Ratatouille

I made ratatouille tonight so I can bring my lunch to work this week. I did have to stop by the store to pick up a summer squash, since I realized just today that I didn't actually get one in my box this week! And so ends the summer squash season. The farms might have some for the Farmer's market, but maybe not enough to put in the CSA boxes. Even the grocery store was almost out of zucchini. There was one left.  I didn't take it, but the summer squash looked okay, so I took one of those.

I used
1 large onion
Some garlic cloves
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
The thin eggplant
The summer squash
3 small tomatoes
Salt
Oregano
Basil

I used some suggestions from this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ratatouille-recipe0.html

I started with the onion and garlic, cooked that a little, then added the eggplant, cooked that a little, then added the rest except tomato and cooked that a little. Then I added the tomatoes, salt, oregano, and basil and covered. It simmered for probably 40minutes. I pulled out an eggplant piece and it was really good! Now it is cooling and then I'll eat it the rest of the week.
I am going to try it with lentils tomorrow, and maybe again for dinner with an egg. I also have crusty French rolls that will taste good with it.

This is before I cooked it down.

Besides the chopping, which I am getting better at, this was fairly quick and easy. Emeril's recipe only cooked it for 5 extra minutes instead of 40minutes, so I could probably save some time there.

I used some of the juice from the ratatouille to flavor my water for the lentils. Should be good!

Stuffed peppers

Tonight I made a new dish! Stuffed peppers.
I had one medium red bell pepper, 1 large green bell pepper, 1 small red bell pepper. Leftover eggplant and squash from the previous recipe and leftover bulgur, already cooked. We also defrosted two chicken sausage links (Thin and Trim brand).

I boiled the peppers in a large pot of boiling water for like 5 minutes. I diced the squash and eggplant that had already been sauteed and seasoned earlier in the day and cut up a medium tomato. I mixed all of my vegetables with sausage pieces together. I cut the soft peppers in half, then filled them with my stuffing. I then sprinkled cheese on the top and baked it in the oven at 350 for maybe 30minutes, took it out, sprinkled on more cheese, and put it in for another 5 minutes. Done.

Bert didn't have any complaints as he shoveled it into his mouth. I thought the stuffing was kind of dry and maybe would taste better with some tomato sauce to bring everything together.

Made enough for four servings (two nights) for us.

We each ate half of the green pepper. Tomorrow we will share the red peppers since those are smaller we can each eat a whole one (or share the halves since the small pepper is very small).

A new dish

Last night I made Summer Tian, recipe here:
https://stillmansfarm.wordpress.com/

This took a little longer to make than I anticipated, probably because I didn't really pay attention to the baking time until I put it in the oven. Oops!
I started making the dish around 6pm and we ate around 7:30pm, a little later than I like.

I sliced the onion and garlic, Bert sauteed it. I then sliced 1 summer squash, 1 skinny eggplant, 2 baby red potatoes, 1 large tomato. It was too much. I had squash and eggplant leftover.  I salted the eggplant a little before adding it to the dish.

I baked it for 30minutes, then added the cheese and baked for another 15minutes. The potatoes were still a little hard, so maybe needs 35-40minutes before adding the cheese. The cheese was crispy after 15minutes. While the cheese baked I made tilapia, fresh, from Trader Joes. Used my grill pan to cook the fish. The fish had a little heat and was pretty tasty.

Overall the tian was okay. An acceptable way to eat eggplant.

Tonight we ate leftovers. I rolled the leftovers into a whole wheat wrap to add a few more calories. I also boiled the beets, and used the beet water to make bulgur for lunch tomorrow. I didn't get any greens this week, so I was lazy with packing my lunch. A salad is so easy to bring to work! Without a salad I have to come up with other lunch ideas that don't involve leftovers, because I really don't want to cook every night. It is easier when my lunch can be tossed together in the morning. Tomorrow I'll bring in the beets, bulgur and some cucumber... and call it a salad I guess. The bulgur is 10minute variety from TJ's. Cooks up really easy.

Tofu stir fry

On Tuesday we made stir fry. Bert heated up some olive oil. I carefully cut the tofu into 40 squares, 5 squares x 4 squares x 2 squares. I tried to squeeze out as much moisture as possible, by laying the tofu block out on paper towels, and then drying it again when I made the first cut. Bert watched and turned the tofu in the large skillet. When they looked perfectly brown, he transferred the cubes to back to the cutting board, then started the vegetable stir fry. He used 1/2 green pepper, 1/2 onion, 1 large summer squash. We used Tj's Island Soyaki sauce for flavoring. Dinner was served over Uncle Ben's 10minute brown rice. 

Even though the crisp on the tofu was good, I am still not a fan... and neither is Bert. It is just too soft. I either need to give very firm tofu a try, or give up on this method of using tofu.

Wednesday we went to a shindig after work and didn't get home until 8:30 or so. Instead of eating leftovers we just had eggs and toast.

Tonight we ate the tofu leftovers. At least the tofu is more consistent tonight. Soft all the way through instead of having a crispy exterior. Leftover stir fry is not that great. Everything is mushy. Note to self: stir fry isn't hard. Just make it from scratch.

My composting pail arrives August 23rd! The business is so busy they couldn't get me a pail right away. Good news for them, unfortunate news for me. We need better composting options!

Trying to compost

Today's box:
1 giant head of red leaf lettuce
4 cucumbers
4 ears of corn
1 bunch kale
1 bunch arugula
1 bunch small beets (white beets with red veins)
1 pepper
1 onion
2 tomatoes
1/2 pint blueberries

I also picked up: Cisco's Light Sankaty to try.

My mom also left behind two small cucumbers and a handful of green leaf lettuce... and a jar of her refrigerator pickles. Although, I did say it was okay to leave me the lettuce and pickles. I could tell she didn't want to drag them back home with her... and she had just told me that she made another 4 jars before making the trip down, so I knew she had plenty to spare.

After washing all the lettuce I looked at the remaining stump and realized that it was ridiculous for this to all end up in the landfill in a plastic bag! And I feel it is too much for my garbage disposal to take. Especially since I think that the more I use the disposal the greater the chance I am going to break it and need to hire a plumber to fix it. I finally decided to buy into a composting group:
http://bootstrapcompost.com/
They will pick up a 5gallon compost bucket every two weeks. Three times a year I think they return some compost to you or donate it to Boston school gardens. I opted for donation since I don't have my own garden! Can I write off the compost donation on my taxes??

Well, the bucket might arrive too late for today, but hopefully I'll get one later this week.

I peeled the beets and started those roasting. That is when I realized they were white beets with red veins. So far I had only received traditional dark red/purple beets. I have already pulled them out of the oven and tried a few. So tasty and earthy!

Since the oven was on anyway, I kept working and made my mom's Italian Bake.  Not a drop of Italian blood in us, but this is a good use of my CSA! I had scratched out the recipe on a post-it note like 4 years ago. I must have been on the phone with my mom at the time, because there were limited details. This is what I did this time:

Italian Bake
4 small zukes or eggplant
1/2 onion
16oz tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic
Oregano to taste
Shredded cheese
Bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350. I sauteed the onion and garlic in a little oil, then added the tomato sauce until warm. Added some oregano. I used the mandolin to slice my vegetables to 1/4 inch. I used 1 yellow squash, 1 Zuke, 2 thin long eggplant. I sprinkled a little salt on them.

Next I layered the vegetables, then tomato/onion mix, then cheese, then repeat. Topped with cheese and breadcrumbs and more oregano.  It is baking as I type. I will let you know how it turns out. I wonder if 1) I should put breadcrumbs within the layers 2) it is better to sauté the onion first, or just boil in the sauce?

We will also make the corn tonight and stir fry some chicken.

The tomatoes and blueberries are coming!

To recap last week, by the time we picked up a new box we had 1 zucchini, 1 bunch beet greens, a small handful of arugula and 1 bunch radishes left. The radishes had gone soft, so I threw those out.

We picked up our box a day early since we were out of town on Sunday. This box
1 small head of leaf lettuce
2 zucchini
3 summer squash
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 bunch Kale
1 bag green beans
1 bunch beets (5 with greens)
3 cucumbers
2 small tomatoes
1 pint blueberries
1 sprig basil

I saw corn at the market which is super exciting! I would have totally bought some if I knew I was going to be able to eat it that day, but we were heading out, so saved my cash for next time.

We came home late Monday. Bert was ready to order Chef Chow's Chinese take-out, but I convinced him 1) we needed to eat the veggies 2) I could make something faster than delivery. I sauteed last week's zucchini and 1 summer squash. At the end added 1 can of diced tomatoes and some basil. Served over whole wheat pasta. Sauce could have been a little thicker. Probably should have used more oregano. I seasoned with Everyday seasoning and some salt when the squash was dry, before adding to the pan.

For lunch I had lettuce with cucumber and tomato. Had cottage cheese and hummus with Kashi vegetable crackers. Rounded out the meal with a peach. I ate lunch at 2pm and was still hungry by the time I got home for dinner.

Tonight I made a stir-fry with 1 zucchini, 1 squash and 1 block of firm tofu. Island Soyaki sauce from Trader Joe's provided some extra flavor. We served with Goya brown rice mix. Although it has a heart healthy stamp on it, it was very salty tasting. I prefer the plain Jane Uncle Ben's 10minute brown rice better.

To get ready for lunch tomorrow, I prepped lentils and roasted beets tonight. I burned the bottom lentils in the pot since I kind of forgot to check on them and did not set a timer. I remember checking on them and there was still a little bit of water left. I should have taken them off the heat at that point, but no, I thought I would keep them going to the end. I only thought to check on them when I smelled the hint of something burning. I was also multi-tasking, which is a challenge for me in the kitchen. I was busy carefully peeling the beets for roasting. I feel like Lady Macbeth. The beet juice is not washing from my hands very easily.

I hope I can get the burn marks out of my expensive stainless steel pot!

And Bert informed me that two of the peaches I bought at the store on Saturday are already showing mold spots! Such a bummer and a waste!

Mid-week cucumber and summer squash salad

Monday's work salad was dry without dressing, so for Tuesday's lunch I made an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing which paired well with the tomato, beets, lentils and lettuce. I can't tell if I am eating fewer calories with my homemade lunch or not. I know I have been starving after eating my salad and fruit, so started to eat pita chip crackers from Trader Joes.  I am certainly eating less added sugar by not eating the pineapple Chobani yogurt (the best flavor!), and yes, probably more controlled calories than the hot meals served in the cafeteria. I started eating more hot meals last August when the cafeteria rolled out the "green plate" entrées, which means they meet certain heart healthy guidelines for fat, salt and calorie content, although I am almost certain the portions used to make it a healthy plate are not the same portions served at the counter, but I digress.

Last night we made another salad. Recipe here: https://stillmansfarm.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/fresh-summer-squash-cucumber-and-fennel-salad/
And I have a mandolin! This is the second time I have used the mandolin. The first time I made a breakfast casserole for my brother and sister-in-law and I sliced the potatoes with it.

I used a large squash and large cucumber. I had to dirty two bowls, because the first one I used just wasn't big enough for "folding." I also didn't have time to let the salad marinate since as usual, I came home from the gym, curled up on the floor with a low blood sugar, then decided to take a shower before starting dinner, by that time I was starving, so wasn't going to wait 30minutes. We also didn't make anything else but chicken with everyday seasoning. The salad was very lemony. I am not a big fan of raw summer squash, but it tasted okay with the lemon and mint. Not sure I would make it again. I am going to try it again Thursday for lunch, maybe marinating the salad will help balance the flavors.

Tonight I ate lunch for dinner. For lunch I went with two friends to Legal Crossing in Downtown. That meal (Garlic shrimp over homemade pasta) and drink was exceptionally good. Because I was drunk from the "cold tea" which was Allagash White mixed with some hard liquor, I craved ice cream for dessert. Bert was available, so we stopped by Ben and Jerry's. I had Gilly's SNL ice cream which was delicious.

I don't know if we are going to make it through this box! Still remaining:
Radishes
2 zucchini
1 bunch arugula
1 bunch beet greens
1 bunch kale
Few leaves of lettuce

I am still making my way through the beets. Two cooked ones left.

Second week

We left my parents place early on Sunday so we could get back in time to pick up my box of vegetables. We made it back with time to spare! The good thing to know is that if we miss a pick-up the food goes to Rosie's place, or a food shelter, or back to the farm for the pigs. (I can also request a change in day/location for pick-up, but the alternatives are not as convenient.)

The box
1 small bunch kale
1 bunch Swiss chard
1 bunch beets
1 head fennel
1 small bunch arugula
1 pint strawberries
1 bag of shell peas
2 zucchini
2 summer squash
1 head of green lettuce (not sure of the variety)

Bert went to the store and picked up butter and cottage cheese. I need the cottage cheese for my lunch and he needed the butter for our scallops.

Sunday night we had roasted beets and fennel per the recipe suggestion on the flyer.
Recipe here: https://stillmansfarm.wordpress.com/2013/06/29/roasted-beets-and-fennel/
This time I trimmed all of the beet greens off and washed/ rubbed the dirt from the beets. I cut them in quarters and started them in the oven at 400degrees. I then prepped the fennel. Cut off the stalks, then sliced the bulb. I still don't think I sliced the bulb right. I put the pieces in the oven after 10minutes lead time. I also added red potatoes we had on hand. They took the same amount of time (maybe quicker) than the beets. I roasted everything for another 30minutes. Maybe the beets were a little underdone. Bert fixed the scallops. The meal was okay. I think it needed some greens (of which I had plenty, but didn't use!) to round it out. The scallops were perfect and tasty! The more I talk to other people, the more I think I should have peeled the beets before I roasted them, oh well!

For lunch Monday I ate the leftovers from Friday (that we didn't eat Sunday as planned). We ate dinner out since we went to the Sox game.

The farm also recommended roasted beets on green salad, so I brought the leftovers to work today. Sprinkled olive oil and red wine vinegar on the greens, beets and fennel. That was very good. Ate the Kashi crackers with cottage cheese and the tomatoes with the cottage cheese. Yummy!

For dinner tonight, Tuesday: I forgot to defrost some chicken, but luckily Bert wasn't coming home for dinner, so I could keep things easy. I washed the arugula. Cut up the strawberries (they expire so quickly!), tossed the rest of roasted beet/fennel on the greens and sprinkled the leftover goat cheese on top. I made a fried egg for some extra protein. Dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Maybe the meal was a little short on the carbohydrates, but everything else was tasty!

Still in the fridge: lettuce, squash, peas, Swiss chard and kale. Tomorrow I think I will fix the kale or chard. The squash lasts a little longer, so I have been saving those for the end of the week.

Need to remember to defrost some chicken for tomorrow!

First Week

I am a little behind, since this idea just came to me. I want to make a record of our first summer with a CSA so I can remember what it was like, in truth, when next year comes around and I think about doing it again. I don't mince words, so I think I will leave an accurate impression here.

I am going to back-date the first post just so it is chronological.

I picked up my vegetables Sunday at 3:30pm. Stillman's Farm delivers to Brookline Village, on a Sunday, which I thought was perfect. 1) it is close to where I live, 2) there is a parking lot in case the haul is bigger than what I can carry 3) it is a Sunday, so I can go shopping after I know what I am working with and plan for the week 4) I will have time when I get home to wash everything as needed.

They gave me my veggies, a reusable grocery bag, $20 punch card to buy more veggies as needed, newsletter with a recipe, and a friendly greeting. The items in the box fit almost perfectly in the bag, so I left the box with them!  We then made a quick trip to the Bevy (is that a VT or SMC thing? Did I spell that right?) and picked up some cold beer, Sierra Nevada Summer Ale. Pretty good stuff.

The box:
1 bunch beets with greens (5 of them)
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 head of green leaf lettuce
1 summer squash
2 zucchini
1 pint strawberries
1 large bag of spinach
1 small bag of shell peas (my dad had to identify them for me. I wasn't sure if they had to be shelled or not, plus if I ask my dad he can feel useful)

The first recipe they provided was for a spinach and roasted beet salad with goat cheese! I didn't have goat cheese, but I had just about everything else so we went to the store and picked up some goat cheese. Well, I thought I had Dijon Mustard for the dressing, but that was expired and I realized that after we returned from the store, so we used Ken's Light Caesar dressing instead, which Bert preferred.

I had never prepared beets before, so appreciated the details in the recipe. Cleaned the beets (keep skins on), trimmed the greens about 1-2 inches from the top of the beet, then boiled (in my brand new, never been used before, Dutch Oven!) in water for like an hour. While the beets boiled, I washed the beet greens. Spinning then all dry with my salad spinner. Best investment EVER. I also washed and dried the Swiss chard since it took up a huge amount of room in the fridge and squeezed the leaves into a gallon size plastic bag with two paper towels. (Then I read this week you aren't supposed to clean the Swiss Chard so far in advance, oh well.). Cleaned the spinach I needed for dinner. Since Bert refuses to have a meal without a "meat" he cut up a chicken breast and stir-fried that. Since I refuse to have a meal without a starch, we microwaved potatoes. I know, we used the microwave. Took like 7minutes. If I had planned better, we could have roasted the potatoes while the beets were boiling. Oh well.

When the beets were tender, I pulled them out of the water and cooled them in a bowl in the fridge. After maybe 10minutes? Or less? I could easily peel the skin off. I sliced one beet for each of us. Crumbled the goat cheese, tossed the chicken and potato on top, and dressed with Caesar. Yummy!
Recipe from here: http://stillmansfarm.wordpress.com/2014/06/24/spinach-salad-with-goat-cheese-and-beets/

This was the first time Bert remembers having beets. He didn't think they tasted like much. I thought they tasted earthy, which I liked. We ate that salad for three nights (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday)

I realized Sunday that we were not going to get through all of the vegetables unless I started bringing my lunch to work, so we also picked up lunch stuff at the store. If you are going to eat tomatoes out of season, then you have to choose Compar(i). (The out-correct wants to write compare). I bought cottage cheese for my protein, melon for my fruit, and Kashi 7 grain crackers for some extra carb.

Wednesday I boiled/sautéed the Swiss Chard. Looked fine coming out of the bag, so maybe the early prep/wash was okay. I added some lemon juice as it cooked. The leaves turned kind of brown, so not sure if that was because of the lemon juice or what happens when it cooks. And, maybe I put too much water in the pan (used one cup) since they were kind of soggy too. I was trying to cook them like I cook kale, but maybe that doesn't work for them. I had never prepared Swiss chard before. We also had that with chicken and roasted potatoes.

Thursday night we had events after work, so we didn't eat at home. Friday I followed a recipe from my Cooking Light book: Mediterranean Pasta. Zuke with chickpeas, olives and (canned) diced tomato over pasta. I added goat cheese, which made it better, and seasoned with Trader Joes Everyday Seasoning, which works well on everything. The recipe itself, meh. I think the Zuke needed to be stir-fried a little, rather than boiled in the tomato juice. Maybe I should have used fresh tomatoes.  We saved half the recipe for Sunday since we were going to be away and it is nice to have something ready for dinner after a long trip.

The head of lettuce was getting soft and wilted by Friday. I kept the leaves on the head, and washed a few as needed for lunch. Maybe I should have washed it all at once and stored in a plastic bag in the fridge.

I brought beet greens, one summer squash, one Zuke, and the bag of peas to my parents since I wanted to get rid of the veggies before I had to pick up my new box on Sunday!

I ate the berries quickly early in the week for breakfast since they were expiring in the fridge.  The berries tasted like fresh, real, strawberries. They weren't sweet and perfect like the Driscoll variety, but that's what you get when the berries come from a small farm instead of a giant production in California. I ate, and still eat, berries with Greek vanilla yogurt, walnuts and Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal, with a little cinnamon on top. Yummy! My favorite breakfast!

Week One: Success!