Monday
Okay, here's my confession. I love vegetables. I love trying all the new things that come in our CSA box. But beets - I'm not a huge fan of beets. I tried them last year. I got excited about them in this roasted beet and goat cheese salad. I tried to duplicate that excitement by making that salad again this week, but I just wasn't over-the-moon about them. A good salad, yes, but I think I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm not a beet-lover.
Tuesday
When my friend Jeremy posting that he was making kohlrabi potato salad, I immediately asked for the recipe. He responded with the following:
Okay. So dice both the potatoes (I used yellow from a farmer's market) and the kohlrabi. Drizzle both with olive oil and toss the whole mess with garlic, salt and pepper. Roast at 475 for about 45 minutes, tossing every so often.Then, throw in some mustard (I used a tablespoon or so) and some mayo. I then threw in some season salt, onion powder, etc.
This potato salad really hit the spot. Ben and I ate so many of the roasted veggies right out of the oven that I feared we wouldn't have enough for the salad. But once the salad was made, I could have had eaten the whole bowl. Maybe it was the chives from my dad's garden that I topped it with, but I ate so much of this that I almost didn't have room for the buffalo burger that we paired with it. We bought our buffalo meat at the Madison Farmers' Market. If you've never had buffalo before, it's a wonderfully lean meat. If you don't have a local producer of buffalo, you might look for Golden Bison products. A little bird tells me that they are now available at Costco.
Wednesday
Oh. my. gawd. Have you ever made something, taken a bite, and said, "Seriously? I made this? This is outstanding! This is like something you would eat in a restaurant. Like a really *good* restaurant." This rainbow chard and mushroom sandwich made me say just that. This is a simply seasoned dish that tastes incredible. I used baby bella mushrooms. And that beautiful baguette you see? Yup. I made that. Okay, sorry, I'm getting a little cocky. On the side we had sauteed turnips and garlic scapes, which were also delightful (Ben gave them a big thumbs up).
Thursday
This simple broccoli fried rice is a great weeknight meal. The fresh broccoli made this dish outstanding.
This simple dish meant that I could focus instead on preparing a batch of cherry mojitos for a girls' night. This drink requires a ridiculous amount of prep, but it is soooo worth it. Sorry the photo is a bit scary...I'm still playing around with the settings on the digital camera.
FridayWhen Ben saw a recipe for creamed peas and potatoes in our CSA newsletter, he turned to me and asked, "Can we please make these?" He has fond memories of his great-grandmother making a similar dish and has talked about them longingly more than once. I'd never had such a dish, but I was game, and in the end, I had one happy farm boy on my hands. He kept saying, "These are good. They are sooo good."
We paired the side dish with one of my childhood favorites. These meatloaf "muffins" from Cooking Light reminded me a lot of my mom's but had the added bonus of more vegetables in the mix. As we ate, Ben said, "You know, I feel like one of those judges on Top Chef, but it's like you've taken this traditional meal and but a new twist on it." Two things I like about this statement - he liked the meal, and he *is* paying attention when I make him watch Top Chef.
Etc, Etc
For my lunches this week, I made this black bean hummus. I love the southwest flavors in this, and paired with CSA radishes, carrots, and multi-grain tortilla chips from Trader Joe's, it made a easy and delightful lunch.
Have you ever ran across a recipe that was so weird that you had to try it? I've been having a lot of smoothies for breakfast, and when I saw this recipe for a green monster on Iowa Girl Eats, I just had to try it. It's a smoothie with a couple handfuls of spinach in it. That's right - spinach. It sounds totally odd, but you really can't taste the spinach; you just get all the important nutrients it has to offer. It actually doesn't have a really strong taste at all, but I found as I made more of these they grew on me. They're a light and filling breakfast with lots of things I know are good for me. So if you are feeling adventurous, you might want to try one too.
Finally, we're starting to harvest more things from our garden! Is there anything more beautiful than the first tomato of the year?
Or these wonderful looking peas?
1 comment:
I LOVE creamed peas and potatoes! I thought my family was the only one in the world who made them! (And, I also made them last week!)
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