Today was veggie box day! Princess and I both love reading the produce list, farm news and recipes attached to the box. It is amazing how much more likely Princess is to eat vegetables when they come from our CSA. She's been to the farm. She's seen the rows of vegetables growing and watched a worker put together our box, including picking some of the produce right off the plants in front of us. She does inventory of each box, checking off the items she knows right away as she pulls them out and asking me for help with the ones that are new to her. She has tried every veggie I've put on her plate. She's not a fan of eggplant, despises sugar snap peas and hates spinach and other cooked greens. She eats the cucumbers and bell peppers that come from the farm whole. She is obsessed with cabbage sauteed with turkey kielbasa. She loves little red potatoes and green beans boiled together and then topped with a little butter, salt and pepper. She gobbles up cauliflower roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper until golden like it's popcorn. She created a delicious shredded kohlrabi salad recipe - a vegetable I had never even heard of before it showed up in our box. Not only does she eat her veggies almost every night - when I couldn't even get her to sample them before the CSA season started - she often asks for seconds!
I skipped the shrimp (not a seafood fan). Here's my plate, which was 8 Weight Watchers points. I think we both had way more sauce than noodles! In fact, there are only a few bites of the sauce left and Princess has already asked if we can make more.
Here are a couple shots of the box we got today.
We have Swiss chard, red leaf lettuce, sugar snap peas, red peppers, yellow peppers, broccoli, purple! cauliflower, spinach, beets, strawberries, zucchini and Napa cabbage. We still have turnips, parsley, one zucchini, a purple kohlrabi and dill left from the last box.
I have no ideas what to do with the turnips or beets. Do I eat the beet greens? Any tips for Swiss chard? I keep messing it up and turning it to mush.
Princess and I are currently obsessed with oatmeal for breakfast. I cooked it on the stove for the first time last week. I've always just microwaved it before. Holy cow - what a difference! It is so much better on the stove! We cook it in a blend of almond milk and reduced fat (lactate free) cow's milk. We add a pinch of salt, little slice of butter, vanilla, cinnamon and spoon of brown sugar. We say it feels like love in our tummies.
I made her this cute little snack last week that I copied from Family Fun Magazine:
It's a slice of apple topped with whipped cream cheese (the magazine didn't call for this, but I thought it would help the "feathers" stick better). Canned (in juice) pineapple chunks make the feathers, blueberries for the eyes, strawberry on top and bell pepper for the beak and feet (the magazine used dried apricot for these).
We still eat out too often and have rely on convenience food for several meals a week, but we're moving in the right direction. I have grown to love veggies as an adult, but fresh produce was rare in my home growing up. I thought I hated so many vegetables, but really I just hated the mushy, canned versions of them! I'm having fun watching Princess try new things and get excited about cooking them.
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I love being in a CSA! Though up north, it's slim pickings over the winter, so we just do summer/fall.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have to eat the beet greens--I've never been too successful with cooking those and no one will judge you for throwing out a few leaves. Especially since you seem to have more veggies than you can handle as it is.
That looks so lovely and appetizing. I am glad that princess came to like the vegetables just as a result of experiencing where they grow! So cool.
ReplyDeleteturnip: into little dice or stripes, cook them in Salt water along with carrots and something yellow (yellow turnip??), and you have your "three-Color-veggies"... Perhaps you could also cook it and
make it into a salad like red beet? Or mix it with red beet?
Kohlrabi is one of my favorites, but only raw. I hate it when it's cooked. I just cut it and peel it and eat it quickly (when you leave the white inside in the air, it gets a bitter taste). I love the different tastes of the different parts: tender and juicy on one end, more hard and white on the other.
The Swiss chard has a very nice taste when you just chop it inot strips like chicoree and briefly cook it in a little salt water. No lid on the pan, and just a tiy little bit of water (since quite much juice comes out of it), max. 3-5 minutes cooking... I loooooooooooove it.
Like your princess, I love eating raw bell peppers and also raw carrots and cucumber and cherry tomatoes.
Raw carrots (or Kohlrabi) are also great to work of a bad mood or anger: you can bite into it violently. Only the noise it makes can vindicate you... And, with kohlrabi, it is also great when you feel hungry: since you need to be so active eating it, the hunger goes (and comes back after a bit, but these are veggies).
Raw veggies are also the ideal Snack while watching TV or reading. You just keep biting and biting, and suddenly they are gone... (Much better than popcorn or chips, with almost no calories). So I often prepare a plate with a few different types of raw veggies: Bell pepper, Fennel, Carrots, cucumber, Kohlrabi, Tomatoes. When I look at it, it seems huge, but after just a little while, they are all gone... However, they should not be too cold (room temperature rather than fridge temperature)...
Oh, and do you know how to make Gazpacho? Princess will love it!
In the summer, I quickly boil a few tomatoes (to get off the peel), and then I blend them along with a raw onion, a bit of raw cucumber, a lot of garlick, you might also add bell peppers). Add a bit of salt and pepper, and herbs like basil or oregano, thyme or even cilantro (if you like it).
It makes a refreshing drink or a nice soup, decorated with croutons, a diced boiled egg and various diced veggies (bell pepper, etc)
PS: Is this strawgberries I see in the plastic bag? How come you guys have them already. Here, we still have snow!!! GRRRRRR!
ReplyDeleteBeets and turnips are really good if you slice them thin, toss them with olive oil and salt and then bake them at 350 for a while. Even better fried.
DeleteI take swiss chard and put it in frittatas or quiche. Just saute it like you would spinach and then add it to an egg dish. I also have a really good grits and greens recipe where you put cooked grits in a casserole dish, mix in the cooked chard or kale and then make six impressions in the grits, crack an egg in each impression and cook it until the eggs are set. It is so good.
Yup, those are strawberries! And they are sweet and yummy! We've had them in most of our boxes since the start of January. It is 88 degrees here right now! HOT! Stupid Florida doesn't know how to have a winter.
DeleteOh, if you like oatmeal you must try this recipe. It is my go-to for Monday morning b-fast. I whip it up on Sunday night and it's just ready to go on those dreaded Monday mornings: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/03/healthy-breakfast-recipe-from-sue-baked-soaked-oatmeal.html. Also, for beets, just drizzle some olive oil over them, toss in some minced garlic and roast them. The sugars begin to caramelize and they are delish! Or, look up a recipe for harvard beets. mmmmmmmm....
ReplyDeleteThis recipe is in my "to try" file: http://www.closetcooking.com/2012/02/swiss-chard-pesto.html I haven't tried it yet, but I bet it would be delicious on any kind of taco or burrito, and it should freeze well like regular pesto does. That's what I would do if I had swiss chard lying around. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm way behind in my blog reading and just catching up. We LOVE swiss chard! You can chop it all up and add it to salads, or just chop the stems for salad. The stems are a lot like celery. My favorite variety is the "bright lights" because all the stems are different bright colors (yellow, orange, pink, red) Or, you can cook it. If it's turning out mushy, you overcooked it. My favorite way to cook any greens is to saute a little garlic in olive oil. Before it turns brown, add the rough chopped greens. Sprinkle with garlic salt and don't leave!! They cook fast. Toss them gently during the cooking process. It only takes a couple of minutes. As soon as they're just barely wilted but still bright green, they're done. Hit them with a little sprinkle of lemon juice (a couple teaspoons at most) or rice vinegar. Remove them from the pan immediately and serve. If you cook the chard, chop and saute the stems a bit, then add the garlic, then add the greens. The stems take longer to cook than the leaves do. Or, just cook them all together and enjoy the wilted leaves and still a bit crunchy stems mixed in.
ReplyDeleteAs for the beets, my kids would be SOOO excited for those. Their first instinct would be "Make Borscht"!! Or, just roast them or boil them. Pretty much cook them as you would carrots. They're good with salt and pepper or with a a sweet and sour glaze on them (vinegar, water, sugar, and corn starch to thicken it.)