Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Week 5

Week 5:
  • Basil
  • Braising mix
  • Cucumber
  • Garlic scapes
  • Lettuce
  • Radishes
  • Sugar snap peas
  • Snow peas
  • Tatsoi (that's a new one! what is it?)
RECIPES:
Grilled Halibut with Tatsoi and spicy Thai chiles
- tatsoi and I'm going to substitute radishes for the carrots
Garlic Scape Pesto
- garlic scapes
Chili, Lemon, and Basil Shrimp with Israeli Couscous
- basil
Chicken with sugar snap peas and spring herbs
- sugar snap peas
Lamb pitas (recipe below)
- cucumber, lettuce
Cashew chicken (recipe below)
- snow peas

Lamb pitas
This recipe comes from Susie's meat at the farmer's market - go get some of her delicious gyro meat, you won't regret it!

5 large pita breads
1 pound Susie's gyro meat
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Tzatziki sauce (recipe follows)
1 large tomato, sliced thin
2 cups shredded lettuce
2 ounces Goatsbeard farm feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 red onion, chopped
1. Heat oven to 350. Tear one pita into 1 inch pieces. You will need 3/4 cup pita pieces. Stack remaining pitas and tightly wrap with aluminum foil. Shred pita pieces or process inf ood processor until crumbs. Add lamb to crumbs and mix with hands until thoroughly combined. Divide mixture into 12 equal pieces and roll into balls. Gently flatten balls into round disks, about 1/2 inch thick and 2 1/2 inches in diameter.
2. Place foil wrapped pitas directly on oven rack and heat for 1- minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in 12 inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add patties and cook until well browned and crust forms, 2-3 minutes. Flip patties, reduce heat to medium, and cook until well browned and crust forms on second side, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer patties to paper towel-lined plate.
3. Spread 1/4 cup Tzatziki sauce inside each pita. Divide patties evenly among pitas; top each sandwich with tomato, onion, 1/2 cups shredded lettuce, and 2 tablespoons feta.

Tzatziki Sauce
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt or regular yogurt
1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced finely (about 1/2 cup)
3/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint or dill (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)

1. Line fine-mesh strainer set over deep container with triple layer of paper towels or cheese cloth. Spoon yogurt into lined strainer, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Combine cucumber, 1/8 teaspoon salt and lemon juice in colander. Set over bowl and let stand 30 minutes.
3. Discard drained liquid from yogurt. Combine thickened yogurt, drained cucumber, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, garlic and mint in clean bowl.

Cashew Chicken
This recipe comes from a cookbook my elementary school put together!

1 pound boneless chicken breast, sliced
1 T flour
1/3 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 t sugar
3 T oyster sauce
2 cups snow peas
2 T oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup cashews
3 scallions, cut into 3 inch lengths
Cilantro for garnish

In a large bowl, mix chicken, flour, salt, pepper, sugar and 2 tablespoons oyster sauce. Set aside for 10 minutes. Trim snow peas. Wash and drain thoroughly. Heat oil until hot in a large frying pan. Add garlic and onion, and stir fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in chicken and cashews and continue to stir fry until light caramel brown, about 10 minutes. Add scallions and snow peas and stir fry for 2 minutes longer. Pour in remaining oyster sauce, stir quickly to coat ingredients, then remove immediately from heat. Transfer chicken to a serving dish and garnish with sprigs of cilantro. Sprinkle with ground black pepper and serve with rice.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Week 4

Week 4:
  • Asparagus
  • Basil
  • Broccoli
  • Butter head lettuce
  • Garlic scapes
  • Napa cabbage
  • Peas
  • Radishes
  • Romaine lettuce

RECIPES:
Quinoa primavera
- peas, asparagus
Beef tataki
- radishes
Chopped miso salad
- cabbage
Shrimp & penne
- basil
Garlic Scape Soup from "Super Natural Cooking" by Heidi Swanson (page 146)
- garlic scapes

I'm going to make an herb roasted whole chicken (you can get a whole chicken from Pierpont) and serve the broccoli on the side, then use the left over shredded chicken in the quinoa primavera with the peas and asparagus!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Week 3


Week 3:
  • Asparagus
  • Radishes
  • Swiss chard
  • Arugula
  • Salad mix
  • Some other greens
  • Broccoli
RECIPES:
Fusilli with Italian Sausage & Arugula
- arugula
Wok seared chicken tenders with asparagus and pistachios
- asparagus
Garlic Soba Noodles
- radishes, Swiss chard
Green salad with walnut oil, celery, and radishes
- lettuce mix, radishes
Roasted broccoli with saffron lime butter
- broccoli

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Week 2

Week 2:
  • Radishes
  • Strawberries
  • Bok choy
  • Baby lettuce mix
  • Spicy greens mix
  • Head lettuce
  • Napa cabbage
  • Arugula

RECIPES:
Cabbage and radish slaw with peanut dressing
-radishes, Napa cabbage
Pork and bok choy stir fry
- bok choy
Goat cheese arugula pizza
- arugula (and make your own whole wheat pizza crust!)
Spicy greens with warm balsamic vinaigrette
- spicy greens mix
Meyer lemon spring salad with baby lettuce, herbs, almonds, and goat cheese
- lettuce mix
Strawberry ice cream with cocao nibs
- strawberries

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Week 1: the first and the last


Today is a very exciting day - not only is it the first pick up of the CSA season but it is also my last day of surgery! I am just not cut out for the OR. I am meant to be in the clinic talking to people all day and delivering a baby now and then. Plus, the hours were so bad these last two months I have hardly cooked (and sometimes hardly eaten) at all and I miss it so much. I am happy to get back into the kitchen and back to eating better. The other exciting thing about the end of surgery is that it marks the beginning of my fourth, and last, year of medical school. This is going to be a good season!

Week 1:
  • D'Avignon French Radishes
  • Red Choy Bok Choy
  • Mixed Baby Lettuces
  • Arugula
  • Pea Shoots
  • Garlic Scallions
  • Strawberries
RECIPES:
Spring salad with radishes and pumpkin seeds
- baby lettuce, arugula, pea shoots, radishes
Baby bok choy with sweet chili sauce and garlic
- bok choy
Strawberry arugula salad with ricotta
- strawberries, arugula

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

It's the final countdown!

One week until our first CSA pickup of the season!!!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Preparing for the new season: Part 6

Composting!

Even when you store all your food properly to prolong freshness, plan your meals to use all your food resourcefully, and minimize food waste by preserving you will still find yourself with food scraps from preparation and the occasional limp vegetable forgotten in the back of the fridge. So what better way to not waste these either by turning the trash of today into your food of tomorrow by creating some fabulous compost!

This book is a quick and easy read and is a great place to start: Worms Eat my Garbage by Mary Appelhof

I do a lazy man's version of worm composting. I made my own box out of a large Tupperware container that I drilled holes in for ventilation. Then I made some bedding for my worms, primarily out of newspaper, as outlined in "Worms eat my garbage." Then I bought some worms online (they came in the mail!) and now I just throw my food scraps in there. It has been quite low maintenance and has worked great.


This is a picture of my homemade system from when I was setting it up. That is a big ball of worms in the middle!

Of course you can get much fancier and buy vermicomposting systems online or make elaborate backyard composting systems - it is all about what works for you!

Check out some online resources about vermicomposting:
Worm composting
More worm composting


Or if you live in Columbia, MO you can attend a free composting workshop

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Preparing for the new season: Part 5

Preserving food!


Sometimes you just can't eat everything you get in one week while it is fresh. Not to mention, that you will also want to enjoy some of this delicious food in the middle of winter. Below are some links I've posted in the past about preserving food in addition to a few new ones. I'd like to learn more about canning but most likely will not as I a) am lazy, b) generally do not like the taste of canned food, and c) like any good medical student, am terrified of botulism and doubt my ability to can properly (see point a) to prevent it.

How to freeze fruits & vegetables
Home canning
Home canning, freezing and drying
Fruit leather recipe
Preserves
Tomato sauce
Roasted Red Peppers
Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Pumpkin puree

New links:
Drying herbs
Guide to freezing fresh produce
Homemade Bouillon

More awesome ideas:
50 ways to never waste food again

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Preparing for the new season: Part 4

Keeping your food fresh!


Being a part of a CSA means you are going to get a lot of fresh food all at once, but you can't eat it all right then - you've got to spread it out over the week and you will be very sad if your asparagus goes limp! Here are a few useful links I've found about storing vegetables and keeping things fresh:

Quick and easy pdf file on how to store fruits and vegetables
Storing vegetables
More elaborate guidelines for storing fruits and vegetables
More good ideas for storing vegetables

I'm also going to buy a salad spinner for this year since everything usually keeps better and prepares better when dry and it is hard to dry lettuce without one. I've also thought about getting some of the reusable vegetable storage bags. I don't know too much about them, but they don't cost much so it might be worth trying at least once.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Preparing for the new season: Part 3

Using your weekly share to plan your meals!
Like I mentioned before, I used to cook by finding a recipe and then go get the ingredients to make that recipe but now with a CSA, my ingredients come first, then it is up to me to figure out what to do with them - which is really a lot more fun! And it can actually make meal planning a lot easier by giving you a framework on which to build your menu for the week. This is how I plan my meals each week, which is still a work in progress and I still have a lot more to learn, but here it is anyway. First, I survey the vegetables I got for the week, for example:
basil, chard, cucumber, delicata squash, garlic, green beans, lettuce, mustard greens, tomatoes, turnips, zucchini

Then I usually think of something I might be craving that might could be made with one or some of those ingredients, like tabbouleh for example:
- that uses tomatoes, basil, and garlic - how convenient! Then perhaps I'll search through my seasonal cookbooks for inspiration or search some of my favorite recipe websites (see the links in the right column) by ingredient and find more recipes that use multiple ingredients like stuffed roasted delicata squash that uses both chard and the squash. Don't forget about other ingredients that you may have to buy at the grocery store or at the farmers market for your recipes. If one recipe calls for goat cheese but you won't use up the whole container in that one recipe, find another way to incorporate the leftovers into your meals for the week so you don't forget about it and let it go to waste (like you would ever forget about such a delicious thing!). And if there is a certain ingredient like asparagus or basil, that looses its freshness the quickest, be sure to eat it first. We'll discuss storing and keeping foods fresh later. Also, this is a chance to get creative - your vegetables may come with things you're not used to - like the greens still attached to your radishes.
So then you come up with things like radish top soup!

The basic idea is to eat as many of your vegetables while they're still fresh, minimize your purchasing of supplemental ingredients, and to not waste anything. Meal planning with the CSA is fun - it is kind of like a logic puzzle to figure out the best way to use your share while getting to eat delicious meals along the way - which is way better than normal logic puzzles that generally do not involve food. So think logically, plan ahead, and find good resources to help you but also listen to your cravings, get creative, and try some new things! Here's another link for some more takes on meal planning:

More meal planning strategies
which is also the place where I got the image at the top of this post from :)