I had great lighting for all my dishes this week, even if many of them were mostly the same. (And all served in bowls?!) Not pictured are the leftover pulled pork we paired with blistered green beans, quiche with chard, loaf of zucchini bread, and some zucchini chocolate chip cookies I made this week.
We used everything this week except a couple of cucumbers, some of the parsley, and yes, still more zucchini! Even when the months seem like they all run together, that’s how you know it’s July.
Welcome to another week of balancing leftovers with the new bounty from this week’s basket. No doubt we’re moving quickly into the peak of summer season now. Here’s what I am planning to make (or still plan to make, in the case of some of last week’s basket ingredients!)
I’m also still hoping to make a zucchini chocolate cake of some sort, maybe to freeze, since the fridge is already overwhelmed with leftovers as it is!
You would have thought this week’s basket world have brought more salads, and it should have! Here’s what we ate instead.
This is the perfect early summer basket this week! The boxes are getting heavier and the veggies are filling up both sides of our crisper, which is a sure sign we’re headed for peak season. I’m trying to take a break from pasta with my menu this week, although there’s no break from salads in sight!
I’d posted this recipe for risotto with leeks and turnips many years ago, but these days I prefer to make risotto in the Instant Pot! I cook the leeks in butter or oil using the Sauté setting, then I dump in the turnips, rice, and broth and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. After a quick release, I turn it back to Sauté and stir in the cheese and cook for a few minutes to let it thicken up. No aching arm from all the stirring and you have risotto in about 30 minutes!
This white bean soup with Swiss chard and carrots is so nice on a cold night and is another easy Instant Pot meal! I added the thinly sliced chard stems with the onions at the beginning.
A basic chef salad is always good for a quick meal. I cooked the quinoa and eggs ahead of time to make this extra easy on a busy night.
I’ve made beets and mozzarella with poppyseed citrus dressing for a while now. It’s based on this recipe, but I don’t grill the beets, I just roast them in the oven and I substitute the easier to find mozzarella for burrata.
I went all in on the Instant Pot meals this week. Jarred curry paste gives a lot of flavor (and spice!) to this Thai red curry with bok choy and broccoli. I actually cooked the bok choy and broccoli in a wok to give them a nice char, then stirred them in at the very end.
With all these soups, can you tell it’s cold here now? I didn’t have half and half, but I did a cup of cream and a cup of skim milk and this clam chowder turned out great!
Clockwise from left: Scarlet Turnips, Asian Pears, Red Butterhead Lettuce, Gala Apples, Red Chard, All Blue Potatoes, Shallots, Broccoli, Gold Beets, Purple Radishes
This was a comfort food week, through and through, never mind that it’s still hot enough outside that turning my oven on still makes the air conditioning run…
This is basically eggplant Parmesan without all of the work! The only slicing involves cutting the eggplant in half, then the insides are scooped out and cooked until tender with onions and sausage. I left off the breadcrumbs for the topping and didn’t miss them. By the way, the marinara sauce is made with tomatoes from our garden!
This tempeh stir fry with broccoli was tasty, but I probably should have doubled the sauce for two small-ish heads of broccoli. I just pan-fried tempeh instead of making the crispy tofu from the original recipe. I also added some of the spicy peppers from a few weeks ago. (After stir frying, they are really not that spicy.)
This spaghetti allá vodka with Swiss chard is so good and so easy. And did I mention you only use one pot, so cleanup is simple too?! It’s a great way to use both the chard leaves and stems and you can easily substitute spaghetti for a pasta shape of your choice.
In keeping with the one-pan theme, this was Greek chicken with roasted potatoes and green beans. Unlike the recipe, which suggests putting everything in at the same time, I like to give the potatoes a 15 minute head start, then add the chicken and cook for another 15 minutes, then add the green beans for the final 15 minutes or so.
This poached cod in cherry tomato curry was…bland? Maybe I’m used to my garden’s extra sweet cherry tomatoes, but I also got very little spice from the peppers, and not much coconut flavor from the coconut cream. I’ll have to try again, maybe with some hot curry powder next time.
I had thought I would be traveling this week, but instead I have more time to cook through this week’s veggies. Here’s what I have on the menu:
I’m also planning to make pimento cheese and pear scones. Together with a bunch more tomatoes from our garden, the roma tomatoes will become tomato sauce that I will can for later.
CSA in the Suburbs 