Weekly Meal Planner using Produce from my Abundant Harvest Organics Box

We did not get a box last week because Abundant Harvest Organics took a week off for the holidays. That worked out well for us because we took a trip to the mountains near Julian CA and spent a few days at the YMCA family camp over the Thanksgiving Holiday. So much fun!

Now it is back to business as usual and that means a new box of produce today!

Here is what we got this week:

• Fuji apples
• Mountain Bartlett pears
• lettuce
• turnips
• potatoes
• spinach
• cabbage
• eggplant
• fresh majoram
• carrots
• radicchio

Here is how I plan to use my produce:

Meal 1
Roasted Turnips served with meat or an easy fritatta
The turnips we got are nice and big so I cannot resist roasting them! It will be easy to cut them all up into nice big circle slices.
I will probably coat them in extra virgin coconut oil to add a little sweetness. I will also sprinkle some sea salt on top.
Then I will pop them in the oven on a foil lined & greased cookie sheet and roast them at 425 for about 20 minutes. Then I will flip them and roast them some more, probably another 20 minutes at least since these are going to be big slices.

Meal 2
Pear and Apple Salad
I love fruit in my salads so chopping up some of the pears and apples and tossing them with the lettuce we got seems like a great idea to me!
As usual, my dressing will be good olive oil and balsamic vinegar
If you have some good cheese to crumble that would be a nice addition, so would some grilled chicken.

Meal 3
Broiled Radicchio with a balsamic glaze served with any meat or fish
The Fresh Facts newsletter we got with our box today did offer a lot of info and cooking options for the radicchio but they did leave out one option: broiling.
I am a big fan of broiling things since it is easy and delicious!
I am planning to cut my radicchio in half or maybe in wedges depending on the size.
Then I will coat them in expeller pressed coconut oil and stick them under the broiler for a few minutes.
Then I will take them out and coat them with some balsamic vinegar and broil them again for a few minutes.
I read about adding some honey or brown sugar to the balsamic before you put it on the radicchio so go ahead and try that if you want to add more sweetness, the broiling will add some sweetness on its own though just like roasting does.  

Meal 4
Eggplant baked in tomato sauce
I remember reading something about soaking your eggplant in salt water before cooking to take out some of the bitterness so I am going to try that first!
Then I think I will just slice them up and put them in a baking dish with some Italian herbs and pour a jar of good pre-made spaghetti sauce on top and bake it in the oven on 350 for maybe 30 minutes and see what happens!
You could add cheese if you are into cheese. Chicken would work well in there too.

Meal 5
When all else fails make vegetable soup!
I plan to take the rest of the veggies in the box, chop them up, add them to the crock pot with some water and spices and call it soup!
If you do not have a slow cooker you can make this in a soup pot and just simmer everything after you bring it to a boil. It is ready when everything is nice and soft.
If I still have some homemade chicken broth on hand in the freezer I will add that in so it is not only water. Cooking it in the slow cooker all day will make even the water flavorful too though so don't worry if you do not have any broth on hand.
I know I have a bag of sun dried tomatoes so that will be going in for sure, it adds so much flavor!
Make sure to add the chopped cabbage at the end about 30 minutes before you plan to serve the soup. This will keep it fresh with a little crunch.
I may save my cabbage to make the cabbage and chicken apple sausage soup I wrote about in a past weekly meal planning post.

That's all the ideas I have for now. Please share any new ideas or cooking successes or failures in the comments. I would love to hear from you!