Rhubarb

What I Made – Week 6

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Let’s start with the most photogenic dish of the week, and also a surprisingly easy one! We used arctic char instead of the bass, and swapped the arugula for regular old lettuce.
This potatoes, fennel, and sausage skillet is an example of how I followed a recipe, but completely changed everything. I didn’t think my skillet was big enough to cook everything together, so I roasted the potatoes in the oven, adding the sliced fennel halfway through. I browned the sausage and onions in the pan, and cooked the onions in the sauce to make the glaze. Then I just topped the potatoes and fennel with the glazed onions and sausage. It was tasty, but heavy for a summer meal.
A pretty straightforward taco salad with last week’s shredded beef. We mixed a tablespoon or two of hot salsa and a tablespoon or so of spice blend into the beef to amp up the taco flavor.
I’ve made this recipe for salmon and napa cabbage many times, but didn’t follow the directions for the fish as closely this time. Do as the recipe says, not as I did if you want delicious crispy skin.
Another meal where I made some changes for the texture. I pan fried the tofu instead of marinating it, then just added oil to the marinade from the recipe to make a dressing. We left off the rice noodles this time, but I also like bean thread noodles on this.
Part salad, part grain bowl, the basic formula for this quinoa base with a lemon scallion vinaigrette and whatever cheese, dried fruit, and nuts you have (or not) is the recipe I always go to when I have a leafy green and no ideas for dinner.
Behold the collard breakfast sandwich! We followed the recipe instructions for the collards but managed to change just about everything else: an English muffin instead of a biscuit, peach bourbon jam instead of the aioli, country ham instead of pancetta, and a fried egg in place of the scrambled. But it tasted very good anyway.
Last but not least, rhubarb! lemon! cheesecake! I like to layer the curd throughout the cheesecake rather than just swirling it on top for maximum combination per bite. It’s also great with gluten free cookies for the crust.
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What I’ve Planned – Week 6

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If you though the basket couldn’t get more green and leafy after last week, you will be amazed at how much we got for Week 6! This may be the time to start stocking the freezer for later months, if it weren’t too hot to turn on the stove most days!

I still need to make plans for the kale, but I’ll either toss it in with the chicken sausage and potatoes or hope it holds up in the crisper until I get a better idea!

What I Made – Week 5

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This chicken, kale and artichoke casserole was very easy to put together. I thought my skillet was too small for the last few steps where all the ingredients are combined, so I did it in a casserole dish in the oven instead and just cooked it 20-30 minutes. I would probably reduce the amount of liquid if I did it this way again.
Oh wow, another salad! This one with oranges, goat cheese, scallions, pistachios and some leftover red pepper dressing.
Finally I got both ingredients at the same time and made a strawberry rhubarb pie this year! It was a little more strawberries than rhubarb but you won’t hear me complaining.
These massive, meaty pork chops were the perfect accompaniment to this apple, kohlrabi and mint slaw. I will definitely make this again; it’s a great side dish that has so many flavors haters like me will barely notice the kohlrabi.
Unglamorous shredded beef tacos! I was too tired at the end of the week to make the salsa so we used leftovers from takeout (in the plastic containers) and topped with lots of lettuce and cilantro.

Not pictured was the sunchoke gnocchi and sautéed spinach we had (pictured here in Winter Week 15) and the many, many salads we made. We finally used up the last of the lettuce today so we only have a few red scallions rolling around the produce drawer. We’ve got to try to keep this pace up heading into the height of summer!

What I’ve Planned – Week 5

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After a couple weeks of folks telling me our basket haul looked small, I think you’ll agree that we have an abundance this week, especially of leafy greens!

We’ll probably end up eating more salads than this, but I’m running low on ideas! Maybe taco salad with our leftovers or a deli drawer-clearing chef salad?

What I Made – Week 4

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I finally got around to making these lemon rhubarb scones, baking one batch and freezing the dough from another. (I think they’re plenty sweet enough without the glaze.)
This was going to be a pizza salad but I used goat cheese, craisins and pistachios with olive oil and red wine vinegar instead. Pepperoni still needed up on this plate somehow 🤔
A close up shot of our mushroom and collard lasagna. I doctored the sauce with a little nutmeg and added some red pepper flakes to the greens.
We added chopped hakurei turnips and their greens to this red curry chicken, which also used spinach!
Breadcrumbs on this kale salad may seem unlikely, but they add an addictive savory crunch.
Stir fry is always a go to with bok choy. This one has chicken, red bell pepper, and lots of scallions too.

What I Made – Week 2

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We started the week with a hearty lamb ragú with green garlic and carrots. Definitely comfort food!
If you already have cooked chicken and frozen collards (or another leafy green), these skillet chicken enchiladas come together in minutes. If you start with raw kale, like I did this week, it’s still a super fast (and very cheesy) weeknight dinner.
These peanut sauce-covered noodles with collard greens are so fast and easy, but they taste almost as good as takeout.
This saag paneer recipe is easily adapted to use whatever greens you have on hand. This week, that mean beet greens, komatsuna, and spinach. We also substitute tofu for the paneer.
We enjoyed the first summer-like weather of the season with an indoor cookout: a cheeseburger and some oven-baked sweet potato fries.
Last but not least, a birthday cake! The yellow cake is filled with rhubarb vanilla jam and covered with rhubarb buttercream (the same jam mixed into buttercream).

What I Made – Week 1

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Egg roll in a bowl is what would happen if you only ate the egg roll filling without the wrapper. I like to cook the ground pork until it is crispy (almost like sausage) to give a bit more texture.
Oh look, a salad. This one with lentils, beets, and creamy feta tossed with a Dijon vinaigrette!
The only time I really notice the limitations of our current stay-at-home situation is when I forget to pick up a topping or ingredient. Imagine avocado down in the bottom quadrant of this quinoa bowl ☹️
This slow-roasted green garlic chicken would have been a lot more attractive if I had remembered to baste it. It was still tasty, even if a bit pale.
We scrapped the idea for pasta and made calzones with pepperoni, mushrooms, and the leftover marinated kale. The best part was dipping it in marinara sauce we canned last year with tomatoes from our garden.
Next up in our dough pockets from around the world are these bierocks made with cabbage and ground elk and delicious topped with mustard.
This is a chocolate tart with a roasted rhubarb filling. It was absolutely amazing, but so is anything topped with a thick layer of chocolate ganache!
I also made this chocolate rhubarb babka. The New York Times says quarantine baking babka is the new banana bread? I think this is way most delicious than that, especially warm from the oven.

We did a good job using up our ingredients this week. The only thing still hanging around are the beet greens and lots more rhubarb!

What I’ve Planned – Week 1

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This week’s basket offers a nice, though I assume temporary, break from salad greens. We had a beautiful warm weekend, but there’s another drizzly, cool work week ahead, so my menu definitely leans towards comfort foods!

I’m hoping to be a bit more ambitious with my breakfast and desserts this week, too. I found two recipes to help use up my rhubarb that look delicious.

That’s a lot to do! I better get baking!