Week 47 in Review

The Score
Eaters - 9.5     Compost - 1     Carry Over - 1.5

It was a good, but not great, week in terms of using up the box.  Work got in the way of some of our plans but, in many ways, that was expected.  We have a lot more to carry over than usual - a butternut squash, some onions, some lettuce - but at least it's all in great shape.  All the spinach hit the compost, but all in all we enjoyed some great meals.  The oranges and strawberries were really amazing considering that it was still February when they were picked!

The Best

• We loved this stir fry recipe, featuring tatsoi and some gorgeous purple onions from the box.  Tatsoi seems to taste somewhere between spinach and bok choy, and added perfect balance to this spicy chicken dish.  We served it with some store-bought veggie dumplings.

The Good

• This orecchiette with caramelized onions and peas was delicious, and featured some meyer lemon zest and basil from our garden.  A great veggie meal!

• We also really enjoyed this black bean soup, which featured carrots and onions from the box (and cilantro from the previous week).  I had intended to add kale to the recipe, but forgot - so we juiced the kale later in the week with the rest of the carrots and an apple!

•  Oven roasted butternut, carrots and parsnips.  Hard to go wrong!

Week 41 in Review

The Score
Eaters - 10     Compost - 1     Carry Over - 0

This week was an ambitious week, but it helped that I was able to come home from the farmer's market and throw several ingredients straight into the oven.  The workload of my 'real job' is getting more and more outrageous, leaving not enough time to prepare dinner these days, much less document it.  So, loading activities onto the weekend is becoming a better and better plan.  I really have been enjoying my adventures into the world of canning, though sadly the end products just aren't lasting long enough to fully merit the process.  The learning continues! 

The Best

• We all loved the roasted tomatillo and poblano salsa.  I took 2 lbs. of tomatillos, a handful of bunching onions, three poblanos, and a jalapeno that I had sitting around, and put them under the broiler.  About 5 minutes in, I added 6-7 cloves of garlic, flipped over the peppers, stirred up the onions, then continued to broil another 10 minutes.  When everything was nice and roasted, it went into the blender - juices and all - with about 2 cups of cilantro.  Blended until it was nice and smooth, and done!

In process shot

The finished product

The Good

• A closer runner up this week was the arugula salad with sugar snap peas.   It is one of the best salads that I've ever tasted, between the arugula, peas and sauteed mushrooms; my family almost didn't get any.

• My husband made the black bread, which was a delicious, wintry treat that incorporated some carrots from the box.  It reminded me of the year that I spent in Prague after college.  With that in mind, I tried it with some butter and homemade pickled radishes.  Yum!

• The spinach lasagna was simple and good.  My husband didn't like that it didn't include ricotta and my kids also complained that it wasn't cheesy enough.  But, for a quick evening meal, it did the trick.

• The strawberry tangerine marmalade is a tasty change of pace from the strawberry jam that we've been eating since May.  It's tangy flavor goes great on crepes and waffles.

Week 40 in Review

The Score
Eaters - 10     Compost - 0.5     Carry Over - 0.5

I've really been enjoying these first couple of weeks of the year.  We've been enjoying amazing weather, and there have been no after school commitments pulling us in a million directions.  The end result has been great time in the kitchen after school, with me cooking while working with the boys on third grade times tables.  We ate a lot of great meals this week, leaving only a tiny bit to go into the compost pile (a handful of spinach and a small bit of cilantro).  We have a bit of carrots left over, but I've got plans for those (see week 41). 

The Best

• The sausage and lentils with fennel and carrots was amazing.  The recipe featured fennel three ways (bulb, fronds and seeds) and was a delicious blend with the lentils and sausage.  This will definitely be getting added into rotation when fennel is in the box!

The Good

• I really wanted this roasted tomatillo salsa to be amazing, and though it was good, the proportions were off.  I cut the jalapenos by half, but it was still so spicy that my kids wouldn't touch it.  It was also missing onions, even though the garlic was great.  I look forward to taking the basics of this recipe, and making my own version of roasted tomatillo salsa next week.

• The curried couscous featuring carrots, along with sesame sugar snap peas, made for a yummy vegetarian dinner for meatless Mondays. 

• We ate the chopped salad (using lettuce, spinach, and carrots) with a nice turkey meatloaf.  

• The butternut squash and leek soup made for a hearty lunch several days this week.

Week 9 in Review

The Score
Eaters - 10.5     Compost - 0     Carry Over - 1
Lots of amazing eats this week, fueled by a lot of amazing spring goodness!  I had a chance to make a few things that I've never made before (pickles, fresh berry pie), and all in all had a week of really successful recipes.  Nothing was overly complicated or time consuming, and for the first time in this process almost every recipe was eaten and enjoyed by all.  We still have a bit of lettuce left over, but I'm hoping to use that up in my lunch tomorrow.  Other than that, we've put away quite a bit of produce this week.

The Winner

• This was a tough one, but I have to say that the Strawberry almond challah french toast tasted like something that you'd get in a fancy restaurant for brunch, but was super easy to prepare.  Just remember, substitute almond extract for the vanilla in the recipe, and sprinkle with some slivered almonds for french toast that tastes like an almond croissant.

The Good

• Last week's Basil was so fragrant, and the leaves were larger than any basil I've ever seen.  With such perfect raw materials, the Basil pesto pasta with Zucchini and mint was a huge hit with both our family and the visitors that we had over for dinner that night.

• Also a big hit (not surprisingly) was the fresh Strawberry pie.  With perfect berries, not much effort was needed to turn out an amazing end product.

• Easy to make, good to eat.  The homemade garlic basil dills were so much easier to make than I ever would have imagined, and (though designed to be kept in the fridge, vs. stored long term) only required a day of waiting before eating.  Thanks to my sister-in-law for the pickling advice for this newbie!  One jar is already gone, so we'll need to be revisiting this recipe when we get more Pickling Cucumbers in our box.

• Oh, Sweet Onions.  How sweet you are.  The grilled sweet onions in contrast with jalapeno jack cheese made for a yummy yet simple quesadilla.

• This Spinach salad felt a bit like a deconstructed omelet.  Fresh, crunchy spinach with some hard boiled eggs and bacon, topped with a vinaigrette, seemed much heartier than a salad typically would.

The Rest

• The sesame chicken with Sugar Snap Peas was good, but the peas looked a little brown by the time recipe was done.  The whole thing could have used a bit of a 'kick', too.  

• This Zucchini bread is delicious, but I still can't get over that the recipe calls for 3 cups of sugar and a full cup of oil.  Even doubling the zucchini (which increased the cooking time by about 10 minutes), I'm left feeling that this 'vegetable' bread is really just fat and sugar.

Week 8 in Review

The Score
Eaters - 8.5   Compost - 1   Carry Over - 1.5
It feels like we cooked a TON of food this week, but somehow still did not get through all of the box.  A lot of our recipes involved baking, and that didn't lend itself to us getting through the greens that we more typically eat uncooked.  One head of lettuce wilted beyond repair, and we just didn't get around to the spinach, though it is still in great shape and will get used up this week.  We also still have a few carrots left over from the gigantic bunch that we got in last week's box; thankfully, there are none coming in the box this week, so we'll have a chance to use them up as well.

On the recommendation of a reader, I'm going to start these reviews by highlighting the best recipe of the week.  Of course, it will be my very subjective opinion - but will consider taste, enjoyment by the family, and overall ease of preparation.  It will be my way of saying 'if you're going to try one of these, try this!'

The Winner

• Our first winning recipe would have to be the mini chicken pot pies with bacon, Marjoram and Carrots.  The flavors were delicious, the presentation was lovely, and - using a store bought rotisserie chicken, and frozen puff pastry - it was quite easy to throw together.  We all loved it, and there sadly were no leftovers at all!

The Good

• This one shocked me.  I was pretty sure going in that this was going to be a colossal waste of time, making crust from scratch, then a pretty involved recipe for the filling that I was convinced would turn out all mushy.  Honestly, it was the only semi-edible looking recipe I could find when searching for a recipe that contained both zucchini and swiss chard.  But you know what?  The provencal Zucchini and Swiss Chard tart was good!  The boys weren't super excited about it, but we grown-ups quite liked it.

• The pasta with Sugar Snap Peas, asparagus and parmesan was a perfect spring pasta recipe.  The Peas from the box were oh so sweet, and it was one of those delicious, just-a-few-ingredients recipes that show what good Italian-inspired cooking is all about.

• Nothing like a summery crisp recipe to enjoy on a hot spring - but wishing it was summer - afternoon.  Yum!

 

The Rest

• My husband made several pizzas on the grill last weekend, and experimented making a white pizza with Summer Squash, Zucchini and ricotta.  It wasn't bad, but the pizza lacked a bit of pizzazz. 

• The pot roast from our meat CSA was quite delicious, as were the monstrous but sweet roasted Carrots.  I'm just not sure how one makes a pot roast dinner look very pretty when serving it?