Slicing Cucumbers

What I Got – Week 15

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Clockwise from bottom left: Italian Eggplant, Mixed Heirloom Tomatoes, Sweet Onions, Red Seedless Watermelon, Ground Cherries, Athena Cantaloupe, Red Tomatoes, Green Dandelion, Mixed Sweet Peppers, Slicing Cucumbers
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What I Made – Week 12

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I tried a new recipe for these blueberry lemon scones, substituting regular milk for the plant-based and was sure I was going to regret it. The dough was so soft I dumped it in a puddle on my baking sheet for the chilling step! But somehow it baked up perfectly, and the crunchy sugar topping was a definite must. Consider adding more sugar to the dough if you don’t have any for sprinkling.
Salmon with wilted chard and a tarragon vinaigrette is a true 30 minute meal with flavor that tastes like it’s much more complex. Four salmon filets will leave leftovers for the next day, but we always eat one bunch of chard in a single meal.
These pitas are stuffed with more veggies than you might realize – oven roasted sun gold tomatoes, cucumbers in the tzatziki yogurt sauce, and zucchini in the turkey meatballs! Don’t skimp on the herbs in the meatballs, they give great flavor.
This colorful salad is just beets, avocado, and a puréed onion dressing, but is a nice light way to enjoy beets in the summer.
This dish looks veggie-free, but it hides 3 sliced and then caramelized onions! This is Adas Polo or lentil rice with chicken from the Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat cookbook. I didn’t have raisins or dates, so I used craisins. Samin would also be disappointed that my dish turned out unseasoned. She says to salt the rice cooking liquid until it’s “uncomfortable” and I thought I was probably just short of that but that it would be close enough. I was wrong and should know better than to not trust her instructions…
The recipe for these wok cooked Romano beans seems too easy to be true: char beans and dried chiles, add 1/4 c water to steam until crisp tender, then toss with garlic and ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil, and top with scallions. I’m here to say it was delicious and much more flavorful than you might expect!
This zucchini chocolate orange cake is pretty much perfection (and a great way to use up zucchini). I swap chocolate chips for the pecans and concentrate the glaze and only use about a half cup of powdered sugar since the cake is plenty sweet without it.

We also ate (more!) sunchoke gnocchi with sautéed spinach and polished off the peaches and cantaloupe as delicious lunch time snacks. We still have more onions and cucumbers to use up.

What I Made – Week 10

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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.

I like the bright flavor of the herbs (parsley and mint here) with the earthy beets and tangy dressing of this Farro Salad with Beets, Scallions & Pistachios.
Some day I’ll remember to cook down the tomato sauce until it’s really thick so my zucchini lasagna doesn’t end up watery. Didn’t manage it this week, but I thought this vegetarian version with mushroom tomato sauce and finely chopped kale mixed in with the ricotta was a tasty change.
The flavor of the sauce for these drunken zucchini noodles is spot on, and almost makes you forget you’re having zucchini for dinner again. (Almost)
I’d never attempted this Broccoli and tofu stir fry, but newly equipped with a tofu press, I battered and fried them for a stir fry that takes some extra effort, but definitely tastes more complex than our usual basic recipe.
Sundried tomatoes really would have brightened up this Greek farro salad, but the salty cheese, spicy peppers, and tons of herbs pack lots of flavor, even if the colors are a bit dull.

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.

What I’ve Planned – Week 10

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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!

What I Made – Week 14

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As expected, a week of travel meant that I did not do much cooking this week. Here’s what I was able to make.

  • Chicken and sausage gumbo with okra and peppers
  • Vietnamese noodle salad (inspired by this recipe, but with peanut tempeh instead of chicken)
  • The unattractive but delicious fruit platz with plums.

    • Here’s the before and after of the jalapeños I pickled

    The gloves are key to protect your hands from any residual burning! I’ll clean out seeds from the top rings of the pepper closest to the stem, but leave the ones shown here pretty much as-is.

    The entire bag I got made one very full quart jar. I heat the brine from this recipe to dissolve the salt and pour it over the peppers.

    What I’ve Planned – Week 14

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    Another week where I won’t be able to do much in the way of cooking, so this will be a very short list. Hopefully the squash will keep until next weekend when I can figure out how to best use them!

    I also pickled the radishes and dried the grape tomatoes in the dehydrator this weekend. The tomatoes will either be diced and frozen or turned into sauce, I haven’t yet decided.

    What I Got – Week 14 2019

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    Back row from left: Yellow Tomatoes, Centercut Squash, Yellow Peaches, Plums, Green Okra

    Front from left: Slicing Cucumbers, Red Radishes, Red Grape Tomatoes, Green Leaf Lettuce, Little Sweetie Cantaloupe, Escamillo Peppers

    (True story, when I was lifting my basket out of the shopping cart while leaving the store after my pick up this week, a peach fell out of my basket, bounced down a stair, and rolled down the sidewalk, stopping just short of 6 lanes of traffic. You definitely know I walked down there, dusted it off, and took it on home with me. I washed it, peeled it, cut out the bruised part and I plan to eat it over cottage cheese for breakfast tomorrow! No peach left behind! 🙈)