A crate full of veggies - week two

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Last week I started my CSA diary as a way to encourage myself to let no vegetable go to waste and hopefully to get others excited about eating seasonally. And I ate well this week! Having limitations forces me to move past my go-to recipes and think more creatively about food and flavors.

This was my crate full of veggies this week:

buttercrisp lettuce

bunching onions

strawberries

broccoli

new red potatoes

kale

beets

mint 

oregano

This week I had so many strawberries. Not only did I come home with a few extra pints in my crate (the perks of having a farm share from your parent's farm), I also took Eden on her first strawberry picking expedition on Sauvie Island. Looking for a good work out? Strawberry pick with an infant.

Anyway I was able to enjoy a lot of fresh strawberries this week.This Strawberry and Cream Oatmeal might be my new summer breakfast.

Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal

I made another attempt at my Neapolitan ice cream cake, but I'm still having problems with the chocolate layer's texture. Of course trial and error is never a bad thing when it ends in three layers of ice cream. Note the mint garnish from the CSA.

Neapolitan Ice Cream Cakes

With my remaining strawberries I removed the stems, washed, and froze them. Make sure to freeze berries in single layer on a cookie sheet and wait until completely frozen to bag them. Last year I was impatient and bagged up my raspberries too early and ended up with a brick of mushy berries in my freezer.

Okay moving on. Last week I learned that broccoli needs to be used up pretty fast so the day after picking up my crate I turned my broccoli and potatoes into broccoli quinoa fritters. It was a total experiment that turned out great!

Here's a quick summary with approximate amounts: 3 cups steamed and diced broccoli, two cups boiled and mashed potatoes, 2 cups cooked quinoa, 1/2 cup daiya "mozzarella" cheese (totally optional), 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix it all together in a bowl. Form patties with about 1/4 cup batter and cook on oiled skillet over medium heat for about 9 minutes both sides. Makes about 15 patties. Great with a bit of vegan sour cream and served over a bed of (buttercrisp) lettuce.

Broccoli Potato Pancakes

I was able to enjoy these fritters for most of my lunches this week by keeping the batter in the fridge and cooking up only a couple at a time.

What's left? The kale, fresh oregano, and onions were mostly used up on this tomato asparagus pizza. (I still have a couple onions left over.) The kale got all crispy in the oven and it was like eating kale chips on top of pizza...wonderful.

Asparagus, Kale, and Tomato Pizza

And because one pizza just wasn't enough, the next day I made another which turned into my favorite meal of the week: beet and cashew "goat cheese" pizza or as it was referred to by a reader "Beetza".

Roasted Beet and Cashew "goat cheeese" Pizza"

I will definitely be making this through out the summer.  and you should too! Here's the recipe.

This week was a lot of fun as I tried and enjoyed new things. I am amazed at how much easier it has been to be creative when ingredients are limited rather than the other way around.

Have you tried any new recipes lately? Do you have any seasonal vegetables you don't know how to use? This week I received some radicchio in my crate, a vegetable I have never used. We'll see what happens...