This post was published in Bob’s Fresh and Local newsletter 7/25/2017
It was fun to have so much variety last week and even more variety this week. I thought I might share a few things I made as well as what I plan to make with this week’s veggies. Some of these things aren’t recipes per se but just “throw-in-what-you-have” type dishes.
Beets. See the recipe I shared earlier for a great beet salad!! I sometimes make beet soup with these as well, a simple purée of peeled cooked beets, onions, a bit of ginger and seasonings.
Cauliflower & Broccoli. I didn’t make them this time, but maybe next week I’ll include recipes for a spicy Middle Eastern style Cauliflower and Chickpeas…or for Cream of Broccoli Soup.
Chard. We’ll probably get this again soon. I made something inspired by “koshari,”, a popular Egyptian dish, a layering of pasta, chickpeas, black lentils, rice, and a richly flavored tomato sauce with petite diced tomatoes and lots of garlic. I had an extra layer of sautéed chard and onions. I topped it off with a garlic scape garnish.
Cucumbers. I made a beautiful Israeli/Jerusalem Salad with these. I’ll share a recipe at a later time.
Fennel. This week we’re getting Bulb Fennel, such a wonderful, flavorful veggie. While I was still in the cafe, I made up an absolutely delicious Fennel Salad to go with Dill Potato Salad and No Meat Loaf (a chickpea base). The Fennel Salad is on the upper right corner. It is made up from the fennel bulb, sliced, some sliced tomato, sliced red onion, minced fennel top, extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, salt and pepper. The fennel brings unique flavors and texture to the salad.
Kale. Kan’t get enough of them!! Smoothies!!! Huge ones! Every morning!! The smoothies — or better yet, Greenies, I make for Andy and me pack a wallop of nutrition and help us start the day super-charged. Would you believe, I make a half-gallon — and we each enjoy a full quart of this nourishing breakfast.
Summer squash. I do many different things with summer squash, but when I have a lot coming in fast, I usually end up making a quick and easy soup. This week I had leeks left from last week so put some extra virgin olive oil in the pan, added cleaned and sliced leeks, petite diced peeled potato (more or less depending on how thick you want it), petite diced summer squash and garlic. My veggies came to about one gallon. I sautéed them for a bit and added 6-8 cups of water (to barely cover). I added a TB of salt to start and 1/4 tsp. hot paprika. I simmered until everything was soft, then ran on low in my blender. You can adjust the thickness to your liking between the amount of potato you use and the amount of water. I put it all back in the pot, added 2 cups of any kind of unsweetened milk (I used rice milk), brought back to simmer, added in some snipped rosemary and turned off the heat. You could replace the rosemary with any available seasoning…like fennel? Alternatively…squash Napoleons?
If you’re still looking for ideas, check out my page in Pinterest, where I go for inspiration. My files are under LeslieCooks.
For more, visit my blog, vegetatingwithleslie.org, “Like” me on FaceBook/Vegetating with Leslie or follow me on Twitter, @vegwithleslie.