amazing.

This week's box contained:
Tomato
Broccoli
Kale
Green leaf lettuce
Purple Scallions
Turnip
Squash
Bunch dill

I'm excited because there is much more variety this week. I was getting a smidge tired of getting creative with greens. Although I have pretty much started chopping, sauteeing and adding greens to everything I make. It's a great way to add nutritional value, and they taste so mild that you really don't even notice they're there.

This week's menu:

Wednesday: Dollar tacos at K-38 Baja Grill
Thursday: Risotto with Squash, Scallions and Radish Greens (* I realized risotto is a great thing to make when you're not sure what to do with your veggies. You can add anything to it!)
Friday: Dinner at Mom-Mom's (*I had so much dill and so many scallions that I sent some over to her house).
Saturday: BBQ Chicken, Broccoli Casserole with Squash
Sunday: Grilled sausage and pepper sandwiches, Potato and Turnip Pesto Salad
Monday: Rick Bayless' Tacos with Garlicky Mexican Greens and Roasted Tomatillo Chipotle Salsa
Tuesday: Chicken Korma, Barbecued Kale Marinated in Coconut Milk

FRESH ORGANIC DELICIOUSNESS (Week 7)

Below are the recipes I'm making from the items in my CSA box this week:

Risotto with Squash, Scallions and Radish Greens
*uses squash and scallions from the CSA box and homegrown radish greens
I had been making stir-fry as my go-to dish when I had a bunch of veggies and didn't know what to do with them. But then I remembered I could also make risotto! I'm sure an Italian would tell you there's a science to risotto. Well, not the way I make it. First of all, I use whatever rice I have on hand. You can use arborio rice, but I used regular white medium grain rice last night. Sometimes I add wine, but I didn't have any last night, so I just winged it. And I didn't really measure out my broth. I make chicken stock every time I cook a whole chicken, and freeze it in ice cube trays and then put the cubes in a ziploc bag in the freezer. Sixteen cubes=approximately 2 cups of liquid.

2 cups uncooked rice
approximately 8 cups chicken (or veggie) stock
1/2-1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced (although it could have used more)
whatever other veggies you want. I diced squash, and chopped scallions and radish greens and sauteed them separately until the squash was brown and the greens were very wilted.
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat a generous amount of olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent. Add garlic and saute for one more minute. Add rice and saute until rice is coated in oil.

Meanwhile, in a separate pot, heat your stock. Begin to add a few ladlefuls of stock to the rice. Keeping the rice on low/medium heat, stir quite often. Once the rice has soaked up most of the liquid, add another few ladlefuls. Continue to add liquid and cook, stirring frequently, in batches. When the rice begins to look like it is fully cooked, taste it. Once it is cooked to your liking, you're finished! Add the additional veggies, parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.

This makes a massive amount of risotto. (Approximately 8-10 servings). You could certainly cut down the amount of rice you use if you don't want as many leftovers.

Broccoli Casserole with Squash
*uses broccoli and squash from CSA box

This isn't the healthiest recipe, but it's delicious. The Kraft version of this recipe uses velveeta cheese, and although that is the recipe Big T's mom makes, and it's delicious, I can't bring myself to use velveeta. So I'm using regular cheddar.

Ingredients:
1 head broccoli, chopped
15 Ritz crackers, crushed, divided
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 TBSP butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blanch broccoli for 3 minutes in a pot of boiling water. Remove and drain. Mix with shredded cheese and 3/4 of the crushed Ritz crackers. Pour into casserole dish. Mix butter with remaining Ritz crackers and sprinkle on top. Bake for 35 minutes or until heated through.

Potato and Turnip Pesto Salad
*uses turnips from my CSA Box

3 large turnips, peeled and halved (wash save the greens to use in the pesto)
5 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup basil leaves
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

You will need to boil the potatoes and turnips in 2 separate batches. To boil, place potatoes and/or turnips in a large pot and cover with cold water. Heat and boil until fork tender. Drain and rinse with cold water. Do the same with your next batch (potatoes or turnips--whichever one is remaining).

Once cool, dice the potatoes and turnips uniformly and place in a large bowl.

In a food processor or blender, add basil leaves, turnip greens and garlic. Process until basil is finely chopped. Add olive oil in a steady stream and pulse until blended. Add salt and pepper to taste, and pulse. When the pesto is seasoned to your liking, pour over potatoes and turnips and toss to coat. Refrigerate and serve cold, or serve at room temperature.

Tacos with Garlicky Mexican Greens and Roasted Tomatillo Chipotle Salsa
*Uses swiss chard and tomatoes from CSA box and cilantro from my garden
I am basing this on this Rick Bayless' recipe.

• 8 to 10 flour tortillas
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, plus more for blanching
• 6 cups loosely packed sliced green or red chard leaves (one 12-ounce bunch)
• 1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
• 1 medium white onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/4 cup finely crumbled Mexican queso fresco; queso anejo; dry feta; pressed, salted farmer's cheese; or Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup Roasted Tomatillo Chipotle Salsa (see recipe below)
• Cilantro sprigs, for garnish

Prepare the filling: bring 3 quarts salted water to a boil in a large pot. Add greens, and cook until barely tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain in a colander, and spread out on a large plate or baking sheet to cool. When cool enough to handle, roughly chop.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, stir for 1 minute, then add greens, and stir for about 1 minute, just long enough to heat them through. Season with salt.

Prepare the tacos: Warm your flour tortillas however you wish (I do it either wrapped in tin foil in the oven or covered with a wet paper towel in the microwave. Scoop the filling into a deep, warm serving dish, and sprinkle with cheese. Serve with the warm tortillas, salsa, and cilantro sprigs.

Roasted Tomatillo Chipotle Salsa
*Adapted from Rick Bayless' tomatillo salsa recipe

• 3 to 6 canned chiles chipotles en adobo
• 3 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 2 large tomatoes, halved
• 4 medium tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar (optional)

Remove chiles from the adobo sauce in which they are packed.
On a heavy ungreased skillet or griddle over medium heat, roast the unpeeled garlic, turning occasionally, until blackened in spots and soft, about 15 minutes. Cool, slip off the papery skins, and roughly chop.

Preheat broiler with rack about 4 inches above. Lay tomatillos and halved tomatoes, cut side up, on a baking sheet, and place under broiler. When the tomatillos blister, blacken, and soften on one side, about 5 minutes, turn them over and roast on the other side. Remove tomatoes after 5 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool completely on the baking sheet.

Scrape tomatillos, tomatoes (and any juices that have accumulated around them) into a molcajete, food processor, or blender, and add the chiles and the garlic. Combine until everything is thick and relatively smooth (detectable little bits will add textural interest). For a chunkier alternative, combine tomatillos with their juices and the garlic only until everything is coarsely pureed; chop the rehydrated or canned chiles into tiny bits, then stir them into the tomatillo mixture. Transfer salsa to a serving bowl, and add enough water to give the salsa an easily spoonable consistency, 3 to 4 tablespoons. Season with salt, and add sugar if you want to soften the flavor a bit.

Chicken Korma
2 chicken legs and thighs (I buy whole chickens so I will cut these off and use them for the dish)
1.5 c chicken broth
.5 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/4 c dates, chopped
1/8 c dried apricots, chopped
1 T apricot jam
1 T lemon juice
1 t grated ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
cilantro

Brown chicken in olive oil then remove to plate. Add spices including ginger to pan to lightly toast (watch carfully, do not burn). Add onion and garlic and let saute until translucent. Add dates, apricots and reserved chicken to pan then pour all of the chicken broth over and stir. Bring to a simmer, cover and simmer 40 min. Just before serving add lemon juice and chopped cilantro. Serve with rice or couscous.

Barbecued Kale Marinated in Coconut Milk
*uses kale from CSA box
from this recipe

1 bunch kale
1 can coconut milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
pinch red pepper flakes
juice of one lime
3 garlic cloves, crushed

Clean kale, discard stems and cut into 6 inch strips. Slowly heat up coconut milk while slowly stirring until it is just warm and thoroughly mixed. Transfer to a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Marinate kale, covered, in refrigeration, for at least 4 hours. Remove kale marinade from fridge to grill, pat dry. Using tongs, place strips of kale on the grill for 30-45 seconds on each side. (You can reserve marinade liquid to use as fish sauce for another meal). Serve immediately.

Kohlrabi, Corn, and Cheese Empanadas
1 package Goya empanada wrappers
1/2 package frozen corn (approximately 1.5 cups)
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 kohlrabi bulb, peeled and diced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 TBSP olive oil
1 egg

Filling: Heat olive oil over medium heat in a heavy skillet. Add onion and cook until soft. Add garlic, cook one minute. Add kohlrabi and cook until soft, approximately 10 minutes. Add frozen corn and cook until heated through. Add cheese and cook, stirring, until melted.

Spoon approximately 1/3 cup of filling into empanada wrappers. (I roll mine out with a rolling pin so they are slightly larger and more flexible before filling). You can also use pie crust, cut to rounds approximately 6" in diameter. Dip finger into a bowl of clean water and wet edge of empanada. Fold over onto itself, enveloping filling. Crimp edges with fork or fold edges over onto themselves to seal.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper and lay empanadas on sheet. Beat egg with fork and add a splash of water. Beat again with fork. This will be your glaze. Dip a basting brush into glaze and lightly glaze each empanada. Cook at 425 degrees for approximately 10 minutes or until wrappers are golden brown.

Let cool a bit before eating. Filling will be VERY HOT.

I ended up having 3 wrappers left over, so I made some dessert empanadas:

Banana and Chocolate Empanadas
*you can adjust amounts to suit your needs.

3 empanada wrappers
2 bananas
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup brown sugar
cinnamon and sugar mixed together to dust tops of empanadas

Slice bananas. Put equal amounts bananas, chocolate chips, and brown sugar in the center of your empanada wrappers. Wet edges of wrappers and fold onto themselves to make little pockets. Crimp edges with fork or fold over itself to seal. Dust with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Baste with egg and water mixture. Bake in 425 degree oven for 7-10 minutes or until wrappers are golden brown.

FRESH ORGANIC DELICIOUSNESS (Week 5)

Shrimp Pasta with Dill and Scallions

Ingredients
1 bag frozen shrimp
1 box angel hair pasta
1 bunch dill
1 bunch scallions
2 cloves garlic
1 shallot
1 lemon
2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP olive oil
red pepper flakes

Directions
Finely chop shallot, garlic, scallions and dill. Heat butter and olive oil over medium heat and sautee previous mixture until fragrant. Add shrimp and cook until pink and opaque. Boil pasta and drain. Add pasta to pot with veggies and shrimp and toss. Add juice of one lemon, salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

Collards Stuffed with Red Beans and Rice
Adapted from this recipe at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

1 cup cooked brown rice (I'm using brown basmati)

1 1/2 cup small red beans, cooked
1 large onion, finely diced
1 green or yellow bell pepper, chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 15-ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1/2 – 1 tablespoon Tabasco, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
salt to taste
12 leaves collard greens

Directions:

You will need cooked rice and red beans, so before you do anything else, make sure you have those prepared.Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Spray or wipe it with olive oil, if you like. Add the onion and a pinch of salt, and cook, stirring regularly, until it begins to brown. Add the green pepper and celery and cook, adding a little water if it starts to dry out, until the vegetables are tender. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Remove 3/4 of a cup of the vegetables from the skillet and mix them in a bowl with the fire-roasted tomatoes and a little salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

To the skillet, add the rice, red beans, the seasonings, and 1/4 cup of bean-cooking liquid or vegetable broth. Reduce heat to very low and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly and adding additional liquid if it starts to dry out. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil. Wash the collard leaves and cut off the stems level with the bottom of the leaves. Turn them with the coarse stem-side of the leaf up, and holding a very sharp knife parallel to the leaf, trim off part of the thickened central rib. Be careful not to cut through the leaves. If leaves are very large, you can just cut out the thickest part of the central rib.

In two batches of 6, place the collard leaves into the boiling water, pressing them down gently to make sure all leaves are submerged. Boil for 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and rinse in cool water. Repeat with remaining leaves.

Preheat oven to 350F.

To assemble, spoon half of the tomato mixture into the bottom of a long, oiled casserole dish. Place a collard leaf in front of you, trimmed side up and stem closest to you. Place about 2-3 tablespoons of the rice mixture (2 for small leaves, 3 for larger) about a quarter of the way from the bottom.

Fold the side edges over the middle. Fold the bottom (stem end) over the filling, tucking it in behind the filling. Roll up tightly, and place each roll into the casserole dish. Spoon the remaining tomato mixture over the rolls, and cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Serve hot.

Pasta with Arugula and Goat Cheese Sauce
adapted from this recipe

a bunch of fresh arugula
4 sprigs fresh parsley
1 8 ounce container low-fat yogurt or sour cream
1/3 cup goat cheese, crumbled
S and P to taste
1 pound fusilli noodles (or whatever you have on hand)
Grated parmesan cheese, as garnish

1. Before preparing sauce, fill a large casserole with water, and bring the water to a boil.
2 Wash and clean well the arugula and parsley. Dry thoroughly. Trim and chop both the arugula and the parsley.
3. Place the arugula and the parsley in a food processor. Add the yogurt or sour cream, goat cheese, salt, and pepper. Blend the ingredients thoroughly. Keep the sauce at room temperature until ready to use.
4. Add a pinch of salt to the boiling water, and cook the fusilli noodles following the instructions on the package. When the noodles are cooked, drain them, and place them in four serving dishes. Pour the sauce evenly over the top of each serving and add some cheese to each dish. Serve immediately.



Lemon Quinoa Salad with Arugula, Scallions and Dill
adapted from this recipe

2 1/4 cups water
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
1 bunch arugula, leaves washed thoroughly, spun dry, and shredded fine (about 2 cups)
3 large scallions, sliced thin
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill, or to taste

Cook quinoa according to directions. Stir in lemon juice, oil, and salt and pepper to taste and cool quinoa completely. Stir in arugula, scallions, and dill and chill for 2 hours or overnight. *I ended up making a "dressing" for this using this Caesar Vinaigrette Recipe and it was delicious.

VEGGIE CHRISTMAS (Week 5)

I am a little uninspired this week. It's nice out, I'm spending time in my garden, and I'm a little busy making wool soakers. Baby T has decided that 5:45AM is a much more appropriate wakeup time for an almost-1-year-old, and he's also a fan of waking up several times during the night and screaming his head off. So I've been tired in the evenings.

In this week's box, we got:
Strawberries
Collard
Spinach
Arugula
Scallion
Sugar snap pea, edible podded
Butterhead lettuce
Dill

Here's my menu for the week:

Wednesday: Didn't go to K-38 for dollar tacos tonight because it was cinco de mayo. We got Moe's takeout instead. Mmmm... gigantic burritos. Baby T liked them, too.

Thursday: Shrimp pasta with dill and scallions

Friday: Dinner at Mom-Mom's and Pop-Pop's

Saturday: Collards stuffed with red beans and rice (adding ground beef for Big T).

Sunday: Brunch and dinner at Mom-Mom's and Pop-Pop's

Monday: Lemon quinoa salad with arugula scallions and dill, grilled salmon

Tuesday: Pasta with arugula and goat cheese sauce

FRESH ORGANIC DELICIOUSNESS (Week 4)

Recipes from our CSA Box

Kale Chips

Wash and dry kale well. Spray with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Grill large kale leaves in one layer on metal cookie sheets in 450 degree oven until crisp. This will take approximately 10 minutes (flip halfway). You will have to make a few different batches, since only 3 or 4 kale pieces fit on a cookie sheet at one time. Remove from oven, and cut the leaves off of the stems with a sharp knife.

Sweet Potato Chips
Slice sweet potatoes thinly. (I used the slicer blade on my food processor). Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil and spread sweet potatoes on cookie sheet. Rub around in the olive oil and flip each sweet potato disc over. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes, flipping halfway. Be sure not to let them burn. **A friend of mine gave me a tip: if you turn off the oven and leave the chips in, they will become very crispy. I didn't have time for this, but they were still great. Baby T really liked them too. Not so much the kale chips though, which got stuck on his tongue and made him gag and make some pretty funny faces.

VEGGIE CHRISTMAS (Week 4)

Ooh, we have a lot of variety in our box this week! I love getting greens, but I also like getting different veggies that I can cook with or add to my salads. This week's box contained the following surprises:

(these are my best guesses, since it hasn't been updated yet on the website)
Spinach
A large box of strawberries
Green Onions
Kale
a small ziploc of sugar snap peas (I think that's what they are)
1 zucchini

This is my menu for the week:

Thursday: Pizza bagels with kale chips and sweet potato chips
Friday: Dinner at Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop's
Saturday: Grilled eye roast with rice and salad (I'm going to cook extra rice to use for stir fry on Monday)
Sunday: Dinner at Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop's
Monday: Stir fry with zucchini and sugar snap peas (adapted from this stir fry recipe except last time I had to add a lot more spices, like curry), leftover eye roast, and brown rice
Tuesday: Pasta with wilted spinach, olive oil, and pasta sauce

I had some goat cheese from Nature's Way Goat Farm, so for lunches I made salad with leftover chicken, goat cheese, craisins, and honey vinaigrette. Yummy.

And for my salad, I'm adding my own radishes. Yup, from my very own garden. I don't know why it's so satisfying to grow your own food, or why it's so unbelievable when you pull up a radish and it looks like--a radish--but sure enough...

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!

FRESH ORGANIC DELICIOUSNESS (Week 3)

Recipes from our CSA Box

Perfect Grilled Chicken
There's really not much to this. To grill a perfect chicken breast, the trick is to cut it in half. Just chop it down the middle so you have 2 chunks of breast. It cooks the chicken more evenly and quickly so that the edges don't dry out. You can marinate the chicken first--that always helps. I usually buy my chicken fresh, then freeze it in the marinade. As it thaws out, it soaks up the marinade so it's really juicy once cooked. It cooks on a hot grill for about 4 minutes per side.

Grilled Leeks

I got this idea from this website. It was amazing. I just cut in half lengthwise, chopped off the tops and discarded them, brushed with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper, and grilled the leeks for about 5 minutes. Then I chopped them up and added them to the roasted potatoes. This will definitely be my go to recipe for leeks!

Perfect Grilled Chicken, Grilled Leeks, and Grilled Potatoes

Spring Salad with Mizuna, Radish, and Roasted Peppers

This recipe is adapted from this recipe from an amazing blog I stumbled across. On the blog, the recipe is for a fall salad. But I'm making it a spring salad. Why not?

Ingredients (serves 2 ~ 4)


* 1 bag of mizuna
* 1 bunch radishes, sliced
* 4~5 roasted peppers, thinly sliced **See below for roasting instructions
* goat cheese
* Balsamic vinegar and olive oil

Preparation

Tear mizuna into 2 inch sizes and put a bed of it on a large plate. You can also cut it but when you tear greens you create more fragmented area that soak up the flavor of dressing or sauce. Sprinkle the sliced radishes on the middle of the bed of mizuna. Top with roasted peppers, and crumbled goat cheese and drizzle balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

HOW TO ROAST PEPPERS

You can cut peppers in half and remove seeds or roast them whole. I usually roast them whole. Preheat broiler on high and cook peppers facedown on a baking sheet 15~20 minutes. I just set my kitchen timer to check them every 5 minutes. If cooking them whole, I rotate them periodically. When the skin is evenly blackened, remove from oven and put into a ziplock bag. Close the bag and it will steam inside. Supposedly this helps the skin come off. When they are cool enough to handle, peel off the skin. Cut the flesh away from the inner seeds, and use as you wish.

Bok Choy Gratin

Adapted from this recipe on Epicurious.com

Ingredients
· 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs
· 2 1/2 lb bok choy (not baby), tough stem ends trimmed
· ½ onion, finely chopped
· 1 clove garlic, minced
· 5 tablespoons salted butter
· 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
· 1 1/4 cups 2% milk
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
· 2 oz cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (1/2 cup)
· 1/2 oz finely grated parmesan (1/4 cup)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly butter a 2-quart gratin dish and dust with 2 tablespoons bread crumbs.

Cut bok choy stems and center ribs into 1/2-inch pieces and coarsely chop leaves. Cook stems and ribs in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 5 minutes, then add leaves and cook 30 seconds. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water until cool enough to handle. Squeeze out excess water by handfuls.

Cook onion in 1 tablespoon butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and bok choy and cook, stirring, until greens are coated with butter and onion, 1 to 2 minutes. Spread bok choy in baking dish.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, then add flour and cook roux, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Add milk in a slow stream, whisking constantly, and bring to a boil, whisking. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring, 5 minutes. Add salt, and pepper, then stir in cheddar and 2 tablespoons parmesan and pour evenly over bok choy.

Toss remaining 1/4 cup bread crumbs with remaining 2 tablespoons parmesan in a small bowl and blend in remaining 2 tablespoons butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle mixture evenly over gratin and bake in upper third of oven until bubbly and golden brown, about 20 minutes.

**I’m going to add some potato to this dish to make it heartier. I’m just going to dice it up and add to the boiling water.

Sausage, Spinach, Potato and Sweet Potato Hash

Finally--a recipe I came up with myself.

Ingredients
Organic chicken and apple sausage from Costco (or you can use any sausage, or even bacon)
Bag/bunch fresh spinach
3 sweet potatoes, diced
2 potatoes, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced

Preparation
Heat olive oil over medium heat in a heavy pan. Add onions and cook until slightly soft. Meanwhile, microwave sweet and regular potatoes for approximately 6 minutes until softened (or boil and drain). Add to onions in pan, along with garlic. Cook until potatoes are soft, browned, and cooked through. Add sausage and cook until browned (you can cook this separately to make sure all the edges of the sausage are browned. That's how I like my sausage). Add spinach last, and cook until wilted. Enjoy!

FRESH ORGANIC DELICIOUSNESS (week 2)

Recipes made from our CSA Box (Week 2)

Pasta with Arugula and Garlic
Uses arugula from box
This one was simple but delicious. Cook up any type of pasta you would like. In the meantime, heat up some olive oil on medium heat. Add garlic and swirl around for a moment. Add a bag of washed arugula. Cook, tossing, until arugula wilts. When pasta is ready, add arugula and garlic mixture, a swirl of olive oil, and salt and pepper. Simple, peppery, and delicious, with the perfect bite to it.

Stir Fry with Chicken, Bok Choi, and Zucchini
Uses bok choi and zucchini from box

2-3 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
head of baby bok choi, sliced thinly
1/2 giant zucchini (or 2-3 regular sized zucchini), cut into french-fry sized strips
2-3 cloves garlic
2 TBSP coconut oil
1/4 cup chicken broth, stock, or white wine
Sesame oil
1 tsp finely grated ginger

Heat coconut oil over medium heat. Add garlic, bok choy, chicken, and zucchini. Cook chicken until brown. Add ginger chicken broth and simmer until chicken is cooked through and bok choi and zucchini are soft. Remove from heat, drizzle with sesame oil, and serve over rice.

Lettuce Wraps
Uses lettuce, radishes, and radish greens
This is adapted from this recipe, based on PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients
3 tablespoons oil
2 chicken breasts
1 bunch radishes with tops
3 TBSP chopped onions
1 tsp minced garlic
several large lettuce leaves

Special Sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (I don't have this, so will use apple cider vinegar)
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon hot mustard (I don't have this, so will use wasabi or horseradish mustard)
2 teaspoons water
1-2 teaspoon garlic and red chile paste (I don't have this, so will use some chili sauce)

Stir Fry Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar (apple cider vinegar)

Directions
Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil. Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve. Combine the hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside as well. Eventually add your desired measurement of mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps. Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan. Saute chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side or done. Remove chicken from the pan and cool. Keep oil in the pan, keep hot. As chicken cools mince radishes to about the size of small peas. Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl. When chicken is cool, mince it to the same size as the radishes. With the pan still on high heat, add another Tbsp of vegetable oil. Add chicken, garlic, onions, radishes and radish greens to the pan. Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple minutes then serve it in the lettuce"cups". Top with"Special Sauce".

Stuffed Zucchini
Uses zucchini and spinach from box

1/2 giant zucchini
1/2 onion
1-2 cloves garlic
approximately 3 cups fresh spinach
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup shredded cheese. (I will be using cheddar, but you could use just about anything: parmesan, goat cheese, etc).
olive oil
balsamic vinegar

Take a giant zucchini and cut it in half. Take one half, and halve it lengthwise so you have 2 zucchini "boats". Drizzle cut side with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Either grill face down for about 5 minutes or broil face up for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and scoop out the center. Cut that up into small dices.

Heat olive oil in frying pan over medium heat. Add chopped onion, garlic, zucchini pieces, and spinach. Cook until veggies are soft*. Add bread crumbs and combine well. Spoon mixture back into zucchini boats, top with cheese, and put under broiler until cheese is melted and brown.

*I will probably add ground beef to the onion and garlic mixture and cook that through, then add the zucchini and spinach.

Stuffed Zucchini

Caesar Vinaigrette
from Food To Live By, the Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook
1 clove garlic, minced
1 TBSP mustard (recipe calls for dijon but I use grainy deli mustard)
1 tsp anchovy paste (I never have this, so I use asian fish sauce)
1/4 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp tabasco sauce
3 TBSP lemon (the juice of one lemon)

Whisk these ingredients together. Then add, in a slow, steady stream, while briskly whisking, 1/2 cup olive oil. Continue to wisk until dressing thickens slightly.

Honey Vinaigrette* I have always eyeballed this one, so you can definitely fudge it.

Mix together equal parts honey, apple cider vinegar, and canola oil. Whisk or shake in a salad dressing shaker. Add a dash of salt to taste. You can also use olive oil for a stronger tasting dressing.

VEGGIE CHRISTMAS (Week 2)

Our second box from Black River Organic Farm was even more bountiful than the first! Big T was a bit dubious, as he reported that the box felt pretty light this week. But inside, I found a head of red butterhead lettuce, red leaf lettuce, baby bok choy, radishes, a large ziploc of arugula, spinach, and a GIANT zucchini. The thing is bigger than my cat. Possibly bigger than Baby T. I get excited when there are veggies I can cook with (instead of just making salads). And it's important to me to make quick and easy, but healthy, dinners. So here's this week's menu:

Thursday: Pasta with Arugula and Garlic

Saturday: Stir fry with chicken, bok choi and zucchini over rice

Monday: Chicken lettuce wraps

Tuesday: Zucchini stuffed with bread crumbs, spinach, and cheese. Roasted potatoes. I'm still trying to figure out if I need a meat with this. I will probably just add some ground beef to the stuffed zucchini.

Lunches every day are salads with some avocado I have to use up. I am addicted to a new caesar vinaigrette recipe that I got from an Earthbound Farms organic cookbook that came to me free in the mail. My other favorite dressing is this honey vinaigrette, which is delicious if you like to add fruit, like orange chunks, grapes or craisins to your salads.

*By the way, I do eat on Fridays and Sundays, but we hang with the in laws on those days, so no cooking for me!

VEGGIE CHRISTMAS (Week 1)

Our Weekly CSA Delivery

Every Wednesday from April to July, we celebrate Veggie Christmas. Through our CSA at Black River Organic Farm, we get a big box of vegetables. Organic, locally grown, in-season vegetables. We don't know what we're going to get until the box comes, so opening it is like Christmas. Every week. Last year, Big T named it Veggie Christmas. And he doesn't even like vegetables that much. That's how amazing it is to get fresh, harvested-that-day vegetables. If you thought you knew vegetables, think again. This is not your grocery store organic produce. This is fresher than fresh, colorful, crisp veggies. It may be one of my favorite parts of spring.

There are times when I have no idea what to do with all of the veggies. There are times when I have to go online to research what a particular veggie is, because I've never seen it before. There are times when I have to research what recipes I can make with a turnip, or an English pea, because I've never used that veggie before. But, as you know, I love the creative process. I love making new, unique dishes. It keeps me on my toes.

It's also surprisingly affordable. I try to keep to a strict budget. I'm not made of money. We pay up front for the whole season, and it comes out to about $17 a week. For all the organic veggies you could ask for for an entire week, that's an unbeatable deal. And we're supporting a local farm--all the better.

This week we had a pretty light box. We had a relatively cold winter for NC, so the initial growth is starting off a little slow. But I'm pretty sure we have enough lettuce to last us for 2 weeks. On the day I bring home my box, I wait to open it up until I'm in the house. I usually open it, smile and squeal, and recite the contents as I pull each item out. I have a lot of work to do on Wednesdays. I like to wash all the lettuce and greens, dry it, and store it in ziplocs between paper towels to keep it fresh and to have it ready when I need it. (It's a good thing K-38 Baja Grill is across the street from the coop where I pick up the box has $1 taco night on Wednesdays, so at least I don't have to worry about cooking that night!)

This week we received:

• A huge head of green leaf lettuce
• A large head of bibb lettuce
• 2 quart sized ziplocs filled with baby spring greens
• A bunch of radishes
• 1 garlic bulb
• A bunch of cilantro

And this is my menu for the week:

Thursday:
Lunch - green leaf lettuce salad with radishes, cucumbers (store bought) and cilantro. [Cilantro really livens up a salad and adds a note of unexpected freshness to it] I had this with leftover soup from dinner earlier in the week.
Dinner - Spaghetti with Roasted Radish Greens, Garlic and Vodka Sauce, bibb lettuce salad with cucumbers. [As I was eating the bibb lettuce I thought it would be delicious with japanese carrot ginger dressing. Mmmm...note for next week.]

Friday:
Lunch - same as yesterday
Dinner - grilled chicken, grilled asparagus (store bought), big salad (possibly with grilled lettuce)

Saturday:
Lunch - Spinach Dip with Radishes, homemade bread
Dinner - Grilled eye roast, homemade bread with garlic roasted on the grill, big salad

Sunday:
Dinner - Seared Scallops with Spicy Honey-Citrus Glaze, Cilantro Rice and a bed of wilted greens

Monday:
Lunch - salad
Dinner - Open Faced Tostadas with [leftover] Eye Roast and Garlic/Cilantro Salsa

FRESH ORGANIC DELICIOUSNESS

Recipes made from our CSA Box (Week 1)

Spaghetti with Roasted Radish Greens, Garlic and Vodka Sauce
Uses garlic and radish greens from CSA box

makes 2 servings

Ingredients:
1 bunch radish tops, washed well and dried (save radishes for another recipe)
olive oil
1/2 box spaghetti
1 clove garlic, minced
bottled vodka sauce
sea salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, drizzle or spray radish greens with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and toss to coat. Spread on cookie sheet and roast in oven for about 10 minutes. Greens will wilt and get a little crispy.

Meanwhile, drizzle olive oil in a pan, and heat minced garlic until fragrant and golden. Remove from heat and set a side.

Boil pasta until al dente. After draining pasta, add to pan with garlic. Top with radish greens and toss while cooking over medium heat. Add vodka sauce and serve.

*Note: This is so flavorful that you could eat it without the sauce!

Spinach Dip with Radishes
Uses radishes from CSA Box

Ingredients:
1 10 oz package frozen spinach, thawed (or you can use fresh when you get it in your box!)
1 bunch radishes, chopped
1 package Knorr Vegetable Soup Mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise

Mix it all together and voila!
*If using fresh spinach, chop and saute in olive oil before blending with other ingredients.
Servce with veggies, pita chips, bread, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Seared Scallops with Spicy Honey-Citrus Glaze with Cilantro Rice
Uses garlic and cilantro from CSA box
Adapted from this recipe I found when googling for ideas
2-4 servings (depending on how much of a piggy you are. We split a pound of scallops between the 2 of us.)
**This was the best recipe I have made in a long time! I poured all the remaining glaze we didn't use over the baby greens mix from the CSA and ate it the next day for lunch. Amazing.


Glaze:
½ cup local honey
¼ cup fresh orange juice
4 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
2 teaspoons finely grated lime peel
1 ½ teaspoons hot chili sauce (such as sriracha)*

Scallops:
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
12 large sea scallops, side muscle removed
Chopped fresh chives

Rice:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup brown basmati rice or jasmin rice
1 ½ cups chicken broth
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
zest from one lime
½ cup cilantro, chopped
1 tsp. salt
For glaze:
Stir all ingredients in small saucepan over medium heat until heated through. Set aside.
Do ahead: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Rewarm before continuing.

For scallops:
Preheat broiler. Melt butter with oil in heavy large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in garlic. Sprinkle scallops with salt and pepper. Cook scallops until browned on 1 side, about 1 minute. Turn scallops over and cook 1 minute. Spoon 1 teaspoon glaze atop each scallop. Place scallops in broiler until glaze browns, about 1 minute.

For Rice:
Add the oil to a sauce pan and heat on low. Add the garlic and rice to the oil and saute for 2 minutes on medium heat stirring frequently.

Add the chicken broth, salt, lime juice and bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes or according to rice package directions.
When the rice is done, add lime zest and chopped cilantro and stir to mix in. Serve immediately alongside scallops. Top scallops with glaze.

*I think I'm going to try serving the scallops on a bed of baby greens and topping the whole thing with glaze. Yum!

Open Faced Gorditas with [leftover] Eye Roast and Garlic/Cilantro Salsa
Uses garlic, cilantro and lettuce from CSA Box

For gordita base:
1 1/2 c masa harina
3/4 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 TBSP chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup chicken broth

Combine masa harina, flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives, then roll in your fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add broth, stir just until moist. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly 5 or 6 times.

Divide dough into 6 equal portions. Shape each portion into a ball. Press each ball into a 6 inch circle on a lightly floured surface (cover remaining balls to prevent drying). Heat a large nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray or spray olive oil. Place 1 gordita in pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Remove gordita from pan. Repeat with remaining spray and gorditas.

To assemble:
Top gorditas with leftover eye roast strips, avocados, tomatos, cheese, and lettuce (or whatever mexican delights you want to use). Top with salsa and sour cream and enjoy.

For Garlic/Cilantro Salsa:
1 can Ro-Tel Tomatoes and Green Chilies
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 large clove garlic
2 TBSP cilantro
1-2 TBSP lime juice
Olive Oil

Saute onion in olive oil over medium heat until soft. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Mix with Ro-Tel, cilantro and lime juice in a small bowl. This tasted a lot like the salsa at K-38 Baja Grill. Delicious!

A weekend of cooking

Sprouted Quinoa Salad with Goat Cheese, Peppers, and Olives; Sweet Potato and Caramelized Banana Pancakes; Cranberry Lambic Bread

After eating way too much bread and sugar the week of Thanksgiving, I decided I need to eat better: fresher, more whole foods, less bread, and less sugar. It's amazing what sugar can do. As soon as I started eating less bread and sugar, my digestive system immediately felt better (**cough--less gas--cough**). I re-discovered sprouting. Sprouting grains makes them more easily digested, and more nutritious as well. I discovered quinoa, which is basically a nutitional powerhouse and a complete protein.

I do try to budget with my grocery shopping, and yes, buying fresh foods can be a little more expensive. During the growing season I participate in a CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture--I pay for a share in a farm, and in exchange, get a box of organic, fresh, local veggies every week). That comes out to about $17/week for vegetables, which is a steal for organic produce. But during the off season I tend to eat fewer veggies because they aren't in season, aren't local, or aren't cheap. This week, I bought a lot of my veggies at Costco. Certainly not local, but some are organic, and some are dirt cheap: a 1 lb box of organic lettuce for $3.99, a huge clamshell of blackberries for $3.99, a log of goat cheese for about $6, a giant tub of mushrooms... can't remember how much. You get the idea though.

I made some quinoa salad with goat cheese and fresh peppers, goat cheese and olive stuffed chicken with sauteed mushrooms, burgers with mushrooms in them and sauteed mushrooms on top, asian stir fry with asian flavors and lime squeezed on it, served over jasmine rice...

On Saturday morning, I was craving pancakes. Since I had bought several sweet potatoes when they were on sale the week before Thanksgiving, I still had 2 left, and needed something to do with them. Big T isn't a huge fan, so I had to incorporate something else. And banana pancakes are always delicious. I googled, and came up with 2 recipes for Sweet Potato and Banana Pancakes. The caramelized bananas from this recipe from That's Not What the Recipe Says were calling to me. But I wanted bananas IN my pancakes. The pancake recipe at Chi Town Cook had the right amount of sweet potato and banana that I wanted, but too many spices. And I didn't have ricotta cheese. So I adapted it to suit the ingredients I had on hand and came up with my own version.

On another note, I also have 3 fruity beers left in my fridge. We buy the sampler packs, and they always sneak fruity beers into those. Who actually drinks those? I love a good beer, but I draw the line at juice flavored beer. I've been wondering what on earth I can do with those, and thought about bread. I have some Sam Adams Cranberry Lambic, and I've made bread with beer before. What about a bread with the cranberry beer and some craisins? After some internet searching, I came to Farmgirl Fare. Wow. And yum. First of all, if you say "farm girl," I come running, since it's always been my secret wish to be one. So when I found her recipe for beer bread, I immediately began my worship and added her to my list of blogs I follow. And appropriated her recipe for beer bread.

Finally, I had been sprouting garbanzo beans for the past few days and put them to work this afternoon in a roasted sprouted garbanzo bean snack.

Click on the links below to view some of my recipes from the week:

Sprouted Quinoa Salad with Goat Cheese, Peppers, and Olives

Sweet Potato and Caramelized Banana Pancakes

Cranberry Lambic Bread

Roasted Sprouted Garbanzo Bean Snack

Easy Roasted Acorn Squash Recipe

The perfect complement to my Easy Roasted Chicken Recipe

This is a great way to take advantage of squash when it's in season (and cheaper!) in the fall.

Ingredients

• Acorn Squash
• Butter
• Brown Sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut acorn squash in half lengthwise. This is done more easily with a serrated knife. If you try to use your giant non-serrated knife, it might get hopelessly stuck in your squash, making you feel like you are involved in a gourd massacre. And possibly a gourd-and-your-own-finger massacre.

Scoop out seeds with a large spoon, and put them aside in a bowl to make Simple Roasted Acorn Squash Seeds. Place squash cut side up on a cookie sheet or roasting pan. Add 2 pats of butter, and 2-3 tablespoons of brown sugar (or to taste).

Roast in oven for 90 minutes or until soft and slightly browned on the edges.

To serve, you can cut into wedges (watermelon-style) or simply serve the entire half of the squash on a plate and scoop out the flesh with a fork.

Easy Roasted Chicken Recipe

Stretch one roasted chicken into 3 different meals!

I realize it helps to see a picture of the recipe. I'm new to this whole blogging thing, and forgot to pull out my camera. So here. This is all I've got:

Ingredients

• Roasting Chicken
• Olive Oil
• Basil
• Oregano
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Remove innards and wash chicken. Pat dry with paper towels. Rub a few tablespoons of olive oil (I don't measure) all over chicken, inside and out. Rub in some salt, pepper, basil, and oregano (I didn't measure this either, but if you're a stickler, use 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of each). Roast, breast side up, in oven for one and a half hours or so, until a thermometer inserted into the thick part of the breast reads 180. (I roasted it for 2 hours since I also was roasting an acorn squash with it).

I use Rachel Ray's Bubble & Brown Dish as my roasting pan. I love this thing! Functional yet super cute and stylish.

You can eat some chicken tonight and use the leftovers for Chicken Noodle Soup and Chicken Nachos.

Losing the Pregnancy Weight

And eating healthfully on a budget

I was working on my Halloween costume last night, and pulled out my dressmaking dummy to work with. I hadn't used her in a while, and I needed to adjust her measurements to match mine. She's a vintage dummy, so I had to manipulate her in several different places. Well, I adjusted everything I could. To the max. I pulled and tugged and tried to make her go out farther, but she was as big as she could get.

And she still wasn't close to my waist size. Grrrr....

I did just have a  baby (5 months ago).

Oh, and I guess I should also mention that I also ate root beer floats every night during those 5 months. I think it's time to stop that.

I really try to keep to a budget when grocery shopping, though. I try to spend $50 a week, and eat healthfully at the same time. Sometimes it's hard to get all your veggies in when you're trying to budget. For example, this week, whole chickens were on sale for $.59 a pound. This is what my weekly menu looked like:

Monday: Easy Roasted Chicken and Easy Roasted Acorn Squash.
Tuesday: Chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
Wednesday: Nachos with chicken

I finagled 3 meals out of one chicken, which was great for the budget, but even if I squint, I can't see the veggies. (Other than the acorn squash on Monday). Looks like I'm having salad tonight!