I see now that I wrote about my projects last week, but failed to explain what was in our CSA box.   Well, we got 1 bunch beets, 1 bunch radishes, 2 quarts sour cherries, 1 pint blueberries, 1 pint wax beans, 3 cucumbers, 3 small zucchini, and  a head of red leaf lettuce.

We'll start with the beets.  I separated the greens from the roots and will be making roasted pickled beets ala Alton Brown's recipe . I usually fiddle with recipes and make them my own, but this one is SO GOOD that you'll eat the whole jar in one sitting.  Trust me.

The beet greens were stored in the refrigerator and later chopped and sauteed along with chopped swiss chard, bacon, salt and pepper, and a sweet onion.  We ate this with a loaf of crusty bread and it was a perfect light dinner on a 90 degree day!



At this point, I actually had 2 bunches of radishes waiting to be eaten.  I did a separate post dedicated to this because I came up with a radish salad idea that takes the bite out of radishes. And I was PROUD of it!




The blueberries were eaten before the day was out.

The sour cherries were pitted and made into Blackcap/Sour cherry wine (it's still bubbling on the counter!).  

I made the wax beans plus about a quart of green beans from my Mom's garden into Dilly Beans!   I wait all year to make these!

The cucumbers were eaten whole by my husband and kids.

The lettuce was washed, chopped and kept in a bag in the refrigerator for easy green salad making.

AND the zucchini will be grilled tonight in oil and garlic to go alongside some BBQ chicken.

ENJOY!!

OH MY GOODNESS!   The Holidays are OVER!   Time to get back on track.  Lately I've been filling my refrigerator with some gorgeous, vegan, wholegrain and bean salads.  Getting veggies back in our diet was really important after an entire 2 months of fatty, starchy, sugary celebration during the Holidays.

We actually started right after Christmas, by making and serving a bunch of yummy grain and veggie salads for our New Years Eve dinner get-together.  They were a hit with kids and adults alike.

We ran into 2 issues last weekend 1) It's STILL cold outside and 2) there was no room in the freezer for the stuff we bought for our 1st barbeque of the year.   So, I purged the freezer and found 3 chicken carcasses to make stock and a great big ham bone left over from Easter.



Good thing I have more than one stockpot!

As much an I hate to admit it, my shivering body is telling me that it's still soup season, regardless of what the calendar is telling me.  This recipe for white bean, kale, and ham soup holds a special place in my heart.  The first time I came up with the idea was when I was pregnant with my first daughter and feeling more than a little morning (all day) sickness. The sweetness of the ham and the texture of the beans were apparently just right and this soup was the only thing I could stomach for about 2 weeks straight right around Easter time that year.