Berries,
black caps,
Broccoli,
Corn-Free,
CSA,
Dairy-free,
Kale,
Little Kids in the Kitchen,
Summer,
Vegan,
Wheat-free,
Zucchini
Full CSA Share Week 3: ALL THE BROCCOLI AND KALE!
7:49 AM
So, this was a lost week. Well, maybe not entirely lost, but entirely not planned. I DID end up making Vegan broccoli and cheese bake, which I will share my recipe for because it came out wonderfully.
Here's the photo from Week #3 CSA share:
Here's the photo from Week #3 CSA share:
In this box you're seeing 1 HUGE kale, 2 heads of broccoli, 1 quart mixed snap and snow peas, 2 quarts of cherries, 1/2 pint of raspberries (you don't actually see them b/c they didn't make it home from pickup... the kids ate them in the back of the car), 2 heads of red leaf lettuce, and 4 medium-sized zucchini.
On top of this, we picked up a HUGE watermelon and a cantaloupe from the grocery store. And about 1 quart of blackcaps daily. We had family in town this weekend unexpectedly and had a picnic version of Sunday dinner. That took care of a good amount of lettuce, most of the watermelon, and a quart of cherries.
The reason for the unexpected family visit was that Grandma (Ur Oma) was hospitalized after having a mini-stroke. She's stabilized now, but somebody had to clean out her refrigerator, and pick her raspberries and rhubarb so that they didn't go to waste.
WELL! On top of what I've just described, we received:
1 large package of store-bought snowpeas
1/2 package of mini bell-peppers
1 quart blueberries
2 lbs Driscolls Strawberries
3 Romaine hearts
1/2 Gallon Bag full of Rhubarb
1 pint of raspberries (disappeared instantly, again)
Um. Yeah. So THIS is why I haven't written about anything yet this week. I've been busy.
And here's what I did with everything:
We had this much Kale and no room left in the refrigerator.
I had to reduce the volume and was just sick of seeing kale in the refrigerator. So what better way than to make kale chips?! I rinsed them, chopped them up in 1 inch pieces, massaged them with olive oil and salt and tamari, spread them on a baking sheet and baked them at 250 f for 10 minutes on each side. My husband and I ate ALL this kale in 2 days. Aaaand haven't noticed any side effects ;-)
Next I addressed what I viewed as a "pea issue".
There was 1.5 weeks worth of leftover peas in the fridge along with the store bought ones we inherited. Some of the CSA peas were tender and yummy in their pods. Some were older and needed to be shucked. I took all of them, sorted them, washed them, and shucked the old ones.
I put the shucked peas in a pretty glass bowl and gave them to my eldest daughter. She ate them all in one sitting while watching her afternoon cartoons.
The peas that were left in the pods I made into a quick stirfry with olive oil, 1 tsp garlic powder, and salt to taste. These were good both hot from the pan and chilled the next day on a salad.
I then put the blueberries and blackcaps out on the table to be snacked on and I also brought a good amount of fruit (berries and cherries) to Ur Oma at the hospital. She really enjoyed it!
The Strawberries hold FOREVER in the fridge (i don't know why...but they do) so we've been eating them as snacks when we think of it. Same goes for the mini-bell peppers. The extra blackcaps have been frozen in batches for jam and wine.
I took one of the Romaine hearts and sliced it in half, drizzled honey-balsamic dressing on it, and grilled it up to go with our dinner a few nights ago. There are still 2 hearts left, but they keep pretty well so I'm not overly concerned.
My husband took the Rhubarb and made a Rhubarb Cake.
Then he took 2 of the Zucchini and made Zucchini Bread.
And that just leaves the Broccoli.
At this point, we had 2 weeks (4 heads) worth of broccoli. I just used the recipe for Veggie Pasta Bake but instead of multiple veggies and pasta, I used 100% Broccoli. LOL. It was really good.
And THAT was week #3. We get a new CSA bin in 2 days! :-)
black berries,
black caps,
bread,
Corn-Free,
Dairy-free,
foraging,
from scratch,
harvest,
Paleo Soup,
Pureed Soup,
Shortcake,
slow food,
Summer,
whole foods,
Whole grain,
Zucchini,
Zucchini Soup
And, Just Like That, Harvest Season Is Upon Us. OMG Zucchini and Blackberries!
12:14 PM
Starting at around the 4th of July, our wild black raspberries were ripening. The bushes have been yielding a bit more than a quart every-other-day and we've been gorging on them, and filling the freezer with the rest. I plan on making wine, and jam as I have in the past, and they're also fantastic with
(soy)icecream or used instead/alongside strawberries over shortcake.
I'll include the wine and jam recipes as I get around to them.
Another garden staple around here has been zucchini! If you've ever grown this vegetable, or know anyone who does, you know that once they start producing, LOOK OUT because they'll take over your entire kitchen! There's never a shortage around here despite the fact that I haven't actually grown any for the last few years. I got a bagful at the farmer's market for .75 each and have been playing happily ever since.
So far I have made zucchini soup, zucchini bread, sliced zucchini on the grill, zucchini in kabobs, and sausage/zucchini pizza on the grill. The recipes for soup and bread are designed specifically to use up zucchini. Like, those HUGE ones you can't figure out what else to do with!
(soy)icecream or used instead/alongside strawberries over shortcake.
Another garden staple around here has been zucchini! If you've ever grown this vegetable, or know anyone who does, you know that once they start producing, LOOK OUT because they'll take over your entire kitchen! There's never a shortage around here despite the fact that I haven't actually grown any for the last few years. I got a bagful at the farmer's market for .75 each and have been playing happily ever since.
Ur-Oma's Zucchini Soup
modified so it's Paleo!
3 lbs chopped zucchini (or a bit more)
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 lb chopped bacon
2 cloves chopped garlic *or 1 garlic scape, if you can get one*
Seasalt to taste
black pepper to taste
*garlic scapes are a little past prime this time of year. I got a dozen of HUGE tough/almost woody ones from the market for $1.00. They're great for pickling and that's what I'm intending them for in the next few days. I used a scape in this soup recipe, and then had to strain it out at the end before serving*
In a large pot, combine all the ingredients and bring to a boil at medium heat. When the zucchini are fork tender, remove the garlic scape, and puree the soup in batches. Serve with crusty garlic bread and enjoy!!
This recipe could easily be doubled if you really REALLY want to use up some zucchini, and it freezes beautifully.
Zucchini then proceeded to made it's way into our dessert on Sunday night. The kids LOVE this bread!
OMG What Do I Do With This HUGE Zucchini ?! Bread
3 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup honey
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup olive oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 tsp lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350 f. combine eggs, oil, water, zucchini, cinnamon, honey, sugar, and lemon juice.
Mix wet ingredients into the remaining dry ingredients.
Bake in 2 seperate loaf pans that have been well oiled and floured.
Bake for 1 hour, or until a knife comes out clean.
This recipe can easily be doubled as well and freezes nicely.
Enjoy!
