Saturday, October 29: The Plan

While I was making the plan, I got a little hungry. Luckily, I wasn't sure what else to do with this pear:

You've already seen the squash gnocchi recipe (yummmy!), but here's the rest of the ideas:

Kitchen Sink Stir-fry:

Roasted Green Beans with Dill Vinaigrette:

Roasted Beets & Turnips:

Raw Kale Salad with Tokyo Turnips & Peppers:

Cavatappi with Potatoes & Herbs:

Cilantro Pesto:

Saturday, October 29: Day One of Feeding Other People Week

Harry is gone this week, so if I'm going to use all of the veggies in this week's box (plus finally get to those beets from last week's box), I'm going to have to find some people to help me eat. First up, Leah and Natty...sorry, no photos. I can cook for other people in my own house and remember to take photos, but not in other people's houses...


Chickpea Spinach & Squash Gnocchi:
This recipe comes, once again, from the folks at EatingWell magazine. The title kind of says it all, though the secret ingredients of currants and balsamic vinegar add something essential to the dish.  I've made it before with squash you have to peel, but this week we had thin-skinned delicata -- not having to peel them made this recipe really easy and quick. Finally, the recipe calls for frozen or shelf-stable gnocchi; take them at their word. Fresh gnocchi do not really stand up to the sauteeing required.


Mixed Greens with Persimmon & Manchego:
Nathaniel added pine nuts to this salad, which I thought was an awesome touch. If I were at home, I would have made a mustard/red wine vinaigrette, but we used oil and vinegar and it was perfectly delicious.

Wednesday, October 26 - Wednesday, November 2

This Week's Veggie Box:

In the box:
- bag of salad mix
- bunch of curly kale
- 1 head of bok choy
- 1  small head of broccoli
- 1/2 bag of green beans
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
- 2 heads garlic
- 1 persimmon
- 1 pear
- 4 sweet peppers
- 3 small tomatoes
- 3 small Tokyo turnips
- 2 small delicata squash
- 6 potatoes


Left from last week:
- 2 beets
- 1 ear of corn
- 4 small onions
- green beans

Wednesday, October 26: Veggie Dinner with Jenna!

Savory Fruit Stuffed Squash:

I used a recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook, by Mollie Katzen. The Moosewood restaurant is a vegetarian restaurant in the college town of Ithaca, New York. The book is a clasic vegetarian cookbook that even my non-vegetarian mother has in her collection. It has good, hearty vegetarian dishes...perfect for fall. The stuffing is delicious: appples, oranges, onion, brown rice, and a perfect mix of pumpkin pie-type spice and salt.

Green Salad:

Just a quick salad with the leftover spinach (turns out some got used in omelettes over the weekend), an ear of corn, one yellow pepper, two small carrots, and the remaining basil leaves. Red wine vinaigrette.

What's left?

4 small onions

2 carrots

1 ear of corn

2 beets

Tuesday, October 25: Sausages and Slaw

In addition to some delicious chicken, artichoke, and gruyère sausages, some seeded baguette, we mixed up a batch of cole slaw -- the first of the season!


Judy's Delicious Slaw!

One apple, chopped into little pieces. One 1/2 head cabbage, chopped into little pieces. Two stalks of celery, chopped into little pieces. 1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise, generous sprinkling of dried dill, red wine vinegar to taste.


What's left?

5 small onions

1/2 bag spinach

few leaves basil

4 carrots

1 smallish butternut squash

2 ears of corn

2 beets

Monday, October 24: Salad & Pasta!

Greens & Beans Pasta:
Sautée chopped onions (1 small onion) and minced garlic (2 cloves) in olive oil. Add roughly chopped kale and white beans, salt and pepper, and a splash of red wine. Cook until kale has wilted, then serve over pasta. 


Caprese Salad:

It's potentially the last basil we'll see for a while--and tomatoes--so had to make the old stand-by. 


What's left?

5 small onions

1/2 bag spinach

few leaves of basil

4 carrots

1 smallish butternut squash

2 ears of corn

2 beets

Wednesday, October 19: Harry Makes Stir-fry

I just realized I didn't take a picture of my husband's beautiful, delicious stir-fry. Imagine big chunks of ginger, squares of garlic-pepper tofu, pieces of bok choy and small tufts of broccoli stir-fried with peanut and sesame oils, soy sauce, and Sriracha. Served over brown rice.


What's left from last week:
- walnuts
- some garlic


What's left from this week:

6 small onions

5 small tomatoes

1/2 bag spinach

1 bunch basil

1/2 bunch kale

4 carrots

1 smallish butternut squash

2 ears of corn

2 beets

2 yellow peppers

1/2 head green cabbage

Wednesday, October 19 - Wednesday, October 20: This Week's Box

This week's box was truly truly a dual season array of veggies. I was joking, calling it the "climate change box." Who ever heard of butternut squash and basil in the same box? Crazy.

In this week's box:
6 small onions
5 small tomatoes
1/2 bag spinach
1 bunch basil
1/2 bunch kale
2 small heads of broccoli
4 carrots
1 smallish butternut squash
2 ears of corn
2 beets
2 yellow peppers
1/2 head green cabbage

Sunday, October 16: Leftovers and other 'overs

Today was a day to use up some random stuff in the fridge: pesto pasta, some babaghanoush, cheese and crackers...It would have a been a pretty sad meal except for....tomatoes!


Tomato-Caper Salad:

Sliced tomatoes, capers, salt and pepper, olive oil, and golden balsamic vinegar. Simple and so tasty!

What's left?

4 small bunches bok choy

1 bulb garlic

1 1/4 cups of walnuts

Saturday, October 15: Dinner Party!

We had a little thank you dinner party for some friends this weekend. Harry decided to make an enormous hunk of beef; luckily this week's veggies complemented it perfectly!


Roasted Root Vegetables:
We had our sweet potatoes, several onions, and our carrots, plus I added some beets for some color and variety. Tossed them with a little olive oil, herbes de provence, and garlic and cooked them in the bottom of the roasting pan.


Sautéed Green Beans with Garlic:
I sautéed green beans with some minced garlic, salt and pepper.

Hazelnut-Brown Butter Cake with Sautéed Pears:

This recipe came from "Sunday Suppers at Lucques" by Suzanne Goin. (Her restaurant, Lucques, is in Los Angeles.)  It was incredibly delicious: it has very little flour in it, the texture comes from ground hazelnuts. It is sweet, nutty and delicious.  Fight the urge to serve sweetened whip cream with the cake, you need it to balance out the vanilla-caramel flavor of the pears.

What's left?

4 tomatoes

4 small bunches bok choy

1 bulb garlic

1 1/4 cups of walnuts

Friday, October 14: Breakfast for Dinner!

This Friday we continued our Leah-OCS-Hangfest with delicious challah French toast, chicken sausage, and fruit salad.


Fruit Salad with Mint:
No fancy recipe here: one persimmon, one pear, 1/2 cantaloupe, 1 bunch of grapes, cut in half. Three or four mint leaves chopped. Toss all together -- delicious!


What's left?

bunch green beans

3 carrots

4 tomatoes

3 sweet potatoes

2 pears

4 small bunches bok choy

1 bulb garlic

1 1/4 cups of walnuts

Thursday, October 13: The Plan

Fruit Salad with Pears, Persimmon, Grapes & Mint:

Hazelnut-Brown Butter Cake with Sautéed Pears:

Leftover Pesto Pasta with Tomato Salad:

Roasted Root Vegetables

Sautéed Haricots Verts:

Chicken Pad Thai with Bok Choy:

Thursday, October 13: Leah and OCS come to dinner!

We threw something quick and easy together tonight in honor of our 4 month-old guest and his mom:


Pesto Pasta & Arugula Salad with Persimmon, Walnuts and Parmesan:
So, sadly about half of the arugula had wilted due to the delicious warm sunny weather we've been having.  But, I salvaged the rest, cut up one persimmon, sprinkled in some walnuts, and grated some parmesan over it. Add a simple red-wine vinaigrette, et presto!


What's left?

bunch green beans

bunch grapes

1 persimmon

3 carrots

4 tomatoes

3 sweet potatoes

3 pears

4 small bunches bok choy

1 bulb garlic

1 1/4 cups of walnuts

Wednesday, October 12: This Week's Veggie Box

The seasons are a-changin'; this week's farm share is an interesting mix of summer tomatoes and green beans and fall goodies like persimmons and sweet potatoes. 

In this week's box:
1/2 bag arugula
bunch green beans
bunch grapes
2 persimmons
3 carrots
4 tomatoes
3 sweet potatoes
3 pears
4 small bunches bok choy
1 bulb garlic
1 1/2 cups of walnut

Tuesday, October 11: Good Ole Stir-fry

The thing about a week without a plan is that you just make your go-to recipes, and for me, a tofu or tempeh stir-fry is one of those things. For this reason, I keep some ginger on hand at all times.

Marinate the tofu in soy sauce and garlic. Start with minced ginger and garlic in the bottom of the pan, then add firm veggies (carrots, onions, zucchini), then tofu and less hearty veggies (peppers, green beans, snow peas). Add some sesame oil, some rice wine vinegar, and some soy sauce to season, as well as cayenne pepper if you have not added a spicy pepper already. Et voilà!


What's left:
- 1/2 cantaloupe
- 2 onions

Monday, October 10: Meat and Potatoes

Tonight's dinner was a joint effort. What is it about men and cooking meat?  For some reason, Harry just knows how to do it...

Pan-fried Chicken with Garlic, Lemon & Chili; Sautéed Kale with Fennel and Onions; Oven-Roasted Potatoes:

The Chicken: Harry crushed a clove of garlic and added it to some olive oil in our grill pan. He let it heat, and then added some lemon juice and a touch of Sriracha chili sauce. He then pan fried two chicken breasts, 7 minutes a side, in the sauce, occasionally brushing the meat with the juices.

The Kale: Thinly slice a fresh fennel bulb and a small onion. Sauté in olive oil until they've gotten translucent and a little soft. Then add kale, chopped into smallish pieces, and a splash of red wine, and stir. Dino kale is pretty tender, and so wilts and cooks quickly. For sturdier varieties, cover the pan and allow the kale to steam in the wine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

The potatoes: I've made these since posting on this blog. Check out the recipe here. Time for me to explore new potato recipes...

What's left:

1 red sweet pepper

bunch green beans

2 onions

1 Granny Smith apples

1/2 cantaloupe

Monday, October 10: No Free Lunch

Today is Columbus Day, or Indigenous Peoples' Day, depending on who you ask. In any event, I don't have school. So I have spent this rainy day at home with my pup and a pile of grading. Instead of my delicious local, organic, seasonal cafeteria food at school, I was forced to fend for myself...

Turkey, Brie & Granny Smith Apple Melt

This sandwich was inspired by the Vermonter sandwich at Noonie's deli in Middlebury, Vermont. Except instead of ham, it has turkey; brie in place of cheddar, and regular dijon mustard instead of honey mustard. Which I guess means they're not similar at all...

I toasted the roll first, and then applied a layer of Dijon mustard, a slice of peppered roast turkey, thin slices of Granny Smith, and a couple thin slabs of Brie. Then, into the oven it went until melty and delicious-looking.

What's left:

1/2 bunch dino kale

1 red sweet peppers

bunch green beans

2 lbs potatoes

3 onions

1 Granny Smith apples

1/2 cantaloupe

Sunday, October 9: Serving Salad

We were invited to a barbecue at our dear friends' house. Their parents were in town, and so they of course, had more than enough food to feed an army.  But my arugula was just sitting in the fridge. So I whipped up a quick arugula, tomato, and carrot (from the store during our week of no-box).

The dressing is an old stand-by of my childhood. It is kind of a cheater's salad dressing, perfect for a working mom or her young kids to make: olive oil, red wine vinegar, dried dill, dried basil, garlic powder.

What's left:

1/2 bunch dino kale

2 red sweet peppers

bunch green beans

2 lbs potatoes

3 onions

3 Granny Smith appleså

1/2 cantaloupe

Friday, October 7: Munchings

No photos will be shown...this was not the kind of dinner you'd really like to record for posterity. Don't judge.

Apéro à la française:

A colleague came over on this sunny start to a long weekend, and we polished off pretty much all of the pistachios along with a bottle of rosé, some sesame crackers, and those shiny crunchy crackers that French people serve with pre-dinner drinks. We're oh, so suave.

Pizza, again...and salad!

I told you this wasn't a planning week. We had pizza again with red pepper, pepperoni, and cheese because that's what was easy to make. I also made a quick salad of arugula and tomatoes to provide a healthy side to things.

What's left?

1/2 bag arugula

1/2 bunch dino kale

1 red sweet pepper

2 tomatoes

bunch green beans

2 lbs potatoes

3 onions

3 Granny Smith apples 

1/2 cantaloupe

Wednesday, October 5: Pizza Night!

This week is not a planning week. We have been both scrambling to find time to do our jobs, take care of our dog, and feed ourselves. So this week, in some ways, will be a real test as to whether we can use all of the box without planning in out in advance. First up was pizzas made from delicious frozen cornmeal shells: 

These beautiful pies, shown half-eaten because that's how we rolled this week, were made by charming and generous husband, Harry. The one on the left was onion and pepper with red sauce and mozzarella. The one on the right was arugula, fresh mozzarella, and proscuitto. Life is good.

What's left:

1/2 bag arugula

1/2 bunch dino kale

2 red sweet peppers

4 tomatoes

bunch green beans

2 lbs potatoes

3 onions

3 Granny Smith appleså

1/2 cantaloupe

small bowl of pistachios

Wednesday, October 5 - Wednesday, October 12: This week's box

Leafy greens season has arrived, with both peppery arugula and dino kale in our share this week!

In this week's box:
1/2 bag arugula
1/2 bunch dino kale
2 red sweet peppers
1 yellow sweet pepper
4 tomatoes
bunch green beans
2 lbs potatoes
4 onions
3 Granny Smith appleså
1/2 cantaloupe
small bowl of pistachios

Sunday, October 2: True Confessions

Harry and I messed up this week. We were late to get our veggie box, and they had locked the door where we pick up our weekly supply! Mercifully this happened during a week where we've been totally swamped  with work and life, so instead of feeling deprived, this is a welcome respite from melons and onions. Speaking of...we still have our watermelon and an onion or two from last week. So we finally made:


Grilled Chilean Sea Bass served with Watermelon Salsa

I found this recipe in a desperate internet search for new watermelon recipes, particularly ones that bordered on savory. EatingWell, as usual, came to the rescue with this delicious Watermelon Salsa recipe! I used slightly more watermelon than it calls for, yellow onion as opposed to red, and ReaLime juice instead of fresh.


I put Harry in charge of the fish. Instead of grilling it alone on our roofdeck, he decided to use our enamel grill pan and this Grilled Sea Bass recipe.


What's left?
- only garlic and 1 onion that are just waiting to be used for pizza night this week! Success!