2016 CSA Series- Week 4

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Georgina

2016 CSA Series- Week 4

Woah. Jokes over. Turn back the calendar. How it is August already?!?!

Life has been a little on the hectic side. We’ve been painting the new house in full force (since June really, but we’ve been going HAM lately). That leaves little time for blogging! 🙂 But I’m trying to snap lots of pics to share our mini reno were doing.

*side note* picking paint colors is a unique form of torture I was not aware of until now…..

Focus…. ok, since the last CSA(community supported agriculture) post I’ve also gone to my CSA farm to meet my farmers and have a tour around the farm. It was a beautiful day, it’s a beautiful farm, and I can’t wait to share more about that and pictures of it soon!

Now, this week is jam packed with goodies. ❤

Here’s what we got in box# 4: 20160720_173827 Some pretty standard items so not too hard to identify but because it’s fun: CSA Week 4

Sometimes it takes a while for me to find something interesting and fun to do with the veggies but I’m pretty happy with what we did this time around.

Cabbage: I have the perfect thing I want to do with this but time got the best of me and then I got another one in my next box so I’m going to do a double batch and share it with you next time! Stay tuned 🙂

Broccoli: Honey Lemon Chicken Rice Bowls So albeit, while this might not be the most exciting thing to do with the broccoli itself this dish as a whole is fun. The broccoli was so fresh and delicious I’m sort of happy we just steamed it and go to enjoy the full blown flavor by itself. These Honey Lemon Chicken Rice Bowls are a breeze to whip up and also make great leftovers for work too! Honey Lemon Chicken Bowl 2 Honey Lemon Chicken & Broccoli Bowls CSA Recipe Honey Lemon Chicken Bowl 1

You can reduce your sauce down as much as you ‘d like. The honey gets it very sticky and sugary so you can get a pretty thick sauce if you’d like. But it’s all up to you and what you like 🙂 The longer you simmer the thicker it will get (don’t forget it will thicken up even more when off the heat).

Pickling Cucumbers & Onion: Easy Refrigerator PicklesTHIS recipe is my favorite pickle recipe in the WORLD. It’s so easy and so delicious. A tab bit sweeter than the average recipe but I love it. I usually eat way more than my fair share of these in one sitting.

Zucchini/Summer Squash: Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Zucchini bread? Pretty tasty. Zucchini cookies? Amazing and world changing.

I adapted a recipe I found and added flax and chia seeds for added nutrition. There’s also a surprising amount of zucchini in here too! They’re cookies but they also pack a healthy punch! And important step in the instructions is to squeeze the zucchini dry (or as dry as you can) this will help keep your cookies from being a soggy mess. 🙂 I used both zucchini and summer squash in this recipe as you can see from all the beautiful green and yellow flecks below (Go Pack Go 🙂 ).

Zucchini Cookies 1 Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies CSA Recipe Zucchini Cookies 2

Cauliflower & Swiss Chard: Riced Cauliflower & Swiss Chard Spaghetti These pictures didn’t turn out that great. Apparently I was shaky mc shakes this day and all of them have a little blur, sorry about that! This was a off the whim creation and has a great summery lemon taste along with being packed with TONS of veggies; the swiss chard reduces in size greatly and the cauliflower rice is so fine you wouldn’t know you’re eating a plate of veggies too 🙂 Riced Cauliflower & Chard Spaghetti 1 Riced Cauliflower & Swiss Chard Spaghetti CSA Recipe My hubs thought all the little riced cauliflower peices were garlic. ha! I DO love garlic but that would be extreme even for me. But as you can see from this close up, this recipe is a terrific way to get an extra serving of vegetables into a pasta dish. It’s virtually undetectable. Riced Cauliflower & Chard Spaghetti 3

Lettuce, Onions, & Cucumbers: Cucumber & Blueberry Summer Salad What would a week in summer be without a salad?! Very similar to our berry salad from last week, but still different enough and delicious! Quick Cucumber Salad (2) Cucumber Blueberry Summer Salad CSA Recipe

More Cucumbers: I had quite the supply of cukes laying around. I got a ton in the box and my in-laws gave some to me too. I made my go to bbq dish for a group of people we had over at the house and it was a big hit, not to mention a great way to use up a seemingly never ending supply of cucumbers. Oh and the best part? It take like 5 minutes to make. win.win.win. Quick Cucumber Salad (1) 5 minute cucumber salad CSA Recipe

Eggplant: Brushcetta I posted about this in the last box post as well but didn’t have any pictures. So because it’s so freaking delicious, I decided to make it again and share pictures this time! This one was one of the first recipes I put up on the blog back when I first started it. And oh woooowww, looking back how my formatting and photography have changed since then. Needless to say, an updated share was necessary although it’s still as delicious as the first time I made it; it just looks much more presentable now 🙂 eggplant bruschetta 2 Roasted Eggplant & Cherry Tomato Bruschetta CSA Recipe Eggplant Bruschetta 1

Carrots & Hot Peppers: Roasted Veggie Tacos This was the recipe I was most excited to make. Sort of inspired by my roasted veggie stacked enchiladas , these roasted carrot tacos are a delicious meat free meal for mid week (or any time of week!) If you wanted you could sub sweet potato for the carrots or do a mix, but I wanted the delicious carrots to be the highlight!! Roasted Carrot Tacos 1 Spicy Lime Roasted Carrot Tacos CSA Recipe Roated Carrot Tacos 2

Whew another week in the books! 🙂 Hope you enjoyed. Get out there and make the most of the rest of the summer!

What are some of your favorite summer time recipes?!?

xoxo

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Goat Cheese, Sausage, and Arugula Stuffed Peppers

Posted on June 8, 2014 by Georgina

Goat Cheese, Sausage, and Arugula Stuffed Peppers

Wowza you guys. This recipe is sooooo freaking good. simple. delicious. fresh. healthy. did I already say delicious? Because it is.

It probably doesn’t hurt that I am OBSESSED with Arugula. Something about that taste just gets my every time. Spicy. Nutty. A tiny bit bitter. Loveeee it.

This dish does a great job highlighting those flavors. And it has goat cheese. So, what’s not to like?

Ingredients:

3 medium bell peppers of any color, halved lengthwise, seeds and ribs removed

2 teaspoons olive oil

4 links sausage of your choice, casings removed (I used spicy italian)

1 onion, diced

4 ounces goat cheese, softened or just buy the pre-crumbled stuff

2 large handfuls of arugula (about 1½ ounces) *Rocket for all you non USA folks 🙂

Salt, pepper and/or red pepper flakes, to taste

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan (or mozzarella)

Instructions:

Turn on oven to 400º. Place the prepped peppers in a baking dish and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook until it browns, crumbling with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Drain the sausage and return to heat. Add the onion and cook until softened. Reduce heat to low and stir in the arugula and goat cheese until the cheese has melted and the arugula is wilted. Taste and add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

Spoon the filling into the peppers and sprinkle each half with Parmesan. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the peppers have softened slightly. Hit with the broiler for about a minute to get the golden cheese on top and serve!

I tried some with and without cheese on top

So I tried baking both with cheese on top and without. Honestly, the cheese sort of helped hold everything together but it’s one million percent possible to make this without the extra cheese on top. Just as delicious, just slightly messier.

so pretty too!

Hmmmmmmm seriously sooo delicious. This meal was so quick to make and the flavors were aaaaaammmazing. I could have eaten the pepper “stuffing” by the spoonful out of the bowl.

Ok, I did that.

Don’t judge. It was soooooo good. You could serve this as a side or meal by itself! You need to make this pronto!

Also I just wanted to share that I’ve created some social media pages dedicated to the blog, check us out on Twitter and Facebook!

Thanks!

xoxo

Thai Peanut One Pot Pasta

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Georgina

Thai Peanut One Pot Pasta

3 words. One pot pasta- If you haven’t tried it, you need to. This is the second rendition of this ‘method’ that I’ve tried. First it was an Italian version- check that out HERE.

If someone asked me what my favorite ethnic found group was- I would be hard pressed to say Thai; and make it extra spicy 🙂 This dish isn’t spicy but it is delicious. This is totally versatile too and you can remove/add anything you want. For instance I am obsessed with hot sauce so I added about half a bottle of Siracha to mine……. 🙂

Hope you enjoy this easy delicious dinner!

Ingredients:

12 ounces whole wheat linguine (or any long pasta)
4 cups water (or vegetable or chicken broth for extra flavor)
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon curry paste (I love green curry paste)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes or minced hot pepper (jalapeño, Serrano, etc…)
2 inches of a ginger root, grated. Which makes it almost paste like.
2 carrots, matchsticked
1 red bell pepper, thick julienned
4 green onions, roughly chopped into 1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons peanut butter

Add at the end of cooking:
About a 1/2 cup of cilantro
Juice of two limes

Optional garnishes:

Chopped peanuts
Mung bean sprouts
Jalapeño slices
More Cilantro

Directions:

Place 3 1/2 cups of the water and all other ingredients except cilantro and lime juice and garnishes in a large stockpot. Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Cook until pasta is al dente and almost all liquid has evaporated – this is where you can add more water if you need to.

Remove from heat. Then stir in the cilantro and lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper if you want , sprinkle on garnishes as desired and eat!

YEAH, it’s that easy. Like I said above, I’m in love with spicy food so I added jalapeños and hot sauce to mine- but you can make this a 100% non spicy dish. It’s packed full of flavor and ummmmm could it get easier??!?!? No. The answer is, no it could not.

Hope you enjoy!!

*If you like this recipe make sure to check out my tomato basil version!

xoxo

Roasted Veggie & Black Bean Burritos

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Georgina

Roasted Veggie & Black Bean Burritos

Heyyy-o! It’s fridayyyy friiiidaaay (you’re welcome that song is now stuck in your head). But seriously I pretty pumped that it’s the weekend! The weather is starting to look up around here (high of 66 today!) and I am visiting a old roomie from my college days tonight. Life is good.

I was browsing through my dashboard (basically like the settings portal of my blog) here on WordPress and saw that I didn’t ever publish this recipe! I made a quite a while ago and it was deeelcious but must have spaced on the publishing part.

This would also work great as a gluten free option to just make the “stuffing” part of the burrito and put it over rice or or quinoa or any grain you want etc…

Hope you enjoy this tasty meal and also the helpful burrito rolling tip below 🙂

INGREDIENTS:
2 whole Sweet Potatoes, peeled And cubed small
2 whole Jalapenos diced
1 whole Red Pepper, diced
1 whole Red Onion, diced
2 teaspoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
1 pinch Salt And Pepper
2 cups cooked Black Beans (or 1 15 oz can rinsed and drained)
½ cups Fresh Cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons Fresh Lime Juice
1 cup Shredded Cheddar
1 package Burrito-Sized Wheat Tortillas Or Wraps (6-10 Count) but really any tortilla will work.

INSTRUCTIONS:
In a bowl, toss your raw veggies in olive oil and season with spices. Place in a large baking dish and roast in 425 degree oven for 20 minutes, tossing around halfway through.

Let cool. Add your roasted veggies to a cans worth of rinsed black beans. Add cilantro and squirt of fresh lime juice. Combine gently. At this point, mixture can be stored for later use if want to make this part ahead of time.

Warm your tortillas of choice in microwave for about 30 seconds (so they are easier to handle and roll). Spray a casserole dish with nonstick spray or olive oil spray.
Add few heaping spoonfuls of vegetable and bean mixture to center of wrap. Top with shredded cheese. Fold in sides, and then roll up to complete(see pic below).Place in pan and continue to roll the others. Place into your baking dish, seam side down so that they stay together.
Bake in 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Baking this way will make the tortilla wrap crisp. It’s up to you if you want to sprinkle with cheese or not, I just thought it would look a little ‘prettier’.

** Tip: Premake your burritos and wrap them in aluminum foil. Keep in refrigerator for 3-4 days for a quick lunch or dinner!

Burrito Rolling 101:

This is how my mom taught us to roll up our tortillas. I have been doing it this way since before I can remember. It blows my mind to see people do it any other way. I mean your “stuffing” is falling out all over the place and you, more likely than not, end up with food all over you! All I do is fold in the sides of the burrito like the the top left picture and then roll up(tucking in the ‘insides’ while you go) to complete it! Super simple and it all stays inside.

Hope you guys enjoy this one. It is a healthy, filling, tasty dinner!

xoxo

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Georgina

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

These little guys are a fast and healthy dinner for a family on the go. Don’t let some of the ingredients scare you! They come together for a delicious combination. These would be great in tortillas if you’d prefer but the crisp lettuce sort of ‘makes’ this dish. It’s healthy and crunchy and allows for you to really taste the chicken mix. I was inspired by PF Chang’s lettuce wraps which are so good! I didn’t have any of those crunchy fried noodle things they serve or any of their sauces. I doused mine in Siracha, because as I think I’ve mentioned before….. I have an addiction.

I had the lettuce wraps at PF Changs for the first time this past fall (I don’t get out much). I loved them. I was doing my normal activity of browsing Pinterest(shocking, I know) and came across a couple of “copy cat” recipes. A lot of them were terrible. Just from reading the ingredients I could tell that was NOT was PF’s was serving up. I sort of adapted a few of them and came up with this. It’s pretty darn close, I think!

Here’s my recipe!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 pound ground chicken or turkey
1 large onion, chopped small
2 tablespoons garlic, minced or pressed
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4-1/2 cup hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced small
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
3 teaspoons sriracha sauce
1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
1 small bunch green onions, sliced
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Iceberg, or butter lettuce leaves, rinsed and drained
Sriracha sauce, wasabi, spicy mustard sauce for dipped (optional)
Roasted peanuts, chopped (optional)
Fried bean noodles (optional)

Directions

In a medium skillet on medium heat, warm 1 tablespoon sesame oil. Add the ground meat and cook until it is cooked through. With a spatula, break it up into small chunks as it cooks (it will resemble ground beef).
Stir in the onion, garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, rice wine vinegar, and sriracha sauce until completely coated. Remove from heat.
Fold in water chestnuts, green onion, additional sesame oil. Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve wrapped in a leaf of lettuce. Top with any of the optional additional toppings.