Week 4: Bag Contents & Meal Plan

I have to admit, part of me breathed a sigh of relief when I read what to expect in this week's CSA bag.  A lot less leafy greens, finally some fruit, and tons of great veggies for quick and easy meals requiring little to no cooking during what promises to be a very hot week.

Small bag contents:
-1 quart of yogurt
-1 pt of black raspberries
-6 ct peaches
-1 package Italian Sausage links, 1.25 lbs
-2 ct zucchini
-1 bunch radishes
-1 head green leaf lettuce
-1 bunch kale

Large bag additions:
-1 head kohlrabi
-1 red bulb onion
-1.5 lbs hoophouse tomatoes
-2 ct cucumbers
-1 head broccoli
-1 jar strawberry basalmic sauce

For those followers who are new subscribers to Fresh Fork, this yogurt will not be like any yogurt you buy from the store.  As Trevor describes in the newsletter, it is VERY runny.  There are no thickeners, no stabilizers, just cultured milk.  It's an excellent, high-quality yogurt, but I do not like to eat it as I would typical yogurt (mixed with fruit and a drizzle of honey).  It is, however, a perfect yogurt for making my favorite muesli recipe (I'll use my raspberries & peaches in this!), or to use in smoothies or smoothie popsicles.  I also may try baking with it as the people of Fresh Fork suggest, possibly substituting it for buttermilk in my favorite Sunday morning pancakes or whole wheat oat muffins.

Our city's annual four-day Independence Day celebration starts this weekend, and I'm sure we'll indulge in some carnival food while joining in the festivities in the evening (yes, I do enjoy the occasional onion ring or funnel cake!), so I tried to keep my meal plan simple and flexible.

Thursday - Out of town
Friday - Blackbean & Veggie Quesadillas
Saturday - California Sandwiches
Sunday - Sausage Risotto with Kale (modified from the cooking light recipe) OR Grilled Sausages with Kale Chips; Zucchini Chile Cheddar Mash
Monday - B.L.T.s; Kohlrabi Slaw
Tuesday - Broccoli Quiche with Brown Rice Crust; Tomato & cucumber salad
Wednesday - Happy Independence Day!  Smoked Beef Brisket, Corn, Sliced Tomatoes, Berry Trifle

Other recipe suggestions:
Deep Dish Tomato & Zucchini Pizza
Spicy Kale-Stuffed Shells
Sweet & Spicy Cucumber Slices







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Week 3 Meal Plan; What to do with Beet Greens

As promised, here is my meal plan for the week:

Thursday - Chicken, Spinach & Artichoke Calzones (Recipe to come!)
Friday - Pizza & Salad
Saturday - Grilled Pork Chops & Veggie Skewers
Sunday - Summer Pea, Watermelon & Spelt Berry Salad (Cooking Light)
Monday - Skillet Baked Eggs with Spinach, Yogurt & Chili Oil; Toast (Bon Appetit)
Tuesday - Summer Rolls (Williams-Sonoma); Stir-Fried Snow Peas & Bok Choy
Wednesday - Leftovers

Beet Greens.  These seem to be an anomaly to most people.  Sure, we can figure out what to do with the actual beet, but what about the leafy green tops?  Simply, you can treat them just as you do any other green.  To me, they look a bit like swiss chard, and they have an earthy taste similar to kale.  I plan to add mine to the spinach when I make skillet baked eggs on Monday.  Last summer I created a beet relish using the roots and greens that could be served as a side or as a topping on hamburgers.  I also searched and found the below recipes you might want to try:

Pasta with Beet Greens, Blue Cheese, & Hazelnuts (Martha Stewart)
Beet Green Chopped Salad (Sprouted Kitchen) - This looks GORGEOUS!
Sauteed Beet Greens with Garlic & Olive Oil (NY Times)

I made the beet cookies from Weelicious yesterday afternoon and the kids are gobbling them up!  Not too sweet with a texture similar to shortbread.  I prefer mine a little crisp, so I cook them a bit longer. Tip: to grate my beets I put them through the shredding attachment on my food processor, then change to the regular blade and pulse a few times.  Takes just a minute and saves my hands from looking like I just murdered someone. I think the color of these cookies is just amazing!

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Week 3: Bag Contents & Recipe Ideas

I haven't had the opportunity to make my meal plan for the week (90 degree temps require a LOT of pool time), but for my fellow Fresh Forkers who are just itching to get started on their own meal plans - You did start meal planning, right?! -  I thought I'd go ahead and share a few ideas for this week's bag contents, and I'll post my meal plan tomorrow evening after I have the opportunity to think about it a little more.  If last week had a Mexican theme, I feel like this week is a little more Asian in nature.

Small bag contents:
-1 package boneless loin chops, 2 per pack
-2 lbs spelt berries
-1 bunch spinach
-1 head white stem bok choy
-1 dozen eggs
-1 head baby bok choy
-1 bunch beets with tops
-1 lb snow peas
-1 head chinese napa cabbage

Large bag additions:
-1 bunch carrots
-1 lb shelled peas
-1 head leaf lettuce
-1 extra bunch spinach
-2 bunches red bulb green onions

Honestly, my favorite item in this week's bag is the eggs.  We are an egg family and have them for breakfast - sometimes dinner - numerous times a week.  I have spent lots of time and money searching for the perfect egg at the grocery store ever since I tried the pasture-raised eggs from Fresh Fork last summer to no avail.  No organic, no cage-free, no free-range eggs sold at any of my local groceries came close to having the richness of these local pasture-raised eggs.  In fact, I now plan to purchase my eggs weekly at the back of the truck when we pick up our bag each week.  If you aren't a CSA subscriber, find a local farmer's market that sells true pasture-raised eggs and see for yourself.  For more information on pasture-raised eggs, click here.

Unfortunately, due to some unexpected events, I didn't cook as much as usual last week and I am still sitting on some bok choy, snow peas, kale and cauliflower.  Fortunately, I seem to have figured out a way to store my veggies that makes them last longer than expected. As soon as I get home from pick up, I take any leafy greens and place them in large plastic grocery bags with a damp paper towel.  Then I put them in the crisper of my second refrigerator that I keep nice and cold.   If an item such as beets or carrots come with the greens still attached, I cut off the greens and store them with the other leafy veggies as well.  I found that even my leaf lettuce stays fresh for a week or more when stored in this manner. To clear some space, tonight I made a quick and easy stir-fry using my bok choy, snow peas, and cauliflower from week two and served it over quinoa.  No recipe, I just heated some oil in a wok, threw in the snow peas, sliced bok choy, and cauliflower florets, added some minced garlic and grated ginger, then finished it with some soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil.  Served with some sri racha or sweet thai chili sauce, it was easy, quick, and healthy!

Some recipe ideas for week 3:
Lemon Chicken Stir Fry (Eating Well)
Shrimp & Egg Fried Rice with Cabbage (Tyler Florence)
Skillet Baked Eggs with Spinach, Yogurt, & Chili Oil (Bon Appetit)
Summer Pea, Watermelon, & Farro (sub spelt berries) Salad (Cooking Light)
Chicken with Kale and Freekeh-Lentil Pilaf (sub your bok choy or spinach for kale; spelt for Freekeh, Bon Appetit)
Sweet Beet Cookies (Weelicious)
Beet & Goat Cheese Arugula Salad (Giada De Laurentiis)


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Week 2: Bag Contents, Meal Plan, & Recipe Links

It's no secret that I love Mexican food (at least as Mexican as food can be in Ohio).  For pretty much every birthday, anniversary, holiday, etc, I choose to eat at a Mexican restaurant.  Chipotle is my fast food of choice (again, I realize this is not really Mexican food, but there is guacamole and salsa so it's good enough for me).  My past two trips to Chicago I made sure we stopped to eat at a Rick Bayless restaurant.  So it should come as no surprise that I am really excited about this week's CSA delivery.  Here's what we got:

Small bag contents:
-2 lb black turtle beans
-1 bag corn chips
-1 lb chorizo sausage
-1 bunch green onions
-1 bunch cilantro
-1 head red leaf lettuce
-1 bunch Swiss chard
-1 head jumbo white stem bok choy
-1.5 lb red slicing tomatoes

Large bag additions:
-1 head cauliflower
-1 bunch red kale
-1 lb snow peas
-2 ct zucchini
-1 package chicken brats
-1 bunch beets

My tentative meal plan:

Thursday:    Summer Squash Pizza (Cooking Light); Simple Salad

Friday:         Cold Sesame Noodles (Cooking Light); Stir Fried Bok Choy & Snow Peas

Saturday:     BLT's; Salt & Vinegar Kale Chips

Sunday:       Hamburgers & Potato Salad (Father's Day, so this was husband's request!)

Monday:       Baked Black Beans & Chorizo (Cooking Light!)*; Chips & Salsa

*Note that this recipe requires modification as it calls for Spanish chorizo which is a cured sausage. Mexican chorizo is a fresh sausage and requires cooking first.

Tuesday:      Chicken Brat, Cauliflower and Brown Rice Bake

I can't really say that I have a single favorite food. But if you asked me to make a top ten list, beans would be on it.  Besides being delicious, they're cheap, nutritious, and adaptable.  Fortunately for me, my whole family loves beans, so they're included in our meals at a minimum of twice a week.  Canned beans are a nice convenience (Trader Joe's canned beans are BPA free, as are Eden Organic), but making your own dried beans is even better.  I make a pound or two at a time and we eat them all week in soups, quesadillas, burritos, pasta, etc.  They also freeze well when cooked, so you can package them in small containers and thaw as needed.  I typically follow the Rick Bayless slow cooker method for preparing dried beans.  This is a basic recipe that allows you to use the cooked beans in a variety of preparations.  If you want to turn the pot of beans into a meal, season as desired, add vegetables and/or meat, and dinner is done.

Home-Cooked Beans (Slow-Cooker Variation)
From Mexican Everyday, By Rick Bayless

-1 lb (about 2 1/2 cups) dried beans
-2 T. oil or lard
-1 medium white onion, roughly chopped
-Salt

Wash and sort the beans.  Pour the beans into a medium-large pot, pour in two quarts of water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat; then pour into the slow-cooker.  Add the oil or lard and onion.  Allow the beans to cook for at least 6 hours on high in order for them to become tender, though they may continue cooking up to 10 hours.  When the beans are tender, stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt.  Taste and add additional salt if needed.

*A note about soaking beans - According to Rick Bayless, Mexican cooks don't soak beans.  It doesn't do much to make them more, um, digestible (as you include beans more and more in your diet your body adjusts), and it makes the beans turn out pale in color and flavor.  I never soak my beans and I have never had any problems.

Below are links to some other recipes that you might like for this week's bag.  Some of these I have linked to before, some I've never tried.  Remember, a recipe can always be modified to fit your taste!  If you're having trouble adjusting a recipe to fit your needs, leave a comment and I'll try to help.  You can also follow me on Pinterest and check out my recipe boards there. 

Mexican Beans with Chorizo & Greens (Dinner & Dessert)
Zucchini Mushroom Tacos with Chorizo (Cooking Claire)
Salt & Vinegar Kale Mashed Potatoes (Edible Perspective)
Kale with Black Beans & Sweet Potatoes (Healthy Girl's Kitchen)
Chard & Gruyere Grilled Cheese (Sprouted Kitchen)
Stir Fried Bok Choy with Ginger & Garlic (Robin Miller)
Kale Caesar Slaw (Bon Appetit)

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It's CSA Season!

I'm back!  At least, I hope so.  At the end of last summer I faded away without notice; No CSA wrap up, no goodbye.  I got busy; I missed a week, then two. Essentially, I gave up.  As this year's CSA season approached, however, a number of people who followed this blog last year started contacting me asking if I was going to blog about the experience again.  And I'm happy to say that I seem to have convinced quite a few people to join a CSA for the first time.  My life is no less crazy than it was last fall - Jack is now 18 months old and quite a handful, Steven is four and busy with activities, and we are expecting baby number three in October - but I'm going to give this blog another go.  As usual, I plan to share ideas for each week's bag contents, links to recipes (I am obsessed with Pinterest and have spent the past few months discovering new recipes & blogs), and my own original recipes.  The site is currently under construction as I try to finalize a design I can live with, and I hope to include pictures with my recipes.  Disclaimer:  I am not a photographer.  I own a point and shoot camera that I rarely use and regularly rely on my iPhone to take pictures of my children at important events.

All this being said, I am a week late in getting started.  I received my first bag of the season last Wednesday (Again we chose to subscribe to the large omnivore package) and none of it went to waste.

Small bag contents:

-1 whole pasture raised chicken
-1 bulb kohlrabi
-1 bunch collard greens
-1 quart strawberries
-1 bunch Russian red kale
-1 bunch garlic scapes
-1 head green leaf lettuce 
-1 bunch radishes
-1 quarter lb bag pea tendrils

Large bag additions:
-2 bunches spinach
-1 lb shelled peas
-1 head broccoli
-1 lb sweet pea & basil pasta

Tomorrow is delivery day again, so tonight I'll be working on my meal plan and searching for recipe ideas to share with you. I know I'm receiving some of my favorite items (black beans!), so I'm excited to get started.  And, as always, feel free to share your ideas with me! Pin It