2016 CSA Series – Week 3

CSA SERIESWEEK3

Happy Wednesday! I’m happy mostly because I just picked up another box of delicious CSA veggies from Small Family Farm CSA … oh and the fact it was my last full day of work for the week (#score).

It’s a little hard to handle that it’s close to the end of July already! Though I’m going to keep calling it the middle of July until about July 27th or so… 😉

One thing that I’ve been loving this summer is the delicious CSA veggies and all the awesome new recipes we’ve been creating; and we’re not even half way through the season!

If you don’t follow us on Instagram, make sure to head over and check us out! You’ll get to see what we’re doing with the delicious veggies quicker than waiting around here for a comprehensive post. Plus you’ll see more day to day life stuff too.

Instagram is my favorite social media platform; followed by Snapchat. I don’t even have Facebook on my phone anymore and Twitter…oh Twitter, while I “get it”…I don’t get it. So hard to really follow people and see what their up to and honestly I can never say what I want to in 140 characters 🙂 What’s YOUR favorite? Whatever it is, if you have Instagram, we’d love a little extra love over there. ❤

Without boring you to death and without further adieu…. our recipes from our CSA box #3!!! (Check out Week 1 and Week 2 if you missed them).

Here’s what was in box #3: CSA BOX WEEK 3 CSA WEEK 3 Veggies

Clockwise(ish): Lettuce, Cucumbers, Collard Greens, Cabbage, Garlic Scapes, Peas, Kohlrabi, Strawberries, Basil, 2 Zucchini & 2 Summer Squash, Fennel Bulb, Eggplant, & Green Onions.

And here are the delicious recipes we made with it all.

Used the Green Cabbage, Kohlrabi & Green Onions: 20160710_175655 Before the past couple days, We’d been having some absolutely gorgeous summer weather (not too hot or humid) and we took advantage and made some delicious burgers on the grill. There might honestly be nothing better than a grassfed beef burger cooked on a natural charcoal grill enjoyed while sitting outside. ❤ This coleslaw was the perfect fresh veggie side. I didn’t make and use that much “sauce” because I hate goopy and soggy coleslaw but if you find you want more, feel free to do so! 20160711_180542

Kohlrabi Cabbage Coleslaw Used the Lettuce & Strawberries: 20160709_192847 These strawberries! You guysssss, just as good as the last box and so much better than store bought. They were so good. We used them in both the salad it’self and in the dressing! I had a friend over and this salad was a big hit, she even made it for her family the next night she liked it so much! 🙂 20160709_192816 Strawberry Salad with Spiced Pecans Used the Fennel:
So don’t judge me but I’m not the biggest fan of fennel, not that I don’t like it per say but it’s just not something that I crave or really enjoy it’s sort of a “just there” vegetable for me. HOWEVER this roasted vegetable recipe (which was adapted from Bon Appétit, mainly because I’m lazy and din’t have some ingredients) is really realllyy good. I’m a sucker for any and all roasted veggies and the olive oil vinegarette and mint leaves pack a flavorful punch for this recipe. Even if you happen to be in the same boat as me and feel a little MEH about fennel, give this one a try! (Side note, it’s good cold the next day too for lunch!) 20160717_190629 Roasted Veggies with Lemon & Mint Used the Peas, Summer Squash, Zucchini, Basil & Eggs: 20160712_180932 I’m sure I’m not the only one with this problem. I LOVE zucchini noodles but my husband? Not so much. Every time he asked what’s for dinner and I say *blank blank* pasta or pasta with *blank* I get “real pasta or the zucchini stuff?” it’s hard to reflect tone in writing but if you could hear it, you’d know he’s not a fan. This is the perfect solution for us! It mixes in spiralized veggie pasta with regular pasta and I’m not even sure he noticed! It helps it stay a little sturdier and not a soggy mess and keeps all members of our household happy.

This recipe in particular is a breeze to whip up and will be a fave. I LOVE LOVE LOVE eggs and loveeee runny eggs, but again my hubby isn’t a huge fan. After eating this even he said that it really adds a special something and makes the dish better! You can cook the eggs to whatever “doneness” you want. I poached mine for just under 4 minutes and his, almost 6. I get a dozen eggs every other week with my CSA box too so this was a delicious way to use some up! 20160712_181106 Not a great picture, but couldn’t resist a little gooey egg action 🙂 🙂 Spiralized Pasta with Peas & Egg Used the Garlic Scapes & Cucumbers:
Garlic scapes, those crazy weird delicious veggie. For those that may not know, a garlic scape is the stalk that grows from the bulbs of some varieties of garlic plants. If you were to let them grow, the scapes eventually bloom flowers when the garlic plant fully matures. However, they’re usually harvested before they flower so the garlic plant can channel all its energy into producing the actual garlic bulbs. Garlic scapes taste mild like chives or scallions, but with a distinct garlicky flavor. They’re typically available in late spring and early summer. There are so many things you can do with them but to preserve their unique shape and look I just sauteed them whole and topped these delicious bowls with them.

These bowls. ohhhh these bowls. The recipe makes enough to feed 4+ (depending on how much you serve) and since there’s only two of us, I enjoyed two delicious bowl lunches out of this too. I think it got progressively more delicious with each day. 20160714_190756 Quinoa Veggie Power Bowl with Garlic Scapes

Used the Collards: 20160707_180343 This was the first meal I made with the CSA veggies from this box. Holy Moly we started out strong. I can’t even pick a favorite part of this meal. The polenta (grits), the chicken, the collards, the toasted coconut…it was all so damn good. 20160707_180125 Coconut Lime Grits & Curried Chicken

Used the Eggplant:
Didn’t take a picture but we made this bruschetta and it was as good as I remembered the first time I made it.

WHEW! That’s it. Hope you enjoyed a sneak peek into our summer food life.

xoxo

669058772380712020613

Bibimbap Korean Rice Bowl Featuring Zymbiotics

Yesterday we shared a lengthy and wordy post (sorry not sorry) on the topic of fermented foods. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out HERE.

As promised, before we get to the fermented food deliciousness that is in Bibimbap (korean rice bowl) I want to share a little more about a great local Wisconsin company that is embracing and thriving in the fermented foods market.

Zymbiotics is a company out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin that specializes in naturally fermented foods. Jeff who is a UW Madison alum, is an entrepreneur at heart and has started and successfully run several businesses prior to Zymbiotics. Inspired by the calling to help people live healthier happier lives he teamed up with his partner Betty who is a registered holistic nutritionist and a local Wisconsin supplier Mammoth farms run by Ed & Diane and started Zymbiotics. Since its start, it has quickly become a favorite for Wisconsin locals. At first it was available primarily at farmers markets around the area and now you can find it it at a lot of grocery stores around the Milwaukee and Madison area. Here’s a full list of where it’s available. And Jeff has plans in the works to make it available to purchase through their website, so soon you’ll be able to enjoy it from all over the place!! You can check out their website and you can find them on Facebook too.

Currently they offer 4 products. Kimchi, Vegan Kimchi, Ginger Carrots, & Sauerkraut, clever named Zimchi, Vegan Zimchi, Zarrots, and Zauerkraut. Zymbiotics 2

They are all delicious but my hands down favorite and the one I keep putting on almost everything is the Ginger Zarrots. You guyyyssss. THEY.ARE.SO.GOOD. Zymbiotics 1

If you live anywhere where you can get these, do yourself a solid and pick these up! As you’ll see below, I put them in the Bipimbap bowl and they were the perfect addition.

Zimbiotics are filled with all ingredients you know how to pronounce and can easily identify. Like the carrots for example. 4 ingredients. Can it get any simpler and good for you? Nope. If you’ve never purchased fresh fermented foods before here are my top 3 tips:

Naturally and fresh fermented foods should be kept in the refrigerator. If you don’t find them in the refrigerator section of your grocery store, don’t buy them. Heat kills the bacteria so if it’s a quality product it needs to be kept in a cool environment. Once you purchase your products and bring them home you should also store your products in the fridge until they’re gone.

When opening your product for the first time, open your products over the sink. Fermentation produces gases and carbonation, sometimes those gases can build up within the jar or container which can cause some liquid to bubble or fizz over. It doesn’t happen that often but to be safe and avoid a clean up, just open over the sink. 🙂

When just starting to eat fermented foods, start slowly. Eat about 3 tablespoons of the food a day. You’ll still reap the benefits and it will give your body time to adjust to the influx of good and healthy bacteria in your gut.

Now to focus on the delicious and outrageously power packed Bibimbap bowl. It has so many flavors that blend together so well. Before the recipe, here’s a tip on rice preparation.

If you want non sticky jasmine style rice it’s SO IMPORTANT to rinse your rice. Not only for non sticky rice but also to reduce the amount of starch you ingest. Rice will turn your rinsing water cloudy like this: Rinsing Rice 1

Continue to rinse and stir, rinse and stir your rice until the water is mostly clear, like shown here:
Rinsing Rice 2

It might seem like there’s a lot of stuff you need to make to put this all together but you can use the same pan, and each step is really pretty quick. I know I always say this but this is probably one of the best recipes for you to take your own liberties with. Do what you want. Make the veggies you want. Don’t like mushrooms? Don’t make them. You could caramelize some onions in their place, or anything you want! If you want more protein add in some meat or beans. There are no rules.