Fish Dinner with Potato, Mushroom, Leek Hash

Who needs a meal plan when you have a random selection of Greenling produce to figure out how to use before it goes bad?

Dice some potatoes, leeks and mushrooms.  Saute them together with a bit of salt and pepper and instant side dish.  For this dish, don't stir very much and cook it over medium high heat.  It really benefits from the extra crunch that you get on the potato.

The fish was dusted in about a tablespoon of garbanzo flour mixed with the same amount of Penzeys Arizona Dreaming spice mix.  Cook for about two to three minutes on each side over very high heat.  Make sure the skillet is nice and hot before putting the fish in there to get a nice sear.  

For just a bit of extra green the salad is just topped with olive oil, red wine vinegar, spring onion, salt and pepper.

Nutritious and Delicious!

Summer Salads

Summer is in full swing and in Texas that means it is HOT.  We haven't quite made it to 100F yet, but it is only a matter of time.  After going for a run outside the last thing I was to do is stand over the stove and get even hotter so I turn to a salad.  These two salads used up the last of the red leaf lettuce, pee shoots, amaranth and purslane, plus a bit of romaine that was laying around.

Salad #1
No dressing on this salad, but instead I relied on the flavor from the fish salad on top, as well as the queso blanco that my mom made herself.

Fish Salad
1 Tbsp Mayo, 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard, 1 Carrot, 1 White Fish Fillet
1/2 Jalapeno, 1 Tbsp Spring Onion, Salt and Pepper

Dice everything and stir together

Salad #2
Dressed with ranch (by the way I am so happy to have it back in my life again) and topped with leftover taco meat, mushroom, queso blanco, spring onion, black beans and diced jalapenos.

It perhaps might be considered a Taco Salad, but there is no shell here.  We did eat it with chips so maybe it is a Nacho Salad?

Beet Greens Two Ways

I am beet lover, greens and all.  It has been said that the greens are even more healthy than the beets themselves, but that doesn't matter too much to me.  Unfortunately, Steven is not a fan of either, but that doesn't stop me from trying.  My latest attempt was to chop the greens, stems and all, and saute.  Since I had some pea shoots, amaranth, purslane and spring onion to be using, those went into the skillet as well.  Once everything was about cooked, I tossed in a bit of my brother's home made super spicy salsa and a dash of cheese.  Topped with sour cream to cool the spice a bit.

The verdict..."Make anything super spicy and serve it with sour cream and I will like it"

The next day, I took the leftover portion of the greens and put them with some black bean into a quesadilla for a quick lunch.

Greenling Local Box June 6, 2013

I can't describe to you how excited I was to start receiving Greenling Local Boxes again.  I didn't cook nearly enough while I was away for a year and it felt really good to get back in the kitchen.

Contents
Mushrooms
Potatoes
Spring Onions
Grapefruit
Mango
Amaranth and Purslane Mix
Pea Shoots
Beet Greens
Red Leaf Lettuce
Leeks

Two things that I had never seen before were the Amaranth and Purslane Mix as well as the Pea Shoots.  After a bit of googling the Pea Shoots could be eaten raw or as a saute and both Amaranth and Purslane are considered to be herbs and to be used as such.  Of course, I proceeded to taste all three of them immediately.  Isn't that what everyone does when presented with new produce?

Both the Amaranth and Purslane didn't have an overwhelming taste, a bit mild and citrousy.  The Pea Shoots were really fibrous, with a very green taste.  I was pleased though that there were some tiny pea pods that were sweet and delicious.  This is what it looked like after I cleaned and trimmed off all the rough stems.

Dinner number one with all this produce just needed a few eggs...

The frittata consisted of one potato, a few mushroom, finely diced pee shoots, spring onion, amaranth and purslane.  Satue all the veggies together then pour the scrambled eggs over the top, cook for a few minutes over medium heat then pop it under the broiler to finish it off.  Serve with a salad and some toast and call it dinner.

Long Overdue Return

Apologies for the long delay, but work took me out of the country for a year.  I'm back and ready to talk about my adventures in the kitchen again.  I have already been doing some cooking using Greenling produce and will be sharing some of those recipes soon.

It feels good to be back.