Monday, September 26: Best use of Cantaloupe Yet!

Cantaloupe and Bocconcini Salad with Mint:

 This salad is delicious! Leave it to Martha Stewart to make something so delicious and so full of cheese! And it took about 5 minutes to throw together.

What's left?

- garlic

- 1 onion

- 1/2 watermelon

Sunday, September 25: Stir-fry, finally!

I finally got around to making the stir-fry from last week. Good thing green beans are sturdy!

Green Bean, Pepper & Tofu Stir-fry:

  I use peanut oil as a base oil for the stir-fry, adding in sesame oil closer to the end for some rich flavor (but not enough time to smoke).  To start, marinate tofu in tamari sauce. Then sauté some ginger and garlic in peanut oil over medium-high, add tofu and sear slightly so sides are brown. Then add chopped pepper and green beans, toss in some ground cayenne pepper and soy sauce to taste.

What's left?
- garlic

- 1 onion

- 1/2 canteloupe

- 1/2 watermelon

Saturday, September 24: Dinner for Three

My dear friends just had a baby, so they're spending less time cooking these days. I am in a week where I am drowning in veggies. The solution? I cook dinner for all of us! This worked so well, it might become a regular thing...if it does, we'll remember to take photos. Whoops.

Roast Beef with Horseradish Sauce:

This recipe comes from Martha Stewart. It is deceptively easy, and so delicious! It is important to have a meat thermometer, though, if you are particular about the way your meat is cooked.

Sautéed Green Beans with Garlic:

The recipe is all in the title. Over medium-high heat, sauté green beans in a tablespoon or so of olive oil with 2 cloves of minced garlic.

Roast Potatoes with Herbes de Provence:

Dice potatoes about 3/4 of an inch wide, mix with salt and pepper, olive oil, and the delicious Herbs from Provence from Morton & Bassett (it has lavendar in it!). 

Salad with Black Mission Figs, Goat Cheese, and Walnuts:

This recipe was inspired from a similar salad I had at Ragazza Pizzeria on Divisadero and Oak. Theirs uses arugula and pistachios, which was admittedly more delicious, but this variation used up what I had in the house. I tossed half a head of lettuce with 5 or 6 figs, goat cheese, and a handful of chopped walnuts. The dressing was a mixture of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and mustard.    

What's left?

- 1 pepper

- 2 weeks worth of green beans

- garlic

- 1 onion

- 1/2 canteloupe

- 1/2 watermelon

 

Saturday, September 24: For the Freezer

Today was a foggy, slow-moving kind of a day in the city -- perfect for staying inside and cooking. This morning, I made two pasta sauces to enjoy on a dark, winter night when the fresh, light taste of summer vegetables will be a welcome addition to the week's menu. 


Eggplant-Tomato Sauce:

 I chopped one large onion and sauteed it in 2 tablespoons olive oil with 3 minced cloves of garlic. When translucent, I added one small eggplant, chopped and salted, until the eggplant had released some of its moisture. I added one small bell pepper, chopped, and 5 or 6 tomatoes, chopped, and turned down the heat. I added dried oregano, rosemary, basil; salt and pepper; and a dash of red wine to taste. I let simmer gently until the tomatoes started to disassemble and look sauce-y.


Basil Pesto:
This dish never looked pretty enough to take a picture. There are many recipes online for basil pesto, each of which very similar to the last. These are rough propotions: 2 cups basil leaves, 1/4 cup pinenuts, 1/4 parmesan cheese, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 minced clove of garlic.

What's left?

- 3 weeks worth of green beans

- 2 pounds or so of potatoes

- 1/2 canteloupe

- 1/2 watermelon

- bunch of grapes

- 5 or 6 Black Mission figs

- 1 pepper

- garlic

- onions

 

 

Wednesday, September 21 - Wednesday, September 24: The Plan

I am a single lady for most of this week, and still have stuff to use up from last week. So it seemed like a good moment to put up some food for the winter, when fresh basil and tomatoes are the farthest thing from a burden imaginable. 

FOR THE FREEZER:

Basil Pesto:

Eggplant-Tomato Sauce:

TO EAT THIS WEEK:
Roast Beef with Horseradish Sauce (onions), Garlicky Green Beans, and Herbed Oven-Roasted Potatoes

Salad with Black Mission figs, Goat Cheese, and Walnuts:

 Grilled Fish with Watermelon Salsa:

Cantaloupe and Bocconcini Salad:

Tofu Stir-fry (leftover from last week):

Apples and Grapes: Snacks!

Wednesday, September 21: This Week's Box

I am sad to report that the strain of dog obedience class and the gravitational pull of Ragazza around the corner meant that we still have the following left:

- the last bits of basil -- they are wilty and drying out

- 1 pepper

- 2 weeks worth of green beans

- garlic

- onions

- 1 last yellow tomato

One good stirfry will take care of most of that stuff, but I will include it in my new plan for the week.

This week, we have a beautiful array:

1/2 canteloupe

1/2 watermelon

bunch of grapes

5 or 6 Black Mission figs

1 sweet yellow pepper

5 or 6 tomatoes

1 small eggplant

2 onions

handful of green beans

2 pounds or so of potatoes

Tuesday, September 20: Celebrating 5 years of our Book Club!

Remember the surprise cantaloupe and watermelon? Well, I was a little nervous about how I was going to use those since I was going to book club this evening. So...I invited my melons to the party! 


Cantaloupe and Proscuitto:
I chopped my cantaloupe into chunks and used toothpicks to skewer pieces of proscuitto (left over from pizza night) to the melon. Perfect dish for another hot evening.


Watermelon and Feta Salad:
I've mentioned this recipe before: watermelon, feta, basil, lime juice. Only it was a yellow watermelon, and I didn't have lime juice, so I substituted lemon. 


Whats left:

- the last bits of basil(not sure they're going to make it)

- 1 pepper

- 2 weeks worth of green beans

- garlic

- onions

- 1 last yellow tomato

Monday, September 19: Indian Summer Salad

This recipe was chosen to use up the grapes in this week's box. Though I love fresh fruit, I do not seem to nibble on it the way some people do. Our delicious grapes often languish and wrinkle before I get around to eating them. But then I remembered this recipe from my childhood:


Curried Chicken (Turkey) Salad with Grapes:

The recipe comes from my mom, Judy Warriner Walke. She substitutes the chicken in the original recipe for roast turkey, since you can easily buy a slab (about 3/4" thick) at the deli. Cut the turkey into cubes, and mix with roughly 2 cups grapes, cut in half length-wise. Add one can of water chestnuts, either cut into slivers or left sliced, and 3-4 stalks finely chopped celery. For the dressing, mix roughly 1 cup mayonnaise with curry powder (1-2 tsp), lemon juice (2 tblsp), and a little soy sauce (a dash). Let it sit and "get nummy" for as long as you have. I served it over washed lettuce with slices of sourdough bread. 


What's left:

- the last bits of basil

- pepper

- 2 weeks worth of green beans

- garlic

- onions

- 1/2 watermelon

- 1/2 canteloupe 

Sunday, September 18: Soup and Salad

There is something soothing about making soup on Sundays; my mom always used to throw all the leftovers into a big pot, calling it "Soup of the Week." It always turned out to be delicious, no matter what went in there. In a different way, this helped me use up the leftover potatoes, onions and garlic from the past two weeks veggie boxes. 


Ecuadorean Peanut-Potato Stew:

The recipe for this awesome, hearty stew comes from "Everybody's San Francisco Cookbook: Recipes Celebrating the City's Best Ethnic Cooking" by Charles Lemos. pg. 110. Without divulging the exact proportions (Buy the book! It has been a favorite since I purchased it for my father in 1998.), this soup uses peanut butter, peanuts, onions, garlic, shallot, potatoes -- it is a thick and fragrant soup. I added a little cayenne pepper at the table, which I thought was a nice addition. Harry, my husband, thought it was too good as is to mess with it.


Cucumber Herb Salad:

This salad was an attempt to a) use up some basil and cilantro and b) provide a cooling, green antidote to the thick soup. I used my fancy Cuisinart slicer (ahh, the joys of getting married) for the cucumber, and chopped up a few tablespoons each of basil and cilantro. Add in some olive oil, red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. It sat for about 30 minutes while I finished the soup, and I think it made it more delicious.


What's left:
- grapes
- the last bits of basil
- pepper
- 2 weeks worth of green beans
- garlic
- onions
- AND MELON! Surprise! I didn't include it in the original list because I didn't know we got it... 

Saturday, September 17: Italian Dinner Party

Tonight our dog was invited to dinner at our friend's apartment. We got to come along by promising to bring the following:


Insalata Caprese

 This is definitely a favorite, easy recipe to make: slice tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, sprinkle with chopped basil.  I added capers for a little change of pace, and drizzled some delicious Spanish olive oil along with balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper to dress.


Peach & Pear Crisp

Our preparation was adapted from a strawberry crisp recipe by Mark Bittman in the New York Times. In his article "Bye, Bye, American Pie," in the September 11 issue of the New York Times magazine, Bittman extolls the virtues of fruit desserts...without crust. He suggests crisps, clafoutis, gratins, and poached fruit instead. 

September 14 - September 23: The Plan

What I enjoy most (aside from yummy fruit and veggies) about cooking with a veggie box is figuring out how to use up each week's ingredients. It's a little bit like one of those puzzles with the moving tiles, shifting the ingredients around until you find the combination that works best.  Here is how I've divided up the ingredients for this week:


Insalata Caprese: Tomatoes and Basil

Peach and Pear Crisp: Asian Pears and Peaches

Ecuadorean Peanut-Potato Stew: Potatoes, Onions, Garlic

Cucumber-Herb Salad: Painted Serpent Cukes and Basil

Tofu and Veggie Stirfry with Cashews: Pepper, Green Beans, Onion

Curried Turkey Salad: Grapes

Wednesday, September 14: What's In the Box?

This week's veggie box came while I was away in Yosemite National Park. My wonderful husband documented its contents:

- 1 bunch basil

- 5 tomatoes

- 2 peaches

- 3 Asian pears

- 2 onions

- 2 beets

- green beans

- 1 painted serpent cucumber

- 1/2 bag grapes

Sunday, September 11: Watermelon Lime Ricky!

Thank you Jenna for such an awesome suggestion! With a lemon slice instead of lime, and a leaf of basil...

Saturday, September 10: Pizza Night!

In "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver, she talks about how Friday night became "pizza night" on their farm. Pizza was relatively quick to cook, and you can make a delicious pizza with just about any vegetable that's in season. For example, last night my coworkers came over and wiped out most of our veggie box:


Pizza #1: Fig, proscuitto, carmelized onion, mozzarella with olive oil sauce on flour crust.
Pizza #2: Caprese: Fresh tomato, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, with olive oil on cornbread crust (needed garlic and salt to give it a kick).
Pizza # 3: Veggie lovers: zucchini, onion, orange peppers, mozzarella on garlic herb crust.
Pizza #4: Pepperoni, onion, mozzarella on flour crust.
Pizza # 5: Peach and gorgonzola on flour crust.


Many thanks to my colleagues who came over and made a delicious meal. I was too busy eating and dealing with my dog to take pictures. You'll just have to imagine the beauty...


Still remaining from last week's box:
- potatoes (x 2 weeks)
- watermelon (x 2 weeks)
- onions 
- cucumber
- few tomatoes
(Asian pear and peach were eaten as snacks)

Thursday, September 8:

Tonight we managed to use up both weeks canteloupe, some basil, some garlic, and some arugula by making Melon Panzanella, from Eating Well magazine. It's also an excellent way to use up days old bread.

Thursday, September 8

In this weeks veggie box, we got delicious variations on last week's box:
- 1/2 yellow watermelon
- 1/2 canteloupe
- 1 asian pear
- 1 peach
- 4 figs
- 2 zucchini
- 8 smaller tomatoes
- 3 peppers
- 10 smaller new potatoes
- 4 onions
-1 Armenian cucumber
- 1/2 bunch basil


Add to this the melon and potatoes left over from last week, and we have our work cut out for us...

Tuesday, September 6: The Challenge

Leftover the day before we get our next veggie box are:

- 1/2 canteloupe

- 1/2 watermelon

- potatoes

- garlic

- basil

Think I will make a bread, melon and proscuitto salad tomorrow. Looking for ideas for potato dishes and novel uses for watermelon...

Tuesday, September 6

We had a ton of ratatouille left over from this weekend, so I heated it up and served it with polenta slices and grated parmesan.

In addition to the main dish, we also had an arugula salad with the rest of the tomatoes, the Armenian cucumber, walnuts, and crumbled blue cheese. The dressing was a simple balsamic vinaigrette: olive oil, mustard, and balsamic vinegar.

** Please believe that this dish looked more delicious in person. I used the camera on my phone this week, which had a tendency to turn my ratatouille into a disgusting-looking gruel. Better photos this coming week. **

Monday, September 5: The Apple Thief

As you may have noticed, we received three apples in our veggie box this week. Though I hadn't really given to much thought as to how we would use them, I was a little dismayed to find that Harry had eaten them all before the end of the long weekend!

True confessions, he also used one of the spicy yellow peppers in an omelette. Just trying to keep an accurate count of what we used and how.

Saturday, September 3

Sadly, we got off to a slow start with the veggie box this week. We did make delicious Black Bean Burritos with Mango & Fried Lemon on Friday night, but those used up other ingredients we had in our cupboards.

The first real dip into this week's veggie box was Saturday breakfast, when we feasted on poached eggs and juicy, sweet melon.

For a snack on Saturday, we had a few of the figs paired with a bit of blue cheese. Yum...

Later that day, I made my first foray into the world of ratatouille. I used the slightly spicy yellow pepper, the yellow bell pepper, five small tomatoes, the eggplant, the onion, some garlic and I purchased a few zucchini to round it out.

I initially chose the recipe in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," but upon more detailed reading of the layers, basting, and use of about 5 cast iron or enamel skillets involved in that recipe, I decided to improvise. We served it with an improvised version of Julia's "Poulet Sauté aux Herbes de Provence," made by my new hubby. C'était délicieux!