Thursday, May 12th box

by Brie

Our box this week was filled with some great looking produce. I can’t wait to get cooking because I know the produce is going to taste as good as it looks!

Cauliflower, which is low in fat and high in dietary fiber and vitamin C, is a versatile vegetable to cook with. From soups to salads to curries, it can be chopped up and tossed into pies or stews. It can even be used as a substitute for rice. Combining cauliflower with the beets that also came in this week’s box results in some great sounding recipes, like spice roasted cauliflower with beet emulsion and beet and cauliflower latkes.

Beets have been recognized to contain nutrients that help protect against heart disease and certain cancers, especially colon cancer. They also contain folic acid, which is great for pregnant women. I think that I love beets best for their colour. They are such a deep and vibrant red. Every time I see them in our box I resolve to make a beet cake! If only for the red colour of the cake. Try adding beets to some of the other produce in your box and serve roasted beet and apple salad or roasted beets, broccoli and spinach quinoa. This beet stew with lamb meatballs would make a great dish for a dinner party!

Broccoli and zucchini, despite their difference, are easy to interchange between dishes. Both are great for stirfrys and fritters and soups. Try using the zucchini in this vegetable chowder and the broccoli in this blue cheese and chargrilled pear soup. The only thing I think zucchini is better at then broccoli is baking. So if you feel like baking make some zucchini bread, or better yet some chocolate chip orange zucchini bread.

Our box this week also contained some tomatoes, arugula and lettuce, perfect for a summer salad. Maybe with a nice Asian ginger salad dressing. And for snacking or light desserts, the box contained a bunch of bananas. Gala apples, Valencia oranges and Bartlett pears.

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.