Rockfish with Steamed Asparagus and Tomatoes

Once again, I have to say "Thank you!" to the guy who works the seafood counter at Whole Foods.  Dylan and I knew we wanted fish for dinner, we just had no idea yet what kind, so he suggested his current favorite, rockfish.  He said tha he just coats it in breadcrumbs and panfry's it for a few minutes on each side.

I followed his advice, only I added fresh ground black pepper and lemon zest to the breadcrumbs before coating the fish and panfry'd it in a bit of olive oil and unsalted butter.  It took about 5 minutes per side on medium-high heat.

Meanwhile I made the rice, steamed the asparagus and rinsed off a few butter lettuce leaves.

When the fish was done I added some chopped onion into the pan to saute until softened, then added some chopped tomatoes and coarse sea salt and cooked just until the tomatoes were warmed and began to release their juices.

To plate my meal, I placed two butter lettuce leaves on a plate, topped with a scoop of rice, a filet of rockfish, some asparagus spears and a spoonful of the tomato relish. To finish it off, I squeezed some lemon over top.

Wow! I think that rockfish is officially my new favorite type of fish. It was moist, flaky and slightly sweet, which went really well with the asparagus and tomatoes. 

At first Dylan couldn't stop talking about how pretty dinner looked tonight, then she took a bite and couldn't stop talking about how good it was!

Lamb Tips with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Steamed Radishes

After Dylan said to me that she would never eat lamb and then made some faces about just the thought of eating it, of course we had to have it for dinner tonight! So, we went to Trader Joe's and picked up their Burgundy Pepper Lamb Tips. I put the tips in a large saute pan over high heat with a bit of olive oil and cooked the tips for around 5 minutes and set aside to rest.  For the sauce, I boiled down the pan drippings, added some white balsamic vinegar and white wine, boiled this down a bit and added some heavy cream.

For the potatoes, I quartered each one, added some halved, sliced leeks and coated with olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper. I placed this on a foil lined baking sheet and baked for about 15 minutes.

And finally, for the radishes, I trimmed the tops, rinsed them, put them into a small glass bowl and cooked them in the microwave for 4 minutes.

For being as quick and easy as dinner was tonight, I have to say, there was a lot of great flavor going on. I didn't even overcook the lamb tonight so it turned out great!!  The sauce was so easy and tasted so good that I covered my potatoes in it too. I also really enjoyed the steamed radishes, they had an almost sweet flavor, it was a nice change from their normally spicy crunch.


Oh, and Dylan, she loved the lamb, just like I knew she would.

Prosciutto Wrapped Cantaloupe with Asparagus

Since my daughter will not be with me for dinner tonight, we decided to make lunch instead.  We wrapped cantaloupe slices with prosciutto, sauteed asparagus spears with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, sliced some mango and threw in some honey goat cheese from Trader Joe's with a few crackers.

I think that I've made a fan out of Dylan, she can't seem to get enough of the cantaloupe slices!  I also have to say, that this is probably my favorite way to eat lunch on the weekend. Just a few munchies, super simple to make and lots of wonderful flavors.

BLTO's and Corn on the Cob

I have to say, I'm awfully glad that no one is here but me and Dylan as we are eating our corn on the cob slathered in sour cream and chili powder. As good as it is, I have no desire to have anyone see me eating it! Haha!

We also had sandwiches with pepper bacon, roma tomatoes, heirloom lettuce and sweet onion. These were extremely good, but equally messy!

I didn't even get to have more corn and it's a good thing that I took one when I did, because Dylan ate the other three!

Friday Bin 5/20/11

Several of my favorite fruits and veggies showed up in today's bin!

Carrots with Tops
Cucumber
Sweet Corn
Butter Lettuce
Purple Garlic
Roma Tomatoes
Imperial Sweet Onions
Local Asparagus
Cantaloupe
Ataulfo Mangoes
Braeburn Apples
Minneola Tangelos
Strawberries

I can't wait to dig into this cantaloupe! I'm also really excited for my first corn on the cob of the year!! Yum. I've been thinking about it for a couple of weeks now and the first thing Dylan said to me was "Are you going to make it the good way?"! So I took that to mean that she is pretty excited to. Also, a lot of these ingredients will work well with what I still have so I should get to use up a lot of that too, which I'm looking forward to.

Dylan's Stuffed French Bread

When Dylan got home from school today, one of the first things that she asked me was if she could make an appetizer for tonight's dinner. She was so excited at the thought of being able to cook, that I decided we better just make that the whole meal!  So, off to the store we went. Dylan was on a definite mission to find the perfect bread for her dish. She decided that it had to be fat and soft, none of that crunchy, thin stuff. Once the bread was taken care of, off to the cheese aisle.  Havarti, with it's creamy texture seemed to do the trick.

Once home, Dylan raided my vegetables, deciding that cucumber, zucchini, spinach and onion would be the best mixture to stuff her bread with.  Now, being the only thing that I really had to help her with, I sliced the bread (but not all the way through, it still had to be one piece so that she could stuff it!).

After the vegetables were all chopped up, this was added to a large saute pan with a little bit of olive oil. She sauteed the mixture just until it was softened and the spinach slightly wilted.  The bread was then stuffed with this mixture and the cheese went on top to cover.  This was then baked in a 350 degree oven, covered, for about 10 minutes. Just long enough to melt all of the cheese.  Then uncovered for another 5 minutes, to crisp up the bread a bit.

Oh my gosh! This bread turned out amazing.  It has become a huge hit and Dylan is definitely proud of herself for this dish (as well she should be!). I don't think that I could have done it any better myself.

Tofu and Green Bell Peppers with Salad

I had to figure out a way to use up the tofu left over from last nights dinner, so I chopped it up with some sliced green bell pepper and onion added some fajita seasoning and sauteed until cooked through. I also added some broccoli and cauliflower just until starting to soften.

To serve with this, I figured I should do another salad, since well, I have an abundance of salad greens. I made a sort of ranch dressing to go on the lettuce and spinach mixture tonight, using mayonnaise, sour cream, chopped fresh parsley, salt, pepper, garlic powder and finely chopped onion.  I also added a bit of fresh squeezed orange juice to this to give it a little extra flavor.

To go on top of the salad, I thinly sliced some radishes,apples and tangerines. I also added more of the fresh mozzarrella, because it's just so good!

Even though it sounds like an interesting mix of flavors, they all worked really well together! The hot with the cold, the crunchy with the soft and even the creamy with the spice!  Dylan especially liked it, in fact, I don't think that I've ever seen her eat a salad so quickly before!!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries!

Well, you didn't think that I was going to continue to get all these beautiful strawberries and not make this at least once did you?  After a rough couple of weeks, I finally decided that it was time.

I brought some heavy whipping cream to a simmer and poured it over semi-sweet chocolate chips. I also sprinkled some cinnamon over top of the warm whipping cream (for a slight flavor boost) and let this sit for about 5 minutes.  Once the chocolate was melted I mixed it with the cream until smooth.  Then I dipped the strawberries in the chocolate mixture and placed on a plate to set for a few minutes.

Definitely the perfect way to end a rough Monday and these taste great with my plum vodka cocktail! Yummy!

Tofu, Roasted Asparagus and Mixed Salad

While roaming through Trader Joe's tonight trying to figure out how I was going to cook my tofu for dinner, I came across this wonderful sounding Island Soyaki sauce. It's a mixture of pineapple juice, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and sesame seeds. Yum.  So I brought it home, sliced up my extra firm tofu and marinated it in the sauce for roughly 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, I cooked the rice and placed the asparagus on a foil lined baking sheet and baked for 15 minutes in a 425 degree oven.  I also prepared the salad, chopped heirloom lettuce and spinach with a light dressing of fresh squeezed juice from one tangerine and a bit of white balsamic vinegar. To top it off I added some sliced tomato and fresh mozzarrella.

For the tofu, I just simply seared it over medium high heat for a few minutes per side, just until browned and called it good.  I also took the remaining sauce and simmered it down with a bit of rice wine vinegar to make a glaze.

I finished off the asparagus with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and plated it all up.  The whole meal took around 45 minutes (including marinating time!), so this was a great Monday night meal.  It also tasted pretty good, and that is saying a lot considering I've only just recently started cooking with tofu and have never really liked it.  Dylan really liked  it too!

Tomato, Spinach and Green Bell Pepper Pizza

When I got my bin on Friday, I immediately thought "Pizza!".  I was too lazy to make homemade pizza dough so I went to the store and bought a Pillsbury pizza crust.  I did however make my own sauce.  I put olive oil, minced garlic, chopped onion, chopped tomatoes, coarse salt, fresh black pepper and a splash of balsamic vinegar into a small sauce pan and simmered until soft. Using a potato masher, I mashed the sauce until it had a smoother consistency and spread on top of the pizza crust.  Next, I put down a layer of fresh spinach and placed a layer of thinly sliced green bell peppers, tomatoes and fresh mozzarrella on top.

I baked the pizza for about 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

I'm not super happy with the way the store bough pizza crust tastes, but other than that this pizza turned out pretty good! The tomatoes and bell peppers were delicious and the fresh mozzarrella on top was amazing. (I actually think that I ate half of the ball of mozzarrella before even putting any onto the pizza!) 

Friday Bin 5/13

My bin today is so exciting!

Cucumber
Green Peppers
Radish
Roma Tomatoes
Zucchini
Broccoli
Asparagus
Heirloom Baby Lettuce
Braeburn Apples
Minneola Tangelos
Bananas
Strawberries

I am a huge fan of tomatoes, so to have them in my bin this week is really great and I am looking forward to eating them! I'm also very happy to have green bell peppers and spinach. I've already got all sorts of ideas for my meals this week and can't wait to get cooking! Although I did come home and eat a plate full of ribs and a bowl of popcorn for dinner (not a fresh veggie in sight!).

Leek, Rapini and Rice Soup

I made this soup last night for dinner because it was quick, easy and I really wanted to find a way to use these up!

I heated olive oil and butter in a pan until melted, added the leeks and some minced garlic until soft.  Then I added chopped rapini, rice, chicken broth, white wine, salt, pepper and lemon zest.  This was cooked until the rapini was wilted and the rice was cooked all the way through.

I really enjoyed this soup! I had two huge bowls of it. It was light and refreshing and if I hadn't had to share it with anyone, I probably would have finished off the whole pot!  It also took less than 20 minutes to make, which was another huge bonus.

Pork Loin with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Gold Beets

Well, it seems that I've gotten ahead of myself in the meat cooking department.  After having so many good meals turn out and thinking that I have redeemed myself, I go and cook my pork too long. I mostly forgot that it was in the oven because I was preoccupied with cupcakes and potatoes, but no excuses! I overcooked it by about 15 degrees or so. I'd say that if you like your meat well done then you would definitely have liked this, and it really didn't taste too bad, it was just a bit on the dry side.  I sprinkled the top of the loin with garlic salt, lemon pepper and red pepper before putting in a 350 degree oven. It was supposed to be pulled out of the oven when the inside temp reached 150, but by the time I got to it, it was already at 160.  The seasoning on the pork was really good, which made it edible at least, so I think that I will definitely have to make this again and just keep a better eye on it.

To serve along with this I quartered the fingerling potatoes and gold beets, peeled about 6 cloves of garlic and placed them on a baking pan with some olive oil, salt and pepper to coat.  These were roasted in a 425 degree oven until cooked through (about 15 minutes).  I also made up some broccoli and cauliflower, since it's really good and I haven't used it all up just yet.

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and Heirloom Salad with Creamy Citrus Dressing

I decided to continue with the seafood theme this weekend by making shrimp! I've never cooked raw shrimp before so I thought that I would give it a try. I started off with the shrimp wrapped in half a slice of bacon and sprinkled both sides with fresh ground black pepper and paprika. This was baked in a 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes (until cooked through).

I also figured that the best side to serve with this would be a citrusy salad. I made the dressing using mayonnaise, red vinegar, fresh orange juice, fresh lemon juice, lemon and orange rind, fresh thyme, salt and pepper mixed until well blended. After rinsing and chopping some of the heirloom lettuce, I poured the dressing over top to coat.  I also served this with some cucumber salad, halved radishes and sliced avocado.

This turned out quite tasty! The bacon was perfectly cooked and the shrimp not at all overcooked like I thought it might end up being. The salad also turned out great, even if I did add a bit too much thyme to the dressing. The leftover dressing will also be great with some cauliflower and broccoli for a snack tomorrow.

Tonight, I was also able to make a tasty pomegranate plum cocktail (courtesy of my wonderful boyfriend) to serve along with my Mother's Day dinner! (Pearl Plum Vodka and Pomegranate juice.) Very tasty!

Cucumber and Zucchini Salad

I made an easy salad today to take over to a friend's for dinner. I thinly sliced cucumbers, zucchini and sweet onion with a mandoline slicer and placed into a large bowl. For the dressing, I mixed sugar and vinegar together with hot water to dissolve the sugar and added some black pepper, lavendar salt and red pepper flakes. The dressing was poured over the cucumber mix and stirred to coat. I placed the salad in the fridge for an hour to marinate and allow the flavors to develop, stirring occasionally.

This salad turned out great and the total prep time was less than 10 minutes! It also went really well with the tomato and fresh mozzarella salad and the excellent grilled tuna steaks that my friend made. I think that I will have to make this salad again tomorrow so that I can munch on it throughout the day!

Friday Bin 5/6/11

It's Friday! Finally! It has been such a long week that I thought it was never going to get here.  My bin today is definitely full of beautiful inspiring spring colors. I can hardly wait until tomorrow to start cooking!

Cauliflower
Broccoli
Cucumbers
Leeks
Rapini
Zucchini
Fingerling Potatoes
Heirloom Baby Leaf Lettuce
Red Radish
Lemons
Braeburn Apples
Minneola Tangelos

New in my bin this week is the rapini. It looks similar to the broccoli and kale raab, and I enjoy getting new vegetables that I've never used before. I'm also happy about the radishes! Dylan loves them, so I will probably have to hide them from her to be able to use them in anything.

Maple Sausage, Fried Potatoes and Steamed Cabbage

Well, tonight's meal comes from several different cravings that I've had lately!  I think that the maple sausage and fried potatoes are pretty much a given, but the cabbage?  For some crazy reason, I've been missing just basic, steamed cabbage. My mom used to make it when I was younger and I don't think that I've had it since!  So, there you have it.  I sliced up chunks of cabbage and placed it in a pan with a small amount of water and about 2 tablespoons of butter and let it simmer for about 20 minutes until it became a buttery soft and beautiful bright green.

Because you can't just eat cabbage for dinner, I decided to also give in to the maple and brown sugar sausage that I've been wanting (Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage, yum!).  And to keep with the theme, I chose to make fried potatoes. I added chopped potatoes and onion to the same pan that I cooked the sausage in and added a little salt and pepper. I cooked this until the potatoes turned brown and crispy.

Dinner tonight was very simple and definitely comfort food! It was very satisfying and since I don't eat this way very often, I chose to finish my meal off with some salted caramel chocolate cupcakes!

Caramel Apple Chai Cupcakes

I realize that cupcakes with a bit of apple in them isn't exactly following the guidelines of my blog, but I'm trying to post every day this month so I figured I could make it work. I am after all using some of the apples from my bin!

I started with making just a basic yellow cupcake, except when I added the milk I added a packet of vanilla chai tea latte mix to it before adding to the batter. Once the batter was completely mixed, I folded in two chopped, peeled apples. I put these into my mini cupcake liners, baked for 15 minutes and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, I made the Caramel Swiss Buttercream Frosting. Swiss buttercream is a bit different than traditional frosting, using a mixture of warmed egg whites and sugar whipped into a meringue and beat with butter. I added about a cup of caramel sauce to the buttercream and mixed until combined.

To finish them, I dusted the tops with cinnamon. 

These turned out great! Caramel chai latte's are my favorite drink and now I've made it into a cupcake and added apple to it, so good! I hope that the ladies at my daughter's school enjoy these for their Staff Appreciation lunch tomorrow just as much as I do.

Trio of Sausages with Roasted Vegetables

It's official. I have redeemed myself in the meat cooking area (or rather the guy at the Whole Foods meat counter has helped me to succeed at meat cooking).  After work today I went to the meat counter (after for some crazy reason having craved sausage for 2 days now) and said "Do you eat sausage?".  The nice guy said "Yes I do! I've tried all of these. Which ones can I get for you?".  To which I responded "Whatever ones you tell me to get and tell me how to cook!". He then proceeded to ask whether I liked chicken or pork and what I was serving with this and suggested a few, to which I agreed to do one of each that he recommended, and he gave me several tips on how to cook them! It was great! I came home followed the instruction that the guy had given to me and it worked perfectly! No crispy, crunchy, dried out mess of nastiness like my previous experience with cooking sausage (which is the sole reason I've been dubbed the girl not allowed to cook meat), but wonderfully moist, perfectly browned sausage! I chose to do a trio because they all sounded so good that it was hard to choose just one and came home with Pork Bratwurst, Pork Sausage with Basil and Garlic and Spicy Pork Sausage. I'm actually not sure which one I like the best, they all have such a wonderful flavor to them!!  The secret to cooking sausage you ask?  Water!  Put about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch water in the bottom of a large saute pan, place the sausages in the pan and cook at a low simmer until the water evaporates. This will steam the sausage. Once the water has evaporated, turn up the heat to medium and brown on all sides.

To serve with my wonderfully cooked sausages, I roasted some vegetables! I placed halved and quatered baby parsnips, golden  beets, russet potatoes and crimini mushrooms in a small bowl. To the bowl I added some olive oil to coat, chopped fresh sage, lavendar salt and fresh ground black pepper.  I spread the vegetables out onto a baking sheet covered with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Then I sprinkled some chopped green garlic scapes and thinly sliced and quartered blood oranges over top.  This was baked in the oven at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes, just until the vegetables were cooked through and starting to brown.

Meanwhile, I made a quick salad using the heirloom lettuce from my bin and some shredded carrot. I also made an easy balsamic vinaigrette for this (balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh orange juice from half a navel orange whisked together) and poured over top of the lettuce.  Sliced cucumber was served alongside.

It sounds like a bit of effort was put into this meal, but really from beginning to end it only took me 30 minutes!! How great is that? Very full of flavor, extremely filling and relatively healthy considering what we could have eaten tonight. It was also a pretty big hit. Dylan even loved the spicy sausage! (Of course I'm sure she covered it with ketchup before allowing it anywhere near her mouth!)

Leek, Mushroom and Chard Tart

This recipe actually comes from the New Roots website. It was the recipe of the week last week and I said, "I have to try that!".  I'm sure glad I did too! I also pretty much followed the recipe, the only thing I added was the mushrooms and I used fresh thyme instead of the dried stuff.

I started by thawing a sheet of puff pastry, rolling it out, placing it in a pie plate, crimping the edges and placing in the fridge until ready to be used.  Next, I added 3 chopped leeks and 2/3 cup of chopped crimini mushrooms to about 2 tablespoons of butter and added some salt and pepper. These were cooked until soft and then I added the chopped rainbow chard (stems removed). The mixture was cooked just until the chard was wilted and then removed from the heat to cool.

For the egg mixture I put just over a cup of whipping cream in a large bowl and added 3 eggs and 2 egg yolks, salt, pepper and a little nutmeg until just mixed. I then added the leek mixture to the egg mixture and poured this into the pie crust.

The tart was baked at 425 degrees (in the lower third of the oven) for 15 minutes and at 350 for about 25 minutes (it took longer to cook because of the added moisture from the mushrooms).

I have to say that this turned out really well! Even I had seconds tonight (and I hate anything with eggs being a key player)!  Dylan is currently on her 3rd plate and she is really loving it!

Friday Bin 4/29

You know how when you get behind on something and it takes forever to get back on track? I'm finding that I'm having that problem with posting my Friday Bin updates! Grr..I promise to be on time next week!! Thankfully, I haven't had any time to make anything with my bin yet, so I'm not behind on any other posts. This week I have some pretty neat ingredients to work with too!

Sweet Nante Carrots
Cucumbers
Leeks
Texas Sweet Onions
Gold Beets
Russet Potatoes
Baby Turnips with Tops
Crimini Mushrooms
Rainbow Chard
Heirloom Baby Leaf Lettuce
Lemons
Braeburn Apples
Minneola Tangelos
Strawberries

I have already used some of the carrots and cucumbers and my strawberries (which I got a full pound of this week) are now all gone! I set out a plate with some sliced carrots, cucumbers, celery and strawberries yesterday and that's what everyone spent the day munching on! It was a very good idea and way healthier than the typical snacks that everyone usually grabs. 

Steak, Black Beans and Veggies with Mixed Whole Grains

I guess this week has been kind of busier than I expected, so I haven't been able to cook as much as I would have liked, but tonight I was able to come up with a tasty and creative way to use up some of my veggies.  I was also able to use up the rest of my flank steak from the other night, which I am quite happy about.

I started by putting chopped carrot and celery into a large saute pan with some olive oil, a bit of white balsamic vinegar, a splash of Worcestershire, about a tablespoon of rice vinegar, chopped green garlic scapes, red pepper, salt and black pepper and sauteed until the carrots began to soften. To this mixture I added chopped zucchini, chopped flank steak and a can of drained black beans (I used Carribean style because I like the way that they taste). I also added a few tablespoons of beef stock just to give it an added flavor boost (because apparently I didn't have enough going on already!), but this also helped produce a thick sauce.

Meanwhile I cooked about half a bag of Mixed Whole Grains (barley, quinoa, lentils, etc.) that we had from Trader Joe's. I just followed the directions on the package for this.  When the vegetables were soft and the beans cooked through, I added them to a bowl with the whole grains and served. There was so much flavor (and color) going on that I chose not to use any sort of garnish tonight.

For not having any idea what I was going to make using these vegetables when I started, I'd say this turned out pretty darn good! I also don't know if you know this or not, but I'm terrible at naming my dishes so I have no idea what you would call this, it's just a mix of food from the fridge, cooked together and served. I sometimes think that the meals you make that start off by just throwing some ingredients into a pan usually come together the best. Plus, I have used up so many of my veggies this week that I am really looking forward to my bin and filling up my fridge with new tasty ingredients.

Citrus Marinated Steak with Asparagus

I have been thinking about making this meal since Friday! However this weekend was my birthday so I was spoiled with new restaurants and great company and really wasn't able to make it until today. I started off my meal by marinating the flank steak in a mixture of fresh juice from 2 oranges and 1 lemon, the zest of the oranges and the lemon, chili powder, salt and pepper.  The steak was set in the fridge to marinate for a little over an hour.

After pulling out all of my lettuce and hoping that it was still good after having sat in the fridge for so long, I was relieved to see that it was still edible. I think if I would have waited until tomorrow to use it though, I might have been sorry! This blue apple thing works great on tougher vegetables, but not so much for the lettuce. Once my lettuce was chopped, rinsed and draining, I started on the creamy basil dressing. 

To a blender I added a small container of plain nonfat yogurt, a handful of chopped fresh basil, the juice from half a lemon, 3 chopped green garlic scapes, a few spoonfuls of white balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  I pureed until smooth and stirred in some more sliced fresh basil.  I tossed the lettuce with about half of the dressing to coat.

After preparing the salad and slicing some cucumber, zucchini and blood oranges, I prepared the asparagus. Since the asparagus was SO big, I sliced them all in half and added them to a large saute pan with some butter, olive oil, salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar. This was cooked over medium heat until tender.

For the steak, I heated a grill pan on high and cooked for about 5 minutes per side and placed on a plate to rest. I had saved the marinating juices and decided to make a sauce out of it.  So, I added the juices to a sauce pan with a tablespoon of butter and simmered until reduced and slightly thickened.

To assemble, I put a bed of salad on the plate, added some of the cucumber, zucchini, blood oranges, a bit more dressing and topped with a few slices of the steak which was then drizzled with a bit of the citrus sauce. I added a few pieces of asparagus, sprinkled with shredded fontina cheese and served with some delicious mango slices and rosemary bread.

I think by now it's safe to say that we know I don't usually cook or even like to cook meat, but this time I surprised myself (even if I actually ended up cooking it twice because the first time it was way to rare in the middle for my liking) and it turned out really tasty! The sauce was even really good and went very well with the creamy dressing on the salad. This meal was also extremely filling and after eating out so much this weekend, I feel pretty good about getting back on track with a healthier meal today.  My daughter said to me that this was the best steak that she's ever had, but she also said that she likes everything that I make, so she may not be the best judge, haha!

Friday Bin 4/23

Today's bin certainly is full of beautiful colors! I'm hoping now that things are starting to slow down that I can get back on track. I've missed cooking healthy meals every night and have fallen into the habit of eating all the chocolate I can get my hands on, hence the chocolate covered Peep and Snickers egg that I just scarfed down when I walked in the door...

Carrots with Tops
Celery
Cucumber
Texas Sweet Onions
Green Garlic Scapes
Red Chard
Zucchini
Asparagus
Heirloom Leaf Lettuce
Ataulfo Mangoes
Blood Oranges
Braeburn Apples

The asparagus are HUGE this week and the blood oranges are really cute and small, along with the beautiful heirloom lettuce, I'm thinking I won't have any problem coming up with delicious meal ideas.  Also, I have a new vegetable this week! Green garlic scapes are completely new to me and I'm really excited to try them out! They look extremely similar to green onions so I'm guessing they get used the same way too.

Pork and Cabbage with Egg Noodles

On my way to Dylan's dance class tonight, I decided that I was going to find a way to use my cabbage and came up with tonight's recipe. So after a quick stop at PCC Market on our way home, I set off to make a simple cabbage dish.

I started off by adding olive oil, garlic and onion to a large saute pan over medium heat until the onion started to become translucent. I then added some chopped cabbage and sliced crimini mushrooms. Once the cabbage and mushrooms started to cook a bit, I added thinly sliced pork strips lightly coated with a mixture of flour, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. After about 2 minutes, I added 1 cup of beef stock, 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and 2 sprigs of thyme and brought to a boil.  I then reduced the heat to a medium low and added half a bag of egg noodles, covered and simmered until the noodles were cooked through.

We also picked up a loaf of rosemary garlic bread to serve with this dish, which was a great idea!  This dish was very simple and tasty. Dylan loved it!

Pepperoni and Kale Raab Soup

I had a lot of pepperoni left over from the pizza's that I made this weekend and this great looking bunch of kale raab so I thought that it might make a pretty tasty soup!  I started off by adding minced garlic, chopped onion and carrot to a medium sized pot with a little olive oil.  Once this mixture started to soften, I added chopped zucchini and mushrooms, a can of crushed tomatoes, 3 cups of chicken stock, 2 cups of water, a sprig of thyme, a one inch rind of gouda parana and some salt and pepper. When this began to boil, I added one bunch of chopped kale raab and a cup of chopped pepperoni and continued to boil for about another 15 minutes, just until the raab was cooked through but still had a nice bite to it. To finish, I topped the soup with some fresh chopped basil.

With so many different flavors going on I was a little worried that it might be a bit too much. However, they all worked very well together. This also made quite a bit of food, so I will probably be freezing half of it, even after the boys come home and eat dinner!

Friday Bin 4/15

Well, again, I have to apologize for posting this so late! Last week, especially the last couple of days, have been really hectic. I spent all of last week planning, prepping and setting up for my daughters Mad Hatter Tea Party themed 9th birthday. It was a lot of fun and her party turned out great, so it was all worth it!  My daughter has amazing friends and they all have wonderful parents. As for my bin, I got a lot of items that I actually was able to use up over the weekend.

Carrots with Tops
Green Cabbage
Texas Sweet Onions
Cucumber
Kale Raab
Crimini Mushrooms
Heirloom Leaf Lettuce
Lemons
Murcott Tangerines
Braeburn Apples
Minneola Tangelos
Strawberries

For my daughters tea party, of course I had to make cucumber and cream cheese tea sandwiches! This used up most of my cucumbers. I also served strawberries and carrots, broccoli and cucumber sticks to dip in honey mustard and blue cheese dipping sauces.  I was able to use up more of the fruits for the pancake breakfast that I made for Sunday morning when my daughter and all of her friends woke up.  I made a berry topping using the strawberries, fresh whipped cream, a fruit salad using grapefruit, oranges, and 3 different types of apples, and mini pancakes along with bacon and sausage. The breakfast was a big hit and everyone loved the berry topping for their pancakes!  Also, many of the ingredients in my bin were used to make a salad Sunday night. As you can imagine, most of what I received in my bin Friday has already been used, but I still have plenty of fruits and veggies in my fridge to make some delicious meals this week.

Garlicky Swiss Chard with Mushrooms and Beans

Well, tonight happens to be one of those night's where I throw a bunch of stuff into a pan, cook it and hope for the best.  I decided on using the chard because it's big, beautiful and taking up a lot of space in my fridge.

I started by adding 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped, coarsely chopped Texas Sweet onion, chard stems, asparagus (this I had left over from a previous week), olive oil, salt and pepper to a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Once the veggies began to soften I added the rough chopped chard leaves and cooked until they began to wilt.  At this point I added some chicken stock and red pepper flake and brought it to a boil.  The heat was lowered to medium-low and simmered for about 15 minutes.  Then I added about half a can of rinsed and drained white kidney beans (because my only other option was garbanzo beans - yuck!) and continued to simmer for about 5 minutes more, just until the beans were warmed through.

While the chard mixture was simmering, I thinly sliced some crimini mushrooms and added them to a saute pan with melted butter and sauteed just until browned.

To assemble this dish I placed a spoonful of the chard mixture into the bowl, added a layer of the mushrooms and topped with a dollop of sour cream and some chopped avocado.

All in all, it wasn't a terrible meal. It had a lot of great flavor and the creaminess of the sour cream and avocado was a good idea. I think that if I were to make this dish again I would use half as much chicken broth as I did because I was hoping that the liquid would cook off but at the risk of overcooking my chard I couldn't wait that long. I also think that I would use plain white beans instead of the kidney beans, they seemed to over power the chard just a bit and the white beans would have added a milder flavor.

Homemade Pizza and Beet Salad

Earlier today, when I went out on my mission to get a pizza stone, and not just any pizza stone but an Emile Henry Pizza Stone from William's Sonoma, I was told that they didn't have any in stock and that it was on back order for another week!  Now yesterday I had started a homemade pizza dough so I knew that I absolutely had to find a way to get this thing today and was pretty much willing to drive wherever I had to to get it. The wonderful store clerk checked into his computer for me and called another store, it turns out there was one left in the entire area and Alderwood (a 20 minute drive away) had it, so it was quickly put on hold for me. Now, pizza stone in hand and safely at home, I feel that this was one of the best purchases that I've ever made!  However, when the woman at the Alderwood store asked if I needed a pizza peel, I should have said yes and brought that home with me as well (read on).
So after anxiously awaiting the one hour to bring the dough to room temperature and another half an hour for the pizza stone to heat in the oven, it was finally time to assemble it!  I spread my homemade pizza sauce (San Marzano tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, Italian seasoning simmered for half an hour) on top, placed a layer of mozzarella cheese on it and it was time to finally try out my stone!!  Well, I had my pizza on top of a well floured and corn mealed baking sheet (without sides) and just assumed that it would slide easily onto the scorching hot stone, boy was I wrong!  After 5 minutes of wrestling this dough onto the stone, because well, the second it gets on the stone it starts to cook and doesn't like to be moved, I was finally able to close the oven door and cook my no longer pretty and round pizza. Needless to say, I will be going back to the store tomorrow for the pizza peel.  After just a mere 10 minutes in the oven, there emerged a little slice of heaven! Perfectly puffed and golden brown.

Meanwhile, I made the beet salad.  After an hour of boiling the quartered (because these were rather huge, even after being quartered) beets, I placed them on a foil lined baking sheet and baked at 450 for 10 minutes, just until they started to caramelize on the outside (or in my case, stick to the foil and not want to come off! I would recommend spraying the foil with some cooking spray). While the beets were in the oven, I made a quick vinaigrette with balsamic vinegar and honey, rinsed some arugula and diced some avocados. To assemble this salad, I placed some arugula drizzled with the vinaigrette on a plate and layered the beets and avocado, then topped with some crumbled goat cheese.

Well, after plating my food and sitting down to take my first bite of this wonderful meal, I realized that I forgot the basil! How could I forget the basil?? I bought a live basil plant from Whole Foods earlier today and it's been giving off it's beautiful aroma in my kitchen all day! I couldn't believe that I had forgotten it, so I quickly got up and put it on the pizza (at this point I had already taken the photo, so unfortunately, you don't get to see the beautiful green on my pizza).  I have to say that I can't imagine eating pizza from anywhere else! The dough was well worth the 24 hour wait and I'd be quite satisfied with just eating the cooked crust and nothing else! However the addition of the simple ingredients brings it to a whole new level of deliciousness. And the salad, well, it was well worth the hour it took to boil the beets. Even Dylan exclaimed, "Mom these beets are awesome!". Dylan has also decided that she no longer wants to order pizza for her birthday party next weekend and requested that I make more homemade pizza's. I'm actually not sure if I will be able to hold out an entire week before making this again though!

Friday Bin 4/8

It's finally Friday! This week I have chosen to switch out a few of the items in my bin since I have so much in my fridge already, this way I don't end up with too much of the same thing.

Carrots with Tops
Cabbage
Texas Sweet Onions
Artichokes
Kale Raab (although this week it looks more like a collard with a bit of kale raab mixed into it)
Rainbow Chard
Red Leaf Lettuce
Crimini Mushrooms
Braeburn Apples
Navel Oranges
Ataulfo Mangoes
Murcott Tangerines

The chard this week is really beautiful! The leaves are huge and colorful and I'm really looking forward to cooking with it. This week is going to be a busy one so hopefully I'm able to make some quick and tasty dishes that will showcase the wonderful flavors of all my veggies.

Grilled Kale Raab and Mashed Potatoes with Arugula and Goat Cheese

I couldn't decide on which of my veggies I wanted to use for my meal tonight and finally went with kale raab and arugula.  I knew that I didn't really want a salad though and after some further investigation in my fridge I found some potatoes! I decided that this is how I would use the arugula.

I started off by peeling the potatoes and boiling them for about 20 minutes.  Once they were done I added them to a bowl with some goat cheese, fresh thyme, a little butter, salt, black peper and milk.  I mashed these until all of the ingredients were fully mixed. Then I added chopped arugula to the potatoes and stirred until just combined.

For the kale raab, I decided that something simple would be the best way to cook these.  I started by trimming them and placing them in a bowl. They were then drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper and mixed to coat.  I heated a grill pan on medium high and grilled the kale raab for about 2 minutes per side and sprinkled with red pepper flake.  To finish I drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

For garnish I added a bit more goat cheese to top the potatoes and I used a cashew snack mix that I picked up from Whole Foods (it's from a brand Sahal and the mix was Sing Buri, a mix of cashews, peanuts, dried pineapple and sweet chile flakes).  I also served this with a side of coconut curry tofu that I discovered, it was a tofu snack pack, all I had to do was warm it up!

I think that everything turned out really good, although I started my grill pan off on high so the first few pieces of kale raab had a nice burnt flavor to them, but other than that I'm pleased.  The tofu was also a great addition and rounded out the meal quite well.

Collard Greens and White Bean Soup

After a couple of week's now, acquiring collard greens in my bin each week and not being quite sure how to use them up, I decided to try and use them in a soup.  I figured why not? I've got carrots, celery and onion, which are a perfect base for a soup that I need to use up too! So I started chopping. 

I started off by heating a bit of olive oil in a medium sized dutch oven. I added chopped onion, celery, carrot and gold bell pepper (this I decided on at the last moment, I thought it would go well in the soup).  Once the vegetables began to soften, I put in some sliced garlic (4 heads) and a sprig of fresh thyme along with some red pepper flakes, chicken broth and a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes. When this began to boil, 5 cups of chopped collard greens were added and the heat was reduced to a simmer for just under 10 minutes. A can of drained, rinsed white beans were added and the soup was cooked just a few minutes longer to heat the beans through.

I have to say that as good as this soup was, I felt that it was a bit lacking in flavor. I feel like the vegetables worked really well together, but maybe it would have been a good idea to add more spice. I also think that the addition of some cooked chicken or maybe even cubed tofu might work well in this soup.

Zucchini Pasta with Mushroom Bolognese

Tonight's dinner actually comes from an idea that my mom gave me. I mentioned to her over the weekend that I had no idea what to do with all of this zucchini and she said that I should make zucchini pasta. I'd never heard of such a thing - using zucchini strips in place of pasta - so of course, I had to try it out!

After a little bit of research looking for a tasty sauce to go over top of the zucchini I found a recipe for Mushroom Bolognese. Now, I have to admit that I almost didn't make this because I didn't get mushrooms in my bin this week and I usually don't like to use vegetables that I don't already have on hand, but this sounded so good that I couldn't pass it up.

I started making the sauce by adding chopped portobello mushrooms, celery, carrots, leeks and minced garlic to a sauce pan with some olive oil and garlic and cooked this over medium heat for about 10 minutes just until the vegetables began to soften. This mixture was removed from the pan and place into a larger sauce pan.  To the original pan, a bit of white wine was added to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom and poured over the mixture in the new pan.  To the mushroom mixture, I added a little over a cup of beef broth and a spoonful of tomato paste, brought this to a boil, reduced the heat to a simmer and cooked, partially covered, until the broth was almost completely absorbed, this took about 20 minutes. While the sauce was simmering, I added a bit of butter and olive oil to the original sauce pan and cooked about 3 ounces of enoki mushrooms until just browned over medium heat, removed them from the pan and chopped them before adding them to the sauce. Once the enoki mushrooms were added, the sauce simmered for another 5 to 10 minutes before adding salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste with about 4 tablespoons of heavy cream.

For the pasta, using a mandoline slicer I sliced the peeled zucchini into thin strips, lengthwise.  Dylan and I then set out to cut each of the slices into 4 thin strips (making about 4 cups of sliced zucchini), resembling fettuccine pasta.  I added the strips to a large saute pan with some butter, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.  This was cooked until the zucchini was just tender, about 8 minutes.

I topped the "pasta" dish with some shredded asiago cheese and served it with a side of kalamata olive bread.  I have to say that I will probably be making the zucchini pasta more often. As I'm sure you are aware by now, I am not a huge fan of pasta dishes, so this was perfect for me!  I'm happy that I now have an alternative to pasta so that I can make more sauces (because I love sauce, just not so much the noodles)! This is also great idea for anyone trying to cut down on carbs!

Friday Bin 4/1

Okay, so I'm a bit late in getting this post up but I still wanted to make sure that I let all of you know what I received in my bin this week!

Beets with Tops
Broccoli
Green Leaf Lettuce
Arugula
Collard Greens
Kale Raab
Zucchini
Garlic
Lemons
Rio Star Grapefruit
Navel Oranges
Kiwi
Strawberries
Murcott Tangerines

I've got a lot to work with this week! I've never used the Kale Raab before but it looks similar to the Broccolette that I had in my bin last week and it looks like I've got some pretty good sized oranges to make something tasty with too!

Enchilada's....My Way!

I seem to have a fridge full of vegetables! I was brainstorming trying to come up with a creative way to use some of them up and came up with a take on enchilada's.

I started off by placing chopped gold bell peppers, fennel, spring onions, asparagus and savoy cabbage into a large saute pan with about 4 tablespoons of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil.  This was sauteed until the peppers and the asparagus began to soften and the cabbage starting wilting, I then added the leftover chicken from my soup the other night, shredded carrots and some chopped arugula.  I continued cooking until the arugula was beginning to wilt and added a mixture of 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1/2 can of green chile enchilada sauce. Once the sauce was fully mixed with the vegetables and the chicken warmed through, I removed from the heat and began to assemble the enchiladas.

I placed a few spoonfuls of black beans (rinsed and drained) onto a large flour tortilla, added a few large spoonfuls of the vegetable and chicken mixture, topped with shredded sharp white cheddar and sprinkled some cooked shredded beets on top, rolled the tortilla to close and placed into a rectangular baking dish. I repeated this until I couldn't fit anymore filled tortilla's into my dish, which turned out to be about 4, however if you use a larger baking dish I'm sure that you could easily make twice that.  When the tortilla's were all filled, I poured a can of green chile enchilada sauce over top, sprinkled with aged white cheddar cheese and chopped spring onion (green parts only).  This was then baked in a 425 degree oven for approximately 25 minutes, until the cheese was melted and beginning to brown and the enchilada's were warmed through.  To finish this dish, I sprinkled some chopped fennel fronds on top, just before serving.

I have one word...Wow!  These turned out every bit as good as I imagined that they would! I had even hesitated on putting the shredded beets in, since I know not everyone in the house likes them, but I'm really glad that I decided to keep them.  Not only did they add a nice flavor, but they gave the dish a beautiful pink color too.  Everyone ate two plates full (well, except for Dylan, she had three!) and even my boyfriend who really dislikes beets loved it!  Although, he did ask what the special pink sauce was and I wouldn't answer him even though he already knew what it was (and he still went back for more). 

I've also decided that one photo just wasn't going to do this dish justice, so I had to include another!

Strawberry Mango Crisp

I've been on a mission to find something tasty to make with my strawberries, so when I found out that I was getting mangoes in my bin you can only imagine the ideas that started running through my brain!  I decided to make a crisp.  It sounded really good and the thought of warm fruit with a crisp topping alongside vanilla ice cream just seemed to be the way to go!

I used two cups of sliced strawberries and two cups of mango cut into chunks. I combined the fruit with a mixture of flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar and oats (reserving about 3/4 cup for the topping) and mixed until all of the fruit was coated.  I then poured this into a glass baking dish, covered it with the remaining flour mixture and poured half a stick of melted butter mixed with the juice from one fresh squeezed lemon over top.  This was baked in a 375 degree oven for a little over half an hour.

Needless to say, it turned out really good! I have a feeling that I may be craving this quite a bit and everyone else in the house seemed to really enjoy it too!

Chicken and Vegetable Soup with Dumplings

I figured after almost four weeks of being sick now, and since I can't seem to eat much of anything, that it was about time I made a chicken soup.  When I brought up chicken and dumpling soup, Dylan got extremely excited, so I figured we should make it together.

We started off by placing a whole uncooked chicken in a pot with about four cups of water and some chicken bouillon cubes and brought to a boil.  I reduced the heat until just simmering, added some chopped carrots, celery, fennel, potatoes, gold bell peppers and spring onions. This was covered and cooked for just over an hour, until the chicken was fully cooked.  About thirty minutes into cooking the chicken and veggie mixture I added some broccoli and cauliflower (this way it wouldn't over cook and become mushy).

When the soup was done, we took the chicken out and let it rest for about ten minutes, until it was cool enough so that we could separate the chicken from the bone and skin and tear into bite sized pieces.  We then made the dumplings, with a little Bisquick, some milk, fresh parsley and black pepper.

The vegetables were brought back up to a simmer and Dylan added the dumplings.  This was allowed to cook for about 10 minutes and then we added in the chicken.

I am really happy with the result. This chicken turned out so amazingly moist! It was falling off the bones and the pieces were pulling apart so easily!  I will definitely be making this chicken more often. As for the dumpling  soup, well, Dylan did a great job on the dumplings, they turned out perfect! This soup was a huge hit and after making a large pot even, it resulted in very little leftovers.  My favorite part, I was actually able to eat it! Yay!!!

Friday Bin 3/25

I think that it's safe to say spring is officially here! It's about time too, because some of my favorite fruits and vegetables will be in season soon!!  This week I have quite the selection going on...

Carrots with Tops
Celery
Arugula
Zucchini
Broccolette
Russet Potatoes
Fennel
Spring Onions
Ataulfo Mangoes
Strawberries
Murcott Tangerines

Looks like I have the perfect ingredients for a soup and I'm extremely happy to have mangoes in my bin! I can't wait to make up a big plate of sliced mango and strawberries.  Also this week I have something called broccolette, which I've never heard of, but it looks like really long, skinny broccoli.  I'm looking forward to trying it out!

Stir Fry Yumminess!!

I absolutely had to find a great way to showcase some of these wonderful vegetables, so a stir fry seemed like the right thing to do!

I made a sauce using minced garlic and ginger in a little vegetable oil over high heat.  I added in a mixture of rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, chicken broth, soy sauce, sugar and white pepper, brought this to a boil and added a cornstarch and water mixture to thicken.  To the sauce I added broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, spring onions, red and orange bell peppers and some water chestnuts.  I cooked this just until the sauce was thickened and the asparagus was just beginning to soften.  This left the veggies still a bit crunchy (exactly the way that I like them, because I won't eat mushy vegetables) and only slightly softened.  I served this with a side of fragrant jasmine rice.

I have to say, this is probably my favorite stir fry ever.  Way better than any restaurant or store bought sauce and everyone had seconds tonight, so I have no leftovers (yay!).  I was even able to get the older boy in the house who eats nothing but cheese pizza, mac and cheese and canned pineapple to eat two plates of it!!  We were all pretty impressed that he was actually eating something that was good for him.  Dylan came to me and asked, "What is this stuff smothering my vegetables? It's delicious!".  I thought that was a pretty awesome thing to hear.

Shepherd's Pie

I figured that since I am Irish and I missed being able to make a meal for St. Patrick's Day that I should probably make up for it this weekend.  Especially since I have so many vegetables to use up!

I started off by making the potato crust. First I boiled the potatoes and a lot of garlic cloves, then added sour cream, butter, salt, black pepper and a bit of beef broth, mashed this really well and set aside for later use.

Then I made the filling. I used about two of my spring onions, coarsely chopped, and sauteed them in some olive oil until soft. I added a bit of sugar and cooked just until they started to caramelize and then I added about a pound of ground beef. This was cooked until brown and then I added chard (yellow and red), gold beets (because I am out of carrots), frozen peas, a bit of chopped red bell pepper, minced garlic and some salt and pepper. I cooked this just until the vegetables became soft and added a bit of flour and some diced tomatoes until mixed. A bit of beef broth and a can of beer was added next along with some chopped fresh rosemary.  I let this simmer about 20 minutes until the liquid started to cook away.

Once the filling was done, I sprayed a glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray, added the filling to the dish and topped with the potato mixture.  I baked this, uncovered, for about 40 minutes and then I sprinkled the top with shredded cheddar cheese and paprika. This was then baked for another 10 minutes.

This turned out great! It was a bit more liquidy than I think it was supposed to be, but everyone, including the picky eaters, loved it!! I also got to make some room in my fridge. I especially loved that I was able to get everyone to eat beets and the potatoes with the cheese on top was a really good idea!

Friday Bin 3/18

It's that time again!! I love Fridays!  Even if I haven't felt well enough to do much cooking lately, I still look forward to getting my bin full of fresh fruits and veggies! I've got quite a few tasty ones this week too...

Asparagus
Spring Onions
Cauliflower
Zucchini
Collard Greens
Zucchini
Red Chard
Red Leaf Lettuce
Russet Potatoes
Fuji Apples
Navel Oranges
Strawberries
Murcott Tangerines

I've never had spring onions before, but they look a lot like purple leeks! I bet that they taste excellent just sauteed in some butter maybe to go on top of potatoes or steak? Also, my baby bok choy was substituted for collard greens this week. Even though I was looking forward to it, one of the many reasons that I love New Roots so much is that she substituted them for the greens this week because the supply just wasn't up to her standards!  I think that it is excellent that she does this, that way we aren't left with something that we are unhappy with.  I do hope that I get to make more dishes this week than what I have over the last few weeks, however now that I have discovered something called Blue Apple (a blue plastic apple that has a packet in it to catch the ethylene gases which make fruits and veggies ripen quickly and not last very long), my fruits and veggies are staying fresh longer and I have to say, I've got quite a bit to choose from which should make for some very good dishes.

Seafood Pot Pie

I've been wanting to make pot pies for a while now, I figured tonight was as good as any to give it a try. So, off to Whole Foods I went to buy some seafood to go into them!

I started off by putting butter, onion, garlic and chopped chard into a large saute pan and cooked until the vegetables were soft.  Then I added a bit of flour, cooked for a minute or two and added some dry sherry, shredded gouda parrana and Old Bay seasoning.  When this was mixed, I added the heavy cream and cooked just until it began to thicken, removed from the heat and added crab meat, cooked shrimp, bay scallops, some chopped cooked potato and gold beets and mixed just until combined.  I divided the mixture between two individual serving dishes, covered them with puff pastry and brushed the tops with melted butter.

I baked the pot pies for about 40 minutes on 350.  By the time I removed the pies from the oven, the house smelled amazing! When these came out of the oven, they smelled even better and had a wonderful golden brown, flaky crust.  I couldn't wait to try it, but had to, because well, they were really hot! So after an impatient 5 minutes of letting them sit, I finally served it up and had my first bite.  Wow.  They turned out better than I had imagined and were well worth the wait and the effort.  Although, I won't be making this all of the time, because well, it was a bit on the pricier side to make, I will keep it in mind for special occasions.  Dylan and I are now pleasantly stuffed and got our seafood fix for the weekend.

Artichokes with Butter Sauce

Well, I promised Dylan artichokes, so it only seemed right to follow through with my promise tonight.  I placed some orange slices, onion chunks, capers, pink peppercorns, salt and pepper in a large pot.  After trimming the artichokes I added them to the pot and brought the water to a boil.

While the artichokes were cooking, I made the butter sauce.  It was supposed to be a hollandaise, but for some reason I haven't been able to get this to turn out since my first successful trial.  So, after whisking the egg yoks, lemon juice, white pepper and worcestershire and adding the melted butter, it started to separate.  I knew after the last time, that it would still taste good, it just isn't exactly what I was going for.  However, I put it into the small serving dishes anyways, and sprinkled it with paprika.  The sauce, turned into more of a two layer butter sauce. The first layer, the egg yolky one, had a melted cheese-like texture and tasted smooth and creamy.  The top layer, was a clarified butter.

When the artichokes were done, it was time to eat them!!  The artichoke leaves dipped in this sauce were SO good!  It was by far the best dipping sauce that I've ever made to go with artichokes.  I will be making sure that I remember this and I don't think Dylan will let me go too long without making it again.

Friday Bin 3/11

I got my bin today and although a lot of the items are similar to what I've been getting I do have a few new items this week too!  These mixed with my veggies left from my last bin should make for some really tasty meals this week now that I'm feeling better!

Gold Beets with Tops
Rainbow Carrots
Yellow Onion
Artichokes
Collard Greens
Red Leaf Lettuce
Broccoli
Klamath Pearl Potatoes
Zucchini
Fuji Apples
Navel Oranges
Strawberries
Murcott Tangerines

I'm happy to see that I have artichokes this time, I still owe Dylan after my artichoke fiasco.  I'm also looking forward to the gold beets and rainbow carrots! It's been a while since I've had either of these and they are both delicious!  I've also got a feeling I'm going to be making a few potato dishes this week (I'm starting to acquire quite a few!) and have something in mind already for these yummy looking zucchini.  I can't wait until tomorrow so that I can start cooking with these veggies!!

Broccoli Soup

I'm sad to say that shortly after getting my bin full of goodness last Friday I got sick.  I didn't eat for nearly four days and after going to the doctor yesterday and hearing that I need to stick to bland foods for the next couple of days, I wasn't a happy camper.  However, not all bland foods have to taste bad, and bland doesn't necessarily mean flavorless, it just means little flavor or nothing that will irritate your already tender throat (such as in my case).  So I decided on a nice and simple soup.

For my first real meal in almost a week, I knew that I needed to use up my broccoli since I have an abundance of it from two bins now and figured I would try my hand at broccoli soup.  I started by sauteeing some garlic, onion and gold bell pepper in olive oil until soft and adding all of my broccoli and 4 cups of chicken broth.  Once this started to boil I took it off the heat and let it cool for a couple of minutes.  Working in small batches, I poured the broccoli mixture into a blender and pureed until smooth.  The pureed mixture was added to a clean pan with cream cheese and shredded aged white cheddar cheese.  I cooked this over medium high heat until all of the cream cheese was melted.

To finish the soup, I garnished it with a little arugula (to add a bit of crunch and an additional flavor element) and some shredded cheddar cheese.

I have to say this soup was pretty tasty, it was mild in flavor but smooth and creamy.  This was also a nice light meal, which I feel was well within the rules of what the doctor ordered.  I only hope that I am feeling even better tomorrow so that I can start cooking again, especially since I get my new bin and now I really have a lot of catching up to do!!

Friday Bin 3/4

This week's bin is pretty similar to last week's with just a few changes.  I love having the challenge of keeping the same veggies interesting each week! Plus, it looks like I will have the opportunity to try another version of strawberry cupcakes and see if I can get them to turn out or not!

Beets with Tops
Savoy Cabbage
Yellow Onions
Arugula (Yum!)
Red Leaf Lettuce
Broccoli
Red Potatoes
Gold Peppers
Honey Gold Grapefruit
Gala Apples
Navel Oranges
Strawberries
Murcott Tangerines

I love arugula and I'm excited that I have it in my bin this week.  It has such a great flavor!  Also, the Honey Gold grapefruit is absolutely delicious, the perfect addition to any weekend breakfast or dinner salad.

Balsamic Strawberries

I promised a very tasty strawberry dessert this week and it's been quite the journey getting here.  My first idea was to make strawberry cupcakes, however these turned out a dark purple muffin (which I feel tasted quite similar to blueberry muffins).  I was extremely disappointed.  So, Tuesday I set out my second attempt at making them, altering the recipe a bit and chopping the strawberries rather than pureeing them and adding them to the mix.  What I ended up with was more of an eggy, spongelike muffin than a cupcake.  Again, it tasted like blueberries to me, but it wasn't purple!  Dylan actually loved both versions and ate several of them, but I'm not happy with either and decided that I would give my strawberry cupcakes a rest for the week. 

I spent the next couple of days this week trying to figure out a fun way to use these strawberries and decided on using the balsamic vinegar.  I've never had balsamic strawberries before so I wasn't really all that sure what to expect when I sliced them up and added them to the balsamic, sugar mixture.  I patiently waited the next hour until it was time to try them and heated them up on the stove just until warm, finally pouring them over top of vanilla ice cream. (I opted out of sprinkling black pepper on top, I still find this a strange combination, but maybe next time...) When I finally took that first bite of warm strawberries soaked in balsamic and vanilla ice cream...I didn't think I liked it.  It wasn't until about the 3rd or 4th bite that I decided it really wasn't so bad and started to really enjoy it.  Dylan however, loved it from the beginning, which definitely surprised me (although, I guess it shouldn't, she has quite the taste buds)!

I do think that I will be making this again and I'm looking forward to finishing off the strawberries for tomorrow's (or maybe even tonight's) late night dessert!

Sweet Potato Biscuits, Baked Zucchini and a Beet, Avocado and Apple Salad

Well, since I haven't had much of an opportunity to cook this week, I knew that tonight I had to make dinner using several of my veggies.  I've heard about sweet potato biscuits quite a bit lately but have never tried them, so I decided to make my own.  I made a simple biscuit mix using self-rising flour, butter, milk, shortening and added some cinnamon and allspice.  To this mixture I added some mashed sweet potatoes and mixed just until blended.  I formed biscuits after kneading just a bit and baked for about 15 minutes.

For the baked, stuffed zucchini, I first split the zucchini in half and boiled it just until tender and let cool.  In the meantime, I mixed cream cheese, sour cream, chopped crimini mushrooms, shredded gouda, aged cheddar and garlic together in a bowl.  When the zucchini was cooled, I scooped out the seeds and filled with the cream cheese mixture and sprinkled with paprika. The zucchini baked in the oven for 15 minutes just until the cream cheese was warmed through.

I'm most excited about my beet salad.  I found a suggestion online to place the beets in a bowl with 1/4 cup of water and bake, covered, in the oven for an hour.  I've never heard of that before, but decided to give it a try.  While the beets were baking I made an apple cider vinaigrette from, apple cider, white wine vinegar, mustard, oil, salt and celery seed. I also sliced the apples, onions and avocado, thinly.  At the last minute I decided to segment a blood orange and add that to the mix.  When the beets were done, I peeled and sliced them and added them to the vinaigrette to marinate for about 20 minutes.  To assemble the salad, I put a layer of spinach down on a plate, and topped with layers of the beet, apple, onion, avocado and blood orange.  To finish the salad I drizzled a bit more of the vinaigrette on top.

I have to say that dinner tonight was very light, refreshing and tasty!  The word that was used to describe tonight's meal was "superb" which made me feel pretty good.  The sweet potato biscuits were probably the best biscuits that I've ever had.  Light and buttery with a sweet flavor, resembling more of a fluffy cookie than a biscuit.  They went extremely well with the salad, which had several different flavor combinations going on, a little sweet and slightly spicy, turned out quite good.  The beets had a wonderful flavor and went very well with the vinaigrette.  I love the pinkish hue that it turned my salad!  I have to say that the zucchini was probably the biggest hit though.  It was very garlicky, but that didn't seem to bother anyone at all, since we all love garlic. Also, I'm a huge fan of just about anything with a cream cheese filling, so I was quite happy with this dish.  Needless to say, I really don't have any leftovers and my fridge is now ready for my new bin tomorrow.