Weekly recipe ideas for Thursday June 23, 2011

by Brie

Fresh local strawberries are a sign of summer. We like to eat strawberries right from the basket, washing and coring them as we go. For dessert, nothing beats cut up strawberries piled up high on biscuits. Try either this classic or whole wheat version of strawberry shortcake (and when you run out of strawberries top them with any other seasonal fruit).

Grapefruit and oranges are both popular citrus fruit for eating and juicing. Low in calories and high in vitamin C, both are great options for mealtime or snacks. Try juicing the grapefruit and oranges for a yummy breakfast drink or tossing them together for a lunchtime salad.

Rainbow chard gets its name from its colourful stems which can range in colour from white to yellow to red. Easily substituted in recipes for other greens, like spinach or kale, Swiss chard is great served in lasagna or with quinoa and mushrooms. It would also be tasty in this chicken with Swiss chard, lemon and rosemary dish or in a snap pea and beef stir-fry.

Jewel yams are members of the sweet potato family and as such are a high source of beta carotene. Jewel yams make great additions to chili and soups. You could also serve it with mushrooms and quinoa or in a potato salad.

Sugar snap peas are a perfect ingredient to add to a stir fry. They can be tossed with shrimp, chicken or tofu. My favorite way to eat them is roasted!

These are some of the ideas on my menu plan this week. What are you cooking?

Brie loves eating food and is learning to love cooking food. She also blogs about motherhood at Capital Mom and about Ottawa with kids at Kids in the Capital.

Weekly recipe ideas for Thursday, June 16th

by Brie

Fruit, like plums and pears, do make great snacks but they make even better additions to dinner. On a hot night try making a plum chicken salad or roasted plum and spinach salad. And as a side dish caramelized carrots and pears sounds delicious!

 



Green beans are a great side dish to serve with dinner. From the simple, serving them either steamed or roasted, to the more creative, honey cashew green beans or sweet and spicy green beans, they make a great accompaniment to most meals. Green beans can also be served in the main meal, like this green bean masala or this green bean mushroom casserole.

Green onions (also known as scallions) are milder then most other onions. They can be cooked or used raw as a garnish. Add them to sesame orzo with charred scallions or stir-fried tofu. For a lovely dinner make honey glazed pork with scallions and carrots or chicken with rice, broccoli and scallions.   

Spinach is a favorite salad ingredient. If you are wanting to try out some new salad recipes consider cranberry spinach salad or honey curry spinach salad. Our spinach will be chopped up and added to some phylo to make a spinach pie.  

These are some of the ideas on my menu plan this week. What are you cooking?

Brie loves eating food and is learning to love cooking food. She also blogs about motherhood at Capital Mom and about Ottawa with kids at Kids in the Capital.

Weekly recipe ideas for Thursday, June 9th, 2011

by Brie

When I opened my box this week I was the most excited to see a bunch of cilantro. That's right, cilantro. Cilantro is one of my favorite herbs because of its zingy flavour and its versatility. You can use it in a tomato salsa or curried carrots or kale and mushroom enchiladas. Cilantro is actually the leaves and stems of the Coriander plant. While I also like to cook with powdered coriander and dried coriander seeds, nothing beats fresh cilantro.

Kale is from the cabbage family. High in vitamins and minerals, kale is full of antioxidants. Kale is a common vegetable in Europe, historically and in the present day, and you will find many regional dishes make use of kale. Like Ireland's colcannon, Portugal's caldo verde and Germany's gruenkohl. A great way to cook kale is to steam it, letting you preserve the vegetable's nutrients.

Mini peppers are a small hybrid of sweet peppers.Their size makes them great as a stuffed appetizer, like in this shrimp and artichoke recipe or this turkey sausage recipe. They are also great oven roasted and served over lettuce in a salad.

Carrots are root vegetables that come in a variety of colours, most commonly orange. Carrots are a perfect addition to salads, a favorite meal in our house during the warm weather. From the classic carrot salad to a Korean-Russian carrot salad to spicy Moroccan carrot salad, the possibilities with carrots are endless! For those that prefer soups over salads, try this cashew and carrot soup.

As for the avocado in this week's box. Sure you could throw it in a carrot salad or make some bruschetta with celery, but even better is this recipe for oatmeal chocolate chips cookies (with avocado). Yum.

This week's box had some great summer fruit.The peaches and raspberries will make great lunch or afternoon snacks on this hot days.

These are some of the ideas on my menu plan this week. What are you cooking?

Brie loves eating food and is learning to love cooking food. She also blogs about motherhood at Capital Mom and about Ottawa with kids at Kids in the Capital.

Thursday, June 2nd

by Brie

This week's box had some great fruit, including a pineapple, bananas and seedless grapes. Pineapples, named for their similar appearance to pine cones, are a great source of manganese and vitamin C. Two great ways to tell if a pineapple is ripe is to smell it (you want a sweet not fermented smell) and to press down on it (you want it to be firm but still give a little).

Fruit, while great for snacking, is also a great addition to any recipe. Try pineapple in a spicy salad, asparagus chicken or even  quinoa broccoli salad. Grapes can be added to roasted carrots or broccoli salad. And for the baker, try caramelized fresh pineapple tiramisu or a creamy grape dessert.  

Sweet corn is a sure sign to me that summer is on the way. A great source of fibre and Vitamin C and low in calories, corn is perfect steamed or BBQed. For a tasty dinner side dish you could try creamy sweet corn.

The box this week also had a container of cherry tomatoes on the vine. Cherry tomatoes are small tomatoes perfect for salads but can just as easily be substituted for tomatoes in any dish. Cherry tomatoes are also great roasted with asparagus. Or try making creamy carrot soup with cherry tomato and corn salsa. For a recipe sure to impress dinner guests, I loved this vodka-spiked cherry tomato recipe.
These are some of the ideas on my menu plan this week. What are you cooking?

Brie loves eating food and is learning to love cooking food. She also blogs about motherhood at Capital Mom and about Ottawa with kids at Kids in the Capital.

Thursday May 26th

by Brie

The first thing I wanted to do when I opened my box this week was to eat the blueberries I found inside. Blueberries will keep 10 to 14 days after they are picked, and these blueberries look perfect for eating! Make sure you wash the berries just before using to prevent them from becoming mushy. The berries can also be frozen, without washing them to keep their skins tough, and then rinsed and drained right before serving.

Local Ontario asparagus is in season and I was happy to find some in my box. After growing up eating over-cooked asparagus, I have come to love this vegetable now that I know how to cook it properly. Asparagus really is perfect cooked and served on its own, maybe even with a bit of lemon juice, but it is also a versatile vegetable to add to dishes. You can bake it, add it to a goat cheese quesadia or put it in a vegetable handroll. And don't forget that while asparagus tastes great, it is also high in folic acid and low in calories.

In the box were also some Quebec red potatoes and Lebanese cucumbers. Toss in the local coloured radishes and you have the makings of a perfect summer salad. Add the snow peas from this week's box to the potatoes and try a curried salad. Or if you prefer, make a cold cucumber potato soup on a hot spring night. Potatoes are also excellent served, as always, fried up for breakfast.

We eat broccoli often at our house. I have steamed it, roasted it, added it to salads and eaten it in stir-frys. Looking for something different to do with broccoli I found this savory broccoli cupcake recipe. I am smitten and plan to make it as soon as possible. Do you have any new and different broccoli recipe suggestions?

Ripe peaches make great snacks. Peaches are low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium and a great source of Vitamin C. Now that Spring is here and the BBQ season has started you may want to try making balsamic-marinated pork chops and grilled peaches or grilled peaches with blue cheese and walnuts for dinner. For dessert make some maple-grilled peaches.
Our box this week also held bananas, chives and an orange pepper.

These are some of the ideas on my menu plan this week. What are you cooking?

Brie loves eating food and is learning to love cooking food. She also blogs about motherhood at Capital Mom and about Ottawa with kids at Kids in the Capital.

Coming this week: Thursday, May 26th, 2011

by Brie

Here's what I can't wait to find in my box this week:

• Banana
• Blueberries
• Peaches
• English cucumber
• Broccoli
• Asparagus
• Green beans
• Pepper
• Red potatoes
• Radishes

Do you have any favorite recipes I should try?

Brie loves eating food and is learning to love cooking food. She also blogs about motherhood at Capital Mom and about Ottawa with kids at Kids in the Capital. 

Thursday, May 19th

by Brie

We got a bag of apples and a bag of oranges in this week's box. Oranges and apples get eaten pretty quickly at our house. They are both great and easy on the go snacks. For dinner time try cutting the fruit and adding them to a Greek fruit salad or make a beet, orange and apple salad.

Blueberries are a great source of antioxidants and Vitamin C.They are also full of fibre, iron, potassium, calcium, B vitamins and vitamin E. Blueberries are great to eat on their own, sprinkled over granola or on top of ice cream for dessert. For something different try combining the blueberries and avocado (high in health-promoting fats and potassium) from this week's box in a salsa or smoothie.

If you are a fan of eating raw carrots (whose orange colour comes from beta-carotene) try eating them with a creamy crimini mushroom dip or fiesta broccoli dip. Or, instead, make the carrots into a dip like this roasted carrot dip. I will be grating my carrots and turning them into some delicious carrot fritters.

Broccoli and mushrooms are two great and versatile vegetables for cooking with. From a stirfy to a cheesy broccoli and mushroom fritatta to pizza, broccoli and mushrooms are a great combination.

We also received some lovely baby lettuce mix in our box. This lettuce is perfect to eat in a salad with any of the other vegetables or fruit from this week's box. A large salad, maybe even with a blueberry salad dressing, is a great dinner on a hot spring night.

These are some of the ideas on my menu plan this week. What are you cooking?

Brie loves eating food and is learning to love cooking food. She also blogs about motherhood at Capital Mom and about Ottawa with kids at Kids in the Capital.