Harvest Box for August 30, 2012

AKA: I Have Too Many Tomatoes!!!  

This week is not going to be so much about what you can do with the veggies in your order, but what I did tonight with the veggies in my order.  Each week I look at the list when it comes on Monday to see if there might be something I want extra of that week but I don't really start thinking about the list seriously until Wednesday or Thursday when I write the blog.  So this week, I'm unpacking my box and look, a lovely 3 orange tomatoes, ummm, they will go well with my 2 that I still have from last week.  Ooohhh and look, another lovely pint of cherry tomatoes to go with my other pint from last week.  And WOW, a clamshell full of Roma tomatoes.  (NB - you can return the empty clamshell in your blue tote box and Ferme aux Pleines Saveurs will recycle it)  And then I look over to the counter where I have 2 large bowls of tomatoes picked from our garden.  The plans for the evening suddenly changed.

What was to be a quiet evening of finding some recipes, writing the blog, maybe reading, and heading to bed early has turned into a marathon of cooking, prepping, canning, and figuring out what to do with the tomato bounty.  As I type, there are still two lovely pints of mixed cherry tomatoes sitting in front of me, but that's the best I could do on short notice.  And photos to document it all.

As I stated last week, the leeks were going to get used in soup, never happened, but now that I had two from last week and two more this week, I couldn't let the other two go bad, so a batch of Leek and Potato Soup onto the stove.

Why can't this wait until another night when I don't have to spend a couple of hours writing?  Because we are headed to the cottage this weekend, and I decided earlier today that I would make a Mediterranean Rice Salad knowing that I was getting some red peppers in the order.  I am not really sure where this recipe came from, but it is one of my favorites.

3 c. cooked long grain rice
1 c. cooked wild rice
1 c. feta, crumbled
1/2 c. chopped red onion
1/3. c. each of red, yellow, and green pepper, finely chopped (use the green from last week and the red from this week)
1/4 c. chopped parsley
1/4 c. each chopped black and green olives
2 tbsp capers
1-15oz can of cannellini beans (ordered those a while back as well)

Combine all of that in a large bowl and mix well.

Dressing:
3 tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 clove of garlic, minced

Mix the dressing ingredients together in a bowl with a whisk.  Pour over the rice mixture and combine well.  Serve chilled, and even better the next day.

The wild rice is still cooling as I type before I can add it to the salad.

 Beets, from last week.  I cooked them last night and since I was on a roll, I decided that they might as well get pickled.  This is the easy recipe from my London Olympics post from a few weeks ago.  Super easy, can't wait to try them.  Make sure to process them as directed.

And the tomatoes - what to do with that many tomatoes?  I looked up a lot of options online.  You could check out the Top Ten Ways to Use Up Tomatoes.  The Tomato Medley recipe from last week is a great option to use up all three types at once.  You could certainly slice the orange tomatoes and have a nice toasted tomato sandwich with some mayo, salt and pepper.  Or as I saw on one "what to do with too many tomatoes" post - upgrade the simple toasted tomato sandwich with a thicker bread, some gouda, and fresh basil.  Layer the tomatoes first onto the bread, top with the gouda, place under the broiler until the cheese is bubbly then top with some shredded basil and cracked pepper.

Most sites suggest roasting the tomatoes or baking them on low heat to dry them for future use.  A lot of recipes also suggest making tomato sauce or paste and then freezing it.  You can also just dry pack the tomatoes (put them in a Ziploc and take out as much air as possible) and freeze them.  When you want to use the tomatoes, bring them out of the freezer, run them under warm water to remove the skins and use in sauces or soups.  If we weren't going to be a the cottage this weekend, I would probably take the time to make a nice pasta sauce with the Romas, the garlic, and some fresh herbs from my pot.

However, I had a soup on the stove, 2 jars of beets waiting to be processed, and a some wild rice about to be drained for a salad - I opted for the least time consuming option.  This title Grab the Blender caught my eye.  So, a bit of sacrilege to some fine tomatoes, but not even a minute in the food processor and I had first some lovely orange tomato juice and secondly some red tomato juice.  I have put it in small storage bags and into the freezer.  Not even 20 minutes of my time, and I will use that juice for sauces and soups over the next few months.  I won't feel bad about any tomatoes going bad, and I won't resent my garden from overdosing on caprese salad, tomato sandwiches, and pasta with tomatoes!

The soup is done, the beets are in the canner, and I am just about done typing.  I want to leave you with one last recipe that I will be making tomorrow night with the Savoy Cabbage and Red Pepper.  It's a Napa Cabbage Salad (sub the Savoy for the Napa) and is similar to a Japanese Coleslaw recipe that I may have given you in the past.  I apologize if it's a repeat, but it's a good one.

1 large cabbage, chopped
2 bunches green onions, chopped
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
Place chopped cabbage, onion, and red pepper in a large salad bowl

1/4 c. butter
1 c. slivered almonds
2 pkgs chicken flavored ichiban noodles with the seasoning mix
Melt the butter in the frying pan, then add the almonds, broken noodles, and seasonings.  Saute until almonds are golden.  Add to cabbage mixture and toss.

1c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp. soya sauce
1/3 c. sugar
Shake the dressing ingredients in a jar or resealable container.  Consider only making half the dressing or pour about 1/2 the dressing over the salad and toss at least 30 min before serving.  If you made a full batch of dressing, you will have leftovers, refrigerate and use again.

Organic Harvest Box for July 26, 2012

It feels like a very long time since I have posted.  I have been without my veggie box for 2 weeks now, but luckily instead of having to negotiate the grocery store this past weekend, we went to the Ottawa Farmers Market to purchase our weekly supply.  It's such a great time of year for produce, the fruit that is coming into season, and all the fresh vegetable harvest.  And you probably don't need to hear again how much the harvest will be affected throughout the summer by this drought.  My girls have been eating peaches, plums, and apricots endlessly right now so I know that the plums from this week's box will be well enjoyed.

I received an interesting Savvy Mom article this week about party ideas around an Olympic theme and so I'm a little hooked on it this week.  It started with Torch Cupcakes (cupcakes baked in to mini ice cream cones with icing flames), and that led into the Fruity Olympic Rings (pictured above) which led into me wondering if there is enough of the food in this week's box to make the Olympic rings - blue (hmm - not quite), black (the plums), red (cherry tomatoes), yellow (beans), and green (zucchini or broccoli).  I don't think you'll see a creative Olympic ring photo from me tomorrow when I get my box, but I have chosen to fill this week's post with British recipes or recipes from British food sites to make use of this week's selection and to pay homage to and celebrate the opening of the Summer Olympics in London on Friday, July 27, 2012.

I started with beets - my great aunt, whose background was British, had beets, pickled or otherwise, at many Sunday dinners alongside whichever roast was cooking.  We generally enjoy our beets roasted with just a bit of butter and salt and pepper served alongside any dish (try this recipe for Roasted Beets).  However, I may get ambitious this week and actually try to preserve my beets by pickling them.  My kids are all about pickles right now so some homemade pickled beets should be a hit.  I found a Pickled Beets recipe on the TLC website or this English Style Pickled Beets recipe which can do as little as one jar of beets.  Don't forget to cut the greens off the beets (if they are there), and use them as you would the chard, or add them to any of the chard recipes that you decide to make.

Chard is another vegetable that appears to also feature somewhat regularily in Bristish cooking - or I seemed to find a variety of chard recipes on British food sites.  This Chard and Chickpea Ribolitta soup, from the British publication The Guardian, is enticing because I love soup and I think that with the fresh vegetables in it, is light enough for our hot summer weather.  Use the onion and garlic from this week's box as well.  Or search through this collection of chard recipes from British organic veggie box distributor Abel and Cole.  I especially like the looks of the Tomato and Chard Pie as a lunch meal this weekend at the cottage, of course I will be cheating and buying either a puff pastry package or premade pie crust for ease of use!

I lived with my dad's cousin in university, it was her mother who was the great aunt with the British background.  My dad's cousin grew zucchini (and still does) every year, and every year, there were so many zucchinis.  She would shred zucchini after zucchini and freeze it all.  And mostly, she would make zucchini loaf, muffins, zucchini chocolate chip muffins or some variation therein.  I think it's a great way to use up overabundant zucchini and went searching and found this recipe from a UK food network for Zucchini Cake.  I doubt that zucchini cake is at all specific to the UK but is more likely a creation by necessity to make use of the vast amounts of zucchini throughout the winter!  I do joke a bit, because I no longer live in the same time zone or end of the country as my cousin, so I am not offered any extra bounty from the zucchini crop and I don't get so overwhelmed by zucchini in the summer.  We get less zucchini throughout the summer than I was used to growing up so I think that I really enjoy it more.  This time of year, consider slicing the zucchini into rounds, brushing with some olive and seasoning and grilling on the barbecue, or add some large chunks of onion and broccoli to a grill proof skillet or tray and roast all of them together.

Lastly, to stick with the British theme, I was thinking about making some small batch marmalade with the oranges (and shame - I have a lemon still in my fruit crisper - where is my post about using the lemon first?).  I am a big fan of preserving - more so B.C. (before children) when the kitchen could be hijacked for 12 hours straight, and I have a beautiful book,  The Complete Book Of Small Batch Preserving, that has recipes that are perfect for making just a few jars of something really good.  I was just going to type up a good marmalade recipe out of there, but low and behold, I've lent it to someone - this has spawned a plea email to friends to find out where my cookbook is.  In the meantime, I opened up my Bernardin Guide (basic resource for all things preserving) and found their recipes for the Easiest Ever Marmalade  and Orange Marmalade.  There is also this apparently no fail Orange Marmalade recipe from the Iowa Housewife website, and somehow I ended up at my new favorite foodie site - Food 52 (have I mentioned it before???) where they have a Valencia Orange Marmalade that is made over 3 days which is typical of marmalade.  I would half their recipe. Looking at all this marmalade recipes made me think that marmalade or jam of any sort really, would go well on some scones - truly Bristish.  Maybe sometime throughout the next couple of weeks while you are doing some Olympic sport viewing, sit yourself down for a nice cup of tea, a traditional English scone, with some clotted cream or butter, and some homemade marmalade.  Cheers.

Thursday, May 5th: Salads and more

by Brie

I have never cooked with radishes, although I have eaten them in salads (one of their more common uses).
Radishes are a very low calorie root vegetable that are also a good source of anti-oxidants, minerals, vitamins and dietary fiber. Seeing them in my box this week, I feel challenged and want to use them in some great tasting recipes. Like this radish and spinach salad or this lettuce and radish salad. They will also be great combined with the garlic and lemon from this week's box in a seared tuna and radish salad with lemon vinaigrette. If you like to eat radishes raw try serving them with flavored salts and butters or make radish butter and serve it on toast.

With the weather getting warmer (hopefully!) salads are a great, easy to prepare meal choice. In this week's box we received both spinach and leaf lettuce. With the spinach try adding some of the fruit from this week's box and make an orange glazed beef and spinach salad or spinach shrimp and cantaloupe salad. The red oak leaf lettuce is perfect for this cheese and red grape salad or pear salad. And if you have any lettuce, cucumber, peppers or tomatoes left try adding them to this falafel burger recipe.

Cantaloupes are a great fat free snack that are also cholesterol free and high in vitamin A and C. Firm cantaloupes should be left on the counter at room temperature for a few days until the fruit feels softer. Once cut the cantaloupe should be wrapped and stored in the fridge. But, really, the best thing to do is to eat it fresh!

A cantaloupe can be cut into slices or cubes and eaten anytime of day. Served with some yogurt and crushed walnuts it would make a tasty breakfast! Great in smoothies and ice cream, it can also take centre stage in a chilled soup.

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.

Organic Harvest box for April 10, 2011

by Brie

Our box this week had four lovely small yams. I love yams for how versatile they are. You can throw them in chili or soup for added colour and flavour. My four year old's favorite way to eat them is baked with a little butter and brown sugar. She will happily eat them with a spoon! I have no problem with her eating two or three for dinner, as she has been known to do, because they are a good source of vitamins C and B, potassium, manganese and are low in saturated fat and sodium. Plus they taste good!

I was pleased to see some garlic in our box. I love garlic. I would be happy to just fry it up in some olive oil and eat it over pasta. But as a great cold cure, and we have a cold sneaking into the house right now, it will be the perfect base for roasted garlic and onion soup and mushroom soup with parsley and garlic. Those two soups are also a great way to use the bag of yellow onions and box of mushrooms we received this week.

Parsley is a herb that forms the basis of many popular dishes, like tabbouleh, lamb with persillade and gremolata. It can also be used, along with garlic, celery and onion in the Italian dish ossobuco alla milanese. Parsley is also widely recognised for its medicinal purposes in teas or when cooked in dishes. I am tempted to try crushing it and seeing if it is really an effective treatment for mosquito bites this summer!

Peppers and zucchinis make a great dinner combination. You could make a quick and easy zucchini and pepper pasta or, if you have more time, try stuffing zucchinis and peppers with turkey, parsley and onion.

I usually think of serving broccoli and cauliflower separately, like in broccoli risotto or cauliflower curry but they are also good combined together. Broccoli is a power food full of vitamins, minerals and protein and cauliflower isn't too far behind..They can be combined in dishes as simple as broccoli-cauliflower salad and broccoli and cauliflower pasta or served together in tandoori grilled broccoli and cauliflower kebabs.

The fruit we received this week, a grapefruit, a kiwi, pears and oranges are all a great source of Vitamin C. A bunch of yellow bananas were perfectly ripe and are great for snacking or trying flambed. The mango is a wonderful treat, and once you know how to cut it properly, easy to eat.  Fabulous to eat on their own, these fruit would make an excellent fruit salad tossed together or a sweet addition to a lettuce salad.

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.

Organic Harvest Box for December 10 , 2010

 Here is our delicious Harvest Box for this week:

Green Beans!  Green beans are a delightful side dish to serve around the holidays, and are easy to incorporate into your Christmas dinner.  These green bean recipes are fast and easy to cook, delicious, and good for you.  Check out these  Green Beans with Lemon and Garlic or tasty Green Beans with Shallots .  You can also serve up Green Beans with Onion, or for a little extra *zing* try these Green Beans in Spicy Peanut Sauce. Pan-Fried Tofu with Garlic Green Beans is a good choice for vegetarians, and these Spicy Green Beans with Lime and Cilantro are a lovely accompaniment to an ethnic meal.

Garlic is another Harvest Box item that is wonderful to add to almost any dish over the holidays.  Despite what some may say, freshly chopped or diced garlic is far better than the jarred or powder varieties.  Nothing tastes as good as fresh garlic!  If you  have a whole head of garlic, then you haven't really lived until you experience true Roasted Garlic.  It's amazing, and there are so many uses for it.  For example, you can try this Roasted Garlic Hummus , or make a Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette.  Another huge favourite is Sourdough Garlic Bread, which makes a perfect pairing with hot soup or chowder on our cold winter evenings.  I came across this Ginger Garlic Paste which can be used in a variety of ways, and I stumbled upon this recipe for  Eggplant in Garlic Sauce, which is surely to be a big supper-time hit!


If you're looking for some interesting ways to work with your button mushrooms, you should give Michael's Best Button Mushrooms a go.  I promise you will not be disappointed.  Mushrooms are like green beans in that they are fast and easy and can be incorporated into so many types of meals.  Other fabulous ways to cook with mushrooms include these Herbed Butter Mushrooms with Mozzarella or Spaghetti with Mushrooms and Garlic. Looking for a little mushroom flare?  Impress your guests with Tofu and Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce or a Mushroom and Asparagus Risoto!