Category: Miscellaneous

There are endless ways to use roasted vegetables. I like to make a weekly big batch of roasted vegetables, especially in the winter, to be able to quickly create several healthy, vegetable dense meals all week and just cook once!

Once your vegetables are cooked you can store them in the refrigerator for a week pull out what you need.

You might feel like a nice hearty salad, easy to do once the vegetables are already cooked.

Or add roasted vegetables to any polenta or pasta dish. Maybe make a roasted vegetable grilled cheese and sub the roasted vegetables for kale.

Sometimes I am cleaning out the refrigerator and need to use up droopy vegetables and other times I am trying to make room because I’m picking my CSA share soon. This week I had some turnips, fennel, delicata squash and Romanesco to use up before my pickup. So this is what I used this week.

To roast vegetables you will want to wash your vegetables and peel them if you like. Then cut them up about the same size so they cook evenly and drizzled some olive oil and salt and pepper and roasted them for about 25 minutes in a 425F oven. After 25 minutes stick a knife in them and see if they are done or if they need more time.

I like to keep my vegetables segregated so if one variety gets done before another I can take it out and let the others finish cooking. Today everything was done at the same time.

While the oven was hot I decided to roast some kale too. I don’t know if I had ever roasted kale before, but, why not? The tray was dirty and the oven was hot.

My absolute favorite breakfast and lunch is savory oatmeal. I make enough oatmeal for the week and warm up enough for a meal and add whatever vegetable odds and ends I have. I like to top it with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and cheese. The olive oil and pepper and cheese take oatmeal over the top.

Having a stash of already roasted vegetables at the ready make meal prep a breeze and the different combinations and endless so you never have to get tired of basic dishes.

I hope you are enjoying your winter CSA.

Mo

Is everyone enjoying the lovely asparagus and herbs we got in our CSA share as much as I am? It’s so great to have fresh vegetables and herbs again!

I made a couple really simple dishes with my asparagus. I felt like I was eating in a restaurant while eating these, the addition of the herbs really elevates dishes and really made these special. I wanted to share what I made.

I sauteed my asparagus with walking onions, chive blossoms and some mint (recipe below) – it made enough for two herby asparagus side dishes. The first one, I made some polenta and topped it with the asparagus and herbs.

The second, we had an arugula salad with chopped eggs and topped it with the asparagus herb mix. Asparagus and eggs are classically delicious and this was so good with the beautiful arugula from our CSA share. Yum.

I really like the bigger stalks of asparagus, I think they are more tender and have more flavor (not everyone agrees, some people really like the skinny stalks!). I do peel the bottom of the thick stalks because they are a little stringy but I don’t mind the extra step, I love the crisp thicker stocks.

Prepare your asparagus by trimming and peeling it and chop up any herbs you are using.

Any soft herb would be delicious here, basil, chives, tarragon, sorrel, walking onions aren’t really herbs but they cook very quickly so I used them just like herbs.

I like to sauté the vegetables in olive oil and a little chicken or vegetable stock. I used Better than Bouillon mixed with about 1/3 cup water.

Here is the asparagus, oil, stock and walking onions after just a few minutes of cooking when they are just starting to soften I add the soft herbs.

Let that cook until it is tender enough to your liking, serve alone or with polenta or as a salad.

Sauteed Asparagus and herbs

• 1 pound of asparagus trimmed of stringy ends
• 2-4 tablespoons of oil
• 1/3 cup stock or broth
• a large handful of soft spring herbs
• 3 or 4 stocks of walking onions or green garlic

Sautee oil and onions or garlic if using with asparagus until it is just starting to soften and add the stock. When the vegetables are just beginning to look glazed add the herbs. Continue cooking until the asparagus is done to your liking. Serve with a salad or over polenta making sure to scrape up all the herbs and onion clinging to the pan.

We are getting asparagus again this week. What a treat! I hope you enjoy it as much as I am.

See you at pickup.

Mo

Crispy, smoky, salty and a little sweet.

So many salad and vegetable main and side-dish recipes call for bacon. If you are anything like me, at least 1/2 my family and friends are non-meat eaters. Bacon does bring a chewy satisfying finishing element to dishes, and just leaving it off is unsatisfying. At least it is unsatisfying to me.

Coconut bacon solves this dilemma, everyone can eat this and so far, everyone I have fed it to loves it.

Coconut bacon is nothing new. It is all over the vegan and vegetarian blog world. All the recipes are almost all the same ingredients and it takes about 20 minutes to make.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Measure the coconut flakes out onto the baking sheet. Drizzle the coconut flakes with tamari, liquid smoke and maple syrup. Mix well. Spread the flakes into an even layer on the parchment paper.
3. Bake on the middle rack for 15 to 20 minutes depending on your oven and how dark you want your ‘bacon’, flip every 5 minutes or so, until flakes are mostly dry and turning golden on the edges. (Keep an eye on the coconut as it can go from golden brown to deep burnt brown fairly quickly.  The coconut flakes will crisp up as they cool, so don’t judge doneness just by crispy or not.
4. Let the coconut bacon cool, to crisp up to eat right away, or transfer to a jar or plastic bag.

Here are some pictures; just mixed and after baking for 20 minutes.

 

Coconut bacon keeps well on at room temperature for a couple weeks or in the refrigerator or freezer for at least a few months.

 

I had a few people at pick-up ask me about the mushrooms share. I showed them the bag we were giving to the members that week who choose this add on option. But, I thought it might be better to take few pictures of the mushrooms out of the bag to better show what you get.

You get about 1/2 a pound of mushrooms. The varieties change most weeks, and honestly that make it really fun. This is a picture of my share last week.

I have been getting a bi-weekly mushroom share for 3 years and I love how it compliments the vegetables. It really helps me round out meals. I almost always do the same thing with my mushrooms. I chop them up and pan roast them with whatever garlic or onion we got that week.

This is what it looks like cooked. I get about a generous cup of cooked mushrooms.

I add them to greens, or pizza, or any egg dish. Eggs, kale or chard and mushrooms on toast is one of our favorite meals during CSA season.

Have a great week.

Mo

Wyatt and I were talking about cashew aioli and cashew sauce the other day so I thought I would post a basic recipe for it. You can start with this recipe and add herbs or spices. Substitute different oils for the  water. You can use this for a dip, or a spread or a sauce.

I added herbs, you can sort of see them in the photo. You can double the recipe and freeze it too. You will find all kinds of uses for this. This thickens up in the refrigerator and the flavors blend. So, when you are seasoning and tasting it keep that in mind.

Cashew aioli/spread/sauce

1 c raw cashews soaked at least 2 hours

1/4 c water or any oil like olive oil or coconut oil you might need more if you want to thin it out
2 small cloves garlic or the equivalent of green garlic or garlic scapes
juice of 1/2 a lemon or lime
1 tsp vinegar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of mustard is optional or any other seasonings you fancy

Method;

1. Drain and rinse your cashews, then add all ingredients to a high speed blender and blend for 2-3 minutes until super creamy, scraping down the sides a few times in between to push down any chunks.
2. Pour into a  jar and keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Note – please use any of my recipes and posts as a guide, they are written knowing that ingredients change by seasons and tastes differ cook to cook.  Adjust freely and accordingly and enjoy the process – I do!

Have a great week.

Mo

One of the challenges of being in a CSA is using the combination of vegetables you are given in a certain week. You need to think outside of the ‘recipe box’ to use what you are given and not shop for certain ingredients. This dish is an example of what you can make out of any combination of vegetables from your share.

This was very simple. It took me less than 5 minutes to put together. You could use any combination of the vegetables, add different cheeses, use more or less sauce or add tomatoes, anything you want.

Here where I started.
I had some grilled kale and walking onions. I chopped them up a little.

I gathered what I had on hand to make lasagna.

Mixed the eggs with the ricotta.

And started layering the ingredients.

You have to smoosh the layers down before adding more or the lasagna falls apart when you cut it.

I only had one jar of tomato sauce and I thought the lasagna would be a little dry. So if your lasagna looks like this you might want to add a little liquid like more tomato sauce or broth, or even water. Those oven ready lasagna noodle suck up a lot of liquid.

I added (a little too much) wine.

yikes.

I baked that for about an hour in a 350F preheated oven. and this is what I got.

Easy tasty, and good leftovers.

Have a great week and enjoy your vegetables.

Mo