Sunday, January 29, 2012

Turnip up! local box January 26th

Somehow the whole time i've been getting the local box i've managed to not ever get Turnips! Either they have been in the box the week i don't get the box, or sometimes items are listed as "this or this", like this week on the list of local box contents it says "golden globe turnip" or "black radish" - depends on what comes in on the day of your delivery i guess.  So yay, a new thing to try that i've never made!

Here's the list

Mustard Greens
Avocados
Broccoli
Collard Greens
Green Onion Bunch
Oranges
Grapefruit
Dill Bunch
Golden Globe Turnip
Sweet Potato

Mustard Greens - i don't love them to pieces so will rely on good old Nice Ass Greens recipe again as this makes anything taste good.

Avocados - i always have these around for salads, spread on toast and today i actually put half of one in a smoothie. There was a recipe in the box for baked sweet potato with Avocado Dill Topping that sounds good and easy and i can use veganaise or vegan sour cream in place of regular.

Broccoli - well the kids love it just plaine steamed but i found a recipe in Appetite for Reduction for Orange Scented Broccoli wich would use the oranges too! yeah.

Collard Greens - there's a recipe in Appetite for Reduction i've always wanted to try - Ye'abesha Gomen (Stewed & Sauteed Collards) - it cooks the greens for a long time which is not usual in vegan cooking but the combo of ginger & garlic, onion & red pepper flakes sound so tasty

Green onion - salads, tofu scrambles ect..

Oranges - maybe in the aforementioned broccoli,
Grapefruit - i already ate one for breakfast, it was so good!

Dill - as well as that avocado dill topping i found a Creamy Dill Sauce in the Skinny Bitch Ultimate Every Day Cookbook. I am determined to use this cookbook this week as i never have! i'm a cookbook hoarder.

sooo - From the Skinny Bitch cookbook i found Seitan Sweet Potato & Onion Hash that looks amazing AND Black Bean & Yam Tacos that i have to make, will use an avocado with those too

Turnips - i had kind of a hard time finding a turnip recipe that appealed to me but LOOK! This one has a sweet potato in it AND Dill - Score! Mashed Sweet Potatoes & Turnips

Stay tuned

Friday, January 20, 2012

Bliss in a box - the results

So this week my goal was to use the local box contents in recipes all from Blissful Bites cookbook by Christy Morgan. It was a really fun challenge making everything from one cookbook! I had to be creative and sub ingredents as not everything that was in the box was exactly in the book. so here's what i made:

Mustard Greens: I modified the African Collard Stir Fry

Christy gave me permission to publish the recipe! (thank you!)
1/2 Cup Water
2 Cups Sweet Potates cut in matchsticks
Pinch sea salt
1/3 cup Orange Juice (I used Tangerine juice from the box)
1 Tablespoon Peanut Butter
2 Tablespoons Tamari
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 cup carrot matchsticks
2 Tablespoons raisins (optional - i used them, i love raisins in my greens)
1 Bunch Mustard Greens (instead of collards), cut in chiffonade

heat water in skillet. When it boils add sweet potato & sea salt, cover with lid, & simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Meanwhile whisk together juice, peanut butter, tamari & curry. Add carrots, raisins & greens with the sauce and mix in the skillet. simmer for 3 to 5 minutes until veggie are tender, not mushy.

Love the peanut butter, curry combo in the sauce with this!


Oh and i also made her  Southwest Tofu Scramble which used mushrooms from the box -i ate them with the stir fry (above)

Mizuna & Komatsuna - I subbed for arugula in her Arugula-edamame salad with orange-sesame vinaigrette
I also used a tangerine instead of orange in the vinaigrette and used tangerine segments in the salad instead of canned mandarin oranges


this salad was so good i ate it for lunch and for dinner in the same day and then it was all gone.

Cabbage - Not-your-average cabbage slaw
interesting twist with walnuts & cranberries and a delish dresssing


Mint - Goddess Mint Dressing
this was my fave thing i made i think! Tahini based made it so rich & the suprising mint made it refreshing, here it is on one of my mega salads using the Green Leaf Lettuce from the box


Butternut Squash - Macro "mac & cheeze"
wow - quinoa pasta for more protien and gluten free, and butternut sqash blended up with nootch and other stuff to make the "cheeze" sauce. My son gobbled it up and i didn't tell him it was butternut squash till after!

 

All the recipes were so good and i kept finding more and more i wanted to make as i was pretty much glued to this book for over a week! Also -and observation - i am almost out of Tamari & Maple Syrup after cooking from Blissful Bites! They were both in almost every recipe - i think Tamari was in every one i made! good thing i love it.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Blissful Box 1/12/12

I had dinner AND breakfast last week with Christy Morgan the author of the cookbook Blissful Bites and the writer of one of my fave vegan blogs - http://theblissfulchef.com// - we talked about food alot, of course. And about fun cooking challenges, like veganizing a cookbook, or cooking one recipe from all your cookbooks like she is doing. So i figured in honor of all that i would make everything this week from Blissful Bites! She also said i could reprint one of the recipes here which is very cool of her

Mustard Greens
Komatsuna/Mizuna Bag
Green Leaf Lettuce
Green Cabage
Crimini Mushrooms
Mint Bag
Green Onions
Tangerines
Yellow Onion
Butternut Squash

Mustard Greens i'm going to sub for the Collard Greens in her African Collard Stir Fry - this recipe also uses orages so i will sub the Nectarines here - also it has sweet potatoes and i happen to have one left from the last box - Oh and i may add a few Komatsuna leaves in here for kicks but also will use them in a salad (see below)

Cabbage - it's a huge cabbage so i think i can make two recipes.  I want to use a few leaves and the Mushrooms in Chinese cabbage roll ups, stir fried veggies wrapped up in raw cabbage leaves like a taco.
The rest i want to use in Not-your-average cabbage slaw - i love coleslaw, this has walnuts and cranberries in it. LOVE

Mint - There's a recipe for spring rolls called asian rice paper rolls with almond bliss dipping sauce - i love making spring rolls, the mint will be great in these. The almond bliss dipping sauce is like peanut sauce but better.

Butternut Squash - OMG there is a recipe called macro "mac and cheeze" - that has butternut squash, quinoa pasta shells, tofu, nootch n other stuff and the photos looks amazing so, yeah, i'm making that.

Mizuna & Komatsuna - I'm going to use the Mizuna and some Komatsuna instead of Arugula in Christy's Arugula-Edamame salad with orange Sesame Vinaigrette using of course a tangerine instead of orange. The recipe also calls for mandarin oranges, i could probably use tangerine segments here too

Here's to a Blissful week!

you can find Christy's book on Amazon or check her website link above, and you can follow her on twitter @theblissfulchef

Monday, January 2, 2012

Happy New Year Box

I got this box thursday then promptly went out of town for New Years Eve so this post is a little delayed.
A very green leafy box is the perfect start to a new year where the best intentions of health are always the strongest.  I've been very salad-y lately so this was very welcome, here's the list:

Mustard Greens
Baby Spinach
Kale
Green Leaf Lettuc
Watermelon Radish
Sweet Potato
Grapefruit
Meyer Lemon
Yellow Onion
Butternut Squash

see! The first four items are leafy greens!


Butternut Squash - thie recipe for Lemony Quinoa with Butternut Squash looks so good and i can use the lemons too 

While it's still cold - i want to make more soups so this recipe for Collard Green & White Bean soup looks good and i will just use the Kale instead. That's the joy of greens, they are mostly interchangable!

I think i made this recipe last year - Balsmaic-Glazed Chickpeas & Mustard Greens but it's so easy, and i love an excuse to mix beans with my greens

Watermelon Radish again! I didn't take a picture or post about it but i did make this Sweet Pickled Onion Watermelon Radish Salad for the Christmas meal at my parent's house. It was a huge success with the family so hot dog i'm gonna make it again! I ended up eating a bit of the leftover mixed into my leftover kale salad mmmmm

Sweet Potato - this recipe for Vegan Indian Sweet Potato Kidney Bean dry Curry sounds so good to me right now, plus i can us the spinach in it - but there was a recipe that came with the box for Sweet Potato Oatmeal Breakfast Casserole which sounds divine too....we shall see. I often just end up baking & mashing them anyway

Speaking of Spinach - i got hungry writing this post so just made up a really bizzarre but delicious plate for breakfast - i had some coconut curry tempeh strips that had to be used up, so i sauted half a onion, then added the tempeh, some garam masala, curry powder and a splash of coconut milk, then some chopped up spinach, salt and pepper and red pepper flakes.  Really really tasty!