Crate Full of Veggies - week five

Happy Wednesday! I hope you all got a chance to try some new seasonal recipes this week. I enjoyed experimenting with some new foods as well as loving on the old.

My crate full of veggies

Strawberries and Marionberries

Romaine Lettuce

Arugula and Mustard Greens

Chard

Kale

Potatoes

Onions

Summer Squash

Zucchini

Lavender

Broccoli 

Cauliflower

Sugar and Snap Peas

Carrots

Marionberries, Lavender

Lavender Marionberry Pie

In honor of National Pie Week I enjoyed this Marionberry Pie which quickly became a big hit. Who doesn't want an individual pie served up in a mason jar?

Romaine Lettuce

Caesar Salad

I got into these (totally processed) vegan "chicken breasts" when I was pregnant and every once in awhile still get a craving.

Chard, Onions

Mushroom and Swiss Chard "Frittata"

This may have been the best frittata I have ever made. I changed my technique a little and the result: a melt in your mouth, savory, and surprisingly egg-like" frittata. Check out the recipe. 

Potatoes, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Onions

Cauliflower Broccoli Potato Hash

 Carrots, Summer Squash

Eden's first meals

In preparation for Eden turning 6 months (yikes!) I have been boiling, pureeing, and freezing some of the organic vegetables coming to us from the farm.

Kale, Mustard Greens, Arugula

Sauteed Greens and Tofu over Lentils with Mustard Tahini Sauce

Strawberries

Chocolate Strawberry Protein Smoothies

I drank these smoothies a lot when I was pregnant; a great way to begin the day with some chocolate and protein. Although with fresh Oregon Strawberries they are one million times better.

Zucchini

Chocolate Espresso Zucchini Cake

I made this cake again tonight at my parents house for Family Dinner. I added more zucchini, cut the oil in half, and tweaked a few more things. They turned into fudgy, chocolatey, heavenly brownies.

I ended the week with my snap and sugar peas, which I blanched and froze. Here's a tutorial for freezing sweet peas, a similar process to the snap and sugar peas (without the shelling).

There you have it. What seasonal dishes did you try this week?

Crate Full of Veggies - week three

It's time for another Crate Full of Veggies. But before we get started, let me remind you about my cookbook giveaway. That's right, one lucky reader will be gifted a copy of Hannah Kaminski's, Vegan a la Mode, a BRAND new cookbook with over 100 amazing looking frozen treats. If you haven't entered yet, do it!

Okay, you all entered? Good. Now we can talk about veggies. I had a great week with a lot of delicious, fresh meals and I didn't have to go grocery shopping even a little. Although, in the interest of full disclosure, we did eat pancake dinner twice in order to avoid the store but that's Jason's favorite dinner anyway, so we were both quite happy in the end.

In my crate this week:

Strawberries

Broccoli Florets

Red Fire Romaine Lettuce

Snow Peas

Snap Peas

Kale

Mustard Greens

Radicchio

Bunching Onions

Red New Potatoes

Dried Cayenne 

Thyme

The very first night I made Thai Green Curry using up all my broccoli and snow peas plus a few bunching onions from the week before. 

Thai Green Curry

I do it the easy way and buy my curry paste. This makes curry a very quick, simple meal. Just add a can of coconut milk, your veggies, bamboo shoots, and some Thai basil and you've got dinner.

The best thing about Thai Kitchen Curry Paste is the recipe right on the label. So if you are making curry for the first time, grab some paste and you have your cheat sheet right there among your ingredients.




Again I brought home lots and lots of strawberries. I froze almost all of them, enjoyed some of the fresh ones in my morning oatmeal, and turned the remaining berries into these:

Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Creamsicl

These creamsicles became a bit of a hit on the internet over the weekend which has given my blog a little extra attention, a thrill for a new blogger. Here's the recipe. If you try one summer recipe from my blog, make it this!

I had no idea how to use radicchio so I searched the web. I found this:  a whole slew of Martha Stewart's radicchio recipes! There were quite a few ideas and I settled on this one.

Radicchio and Endive Salad

I didn't have any endives but I added a few more bunching onions. I liked everything in the salad except the radicchio which was too bitter for my liking. Nonetheless, I was happy to try something new and glad to find Martha Stewart's radicchio recipes.

Later in the week we had a rare nice day (June in Portland) so we grilled some veggie burgers and enjoyed some kale chips alongside.

Veggie Burger and Kale Chips

Kale chips are fantastic, healthy, and totally satisfying. Toss the de-stemed kale in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 270 for about 25 minutes, turning over a few times.

I enjoyed many side salads this week using the romaine lettuce, mustard greens, and bunching onions.

And at the end of the week I had some potatoes, snap peas, and onions left. I added some carrots and cabbage and tossed the vegetable medley in olive oil, seasoned with salt, pepper, fresh thyme and rosemary and roasted the whole thing in the oven at 425 degrees F for about 35 minutes, until potatoes were tender.

Thyme and Rosemary Vegetable Roast

Well there you have it! How about you? Did you enjoy any seasonal meals this week? Did you try out any new vegetables? As always, I LOVE to hear from you.

A crate full of veggies - week two

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...

Roasted Beet and Cashew "goat cheese" Pizza

I love beets. It took me about 28 years to figure this out and then a couple years ago I was reintroduced. Oh how quickly I realized how foolish I'd been. So earthy and sweet, you can eat them with just about anything! So when last week I picked up my farm share and saw three beautiful magenta beets, my mind immediately began spinning around all my options. This is where it landed:

Beet and Cashew "goat cheese" Pizza
makes one large pizza

Cashew Cheese
note: a three-day process, plan ahead but don't be scared!
3/4 cup cashews, soaked overnight
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp tahini
1/2 tsp salt


Pizza
1 pizza dough, homemade or store bought
olive oil
1 medium leek, sliced
1/2 batch of cashew cheese
3 beets, including stems
freshly ground pepper
 
The Cashew Cheese:
Soak cashews in water over night. Drain and rinse with cold water. In a food processor blend together all the cheese ingredients until very smooth. Scoop onto a doubled-up cheese cloth, shape into an oval, securing the ends of the cheesecloth by twisting them tight, and set inside a large strainer or colander placed over a bowl. Allow to sit at room temperature over night.

The next day reshape cheese into a long, skinny log. Re-cover with the cheese cloth and bake at 200 degrees F for 30-40 minutes, until outside has formed a slight crust. Turn oven off and allow cheese to sit in oven for an additional hour. Remove and place in refrigerator to chill.

The Pizza:
First a word on pizza dough. Pizza used to be much rarer in my house. I know, very sad, right? I don't like store bought pre-made, pre-baked crust and I don't make time to make my own crust. Then I discovered fresh pizza dough. The dough is made and refrigerated which slows down the yeast, stopping it from over-proofing the dough without killing it all together. Then you can go home, let it finish rising and take control from there. So maybe y'all know about this fantastic pizza dough solution, but if any of you are late to the game like me, try it! You should be able find fresh pizza dough in the refrigerated section of a well-stocked grocery or health food store.

Alright back to the pizza. Prepare your dough (varies depending on the route you take). Brush with olive oil and set aside. Next we are going to roast the beets. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Wash and peel the beets. Thinly slice them and toss in small bowl with about a tbsp of olive oil. Spread onto a baking sheet and roast for about 15 minutes, until fragrant and tender. Meanwhile wash and chop the leafy greens of the beets and the leek.

When everything is ready assemble pizza.
Beets
Leeks
Cheese (teaspoon-sized crumbles)
Beet greens
Freshly ground pepper.

Pop it in the oven about 15 minutes, until crust is golden.
That might have seemed a bit laborious but if you have the cheese made in advance the rest of it goes very quickly. And it's worth it!

What is your favorite thing to make with beets? Were there any vegetables you disliked in childhood that you later discovered to be AWESOME?

Check back in tomorrow to discover what I did with the rest of my farm share!

A Crate Full of Veggies - Week One

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned adding a new component to The Sweet Life regarding my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share. Last Wednesday I picked up my first beautiful crate from Fern Creek Farm that was not only full of wonderful early summer vegetables but a tomato plant and a cookbook too! In the past when I've been part of CSAs I've struggled to wisely and entirely consume or preserve all of the goods. This year I made a challenge to use every last vegetable and share my progress along the way. Hopefully together we can share ideas, recipes, and preserving techniques throughout the season.

This is what I had my first week:

Blush Butter Cos Lettuce

Fire Red Romaine Lettuce

New Red Potatoes

Bunching Onions

Kohlrabi

Broccoli

Strawberries

Dinosaur and Curly Kale

Mustard Greens

Arugula

and this is what I did:

"Anything Goes" Salad

I made a bunch of salads similar to this one using up most the lettuce, arugula, mustard greens, onions and kohlrabi. I was pretty new to kohlrabi but found it extremely tasty sliced into these earthy summer salads. I intended to stir fry some of it I enjoyed it too much raw.

Lemon Garlic Quinoa & Kale Salad

I got this recipe off the Fern Creek Newsletter that came inside the crate. Check it out here. I enjoyed this salad  not only because it was tasty in a fresh, zesty, summery sort of way, but the quinoa base provided me enough protein and substance that it made a quick, simple, and healthful meal.

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

This Roasted Potato recipe also came from the CSA's newsletter.  It made a great side dish to my quinoa kale salad.

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake

 Oh fresh Oregon-grown strawberries, I love you. I had so much fun with strawberries this week that I'm taking a trip on Friday to a U-pick farm and stocking up. The Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake was an experiment that needs a little more experimenting but believe me you will be getting the recipe soon! The Strawberry Shortcakes were for this baby shower.  I used a basic vanilla cupcake recipe, whipped coconut cream, and sugar sliced strawberries. I use the same technique here as for my chocolate strawberry parfaits. The key when making these cupcakes is to cut out the middle and fill it with strawberries to create delight in every bite.

Tempeh Tuna Salad

I used up the last of my onions and lettuce in this Tempeh Tuna Salad. This was also for the baby shower and was a big hit!

Quinoa Stir Fry with Ginger Peanut Sauce

I finished off my crate at dinner tonight by using up my broccoli. I made a quinoa stir fry with baked tofu and a ginger peanut sauce. I will work on getting this recipe up soon.

Do you have a CSA share? What fun things are you doing with your vegetables?