Week Two Continued: Strawberries, Greens, and Garlic Scapes

My head has been spinning with ideas these past two days as I try to ensure I use all the items I received on Friday before they spoil.  Saturday night's Zucchini Mushroom Tacos with Chorizo (plus a margarita or two) left Paul and I way too full to enjoy the strawberries for dessert, but I knew I needed to use them ASAP or they'd end up in the compost bin.  Sunday morning is usually pancake morning at our house, and I figured I could just throw the strawberries on top.  As I made the coffee that morning, I noticed a french baguette that was going stale and french toast popped into my head.  I couldn't remember the last time I made french toast, nor did I have a recipe, so I created this milk-free french toast recipe that was a huge hit at our house.  Regular, soy, or almond milk would work just fine in this recipe.  Feel free to add some fresh whipped cream or powdered sugar as well.

Easy Vanilla French Toast with Strawberries

1 french baguette
1 1/2 cups rice milk
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 quart of strawberries (any berry or combination of berries would work)
sugar
maple syrup

Hull and slice strawberries.  Sprinkle with sugar if they need a little extra sweetness.  Set aside.

Slice the baguette thick on a diagonal (you should have 10-12 slices).  Combine milk, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl.  Add the baguette slice to the bowl and allow to soak, turning occaisonally for five minutes. 

Heat a large skillet coated with cooking spray (butter or oil would work as well) over medium heat.  Add 4-5 baguette slices to the pan and cook on one side until golden, about 5 minutes.  Flip and finish cooking.  Repeat with remaining baguette slices.  Top with a generous amount of strawberries and serve with maple syrup.

Later that afternoon I noticed that the two huge bunches of beautiful spinach were beginning to wilt and I knew I needed to use them for that night's dinner.  This was a hearty, thick spinach that reminded me more of heavier greens like kale.  After frying some bacon in a heavy pot, I cooked a diced onion in the grease, then added the chopped spinach to the pot with a half cup of chicken stock.  After the spinach wilted, I added a little salt and pepper, then crumbled the bacon back into the pot.  Mmmmm. You really can never go wrong with bacon. I served the spinach alongside the chicken bratwurst and some smashed redskin potatoes with some finely chopped garlic scapes (Thanks for the idea, Scott).

Speaking of the garlic scapes, I could not get the idea of grilling them out of my mind.  I also received some green onions that I was dying to grill, so tonight I grilled a pork tenderloin and attempted to grill the scapes and green onions with it.  I say "attempt" because I ran out of propane while everything was cooking. Oops. Fortunately the grill was hot enough to finish cooking the pork, and although the scapes and onions didn't get as charred as I would have liked, both were delicious.  The onions became almost sweet as they cooked, and the garlic scapes mellowed a bit but still had that garlicky bite. 

After all this cooking, I still have a number of items left:  spelt berries, fresh pasta, tomatoes, eggs, and the rest of the chorizo.  I'm working on a sweet potato hash recipe with the rest of the chorizo and the eggs, and if I can find fresh peas, I have a terrific recipe for a fresh pasta dish.  I'll keep ya posted... Pin It