This Week's Delivery

Series: Produce Box, April 7, 2010 Delivery; Published Blog 2

"Eat all your vegetables" was the mantra going through my head while I used up the produce box delivered a week ago. My family in good humor has helped accomplished the task of eating their fair share of vegetables. Plus, I made sure each meal included a good selection of fruit and vegetables. On hand I had some carrots, lettuce, and chard.

I venture into this week's box with the hope to create new and exciting dishes. Also try to spread it out into two weeks of eating all the produce.

Here's what I got to plan around...

oranges

apples

lemons

zucchini

chard

beets

artichokes

2 big baskets of strawberries

sweet potatoes

cabbage

avocados

baby lettuce

head of lettuce

spring red onion

broccoli

Zucchini With Balsamic Caramelized Spring Red Onions

This dish was a simple creation that used a few items. I chopped up one spring red onion and let it cook in a skillet with olive oil. Next I added some chopped garlic. Let it cook a little about 1-2 minutes. Next I splashed about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Seasoned with pepper and salt.
Let it simmer to reduce the liquid. Next toss in about 1 cut zucchini.Let it cook for another 2 minutes. Remove while the zucchini is still crunchy. Sprinkle with fresh Parmesan cheese. Great for the summertime!

Salads and Fruit

A dinner salad can be added as a side to any meal. Its about selecting as many vegetables that can be added to it. I selected a few for this meal. I used baby lettuce, strawberries, fresh orange slices, and apples. I used a complimentary dressing such as Briana's poppy seed (or other varieties) to drizzle over it. It was be refreshing with homemade bread croutons.

Breakfast Food for Dinner?

I love to enjoy a hearty breakfast but some mornings I run out of time. So instead I will make it for dinner. Here's some meal ideas....

Hash browns
Start with 3 peeled potatoes. Dice them up.
Turn on a skillet to medium heat. Wait for the skillet to heat up and add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Potatoes love to soak in oil to become crispy. If the pan is too hot the potatoes will burn but if the pan is too low they will not brown. So find a combination in between.
The potatoes will take at least 20 minutes. At the end of cooking, I might turn up the fire to get that quick crispy potato that I love so much!
Season the potatoes with pepper, salt, and garlic powder.

Options:
Add a diced up onion while the potatoes are cooking.
Add a diced up apple while the potatoes are cooking.
Add bell peppers while the potatoes are cooking.

One thing I wouldn't suggest is cheese. Add it on after you remove the food from the pan.

Ham, Chard, and Scrambled Eggs

A cool tip I noticed was to use chard as a replacement for spinach.
I had some leftover ham and deli meat. I first heated my skillet and added the ham. As it is cooking, add the chard. Let it wilt down with the meat liquid. When its almost done cooking, pour in your beaten egg. Leave the heat on for 1 minute and turn off. The egg will finish cooking on its own from the leftover heat.

As I reflect upon my dinner, it was pulled together with a lot of vegetables. I didn't need to open any boxes or cans. Changing the way of eating from a world of convenience with prepared packaged food to simple down to earth ingredients takes effort. It is the constant push of what can I create today while the vegetables are still fresh... so I did a little meal planning to make sure it will turn out to be a great experience.
This week's will consist of the following meal ideas:

• Beet and Beef Stew
• Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
• Stir Fry
• Stuffed Artichokes

The First Fruit & Vegetable Box Delivery

Series: Produce Box, March 31, 2010 Delivery; Published Blog 1




The above picture shows the selection of produce delivered to my house. It's a new program for downtown neighborhood that by pure chance was recently introduced to me. An actual door-to-door salesperson was walking around the neighborhood to collect more deliveries to the area. (Don't worry I didn't have to actually provide my personal information at the door to a complete stranger. I took their information and went to the website.) Farm Fresh to You is the name of company that is offering this service to bring the produce boxes to your home (or work.) It's very flexible in box types and delivery times while also supporting organic local farmers.


I love the idea of having, on hand, fresh produce more regularly and to have it delivered to my door is even cooler. It means that instead of stopping at the grocery store or driving to the local farmer's market is no longer the main two ways to have fresh produce on hand.


The rest of my blog is to provide a little information on how I went about planning meals around this produce box.



My first task was to remove all the items from the box and place it on the table. I had a very good selection:


3 types of citrus: 4-navel oranges, 2-murcot tangerines, 2-minneola tangelos


basket of strawberries


2 fuji apples


1 eureka lemon


asparagus bunch


cabbage head


small cauliflower head


a bunch of small to medium carrots


a bag of baby mixed lettuce


a head green leaf lettuce


onion


a bunch of red and white chard




I also had on hand some red grapefruit (a coworker provided to me) and 3 small granny smith apples leftover from the store.





I grabbed a notebook and started jotting down ideas. My first thoughts were to decide what is the freshest to hold off using and what needs to be used up now.



Homemade Apple Sauce


I used up all the apples to make a easy microwave cooked apple sauce. This took about 5 minutes for prep and 15 minutes cooking. I used a glass lidded casserole dish to cook in.


Rinse your apples
Next dice up the apples and place into a microwave bowl
Splash with a lemon juice (using the lemon in the box)
Sprinkle with cinnamon
Place the lid on top
Place into the microwave and cook for 10 minutes
Remove and stir
Place back in for another 5 minutes
Stir and smoosh apples
Let it sit to cool and thicken
Store in the fridge



Later uses...

I will use this applesauce for a apple turnover filling.
I use a pie dough cut into squares.
I place some apple filling in the middle.
Then fold the dough over to make a pocket
This reminds me of a apple home run pie. Simple & fulfilling for a snack or breakfast item.




Lemon Zest Sugar Crumbles


This is a sugar crumble mixture made from lemon zest and simple syrup. My attempt was to make sure to waste as little produce as possible. So the lemon rind can also be used. Since this was experiment the results may vary. This recipe requires a lot of patience in boiling the syrup mixture.


Heat up on medium heat a saute pan and add a little butter. Maybe about 1 teaspoon.
Next shave the rind off the lemon. I sliced into thin shreds.
I add equal parts of sugar and water- 1 cup of each.
Next add the lemon rind shreds.
I brought it to a boil. Let it simmer/boil for about 20 minutes. Tested it as how it clinged to the spoon.
Once it was less watery then I prepared the sheet to pour it out on.
Grab a sheet of greased aluminum foil.
Pour and spread the mixture out on it.
Let it cool completely.
Then crumble it with kitchen shears.
Place it in a tupper ware dish.


I haven't figured how to use it but I have a few ideas. Possibly - a topping for a simple sugar cookie, crumbles for the top of muffins, add-in to my applesauce for the apple turnover, or add-in to the baking mixture for welsh cookies.




The produce box had a lot of chard. I prepped it all at once. I removed the leaves from the stems and placed in a bowl to soak. This would make it easier for storage and save time for upcoming meals. I decided with the assistance of my mother-in-law that simmering chard is one of the better techniques. She tried it in a vegetable and meat pot stew. I decided to use it in a chicken soup.


Vegetable Chicken Soup

This is such a versatile soup. It uses basic ingredients of chicken stock, shredded chicken, and vegetables. I decided to add barley since I had it on hand. One may choose to use potatoes, rice, or noodles.

I used the following vegetables: chard, carrots, cabbage, onion, garlic

Grab a soup pot
Heat it up on medium heat
Add some olive oil
Chop up an onion and add it to the pot once it heats up
Let it brown on the edges
Add garlic to your preference as to how much you like (I added about a tablespoon of chopped garlic)
Add in the chard- I used about 5-6 chard ripped into shreds
Add in about 1/2 the carrots cut in fourths
Add in your 1/2 the cabbage shredded
Then add about 4-5 cups of stock to cover the vegetables.
Optional: Add in about 1/2 cup of barley
Season with pepper and salt
Let it simmer for about 20-25 minutes, partially covered.
Check to see if the barley is done.
Then grab a bowl to enjoy!





Homemade Ice Cream with Fresh Strawberries


I just bought a really cool, easy to use soft served ice cream machine. I have learned to make a tasty vanilla ice cream. I topped this cool dessert with fresh strawberries and a little hot fudge.

In case you are curious about it- here's the information:

Cuisinart Ice-45 Mix-It-In Soft-Serve 1 1/2 Quart Ice Cream Maker

Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe

This machine is easy to use. Remember to freeze your bowl ahead of time. I made vanilla ice cream from scratch.

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup whole milk

2 cups of cream

1-2 teaspoons of vanilla

Put together the machine. Remove the bowl from the freezer and pour in the mixture.

Turn on the machine. Check on it in about 15 minutes for ice cream consistency.

Place bowl or cone under the spout.

Fresh Squeezed Juice

I used my selection of citrus to make a tart, tangy grapefruit and orange juice.


Lettuce Wraps


The produce provided two different types of lettuce. I decided to use the head of green leaf lettuce for this meal since it can hold the ingredients.



For this meal I will use the following vegetables: green leaf lettuce, carrots, cabbage



First clean your lettuce very well. Remove with a knife the stem for easy rolling.

For the filling:
Grate the carrots.

Shred the cabbage.


I will use shredded chicken mixed with a peanut sauce for the filling.

I will prepare sushi rice to go inside it. The sushi rice combined with rice wine and simple sugar syrup will keep its shape once made. (See recipe below)

Then place the ingredients inside the lettuce kinda like building a taco.

This is a little messy to eat and really tasty!

Sushi Rice Recipe

2 Cups of sushi rice - well rinsed until water runs clear

2 cups of water

Cook according to directions on package.

Separately prepared in a microwaveable bowl:

2 tablespoons of rice vinegar

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

Microwave on high for about 30 to 45 seconds

Then in a glass bowl combine your (somewhat) cooled rice rice and fold in your sugar and vinegar mixture. Allow it to cool to room temperature before using it.

If you have been keeping track of the produced used you'll notice that I have created some really tasty recipes all from the produce provided. I also have some more to use. The asparagus, cauliflower, and leftover carrots will be used as vegetable side dishes for Easter meal.

I have one more meal to make with the chard. So this one comes with the expectation that I will be baking a ham within the next couple of days. For many years, I have not cooked ham partly because of my husband's digestive preference. We remove foods from our diet that cause discomfort from eating it. This concept makes total sense. The hardest part is removing that food completely from your diet like red meat, certain tomato products, or sausages. Then to bring it slowly back in with minor changes to prepping it or cooking it. So it was recently discovered baked ham is OK to a certain extent and totally depends on how it is cooked.

On the menu:

The following meal will have 3 parts to it-- Baked Ham, Chard, and Cornbread

I will bake the ham accordingly to the directions.

I will bake the cornbread with an add-in of frozen corn, cheese, and topped with a jalapeno ring.

I will simmer the chard with garlic.

This ends my meal planning surrounding the produce box. I hope to inspire others to take on a challenge of buying fresh produce and plan meals around it.