Thursday, July 29, 2010

July-week 4


This week it feels like the box is a little sparse, perhaps the rain the last few days has slowed the harvest. We still got a buch of great looking produce. I again traded out the eggplant, this time for a large bag of carrots which is missing from this photo as is the okra this week since I used them on Wed night and had already put them away come picture time.

This week we got purple basil, mint, some kind of winter squash who's name eludes me, lots of hot peppers, bell peppers, a mini watermelon, onions, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, okra, cucumbers and garlic.

On Wed night I made a veggie curry which I used the carrots and my remaining yellow squash from last week. As a side dish I made a crispy okra salad from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. It was interesting, I liked the okra better this way than fried with cornmeal like last week.

Tonight I made a fantastic pasta dish with a red onion and the acorn squash from last week.

As I head off to bed tonight I'm going to put together a pitcher of Sassy Water for tomorrow. Hoping I'll like it and it'll give me something to do with all this fresh mint. I'm going to make some caramelized peppers and onions as well to have for lunch with some leftover naan bread from our Indian night on Wed.

Saturday we'll be having dinner with some friends. I'll probably find a summer squash/zucchini recipe to share and will take them some roasted garlic and some of my fig preserves from last week. I think the rest of the carrots are going to make a fantastic carrot cake and just possibly end up in carrot cake ice cream!

Sunday I'm going to try my hand at gumbo to use the rest of the okra and a few of the hot peppers. Monday night will be our fish night and I'll make pesto fish with the purple basil. Curious to see how that looks. Tuesday I'm planning to make a winter squash risotto to go with maybe some ham steaks or chicken.

If I can't use all the mint up I'm going to try freezing it for later use as I hate to see it go to waste.

Onward to next week!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

July- week 3


This week was the first time since starting the CSA back in March that I ever made a trade. I usually just go with what they provide, but I've discovered we are not fond of eggplant. We adore their little new potatoes so this week when I opened my box and found two big eggplants, I kindly requested a trade which they quickly granted. I love that they are flexible in this way.

So we ended up with more little hot peppers, a big bunch of basil, the potatoes, several cucumbers, assorted sweet peppers, a few small zucchini, yellow squash, plum tomatoes, onion, okra, acorn squash and a bag of beets.

Last week I tried my hand at canning and made some plum jam and fig preserves from some extras I had bought at the market. I also made a jar of mixed pickles and peppers. Still waiting to taste those. I found I don't have a large enough pan to actually seal large quart jars so I need to pick up some pint jars or a bigger pot. I found a recipe for bread and butter zucchini that sounds good. I'm going to try to pickle the little hot peppers for future use or gift giving as well since we like hot but not enough to use them all before they go bad.

I used the basil the first night on Wed in a summer pasta dish with tomatoes, squash and onion. Thursday we had corn on the cob with hamburgers so I didn't use anything out of the obx and last night we ended up at Mama Fu's for dinner after working late and running kids around.

So today I have a bunch left and only a few days to fit it in. Here's what I'm planning. The cukes I'm slicing up for snacking. Tonight we're grilling steaks and I'm going to make a corn/zucchini casserole from Leanne Ely of Saving Dinner.com.  We're also going to try some peppers stuffed with feta from the Aug/Sept issue of Saveur magazine and I'll steam the little potatoes.  While I've got the oven hot I'm going to roast the beets for use tomorrow and I think I'm finally going to roast the tons of garlic I've been collecting. Once roasted I've heard it'll stay good in the fridge.  I'm going to shred up any zucchini and yellow squash that's left after the casserole along with what's left from last week and get them into the freezer in 2 cup portions for use in breads and muffins. The extra sweet peppers I'm going to chop and freeze for use in future casseroles, omelets and pasta sauces.

Tomorrow we'll have some pasta carbonara with fresh green beans and the roasted beets. Monday night I'll make some chicken and have the okra with tomatoes and some garlic bread made with the freshly roasted garlic from saturday. Tuesday I'm planning on something easy like a tuna casserole and I'll bake up the acorn squash to have with it.

My goal this week is to use up what's been accumulating and get it all either eaten, preserved or frozen as I've ended each week this month with some leftovers. Luckily squash and zucchini are hardy and last for awhile so they aren't getting wasted.

I read a great post from one of the many blogs I read, The Bitten Word, about using a chalkboard to list the produce on hand as it goes in the fridge and then marking it off as it gets eaten as a way to avoid having things turn into science projects before you've had a chance to enjoy them.  Great idea, I think we'll start that next week as I'll hopefully have an empty fridge on market day :)

Friday, July 16, 2010

July- week 2

This week we got three new additions in the box. A large bunch of mint, two butternut squash and a big bag of okra.  Along with that we got a bunch of plum tomatoes, basil, tons of peppers both sweet and hot, more yellow squash, a few squatty cucumbers, four small eggplants, a selection of onions and more garlic.


I've been un-motivated the last few days and am just getting around to planning for the next week. Tomorrow we're heading out on a mini-road trip to the lake all day so I won't be cooking much. I think I will make a pasta salad to take with us using some of the tomatoes and the fresh basil tossed with italian dressing.

Sunday I plan on hanging at home and trying my hand at making some homemade pickles. I need to use all these peppers and since my hubby doesn't really care for them  going to try to pickle them with the cukes and onion and garlic. If they turn out good I'll take them to the office to share. I'm also going to try to make some baba ghanoush with the eggplants using a quick recipe I found on the Kitchn blog. We've so far not been really excited about eggplant. The last two things I've made with them, while edible, were just a bit bitter and strange tasting. I've read some on the bitterness issue and will try draining them longer to see if it helps. We might just not be eggplant people. If the dip is a hit then I'll use that as my standby for the next few weeks of the season. Luckily the CSA lets me make a trade - so if we don't like it then next week I'll trade it for something else, more onions perhaps! Or extra "little round potatoes" which we love.

Okra has me a little intimidated too as I haven't really liked it the last few times I tried it. I've only had it fried and pickled and once in a gumbo like stew. I didn't care for the texture. My husband likes it though and while looking for a recipe I found this really interesting one by Emeril, where you take out the seeds and stuff the okra with cream cheese and crab and then coat them in cornmeal and deep fry. I'm not a crab person either but I figure I'll give it a shot. I haven't yet met anything stuffed with cream cheese that I didn't like :)

I'll probably have the rest of the yellow squash with a pork loin I'll be roasting on Sunday while pickling- the fried okra will be an appetizer either Sunday or Monday.

I'll save the butternut squash to have with some baked chicken on Tuesday.

And then- it'll be Wed again before I know it.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

July - week 1


It's July in Texas and it's HOT! We're getting into full on summer and I think it's reflected well in the contents of the box this week. Peppers galore! I meant to ask what variety these long bright yellow ones are but the market was busy and I just wanted to get my loot and go.

Here's all that was included this week: mixed onions, new potatoes, a big bunch of basil, small yellow tomatoes, bell peppers, large and small zucchini, yellow squash, assorted peppers,a lone cucumber, eggplants, a few hot peppers, some slicing tomatoes and a head of garlic.

Now, what to do with it so it all gets enjoyed before going bad? That's been the biggest challenge for me so I've finally started to actually sit down and plan how to use it all and this blog is devoted to helping others gain inspiration and

Here's the plan for this week
Wed- used most of the basil to make pesto. Used some of the pesto in a pan sauce for fish and saved the rest, the kids will use it on pasta for lunch later in the week.

Thursday- Tonight I made eggplant lasagna which used all three eggplants, an onion and a bell pepper. The bell peppers are a purply almost brown color and when I added them to the pan my daughter said they look like bacon. It was a nice night in the kitchen because I got to cook with her not in a rush. She's mastered basic meat sauce as she is the resident spaghetti cook in our house, but tonight she learned how to kick it up by adding extra veggies and fresh garlic. The result was delicious.

Friday- Planning on enjoying the leftover lasagna and pairing it with a classic caprese salad to use the slicer tomatoes and the rest of the basil. I have yet to find a good way to store the tomatoes more than a day or two so I try to eat them the first few days. I'm also going to try to use the lone cucumber this week for a cucumber based cocktail. Haven't found the perfect recipe yet- still searching, you can bet it will contain Tito's Handmade Vodka

Saturday- We'll be out and about most of the day but if we find ourselves home for lunch we'll have a salad with sliced yellow tomatoes, a bell pepper and the red onion with some grilled chicken and a quick vinaigrette.  Heading out to Poker night in the evening so I'll make a spicy cornbread to take that will use up the hot peppers.

Sunday- Going to finish off the peppers by making stuffed peppers, most likely with black beans and rice as the stuffing, possibly with a bit of smoked turkey from the new Smokey Moe's BBQ that opened down the road from us. We'll have some grilled squash on the side.

Monday- We'll do some kind of salmon dish and I'll steam the potatoes and season with butter and parsley.  We'll pair that with a side salad and the rest of the yellow tomatoes if any are left.

Tuesday- Use it all up day! I hope by this day to only have maybe one onion and some squash left so we'll saute that up and serve it with some kind of chicken. My daughters love a quick dish we call orange chicken and we haven't had it in awhile. If there are leftover potatoes we'll have them too.

Wed is back to market day! We'll be ready for a new batch of veggies.

I'm trying to keep this blog centered on what comes each week and the planning process to use it all up so recipes that I mention will be on my other blog when possible along with pictures and other finds and musings.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

The beginnings of a new project

I've become a member of the johnson backyard garden CSA and have been so thrilled with the bounty that comes in my weekly box. I've decided to embark on documenting each weeks contents and my attempts at meal planning around it, trying to use it all before the next weeks delivery. At the end of a year, perhaps a cookbook will be born!

My delivery day is Wednesday,I'll start with next week.
I am excited- the thrill of a new project idea is always greatest at 4am when I can't sleep until it's out of my brain :)