Organic Harvest Box for June 28, 2012

Do you know what an RFP is?  Request for Proposal or what's been going through my head - Request for Pain.  It is due on Tuesday after the long weekend and has caused me enough overtime in 1 week to ensure my summer holidays are covered!  Hence the lateness of this post.  Because of my schedule, I can't even get my box until Friday midday so I don't have any hot tips from Tasha to share with you.  However, after painfully typing away at repetitive technical documents, I am just happy to sip the last of my decaf and write some ideas for this week's box.  I want to share some ideas about kiwi, the results of my scapes recipes, and  highlight a selection of "Canada Day" recipes.   And how smart of Tasha to start a Local Only Box on the week leading up to Canada Day when our national pride is bubbling up. I love the idea of a Local Only Box because for me one of the biggest appeals of buying through Life Organics is the opportunity to get as much local produce as possible.

So here goes - should we start with garlic scapes?  I hope that I'm not the only one who is still oddly excited about them.  I brought both my scape pesto and the white bean scape dip into work last week, although both went over well, I do think people think I'm a bit odd for being so excited about them.  The dip was really nice with crackers, chips, and the beans from last week's box.  I made a whole batch of pesto (so easy in a food processor) and have frozen it in ice cube sizes for use on pasta soon.  I haven't quite decided what I'm going to do with this week's scapes - hopefully get to that great Pork recipe from the New York Times from 2 weeks ago.  Maybe use up my pesto in this Warm Pasta and Chick Pea Salad with Garlic Scapes or for a great weekend entertaining recipe Garlic Scape and Potato Salad.

Kiwis are delicious when they are nice and ripe, and not too tart.  They should be left to ripen at room temperature.  If they are already ripe then they can be stored in the refrigerator.  Kiwis have a very high amount of Vitamin C, more than the an orange of the same size.  They also contain a lot of fibre and are great for the digestive system.  You can eat the skin of a kiwi but just make sure to wash it to remove any dirt or dust, and rub some of the fuzz off prior to eating as well.  I learned that the antioxidants in kiwis actually increase the riper the kiwi gets.  We mostly eat our kiwis just cut up, but they would be equally delicious in a salad, fruit salad or with some yogurt.  Or for something different, try these Kiwifruit Muffins.  Try making a unique salad with this week's romaine, spinach, and tomatoes, tossed with some cut up kiwi and some Kiwi Dressing from the California Kiwi Commission's website.  

We will be spending Canada Day weekend at the cottage with friends and plan to use the grill most of the weekend.  We've picked up the beer and Caesar's but I may have to grab a bottle of some Canadian Whisky and try out this Peach and Whisky Cocktail with the peaches from our box.  You could also use the peaches and/or nectarines in this recipe for Grilled Plums with Yogurt and Spiced Maple Syrup.  And although we don't have a lot of red and white veggies in our box this week, you can certainly still have a lovely Canadian menu with some great recipes taken from freshjuice.ca:

• Green Salad with Toasted Mustard Seed Dressing - use the romaine, spinach, and even scapes in this salad that is inspired by the mustard and seed crops from the Prairies,
• Wild Turkey Burgers - I suppose you could try to catch your own in a local field or on the side of the road!!  Serve these burgers topped with some spinach or romaine, sauteed mushrooms, and sliced tomato (or garlic scape pesto - just had to get that in there),
• Cool Wild Rice and Mushrooms - use the Criminis in this dish that highlights the great wild rice that is harvested from our northern lakes and marshes.

I am fading quickly - one last recipe - a Mushroom Stuffed Zucchini (with good Canadian cheddar).  Have a great long weekend.

Organic Harvest Box for May 10, 2012

We arrived back from holidays on Saturday, one day late for getting our veggie order last week.  The fridge was bare so we went for groceries on Sunday morning - I was confused - what do you mean I have to decide which vegetables to get?  We are going to get the vegetables that are on the list that comes in my email, I don't have to decide, it's decided for me.  It was certainly odd having to make a whole vegetable and fruit list from scratch.  I did make it through the grocery experience and it reminded me to thank Tasha for making part of my grocery list for me each week.

When I picked up my box from Tasha on Thursday she mentioned a couple of substitutions, firstly, zucchini instead of cucumber this week.  She also mentioned that the strawberries might need to sit out of the fridge for a half hour or so prior to eating.

My eyes zeroed in on the cabbage in the list this week - it is truly my nemesis on the veggie list.  I don't dislike it, I just am not very creative, inventive or fun with my cabbage recipes.  That last cabbage recipe that I gave you in the April 12, 2012 post was a hit with my family - how can I top that?  For now, I probably can't top it.  However, one of my previous favorite recipes for cabbage was a recipe that my mom passed down to me for Chinese Hekka.  This link does not list the source, but I'm pretty sure that it is from Company's Coming.  I hadn't had this meal in years until I was talking to my mom about my challenges with using up the cabbages and she reminded me of this.  It is really easy, basic ingredients, the kids like it (always important for me) and is really good served over rice.  This time of year, using the cabbage for coleslaw would be great to have alongside a BBQ.  This recipe from the Tabasco site has a great looking dressing for coleslaw.  The bagged coleslaw can be substituted by using shredded or finely chopped cabbage and some grated carrot.  If I'm making coleslaw, I do prefer this recipe that we make almost every time that we have a crowd at the cottage for a long weekend, it will last a couple of days in the fridge:

Japanese Coleslaw 


1/2 head of medium cabbage, shredded or finely chopped
2 big handfuls of bean sprouts
2 c. of sliced mushrooms
1/4 c. sunflower seeds (preferably unsalted)
1 pack of ichiban noodles, broken up
2 c. chow mein noodles


Dressing:
Seasoning pack from the ichiban noodles
1/2 c. oil
4 tbsp. soya sauce
3 tbsp. vinegar
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper


Mix the cabbage, bean sprouts, mushrooms, sunflower seeds, and half each of the ichiban noodles and chow mein noodles together in a large bowl.  Mix all of the dressing ingredients together.  Pour 1/2 to 3/4 of the dressing on the salad.  Let the salad sit for 2-3 hours before serving.  Add the remaining ichiban and chow mein noodles to the salad just prior to serving and add remaining dressing if required.

Recently, we barbecued hamburgers and my husband made a fantastic burger topper of sauteed mushrooms and onions.  It's a really easy way to dress up your hamburger and the cremini mushrooms and yellow onions on this week's list would be great to use.

Put a bit of oil in a saute pan, add some minced garlic, and start heating on medium.  Slice the onions and add to the pan.  While the onions are starting to soften, slice the mushrooms and add to the pan.  Saute over medium heat until everything is softened.  If there is too much liquid then turn the heat up and cook a bit longer.  If you are serving it over meat, you can add a little bit of cream at the end to get it saucy.  Serve this over burgers, steaks, grilled chicken, over even toast.  

If you are having burgers, slice up the cucumber, trim the snap peas, and half the cherry tomatoes for a nice side to the burgers.

I didn't get to try the baby kale last time as we were leaving on holidays, but I'd be interested to know (use the comment link at the bottom of the post) if anyone tried the baby kale recipes from the April 26, 2012 post.  I am hoping to try the baby kale salad or actually making kale chips with this week's order.

I can't wait to see if this week's strawberries are as good as on Easter weekend.  I have rhubarb in my garden that is in good shape so I am going to use it alongside the strawberries in this Rude Barb's Strawbapple Crisp (anyone cooked out of Looneyspoons before?  All their recipe names are witty!).  It is a great crisp recipe and you can substitute the fruit for berries, pears, or peaches, as long as the amounts stay the same.  I can tell you that the peaches in this week's order will not make it into any cooking.  If they are as good as some that Tasha got in last week, I may just hide them from the rest of family and eat them fresh.

With gardening time upon us, the plant list from Belle Terre got me really interested in their products.  I am hoping to do a field trip to their greenhouse this weekend, if they'll have us.  I hope that I will be able to report back next week with photos and tips on how best to use their plants.

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 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.