Since I do not have a garden of my own like Ma, I get the next best thing: A weekly box of organic fresh picked produce from California farms through the wonderful company called Abundant Harvest Organics.
If you are reading this and you live in San Diego please take a look at the website to learn more and see about signing up. It is the best price for the amount of food you get and you will not find anything fresher in the stores. The best part is that you can feel good knowing that the farmer was also paid more money by selling the produce this way. You pay less than the prices in the store and the farmer gets paid more money, I would call that a win win!
Every week here on my blog I will be providing weekly menu ideas using the produce that came in the box that week.
This week's box had:
Fuyu Persimmons
Pomegranites
Daikon Radishes
Lettuce
Green Beans
Onions
Winter Squash
Summer Squash
Fresh Dill
Spinach
Here are my meal ideas using all of this wonderful produce!
Meal 1:
Pomegranate and Persimmon Salad
You can add some nuts or cheese if you have than on hand. For the dressing I will be using my standard olive oil drizzle and a splash of good balsamic vinegar
Meal 2:
Dilly Salmon Patties and Lemony Green Beans
I will be using canned wild salmon and lots of fresh dill! I will also use some onion and egg and maybe some coconut flour. If anyone wants the recipe I end up using please put a request for that in a comment on this post and I will add it.
Wash and trim the green beans and stir fry them in oil. I always use expeller pressed coconut oil (it does not have a coconut flavor, only extra virgin coconut oil has a coconut flavor.)
Add some lemon pepper and dried lemon basil if you have that on hand or just get creative with your own ideas.
Before serving drizzle with a little bit of good olive oil. My favorite kind right now is one from Trader Joe's called California Estate. It comes in a tall skinny green bottle and costs about $7.
Meal 3:
Summer squash and kale soup with onion and garlic
When all else fails make soup! This summer squash is nice and hearty so it will hold up well as big chunks in a soup.
I plan to saute my onion in some olive oil and add fresh chopped garlic. Then I will add in the chunks of squash and cover everything with some of my homemade chicken broth I keep handy in the freezer. You could just use water too or any kind of broth you want.
If you want a creamy soup add some coconut milk or cream or milk if you enjoy dairy.
If you want a thicker soup you can blend part of it with an immersion blender if you have one of those, I LOVE mine!
After you simmer everything for about 20 to 30 minutes on low add in the kale minus the stems, you can save those for the next meal.
The kale leaves will only take about 5 minutes to simmer into the soup.
Meal 4
Spinach and Kale Stem Curry with Onions
I used the slow cooker for this one!
Put the spinach and kale stems into the slow cooker.
Add sliced onions. I like to cut my in big slices because then they are noodle like in the sauce.
Now it is time to get creative! I added a can of organic pumpkin, coconut cream, water, and some Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste(about 2 TBS or more if you want it spicier)
To make this curry you need to add some kind of curry spice or paste. I highly recommend the Thai Kitchen brand curry pastes!
No need to add any coconut cream or milk unless you want it to be creamy. You could add butter instead if you have that on hand.
You can see my post before this one for how I bake squash these days. You could add baked winter squash after baking it whole. I baked my winter squash and ate it for lunch so that is why I used the canned pumpkin instead.
If you want a heartier meal and you eat meat, add some meat! I put chicken thighs in mine. Chicken thighs are cheaper and they have more flavor. You can get a great price on them if you shop at Costco. They sell some organic free range chicken thighs, breasts, and whole chickens for the best prices I have found. The thighs are the cheapest and they really do have more flavor than breast meat.
Cook on low for about 6 hours.
Meal 5
Roasted radishes served with any main course item (always some kind of meat in or egg dish in our house!)
Wash and chop the radishes.
Coat them in melted extra virgin coconut oil mixed with some expeller pressed coconut oil.
Lay them on a stoneware roasting pan or a foil lined cookie sheet.
Roast about 20 minutes on 425
Check them and flip them and roast maybe 10 minutes more.
It may be less depending on your oven.
Watch them closely. They should be browned but not blackened.
They will come out crispy and sweet.
I will probably serve this with one of my meat loafs. I have several pre-made and waiting in my freezer.
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