Monday, December 19, 2011

Raw Cilantro Soup and more galore

I'm having a lot of fun with this box!

Yes, i made Cilantro Soup. Yes it was raw! I went to a raw food making class at Beet's Cafe on saturday and Cilantro Soup was a bonus recipe in our packet, all i could think about was that gorgeous bunch at home in the fridge. Whenever i get cilantro i never use it all before it goes bad so this was perfect.  Made in the Vita Mix with zuchhini, bell pepper, spices, avocado & all the cilantro - very very good!

I had a party on saturday where we were supposed to bring a dish so i made Tofu Dill Dip  - just tofu, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar and dill and maybe a couple more things, just google it, there are a ton of variations.  People at the party were eating it! I wonder if they knew it was tofu.



Sweet Potato Fries with TWO kinds of HP - original & fuity.  Baked in the oven and served with a veggie burger patty


The Komatsuna i did make in the Nice Ass Greens style - i really can't get enough of this recipe. Tasted amazing, it did have a distinct taste that i liked, different that other greens.

Butternut Squash - creamy butternut squash rissotto in the slow cooker - from The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester


Italian Peppers - i did use them in a salad, but also whiped up this plate of goodness, sauteed with onion, a portobello mushroom & Field Roast vegan Italian sausage.  This would be good in a rustic tomato sauce too.



I still haven't use that amazing looking watermelon radish, i think i'm going to save it for christmas day lunch at my parents, it's color is so stunning it will be a joy at the table. Will take pics n stuff

Friday, December 16, 2011

Local Box Dec 16th - a new green!

This lovely box contained 2 herbs - Cilantro and Dill and they were so pretty that i put them in a glass with water and decorated my table for dinner!

here are the contents:

Italian Green Peppers - these look like long chillies
Bunch of Scallions
Komatsuna - the new green!
Fresh Dill
Tomatoes
Oranges
Watermelon Radish - this is a huge white with a tinge of pink bulb with beautiful green leaves
Bunch of Cilantro
Butternut Squash
Sweet Potatoes

First of all that interesting Komatsuna - it looks like collards kind of. Sometimes called Japanese Mustard Greens, they are a good source of calcium! I thnk i'm going to just cook it like the kale from last time - in Nice Ass Greens - from the Sunny Days in Texas zine that i mentioned a couple of posts ago! seeing as the recipe actually says "1 bunch of unknown greens"  hahahah

Scallions will go in salads
Italian peppers, probably raw in salads and sauteed maybe with some tofurky sausage - yeah that sounds really good
Tomatoes - salads and sanwiches, i'm sort of craving a fakin bacon BLT
Sweet Potatoes - i kind of have a hankerin' for fries so i may chop them in strips and toss in oil & paprika and bake them in to fries. healthy. I like to dip them in bbq sauce or HP - a british tangy steak sauce i sometimes find in stores
Butternut Squash - will make Creamy Butternut Squash Rissotto in the slow cooker from the vegan slow cooker cookbook i have
Dill - in this Tofu Dill Dip
Cilantro - The box came with a recipe for Cilantro Pesto which looks good, i can just omit the parmesan. My son LOVES cilantro - we will have crispy tacos this week for dinner and use some of it on them
Watermelon Radish - well i was just going to slice it and use it in salads then i stumbled on this recipe for Sweet Pickled onion & Watermelon Radish Salad - that uses oranges! So can use those too. They look amazing.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Fall fruit butter

The Fall Harvest Fruit butter from The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester cookbook is sooo good - and it made the house smell amazing as it cooked all day yesterday - used the Apples, Pears & Butternut Squash in this one.
Here is a picture of it all chopped up and ready to cook:


And here is it spread on a waffle for breakfast! if i was really clever i would buy cute jars and this would be my christmas gifts...but i'm not


Here is the pasta dish i made, just sauteed some crimini mushrooms i had, with the Onion, Spinach & Tomatoes, added some canellini beans for protein, this was really really really good.



I made a salad dressing using the orages  - Orange-Sesame Vinaigrette from Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz  - here is what it looks like - it has sirracha & ginger so has a bite to it



here it is on my salad - that's Fakin' Bacon and other scrumptious goodies, i love a big ole salad

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Local Box December 1!

wow i was ready for this box - it seems that in the two weeks since the last one a somehow managed to not actually buy or cook much fresh greeny stuff.

I immediately made a salad for dinner!

the contents:

Tomatoes
Spinach
Pears
Bell Peppers - these were very pale yellow/green i almost didnt recognize them! Photo above
Lettuce bag
Kale
Oranges
Apples
Butternut Squash
Onions

So i made a salad with the lettuce, leftover radishes from last box (they seem to hold up well!) and the pale "albino" bell peppers. They were good, not sweet, definitely more like dark green ones, maybe more sharp. I may saute them with tofu scramble or something later in the week

I used some spinach this morning in a green smoothie as a birthday breakfast for my brother who should read this blog more and copy me - coconut water, banana, frozen pinaple, spinach, ginger & peanut butter.

Butternut Squash & Apples - i want to make Fall Harvest Fruit butter in my slow cooker from the cookbook The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester. It doesn't look too hard except for the dreaded peeling & chopping of an uncooked Butternut - i think there should be men hirable for this task.
There is also a butternut squash corn chowder from my holiday cookbook i want to try, we shall see.

The Kale will be cooked in my new fave way to cook greens - Vegan Lazy Smurf's Nice Ass Greens - from the Sunny Days Zine (which you should all buy, a good cause and nice ass recipes)

I have some mushrooms left over so i'm thinking an easy saute of spinach, mushrooms & the tomatoes over some pasta for a quick dinner. Oh the onions can be used here too

I'm not really a fan of just eating oranges, seeds and peeling bug me - i'm going to make Orange-Sesame Vinaigrette from Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz for my salads.

trying to eat "clean" as much as possible in between holiday parties & christmas feasts
 

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Thanksgiving!

my laptop has been in the shop for about a week, was getting a new keyboard put on - had a ton of missing keys thanks to my cat using it as a scratch pad once - and they told me the hard drive was on it's way out, then it was the holidays...soooo FINALLY here is a post
And i forgot to take a picture of the sweet potatoes which were the most awesome! Anyway they were from my new cookbook Vegan Holiday Kitchen (as are all the foods in this post)- basically sliced sweet potatoes, maple syrup, oj, soy sauce, pecans & rosemary. They were a hit at the table 

I did make the Salad w/pears and glazed pecans - a little labor intensive, and the glazed pecans were so good i ate so many as i was making them!




Butternut Squash Pie! Like pumpkin but not. It was good, really good, a little more subtle than pumpkin, perfect with some SoyWhip



I didn't make stuffing and i regret it, i'm still craving it, i feel deprived. I may just still make it randomly

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Fall-ing! Greenling box 11/17/11

A good fall fill box this week!

Baby lettuce bag
Basil bunch
Purslane
Radishes
Asian pears
Grapefruit
Butternut squash
Apples
Sweet potato
Sweet yellow onion

Well as it's thanksgiving week I'm going to try and make a bunch of recipes for thanksgiving! I just got a brand new cookbook called Vegan Holiday Kitchen by Nava Atlas! So these recipes will all be from there.


Lettuce I will, use with pears in Mixed Baby Greens with pears & Glazed Pecans

Apple and onion will go in Walnut-Apple Stuffing.

Sweet potatoes sound amazing in Maple-Pecan Sweet Potatoes.

I'm tempted to use the butternut squash as a pie, like pumpkin but using butternut instead! The recipe in the book lists it as a substitute.

I love thanksgivingy food. I may make them all the rest of the month!

Friday, November 4, 2011

Greenling Local Box goodies 11/3/11


I realize i don't think i've ever posted a picture of how delightful the local box looks when it comes so here is the bounty! Those are the sweet potato greens there being all big and green and leafy

ok so in this box:

Asian Pears
Apples
Mizuna
Carrot Radishes (those longish red things - really like part carrot part radish)
Sweet Yellow Onions
Oranges
Sweet Potato Greens
Summer Squash
Sweet Potatoes
Cucumbers

ok....apples, pears & oranges just for me to eat, kids too i suppose :)

Mizuna - the box came with some really good recipes and Soba Noodle Salad with Radishes & Mizuna really sounds ideal, uses the radishes too. I made some kind of soba noodle w/mizuna last time i got them so i know it's good.

Carrot  Radishes - see above! Will also add to salads that i eat daily.
Cucumbers in salads too and yes, some to Drizzle the Guinea Pig

Sweet Potato Greens - another of the included recipes is Sweet Potato & Greens Stir Fry - it says it was adapted from http://www.meatlessmonday.com/ but i haven't looked it up yet. But i love almost any recipe with peanut butter!

Summer Squash - more zucchini - last time i had one left after the casserle and i just chopped & sauteed then added to jar spagetti sauce and it was so good. Will do that again. I'm also in a taco-y mood lately so i think sauteed, chopped tiny and mixed with beans in a tortilla will be delish.

Sweet Potatoes - see above with the greens - but I did already make this Sweet Potato Lentil Chili last night with a couple of them and one of the onions to get into the cold weather spirit! It's probably the fave chili i've ever made

I ate it with home made corn tortilla chips, jalapenos & Tofutti sour cream which is my current condiment obsession


Friday, October 28, 2011

Bok Choy Baby

so i didn't make the salad, i opted instead for the asian style sesame noodles recipe that came with the Local Box, I've lost the sheet so can't tell it to you exactly!
But it was bok choy & the green shallots & garlic, zucchini i think and green bell pepper, sauted, tossed with pasta and soy sauce. I added the delectable sriracha sauce to perfect it! My son and next door neighbor liked it too, the daughter, not so much

Made this amazing Apple Crisp - smelled so good cooking, and was sublime with vanilla Nada Moo ice cream.


Zucchinis went into this Tomato & Zucchini casserole - it was good, simple, not mind blowing though!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Local Box 10/18 - Persimmons

Persimmons & Italian Cucumber Melon

I got this box early this week (and STILL am late to post ugh) because i helped out Greenling by being filmed for a segment for MSNBC - they wanted to film a delivery and i was available! It was very fun, but i woke up at 6:20 am this morning to watch the segment and the Greenling part wasn't on! Waiting to find out if it will be on another day, will keep you posted.

This box:
Asian Pears
Apples
Red Radish bunch
Fuyu Persimmons
Bok Choy
Italian Cucumber Melon
Broccoli Crown
Summer Squash
Gren Shallots Bunch
Sweet Potatoes

I had just bought a bunch of apples so i have an abundance - thinking i will make this very fall like Apple Crisp! yum

Radishes in salads - the greens i'm feeding to Drizzle the guinea pig - he loves them!

Persimmons - never in my life have i had or even touched one! They scare me still, but i googled :) - I cut one up and tasted, it tasted good, sweet, kind of rich. Not sure i would reach for one when craving a fruit. I'm going to try cutting up with a pear and a bit of plain coconut yogurt....

Bok Choy - not a huge huge bok choy fan - but i made this Apple Bok Choy salad before and it's one of my fave things

Italian Cucumber Melon - I'm actually stumped on this one - i guess i need to cut it open and see what it's like. is it a cucumber or a melon??? (see pic above with the persimmons)

Broccoli Crown - my kids are broccoli lovers so steamed and served

Summer Squash - quite a bit of zucchini so this Grilled Zucchini & Tomato Casserole looks amazing, but i'm also tempted to make these Zucchini Pancakes, i'm in a pancakey mood lately

Green Shallots - salads, or stir fried with greens

Sweet Potatoes - quite a few of these - this Sweet Potato Lenti Chili may be perfect for Halloween night dinner pre trick or treat!

Also this week i was invited to a Fall Tasting preview from Greenling - to try some of the new seasonal recipe kits - there was a minestroni soup which was delish, a quinoa salad that i totally forgot to photograph that i ate two servings of - but when that becomes  available it will have chicken with it so a no go for me, i may look it up when it comes out and replicate :)
But another stand out recipe kit dish was this Acorn Squash coconut curry - so good and it seemed like the kind of thing i would shy away from for being complicated, so I will have to buy this kit! here's a pic:

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Eggplant Bacon - yeah you heard me

The Ceasar Salad with eggplant bacon was a total success - i can't print the recipe cos it's from a cookbook (Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz) but basically slices of eggplant were baked with flavorings to make it bacony like soy sauce & liquid smoke, then a dressing called Ceasar Chavez Dressing was made using amazing things like cashews & miso & lemon juice. De-effin-licious


I made the Spaghetti Squash  using the recipe that came with the Greenling Local Box - roasted with olive oil salt & pepper. Then sauted shallot (had some STILL leftover from a box a couple of weeks ago) & garlic & red pepper flakes. When the squash is ready, fork scrape it into the spaghetti, add to pan with onion & garlic and toss, serve with fresh basil & vegan parmesan - i also added some shredded follow your heart vegan mozzerella. Ummmmm i ate the whole squash... that should give a hint into how it was :)

I didn't make the okra & greens recipe mentioned in the last post - the sweet potato greens kinda looked like they needed to be used fast so i sauteed them up with some garlic and used them in these black bean tacos. I also sliced up one of the peppers, they were pale yellow and therefore very mild, so they added a delicious fresh crunch to the tacos!


The okra i roasted again, it really is just too delicious and easy.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Vegan Local Box 10/6

This box has a weird new item for me - sweet potato greens! They are very beautiful and don't look edible.
Also lots of fruit - nice!

here's the list:
Asian Pears
Apples
Okra
Assorted Peppers
Cantaloupe
Bibb Lettuce
Sweet Potato Greens
Spaghetti Squash
Cucumbers
Eggplants
Limes

So happy for a final fling with Cantaloupe, i miss it the most when it's not summer.

The recipe sheet that came with the box actually has 2 recipes that i think i will use - one of them is Okra & Greens  - altho i reserve the right to not - as chopping Okra kind of annoys me, so sticky - so i may roast the okra again and just saute the greens like any other...
The other is Garlic & Shallot Spaghetti Squash - i just won't use the parmesan. Excited for Spaghetti Squash!

I realized with the last few boxes that i'm not a giant eggplant fan, i thought i was for some reason, maybe it was memories of eggplant parmesan from the past - so i'm gonna try something completely different & from one of my fave cook book writers Isa Chandra Moskowitz so see if i can't turn that around. The recipe is Ceaser Salad with Eggplant Bacon from her Appetite for Reduction cookbook.

My son has been asking for the raspberry lime muffins i was making earlier this year so will probably use some limes for that, they also make their way into salad dressings & juices too.

I'm always at a loss for the peppers - i gotta get creative! Maybe a pico de gallo? there's a bunch!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

veggiemax

i really enjoyed being pretty basic with this box, cooking the veggies with a bit of flavor and just enjoying them

These were the Garlicky Green Beans - and Roasted Acorn Squash that i served with some brown rice
The beans were good but sadly not as amazing as the ones at Justines - the squash was sooo good and i used shallots left over from my last box rather than onions. here's a pic of how cute the lil acorn squash were:



Here is a salad i made with the butter lettuce:


I didn't get a picture but i made this delicious Sauteed Crimini Mushroom recipe - made tacos with them!

oh and i never posted this from a couple of weeks ago but here is Zucchini muffins & zucchini/corn bake that i made from cookbooks i have - my son LOVED the muffins - huge plus


Sunday, September 25, 2011

Vegan Local Box 9/22

Green Asian Pairs
Crimini Mushrooms
Corn
Red Radish Bunch
Bibb Lettuce
Green Beans
Acorn Squash
Purple Hull Peas
Pinto Beans
Shallots

It's officailly, at least by the calendar, Fall! So i've started the Crazy Sexy Diet 21 day cleanse as i'm going to do every season change.
This means lots of juicing, raw salads and simply cooked veggies.

I've been obsessed with the garlicky green beans at Justine's restaurant, so i found this Garlic Green Beans recipe that looks the same! I will just sub olive oil for the butter, like i request at Justines!

I will cook the pinto beans like THIS  and eat them with corn tortillas and maybe saute some of the mushrooms
Speaking of mushrooms this Sauteed Crimini Mushroom recipe looks so good without the butter     

Purple Hull Peas - will cook like THIS and eat with rice & steamed veggies 

Acorn Squash - roast & eat with brown rice & cooked greens

         

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Purslane Salad & Eggplant Soup!

The Tomato, Cucumber, Purslane sald was very good! Tangy & spicy and fresh tasting. I don't love preparing the Purslane - lots of little leaves, need to wash it alot. but it was worth it.


I did use my new cookbooks!

From the vegan slow cooker i made this Eggplant casserole with CashewTofu Riccotta - i love making "cheesy" sauces with cashews & nutritional yeast, amazing results.  Also, i have never really cooked with eggplant before



My son wanted to cook this week - he loves to invent soup, and he was fascinated with the beautiful eggplants - so i told him that roasting it would be yummy, so we roasted it, and meanwhile made a soup of onion, celery, garlic, potato, thyme, basil, veg broth, added the eggplant and then blended it. it was amazingly good!


I also used limes in Lemony Lime Hummus from Blissful Bites, and cucumbers & lime and bell peppers (even though it wasn't in the recipe) in quinoa tabouli from the same book. No pics of those but both winners!




Saturday, September 10, 2011

Local box 9/8/11

I just love the color of cantaloupe
it's kind of fun getting similar items each time and coming up with different ways to use them!

here's the box:

Green Asian Pears
Cantaloupe
Purslane
Green Bell Peppers
Okra
Cucumbers
Summer Squash (they appear to be all zucchini this time)
Lady Cream Peas
Eggplant - regular purple eggplant
Limes

I just a minute used the cantaloupe & an asian pear to make a smoothie in my vita-mix - also used grapes, strawberry & hemp protein powder. :)

Purslane - i made a great salad last time this came but this time i will make this Tomato, Cucumber, Purslane salad so i can use the cucumbers too!

Lady Cream Peas - well last time, i burned these, like just forgot about the pan. it was bad! So i'm going too attempt again to just eat these as a little salad with cucumbers, onion, cherry tomatos and fresh squeezed lime.

I just got two new cookbooks - Blissful Bites by Christy Morgan (@theblissfullchef) who i've been following on twitter & her blog for ages, and The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester - so i want to use them!

Will use the Eggplant in Italian Eggplant Casserole w/Cashew-Tofu Ricotta from the slow cooker book
From Blissful Bites i am going to make fresh corn and zucchini frittata! and use limes in a marinade for portobella steaks & in Lemony-Lime Hummus!

Bell Peppers - not sure! Maybe in the pea salad, in regular salads, sauteed in tofu scramble - something good

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Gumbo n stuff

I just made this amazing Sweet Potato, Okra & Chickpea Gumbo from Fat Free Vegan - so freakin good and it used onion & garlic from the Greenling box as well as the Okra!




Earlier in the week i made the Kale & Butternut Squash salad from Wholefoods website, i didn't have dates so just used some raisins and i added chickpeas to it to make it a full meal.



I also made a really yum Creamy Cauliflower soup from the Vegan Lunchbox cookbook that used onions & garlic, i forgot to take a picture but the amazing thing about this was that the kids LOVED it

that butternut squash was from the box before! good thing they last, i still have this weeks but just roasted it and cut it up for a recipe i will post later and i am gonna make the squash soup this week!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Greenling box 8/25 - squash n stuff

so the summer seems to never end here in austin, and the weather and drought are affecting crops. summer stuff is lingering but it feels there's beginning a crossover - asian pears, butternut squash...

here's what was in my box - different from what was in the greenling video & list at the beginning of the week, i think that because my delivery is late in the week it's often different than the original plan...which is why i don't pre write my posts before my box comes

Garlic - a TON yay
Asian Pears - i love these
Red Potatos
Yellow Summer squash
1015 Onions
Salad Mix
Butternut Squash
Summer Peas
Okra

Garlic & Onion will go in random recipes that i will post later

Red Potatoes - my son likes them roasted, with onion, so that's likely

Yellow Squash --ooh looky at this Sunny Summer Squash soup from Fat Free Vegan, i can use garlic, onion and potato in it!

Butternut Squash - i will make the butternut squash & kale salad this week!

Summer Peas - I was really pleased with how these turned out last time, just plain, as a summery salad with cucumber, tomatoes, onions and lemon juice

Okra - again, ain't messing with a good thing - going to roast these again - my kids actually like it and it's so easy!


Monday, August 22, 2011

Pea-chy

Peach muffins! They were so good
and look at the peaches!




Peas!
I did just what i said - cooked up plain - then ate them with cucumbers & onions


Squash & zuchinni - i did it, i grilled them!, smart balance spread, salt, peper & garlic powder, in the foil, they came out so delish!


I still have my butter nut squash...good thing it lasts :)



Monday, August 15, 2011

Colorful bunch - local box 8/11

I love this list of foods - just the names of much of the stuff inspires the imagination, beautiful, colorful, rainbow....purple, canary, yellow, peach, magenta...

Yellow Peaches
Purple Basil
Aimee Canary Melon
Pickling Cucumbers
Yellow & Zucchini Squash
1015 Onions
Magenta Spreen
Butternut Squash
Summer Peas
Assorted Peppers

I got all peach inspired plus i ate so many last week that i'm going to use these to make Peach Muffins and i think even this Sweet Corn Soup w/ Peaches

Basil -

The Melon is just replacing my usual Cantaloupe for breakfast - interesting, it was described in the Greenling list as both tangy & Sweet and indeed it is

Butternut Squash - i haven't had kale in a while so want to make this Butternut Squash & Kale Salad

Magenta Spreen - so these are described as a good spinach substitute - i found THIS website with tons of recipes, none completely struck me so i may saute and add to the peas, or with a potato for a breakfast taco...maybe some raw leaves in a salad, interesting

Summer Peas - still kind of over the stewy flavors so i think i will just cook these plain and then use in salads for added protein or serve with the Butternut Kale salad to make it a meal

Peppers - i'm always stumped, will use the jalapenos just on food as i love them.  still need to research what to use the other interesting ones, will update in next post!

Cucumbers - i must admit, and i'm sure some people would think it a waste  - but my sweet Guinea Pig Drizzle loves cucumbers & i haven't them lately so a have already given him one whole one! I will eat one or two in a salad, maybe add to the Summer Peas with onion & lemon juice for a summery salad

Squash & Zucchini - i am going to try grilling these

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Okra Winfrey

hahahaha - ok

so after the engine 2 chili, and the lady cream peas i just felt over tomato-y soupy stuff so i did't make the gumbo - instead i made this Roasted Okra i found on Fat Free Vegan  - so incredibly easy and so yummy i literally just ate the whole plate snack style like french fries!


The butternut squash casserole, (from the Wholefoods recipe app on my ipad!) OMG! I dealt with the chopping :) but it was worth it. Really tasty and different, perfect with a few red pepper flakes and plenty of salt and pepper


The Lady Cream Peas - i love these, and yes the corn bread was essential!


I ate the lettuce & avo in salads, i STILL need to use the eggplant, i'm thinking i may just roast it, or make a caponata.

For some reason this week i got the local box two weeks in a row so i JUST got the new one, yikes, definitely too much, will stick to every 2 weeks :)

Sunday, August 7, 2011

food glorious food

I have so much food in the house its ridic - this week i got my regular local box AND another Engine 2 meal plan.  i'm smitten with them, i love the labeled items and the pre cute & packaged schtuff. it makes me over happy.


cutely packaged & sorted foods in my fridge, this is how they come

see how they are labled for the days??? LOVE


I went out of town again, so again the first box back is very welcome. I ate pretty well on my road trip to Utah but in general not enough fresh veg.

here's the contents:

Peaches - these are gone as i type, they were so delish, i ate them mostly cut up in my Optimum Slim Cereal w/Almond Milk

Avocado
Bibb Lettuce
Okra
Eggplant
Shallots
Sage Plant
Butternut Squash
Lady Cream Peas
Red Potato

Ok well Avocado & Lettuce of course in salads

The Lady Cream Peas fascinate me! They look similar to black eyed peas, and when i started googleing recipes i came up with THIS blog post & recipe from my friend Kathryn @Atxgastronomist who is also one of the Greenling Bloggers - so i will make that recipe sans bacon and plus some vegan cornbread

I love Butternut Squash, dread cutting it up - oh well, this Butternut & Macaroni casserole looks so damn good i will suffer for it and it uses Sage! Which i'm sure i will kill before it's all used up, i'm a bad plant owner.

After driving through Louisiana this summer and not being able to partake of the cajun food i have always loved, i think i'm gonna use the okra in this Vegan Gumbo recipe from Fat Free Vegan - plus it also uses eggplant! yeah

Friday, July 15, 2011

I'm a fool for figs - greenling box 7/15

I was so darn excited for this box because i knew FIGS were gonna be in it - i'm a sucker for them. I am 43 years old and never ate a fig till my friend brought some over to me last summer when i was recovering from my mastectomy - she lovingly showed me how to wash them gently and store them and best of all eat them. I'm so addicted, they feel like a decadent gift

This week i also have to sing Greenling's customer service praises again. I also ordered the Engine 2 Recipe kit box this week, soooo excited for it - but when i opened the box it was not it. It was some randomm items, produce, staples & meat eeek.  I called emailed & tweeted, early this morning i got an email in response to my tweet. It was a simple switch up, someone else got my box. they figured it out and Grace called me and aranged a switch out. I'm thrilled

Ok list:

Nectarines
Blueberries
Basil
Blue Potatoes
Spicy Assorted Peppers
Purslane
Juliette Tomatoes (baby romas)
Eggplant (they are tiny and green - interesting)
Figs
Onions

Figs - they are almost all gone
Nectarines & blueberries - just eat and put in smoothies

I got a grill this week! so this is all about grilling (i think)

Eggplants grilled - maybe like this and use the basil too! http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianbarbecuerecipes/r/eggplantbasil.htm

I really loved the pesto i made last box though so may use basil there again

Tomatoes - in my salads - but same as the basil, last boxes roasted cherry tomatos were so amazing i'm kinda still craving them

Peppers - not sure - some are jalapenos, i just love them in anything, one banana pepper and a serrano, could make a little pico de gallo with onions & serrano, and tomatoes

Potatoes - cut them up and put them in foil with onion and grill them

Purslane - just found this PURSLANE SALAD recipe - looks delish and i have cukes and a lemon, and can use a jalapeno!

Here's the Meal Plan in the Engine 2 Recipe kit - omg

Day 1 - Portobello Fajitas
Day 2 - Baked Sweet Potato, Roasted Peppers & Greens w/Cashew Sauce
Day 3 Spinach & Mushroom stacked enchiladas w/beans
Day 4 Mac & Not Cheese w/greens
Day 5 Savory Lentils & Greens soup

Friday, July 8, 2011

Tons of delights!

i really had a blast with this last box, prob cos i was so happy to be home

here's what i made

This is the Peas, i just boiled them till tender, then when cool tossed them with some cherry tomatoes, red onion, basil, lemon, olive oil and salt. so good


I did make the squash fritters from the Skinny Bitch cook book, but i forgot to take a picture! They were amazing, and we dipped them in vegan mayo mixed with cayenne. I had some left over so roasted them again per the Fat Free vegan website http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/08/ridiculously-easy-roasted-yellow-squash.html - i love this recipe so much, here's a pic:


The rest of the basil and som garlic went to this VEGAN PESTO - which i used with whole wheat penne, & green peas, i love peas in pesto with pasta


The ROASTED CHERRY TOMATOES were off the hook, i didn't have any basil left but they were delish as is with just salt. I used some the next day smushed on top of toast & hummus. wow.


The potatoes were made into potato salad, just used celery & red onion, celery salt, vegan mayo & cayenne pepper. took it to a pot luck


blueberries and peaches went into a smoothie AND cereal AND juiced - delish