CSA Box #22

This week is the final summer CSA box.  I signed up for fall too though, so I'll keep getting produce for seven more weeks.  This week we got:  2 babynut squash, apples, carrots, 2 sweet potatoes, kalettes, popcorn on the cob, baby arugula, salsify, bok choy, red radishes, Japanese turnips, spinach, ginger, 2 rutabaga, chioggia beets.  Here is what I'm making: 

I washed the ginger and put it in a bag in the freezer for use in breakfast smoothies.  Same with the turnip greens, radish greens, and kalettes.  The arugula and spinach may go into the smoothie greens bags if I can make space in the freezer.  Otherwise I'll serve them with a vinaigrette or something.  I'm setting aside some of the turnip green stems and kalette stems to make vegetable stock (the Vedge recipe calls for kale stems and broccoli stems, but I'm using what I've got).  Vegetable stock will also use up several of my carrots, some of the cabbage head in the fridge, and one of the turnips.

 

Savoy Cabbage Colcannon (Vedge, pg. 95)

This would use up the small head of savoy cabbage and some of the potatoes I got from the farm.  I usually make vegan Irish sausages to go with colcannon. 

 

Whipped Salsify with Red Wine and Truffle Jus (Vedge, pg. 109)

 To use up the salsify.

 

Marinated Chioggia Beets and Their Greens with Nigella Seeds and Sherry Vinegar (Vedge, pg. 116)

Because I boiled chioggia beets once not realizing they weren't normal red beets, and the taste and texture were not good that way.

 

Grilled Baby Bok Choy with Tamari and Chinese Mustard Sauce (Vedge, pg. 83)

Because it's the best bok choy recipe I've found.  I'm not grilling it though, just slicing it up and searing it just a little in a hot pan.

 

Thanksgiving Root Stew (Vedge, pg. 141)

I plan to make vegetable stock to use in this stew and also in the cassoulet.  This should use up some of the random root vegetables from the farm.

 

Winter Vegetable Cassoulet (Vedge, pg. 157)  

This calls for winter squash, rutabaga, turnip, and a small amount of the vegetable stock. 

[Edited 11/5/2020:  Sameer said he liked the cassoulet.  I found it excruciatingly bland and didn't like it at all.  Getting the impression I only like starchy root vegetables when they are potatoes or fully pureed.]

Roasted Rutabaga Salad with Pistachio and Charred Onion (Vedge, pg. 42)

If I still have rutabagas left over after the cassoulet and Thanksgiving stew, I will make this.  But I think I might manage to use them up before this.

CSA Box #21

Today's CSA box contains:  rainbow carrots, lacinato kale, leeks, red beets, white potatoes, apples, purple daikon radishes, sunchokes, arugula, brussels sprouts, ginger, cilantro, savoy cabbage, celery root, and baby spigariello.

I don't really know what to do with radishes that aren't the French breakfast ones, so I'm going to try Purple Radish Salad for these daikons.

 

The beet greens, arugula, and spigariello will all go into bags in the freezer for breakfast smoothies.  The ginger will go into the freezer for inclusion in breakfast smoothies too.  I will boil the beets and peel and slice the carrots for snacking.

 

I want to make the apples into apple pie filling because Simran wants to make the Not So Poison Apple Cupcakes from Disney World.  My plan is just to make spice cupcakes with apple pie filling and top them with cream cheese frosting that I already have leftover in the fridge from the last time we made carrot cake cookies.  

[Edited 10/30/20:  These cupcakes turned out really great.  I stand by my decision to use cream cheese frosting even though the original Disney version has buttercream.  I used an apple corer to take out the center except for 1/4 at the bottom, then filled them with the apple pie filling I made earlier in the week from the apples from the farm, put the tip of the cupcake core back on like a little lid, and piped the frosting in a swirl from the outside in with one of the biggest piping tips I have.  The spice cake was a little bland on its own (not sure what it was lacking -- salt?  I didn't add salt since I used salted butter), but the filling enhanced its flavor greatly.]

Everything else I'm making is below, including some items carried over from last week that I didn't get around to:

 

Brussels Sprouts

 

Hakurei Turnips with Falafel and Crumbs and Creamy Sesame (Vedge, pg. 84)

 

Shishito Peppers with Dipping Sauces

 

Roasted Cauliflower with black vinegar and kimchi cream (Vedge, pg. 90)

Lacinato Kale with Walnut Sauce

I actually ran out of space in the freezer for more smoothie greens, so I'm going to make walnut sauce and do the kale this way for dinner tonight.

Roasted Sunchokes with Smoked Paprika Aioli (Vedge, pg. 50)

These were a weird texture last week.  I'm going to try cooking them longer this time maybe.  I'd never had sunchokes, so I'm not sure if they turned out the way they were supposed to.  The flavor of the aioli was good though.  It would be good with roasted or fried potatoes.

Since I have cabbage and leeks, I might make some fresh vegetable stock.  Again I only have one celery root, so it's just enough to make a tiny amount of the celery root fritters from Vedge.  Or maybe I'll put it in the stock in place of celery since I don't have any.  I don't know.

CSA Box #20

CSA box #20 arrived.  It contains:  a single gigantic Japanese sweet potato, Russian banana fingerling potatoes, Hakurei turnips, apples, honey nut squash x2, white onions x2, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, radishes, red frills mustard, baby bok choi, fresh ginger, sunchokes, and shishito peppers.  Here is what I'm making.

The turnip greens, radish greens, and red frills mustard will all go into the freezer to serve as greens in breakfast smoothies.  The ginger will go into the freezer for use in smoothies too.  I'm going to set aside five apples for Sameer to eat and make the rest (plus the apples he didn't eat last week) into applesauce.  I'll roast the honey nut squash and the larger winter squash from last week's CSA box and puree them for an easy vegetable side we can feed off for days.  I'll season and roast their seeds too.

I made the whipped salsify recipe from Vedge last night and it was fantastic.  I only had an eighth of the amount of salsify the recipe called for, so it only made a tiny amount, but it tasted like French onion soup flavored mashed potatoes.  I ended up using an open bottle of marsala in place of the red wine the recipe called for and it worked.  The hardest part of the recipe was peeling the skinny little sticks of salsify, so I'm going to try making it again except with the parsnips I already have in place of the salsify.

Whipped Parsnips with Marsala and Truffle Jus (Vedge, pg. 109)

 

Roasted Sunchokes with Smoked Paprika Aioli (Vedge, pg. 50)

 

Shaved Brussel Sprouts with Whole Grain Mustard Sauce

 

Grilled Baby Bok Choy with Tamari and Chinese Mustard Sauce (Vedge, pg. 83)

 

Hakurei Turnips with Falafel and Crumbs and Creamy Sesame (Vedge, pg. 84)

 

Shishito Peppers with Dipping Sauces

 

1 Pot Gobi Matar and Brown Basmati Rice 

 

[Edited 10/18/2020:  I was roasting all the winter squash on Friday and didn't realize until they finished that the large one was a spaghetti squash.  So we ate it last night with sauce Sameer made from a can of crushed tomatoes, some kalamata olives and onion and garlic and dried herbs, and a puck of browned Beyond Beef.  A healthier, less fatty version would replace Beyond Beef with some sort of red beans, but Beyond Beef tastes good and it's a pretty good meal hack to have on hand.  Two nights before that I used another puck of Beyond Beef, cooked brown rice, some tomato sauce and related accoutrements to make stuffed bell peppers from the green peppers in the fridge.  I sprinkled a little vegan parm on the tops and they were great dairy-free.  We finished all the leftovers.

At the moment I'm baking all the sweet potatoes.  We only have one serving of whipped winter squash left in the fridge (the honey nut squash we've gotten from the farm is hands down the best squash I've ever had -- looks like tiny, darker colored butternut squash and tastes like sweet potatoes more than anything), so I'm going to whip up the sweet potatoes to eat the same way.  They really don't need butter or syrup or anything added to them since they're sweet and creamy on their own.  I'm planning to bake all the Japanese sweet potatoes in another day or two.

 

I've also got a cup of Medjool dates soaking so I can make cherry chocolate chia pudding this afternoon.  I cooked an extra cup of black beans yesterday to make into healthy chocolate truffles too.  Any homemade date syrup leftover from the pudding will go into the truffles.  After the sweet potatoes are done baking, I think I'll marinate and roast the most recent squash seeds for snacking.  I washed them Friday and have been letting them just dry on a sheet pan for the last two days, which makes the finished texture much nicer and crispier than if you don't let them dry completely before marinating.  

 

I also need to use up the unsweetened cashew yogurt before its use by date of -- I think -- tomorrow, so I'm going to make some pancakes (most of which will go into the freezer for Sim to eat in the coming days) and possibly cornbread, depending on how much yogurt and time I have.  I also made sausage patties before lunch and Sameer is fasting today, so Sim and I will probably have a brinner of sausages, pancakes, fruit, and the last of the seasoned potatoes I've been eating in breakfast burritos.]

[Clockwise from top:  roasted sunchokes with smoked paprika aioli, baby bok choy with tamari and Chinese mustard sauce, whipped parsnips with marsala and truffle jus.  The parsnips still tasted like parsnips, so this was not as good as it was with the salsify.  The bok choy was much better than before because I have storebought Chinese mustard now and didn't have to try to make my own.]

Bananas Foster Pancakes

CSA Box #19

Box #19 arrived this morning, and it contains:  apples, kalettes (cross between kale and brussels sprouts), microgreen pea shoots, arugula, celery root x1, winter squash x1, golden beets x2, sweet potatoes x3, parsnips x2, purple carrots x3, wild hen of the woods mushroom, fresh turmeric, salsify, watermelon radishes x2, green peppers x3.  

I already washed and bagged the kalettes, arugula, and beet greens and put them in the freezer for breakfast smoothies.  Did the same with the turmeric.  Ever since I switched from dry turmeric and ginger in smoothies back to frozen (if you can't find frozen, I've started buying fresh and just washing, cutting, and bagging them for the freezer -- I don't bother skinning them), they taste much better and also just feel better on my stomach.  I use a chunk of turmeric about the size of my thumb and an equivalent amount of ginger.

It's going to be 80 degrees today, so I'm holding off on some of the cooking, but I plan to roast the winter squash for pureeing and then season and roast the seeds like last time.  I bought pumpkins for carving too, so that'll be more seeds for roasting.  We still have a huge container of butternut squash puree in the fridge from last week's box.  I don't know when I'm going to make what yet, but here are recipes that will use up the vegetables.

Hen of the Woods Mushroom

 

Microgreen Pea Shoot Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette

I figure I can use the microgreens and the other lettuce in the fridge to make a green salad to go alongside the hen of the woods.  This will probably be my dinner tonight.  I want to eat the microgreens and mushroom at their optimal freshness.

Salt-Roasted Golden Beets with dill, avocado, capers, and red onion (Vedge, pg. 45)

This will use up the golden beets.  It takes forever to roast them, but it's tasty, and I already bought a cucumber and red onion yesterday in preparation.

 

Watermelon Radish Carpaccio with fava beans and tarragon (Vedge, pg. 93)

I haven't tried this recipe yet, but the local grocery store still had fresh fava beans, and I ordered some nigella seeds that should be arriving today, so this one is going to use up the watermelon radishes.  I'm omitting the white wine because I don't know what else I could use the bottle on at present and don't want it taking up space in my fridge for the foreseeable future.  I'm also not making the vegetable stock from scratch (also a Vedge recipe) because it is SO MUCH WORK and involves buying an entire cabbage just for an outer leaf for the stock pot and I already have SO MUCH PRODUCE I don't need a cabbage too.  I'm sure it would be better if I don't cut any corners, but for now, I'm cutting corners.  I bought a high end looking stock at the store.  It'll have to do.

[Edited 10/14/2020:  I made this last night along with the seared French beans and golden beets, and I did not like it.  I barely ate any of it, and I ended up throwing away all the leftovers.  The fava beans were bitter, and I know I didn't overcook them because I made them perfectly multiple times this spring/summer.  I think they just weren't as fresh as the favas I had from the farm.  The radishes just tasted vaguely like radishes, which I historically do not like.  I feel like they should've been cooked in the stock rather than roasted on a sheet pan and then added to the stock.  The nigella seeds added a nice fragrance, but they couldn't save the dish.  I bet including the white wine in the recipe would've helped, as would homemade stock, and I'm sure it's a hundred times better at the restaurant, but I can't imagine this ever being something I would love because it's still mostly radishes.]

Seared French Beans with caper bagna cauda (Vedge, pg. 97)

We still have a bag of green beans from last produce box.  I think I'll make this today because Sim loves it and Sameer is planning to feed her processed junk food for dinner, so this will put something green in her anyway.

 

Whipped Salsify with Red Wine and Truffle Jus (Vedge, pg. 109)

I've never had salsify in my life.  It looks like sticks.  Again, not making the stock myself.  This is supposed to sort of resemble fancy mashed potatoes.  It sounds good.  We'll see how it goes.  

Celery Root Fritters and Remoulade (Vedge, pg. 130)

I'm not sure if the single celery root will be enough for this, but maybe I can scale the recipe down.  This is a good one as I recall.  I've made it once before.

Nashville Hot Cauliflower Bites

To use up the head of cauliflower in the fridge.

Note:  Vedge also has a recipe for Portobello and Celery Root Shepherd's Pie with Truffle.  Might try that one if we get more celery root in the future.  It also calls for turnips.  Thanksgiving Root Stew is another one that calls for celery root and also parsnips (and turnips or rutabagas).  That might be good when it's cold outside.  It calls for 8 cups of stock, so I'd probably bother making it fresh for this recipe.

There are now some four green bell peppers in my fridge.  I don't know how to use them up fast enough unless I make them into stuffed peppers.  I've been just setting aside the sweet potatoes for later use because they keep fairly well.  My favorite way to eat them is to roast and puree them like I do the winter squash.  The purple carrots I'll use like normal carrots, for snacking or for cooking.  I need to find a good recipe for the parsnips too.  I've roasted them before with other root vegetables, but I don't really want to eat that.  A parsnip mash or baked fries sounds more palatable.  I think they'll keep in the fridge for a bit though so they aren't a high priority at present.

Sameer plans to eat the apples plain.  If any aren't good enough for that, I can make applesauce again.

Meal Planning

Apparently I haven't posted in a few weeks.  We got a few kinds of winter squash in the CSA boxes over the past two weeks, so I've been roasting them and then pureeing them for eating in the style of mashed potatoes.  In spite of my not watering them, the chives grew back after the weather cooled down, so those and some garlic salt and vegan butter are nice mixed into the squash.  We've been getting various root vegetables in the CSA boxes too, which is nice because they keep a bit longer.  I've got some onions, russet potatoes, sweet potatoes, and Japanese sweet potatoes at the moment.  We've also gotten a lot of apples each week, which I've been making into cinnamon applesauce.

 

I just finished roasting a massive butternut squash for pureeing, and the seeds of multiple squash are roasting now.  I've only done this recipe with pumpkin seeds before, but it was really good (basically tastes like Gardetto's snack mix in seed form), so I figured it was worth a try with my various squash seeds.  [ETA:  They finished roasting.  It worked out.  Consume all the squash seeds going forward.]

This Friday's box is said to contain hen of the woods mushrooms, salsify, celery root, and watermelon radishes.  I haven't had hen of the woods in at least a year so I'm excited about that, and there are recipes for the other three in Vedge.

Tonight I'm going to make a vegan penne alla vodka with Tofurky Italian sausage and throw as many of my spare vegetables in it as possible just to use them up.  There are diced onions, red bell pepper, and asparagus in my fridge that need to go.  This could also use up some of my latest batch of green beans, or I'll just sear them and make caper bagna cauda and serve it as a side dish so they'll all be gone.  There are peas and broccoli in the freezer that can go into the pasta dish too.  

 

I also have some cauliflower I need to use.  I don't love cauliflower as a rule, but this recipe is really great, and Sameer likes it too.  Maybe I'll make the cauliflower tomorrow.

Friday I want to cook the mushrooms so we taste them at peak freshness, and I also have that huge batch of butternut squash puree.  It'll be a night of various small plates I think.  I want something protein rich in the mix (because I tend to get hungry again faster otherwise) and we aren't expected to get any fresh beans in the farm box.  If there are still fava beans in the produce section this week, maybe I'll try to make the watermelon radishes with fava beans dish from Vedge.  It looks like a lot of work, but I don't know what else to do with watermelon radishes anyway.