Organics to You - April 19, 2010

Today's box from Organics to You:

• carrots
  
• radishes
• collards
• green, curly kale
• broccoli
• 2 leeks
  
• red potatoes
• salad greens
• 3 kiwis
  
• an avocado
• 3 Fuji apples
  
• 2 Atalufo mangoes
• 2 oranges
• 2 stalks rhubarb
  

From last week the fridge still contains:

• radishes
• 3 yams
• Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes)
• a red beets & greens
• a lot of celery
• 3 stalks of rhubarb
• Romaine lettuce
• salad greens
• turnip greens
• spinach
• 2 leeks
• several small zucchini
• a lot of gold potatoes
  
• some rainbow carrots
• several apples
• several pears
• 2 Honeygold grapefruit
• 2 kiwis
• 2 tangerines

Supplemental produce in the house:

• 3 Meyer lemons
• a lime
  
• garlic
  

The Compost Pail of Shame (what I didn't use and had to compost):

• a yellow bell pepper
• a mango
• a lemon
• 2 artichokes (for which I feel considerable shame - they were really beautiful)
  

I'm surprised there isn't a bigger compost list. Perhaps it will grow considerably next week? Christie was in San Francisco most of the week and I realized that on weeks like that we should suspend the Organics to You deliveries! Some hash, some soup, and lots of collard wraps! We have a lot of produce on hand already with this week's delivery in the fridge.

Tonight I made a hash and I think there will be more collard wraps instead of bread for sandwiches. I believe I need to make more sauce out of some of the fruit. Perhaps miso udon stew again, with the broccoli.

Organics to You - April 12, 2010

Today's box from Organics to You:

• Romaine lettuce
• salad greens
• baby turnips w/greens
• asparagus
• radishes
• baby red beets w/greens
• raab
• rapini
• collards
• more celery
  
• kale
  
• 4 small zucchini
• 3 yams
  
• orange carrots
• 3 Pink Lady apples
• 3 d'Anjou pears
• 2 Honeygold grapefruit
• 3 tangerines

From last week the fridge still contains:

• 2 artichokes
• Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes)
• a red beets
• some garlic
• a lot of celery
• 3 stalks of rhubarb
• some green lettuce
• 1 and a half yellow onions
• spinach
• kale
  
• 3 leeks
• bunch of chives
• several small zucchini
• a lot of gold potatoes
  
• some rainbow carrots
• several apples
• several pears
• a Honeygold grapefruit
• 3 kiwis
• an Ataulfo mango

Supplemental produce in the house:

• 4 Meyer lemons
• 2 lemons
  
• a lime
  
• a yellow bell pepper
  

The Compost Pail of Shame (what I didn't use and had to compost):

• beet greens
• some salad greens
• a tomato
• parsley
• cilantro
• half an avocado

Last week saw some progress with a shepherd's pie helping out with mirepoix, zucchini and potatoes. Another savoy bread pudding helped with even more mirepoix, kale and some zucchini. This week might be challenging since Christie is on business travel most of the week. I may need to invite people over or take food to people! I'm thinking of some veggie heavy stir-fries and lots of raw turnips, radishes & celery sticks with hummus!

Organics to You - April 5, 2010

Last week I forgot about the delivery until it was close time for me to leave to pick up Christie and go to a friends' seder dinner. I totally blew putting in the last delivery. Starting over again with today's box from Organics to You:

• spinach
• salad greens
  
• red kale
  
• a leek
• bunch of chives
• 5 small zucchini
• gold potatoes
  
• rainbow carrots
• 3 Rainer apples
• 3 d'Anjou pears
• 2 Honeygold grapefruit
• 3 kiwis
• an Ataulfo mango
  

From last week the fridge still contains:

• 2 artichokes
• a few carrots
• fingerling potatoes
• Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes)
• 2 small Russet potatoes
• gold potatoes
  
• 2 red beets
• some garlic
• 2 grapefruit
• 2 Mineola tangerines
• a lot of celery
• rhubarb
• braising greens
• a kiwi
• 5 pears
• 5 apples
• 2 leeks
• beet greens
• green lettuce
• cilantro
• 2 onions
• half avocado
• half onion
• red curly kale
  

Supplemental produce in the house:

• 4 Meyer lemons
  
• 2 navel oranges
• 5 bananas
• parsley
• a shallot
• a yellow bell pepper
  

The Compost Pail of Shame (what I didn't use and had to compost):

• green curly kale
• Romaine lettuce
• an avocado (oh the shame of it all)
• a few Chioggia beets
• an eggplant

Last week shows what happens when we don't end up eating at home as much - more went into the compost pile unused and we have a lot of produce already on hand. The star of last week were the collard greens used in a seder friendly dish first, then the leftovers incorporated into a superb final dish that I'll be writing a recipe for: Collard green rolls stuffed with red quinoa, bell peppers, collards & BBQ Anasazi beans. Baked on top of more shredded collards and a tomato & corn sauce.

We have pounds of potatoes - I'm thinking I'll make a shepherd's pie (great chance to write out a recipe too) for Wednesday. Christie & I have a meeting on Wednesday so it would be nice to come home to a warm, potato-y casserole. Christie has also requested to savory kale bread pudding and since we have a lot of kale I'm thinking I need a stale baguette!

Savory Kale Bread Pudding

A couple of blocks from our house lives a neighbor who runs a catering business. Christie & I were out for an evening stroll last week and ran into the neighbor as she arrived home after an event. She greeted us with a baguette in her arms, asking us if we wanted one. We said sure and as we walked we ate a few bites off the top. The rest came home, went onto the counter and promptly went stale & hard.

Usually at this point the compost pile is involved, but this time I thought I'd try out an idea for savory bread pudding. It turned out fantastic and Christie asked me to jot down a recipe.

The custard for this is based directly on a recipe from the Fat Free Vegan blog site for Mini Crustless Tofu Quiches. This is a fantastic recipe we've made several variations of, mostly because we don't like mushrooms, so we always wing the ingredients to fit something we'd enjoy more. I'd wondered for some time if I could adapt the tofu custard for other purposes so it immediately came to mind as a way to make the bread pudding.
The Stuff

• 1 stale baguette, coarsely cut up
• 1 medium bunch of kale, washed, stemmed & shredded
• 1/2 medium red onion, diced small
• 1 medium carrot, diced small
• 1 stalk of celery, diced small
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  
  
• 2 12.3-ounce packages lite firm silken tofu, drained of water
• 1/2 cup plain soymilk
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons tahini
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• sweet paprika

The Making

Preheat oven to 375.

In a skillet heat the olive oil and saute onion until they begin to soften, add garlic and continue sauteing until the garlic and onion begin to caramelize. Add in celery and carrots and saute until they begin to soften. Add kale, cover and reduce heat to medium low. Continue to cook, turning occasionally, until kale is softened. Remove from heat. Put coarsely chopped up bread and sauteed vegetables into a large mixing bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients into a blender. Process until mixture is completely smooth, occasionally scraping down the sides to be sure everything is incorporated. Pour this mixture over the bread and vegetables. Mix all ingredients together, making sure bread is coated with custard.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with canola oil. Pour bread, custard and vegetable mixture into dish. Lightly press down so that the pan is evenly filled. Lightly dust top with sweet paprika.

Put pan into the oven and immediately reduce heat to 350. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and cool before cutting and serving with a lovely salad.

Organics to You - March 22, 2010

Today's box from Organics to You contains:

• spinach
• collards!!
• asparagus
• a yellow onion
• a big leek
• Russet potatoes
• a bunch of cilantro
  
• green leaf lettuce
  
• orange carrots
• 3 Rainer apples
• 3 d'Anjou pears
• 2 Honeygold grapefruit
• 3 Mineola tangerines
• an avocado (looks Haas-like)
  

From last week the fridge still contains:

• 2 artichokes
• Romaine lettuce
• a few carrots
• fingerling potatoes
• Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes)
• an eggplant
  
• several potatoes
  
• a few Chioggia beets
• some garlic
• 3 grapefruit
• 2 Mineola tangerines
  

Christie has been making more smoothies so we have some supplemental produce in the house from New Seasons as well as a treat from the Farmers Market, which opened for the seasons this past Saturday on a gloriously sunny first day of spring!

• Romaine lettuce
• 7 navel oranges
• 6 bananas
• a Haas avocado
• 5 Roma tomatoes
• Brussel sprouts rabe
• parsley
• shallots

The Compost Pail of Shame (what I didn't use and had to compost):

• Spinach (Ugh, two weeks in a row! I mean it is spinach, it isn't that hard to figure out what to do with it!)
  

Last week saw 5 qts & 2 pts of fruit sauce!! With all the kiwis in it (at least a half dozen) the end result looked like freckles in the blondish sauce of pears and apples. I believe some of this will go in the fridge or I'll set up the boiling bath to fully preserve a few of the jars. I did take pictures of this and will post about it. The mix of pears, apples and kiwis is really nice.

I also made a stir fry with asparagus, broccoli and fried tofu. Other quick, easy meals included pasta, veggies & tempeh crumbles over polenta and a hash made with potatoes, onions, broccoli rabe from the Farmers Market served with tempeh bacon. The Bacon avocado was divine and I made raw, sunseed pate from it.

While walking one evening last week a neighbor handed us as a baugette as we passed her place. She does catering had just come home from an event with extras. It meant we ended up with a stale, mostly whole loaf in the house so I experimented with a savory bread pudding that included kale, mirepoix, garlic, fresh parsley, dried herbs in a custard of silken tofu, tahini & cornstarch. It was pretty fabulously good and I will post the recipe.

This week has some trickiness to it since Christie and I have things going on every evening through Wednesday and Thursday we be on a trip. Now, I could leave leftovers for the friends who will be house sitting, but I'm not 100% they'll want them! I do have several dishes I am going to be cooking ahead on Tuesday & Wednesday to take with us, that will use up some of the ingredients.

Cooking for Mom is tricky since she is allergic to some nuts and somewhat soy-sensitive. She's also a bit picky and not entirely adventurous when it comes to food. The menu for the weekend will include:

Marvelous lentil quinoa nut loaf with mashed potatoes & miso shallot gravy (using chickpea miso)
Tostadas with re-fried black beans
Bean soup or perhaps a stir-fry with Aduki beans

Kombucha Day 7

After seven days of brewing there was a distinct, apple-cider vinegar like scent coming from the glass jar. There were also a lot of bubbles and a new child culture forming on top of the mother culture I'd obtained from Jordan.






I did a taste test with a clean spoon and the result was tangy, not too strong, still a little sweet. I decided to go ahead and try making a new batch of sweet tea and bottling the brewed kombucha.

Here's everything ready to go. The two cultures have been removed to a clean plate. I have a water pitcher to pour kombucha into and 3 clean bottles (recycled Dragonfly Chai bottles) ready to fill.




Here's a nice close up shot of the child culture that has been growing on top of the original mother culture.








The kombucha filled the 3 bottles right up to the top with enough left over to keep the batch going as well as a glass for me to try. After having a glass full I realized it was still pretty sweet, perhaps it could have brewed for a couple of extra days? From what I've read on line the brewing can take anywhere from 5 days to two weeks at which time most of the sweetness should be gone.

The bottles will sit for at least 5 days to mature in flavor. Sometime next week I'll be opening them up to try it out.

Sunseed Pate

This raw pate is served at Proper Eats in St. Johns. Christie & I order it nearly every time we're there. Piper, one of the owners, wrote down a recipe for me on one visit.

The Stuff

• 3/4 cup soaked, raw sunflower seeds (soaked at least 6 hours)
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 Tablespoon sundried tomato (optional)
• 3 Tablespoons raw tahini
• 3/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
• 3/4 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup water (may need more or less depending upon desired consistency)

The Making

Pulse soaked seeds, avocado, tahini, spices, lemon juice and tomato in a food processor to incorporate roughly. Add in water a little at a time and keep processing until you have
a smooth consistency.

Serve with pear and apple wedges, veggies, raw crackers, etc.