What I'm Eating Now

Even if you aren't a member of a CSA, the meal plans and written or linked recipes that will be the focus of my reinvigorated blog can still be of interest because the vegetables referenced will be seasonal and should be readily available at good prices at most grocery stores (though seasonal fruits and veggies do vary in accordance with geography).

Key items in this week's box (for those of you that don't also receive a box from Abundant Harvest Organics) are: broccoli, cauliflower, arugula, spinach, carrots, potatoes (Idaho and Sweet). There were other goodies, too, but I'm just listing the stars that I'm focusing on this week.

Here's a list of the recipes on the menu for the next week or so. Subsequent blogs will provide more details (and maybe even photos) of recipes, particularly those without links.

Cauliflower & Sausage Casserole (a blog on Cauliflower is definitely coming soon. It's a great ingredient - and a wonderful carb substitute.)

Sweet Potato and Kale Pizza - the recipe references kale, but given our box I'm going to do some with arugula and some with Spinach. I'm also making mine mini pizzas, instead of a big pizza, because I have pita that needs to get used.

Potato Salad with Arugula and Herbs - I always have plain yogurt on hand, so this recipe was naturally attractive. I'm not using dill, but might use mint or just not include an herb. Sandwiches have been a common lunch meal in our house, so this potato salad will be a perfect side dish.

Penne with Spinach Sauce - I was going to try Jaime Oliver's Creamed Spinach recipe, but then realized I had absentmindedly boiled some penne. Oops. So, I'm going to do this pasta dish instead, adjusting the sauce a lot based on the ingredients I have on hand.

White Bean and Radicchio Gratin (I still have radicchio leftover from a previous box) - details coming soon.

Ethiopian Stew - I still have turnips from a previous box and plan on adding my rutabaga in with this. I'll be making major spice adjustments to fit what I have on hand and won't be including the leeks, so I'll let you know how it turns out.

I hope these recipes are helpful. I'm sure I'll also make stir fry one night as it is one my favorite ways to use broccoli. I'll also report back on which items the 2 year-old will actually eat. I know his favorite items from the box will be the pears and oranges. He LOVES fruit. I'll take it!

Avoiding Food Waste and Making Soup

According to some studies, on average, homes generate 474 pounds of food waste each year in America. That's a lot when people are starving here in America and in other countries.

I find that taking stock of the fridge, not going crazy at the grocery store, and cooking with what you have make a big difference. (My blog recipes are definitely based on what I have and I will make the same dish in different varieties based on what I need to use up). Sharing is also a great idea. I used to have a huge problem with produce going bad, but now I just share my produce if I think I won't be able to use it up. I've also discovered that when it comes to using up ingredients - soups are your best friend.

Here's my latest two soups both inspired by the contents of my fridge. Also, you don't have to eat all of the soup once you make it. You can freeze some for later, which I often do.

Soup #1 - Taco Soup

I had lots of leftovers from a taco bar we did at work, and I was leaving town and couldn't eat another taco, so I made taco soup using:

• Ground Turkey (seasoned with taco seasoning) - probably had 1/2 a package of cooked ground turkey left
• Black beans (seasoned with taco seasoning) - probably had 1/2 a can left
• Diced tomatoes (probably 1/2 cup)
• Frozen corn (between 1/2 and 1 full cup)
  
• Frozen tri-colored bell peppers (probably 1/2 cup)
• Canned tomatoes (with sauce) -- I diced them myself (I had used half of one large can of tomatoes in a soup the week before and the other half was in the fridge)
• 1/4 of a jar of salsa
• Vegetable stock (as needed to get the soup consistency that you want) - you could use water, if you don't have vegetable stock (if you use water, you may want to add more seasoning, though mine was seasoned perfectly with the taco seasoning that was on the beans and meat and the salsa)

Note: Of course you can omit meat and add more beans for a vegetarian version

The preparation was very simple -- aside from chopping the tomatoes, all I did was dump all of the leftovers into the crock pot along with the frozen items and turn the crock pot to high, stirring upon occasion. Perfect cooking style for someone with a 5 month old.

When you serve it, you can add shredded cheese, crushed chips, sour cream or avocado/guac if you have any left from your Mexican/Taco Fiesta.

This soup kicked ass! It was definitely one of my favorites. I didn't end up freezing any because I liked it so much that I ate it all before I left town. Thus, I avoided food waste and saved my self some money. Win. Win.

Soup #2 - "Miso" (sort of)

I made this soup this morning. I have a great miso paste that a friend gave me and I had some vegetable stock (that I had previously made) in the fridge, as well as some other veggies that were just taking up too much space, so I consolidated and my miso had:

• Tofu (about 1/4 of a package browned in a pan with peanut oil and soy sauce)
• Edamame (1/4 cup)
  
• Mushrooms (1/4 cup previously cooked with olive oil and garlic)
• Broccoli (I only had about 6 pieces of broccoli left and it was raw)

That's it. If I had green onion, I definitely would have added it. The mistake was adding the edamame -- it didn't really work out so well. The mushrooms were great, though.

Preparation -- again, simple. I put the veg stock in a pot and dumped in all of the vegetables and add in two solid tablespoons of miso paste. While I was bringing that up to a boil, I browned the tofu, dumped it in and let everything simmer. Then, I enjoyed the soup for lunch.

With both soups, these are suggestions -- see what you need to use up and create your own soup. Let me know how it goes!

In This Week's Lunchbox: Pasta Salad

Coming soon - Roasted Carrot Soup (it's delicious. I made it this morning for tonight) and maybe another cookie recipe.

Those of you who follow or check in on this new blog frequently will notice that there was no lunchbox posting last week. That's because I didn't get around to making anything, but had a pre-made herb salad mix (with goat cheese, plum tomatoes and slices of salami added in), tuna (just straight out of the pouch with nothing added -- that was a busy day), and a subway veggie sub.

This week, I'm back on track with one of my favorite pasta salads (of course one that doesn't use mayo -- I despise mayo). It may not be that pretty, but it is simple and good.

Ingredients:

• 1 box/package tri-colored rotini pasta
• Carrots, Broccoli and Cauliflower - I used one of those pre-made bags as there was an organic bag of these 3 veggies already chopped and packaged together on sale for $1.50 at my grocery store. (Of course you can always buy them separately and then chop -- if you do so, you need about 1/2 head of broccoli and 1/4 head of cauliflower plus some baby carrots, maybe 1/4 of a small bag or even a bit less)
• Parsley, chopped of course (just enough to add some flavor, but not overpower)
• Olive Oil
• Ranch Dressing Dip Mix (just the mix or Italian Dressing Mix or put together your own Italian Spices/Seasonings together for it)

Preparation:

1. Cook the pasta and immediately after run under cool water

2. Chop vegetables (if needed)

3. Mix together the pasta and vegetables

4. Drizzle with olive oil, parsley and dressing mix of choice -- add the dressing mix in little by little and taste so that it doesn't overpower everything else. Toss together and enjoy.

Yep - it's that simple, but once the pasta salad chills, I always find it to be quite good. Some additions that I suggest from past experience include: tomatoes and mozzarella or parmesan cheese. You could also add basil instead of parsley.

One another note -- the winter vegetable "chorizo" soup I made last week got more and more delicious and I think I ended up having it for dinner 3-4 nights and it was wonderful each time.