Greenling Local Box Sep 16-20

Some pretty good produce this week

You know its fall when winter squashes start showing up.  Some might say it is a problem that the weather is still in the 90s but for me, I'll take it.

Something I had never heard of in this box was Jute's Mallow, also known as Corchorus. It is common in the middle east and usually served as a type of stew so I am going to give that a go.  Asia greens will be cooked and served with beans, avocado will go with lentils into a quick salad, and pears will go in smoothies.  Everything else is still up in the air a bit.

FWF - Rolls

 

A few whole wheat rolls that I made started showing some mold.

You can barely see it in this picture, but there is just a small spot on the roll in the bottom left.  I was just one day too late on using them up before they turned.

Thanks to Kristen (FrugalGirl) for hosting FWF.

FWF - Herby Dogs

Just a bit of waste this week.  A mostly full packet of veggie dogs and a sprig or two of Oregano.

No excuse for the Oregano, I just got lazy and stopped pulling it out of the fridge to use.  The veggie dogs on the other hand were a request for a vegetarian at a cookout we had.  I will be the first to admit that I eat a lot more vegetables than I do meat, but these processed veggie dogs just aren't my thing.

Ingredients

Water, soy protein isolate, soybean oil, evaporated cane syrup, pea protein isolate, tapioca starch, salt, potassium chloride, bakers yeast extract, carrageenan, dried garlic, natural flavor (from plant sources), natural smoke flavor, xanthan gum, fermented rice flour, guar gum, oleoresin paprika (color).

Honestly, what is half of that stuff?  Anyway, I never could convince myself to eat these so instead they went into the bin.

Thanks to Simply Being Mum for hosting FWF.

Split Peas and Wheat Berries

Prepare yourself for the ugliest meal ever.

Ready...

Set...

Go...

What you see there are split peas and wheat berries.

The night before I poured a bit of both in a pot with some water, covered and simmered for about 30 minutes while I was getting my dinner ready.

A sprinkle of green onion (only because it was also going in my dinner), some salt and pepper and that is lunch for the next day.  Who says healthy cooking/eating is hard?

Greenling Local Box - Sep 9 - 13

I took 3 or 4 weeks off of receiving a Local Box from Greenling to get caught up on all the food I had in the refrigerator and to make sure I wasn't wasting it since we weren't home for a few weekends.  Which means, I was quite exciting for the delivery last week.

For this week:

• Bibb Lettuce - Salad for lunch
• Pears - Morning smoothie when they are soft enough
• Jalapenos - They get added to almost every dish for a bit of spice
• Carrots - Lentil, Celery and Carrot Salad.  Also, the greens have been cooked and will be added randomly to dishes to just up the nutritional content a bit.  
• Basil - To be combined with additional basil from my plant and some cilantro to make a pesto
• Portabella Mushrooms - Sauteed with Pesto and Quinoa
• Patty Pan Squash - Sauteed with some rosemary and served as a side dish to Tilapia

To be used later:

• Mini Pumpkin - What am I supposed to do with them?  Suggestions welcome.
• Potato
• Butternut Squash

Desktop Lunch - Tomato Salad

Here is another view into an average lunch at the office.

Tomato salad with the tomatoes on the bottom.  This keeps the spinach from getting soggy by lunch time.  For the dressing, is a touch of sesame oil and vinegar poured directly on the tomatoes.  No need to stir because they will have all mixed around by lunch and any step I can cut out in the morning means I can get out the door that much quicker.  With the spinach there is also a bit of basil.  Per usual, salt and pepper added at the office.

Leftover quesadilla on the side for a bit of textural variety and that is lunch at my desk.

FWF - Mostly No Waste

 

Last week I had no waste because I had not been home.  The trend continues because after work on Monday I bought just a few staples for my morning smoothies and some things to bolster the dishes I am making from my pantry this week and it has not been long enough for any of that stuff to go bad just yet.  In the interest of full disclosure though, I did toss one or two mushy grapes and the ends of some bananas that were a bit too brown, but that falls into my normal category of trimming produce, which I am not so sure is waste.  Does anyone disagree though, that kitchen scraps are waste?

Thanks to Kristen (FrugalGirl) for hosting FWF.

Flowery Salad with Chicken Rinds

It doesn't happen very often, but it sure is fun to add an edible flower to a salad.  There is a pop of color and makes the whole dish just look whimsical.

In the above...baby greens, radishes, mushrooms, sauerkraut, fennel fronds, jalapenos, chicken rinds and of course the lovely flowers.  This salad did not need any dressing with all the wonderful flavors going on.  Sauerkraut for the vinegar component and the chicken rinds for the fat component.

Speaking of chicken rinds...you should totally make them.  Anytime I buy a whole chicken to cook in the slow cooker, I take the skin off an render the fat out to use later.  Just chop the raw skin up into smallish pieces and place in a skillet over medium-low heat for about 20-30 minutes stirring occasionally.  All of the fat cooks out of the skin, which I store it in the fridge to use later in place of butter or oil, and in the skillet you are left with crispy fried chicken skin.  Consider the rinds a low carb crouton.

Tomatillo Hash

This is not your average hash.  The tomatillos are replacing potatoes and they bring a nice sour flavor to the party.  Just a thought, can I still call it a hash if there are no potatoes?  Luckily I am not a chef so I get to play by my own rules.

Ingredients: Leftover roasted chicken drumsticks plus the onions that were cooked with the chicken, poblano pepper, tomatillos, parsley, eggs

Dice it all up, aside from the eggs and parsley, and cook in a skillet over medium heat for roughly 10 minutes or until the tomatillos are soft enough for your liking.  When everything is cooked through, crack the eggs on top and cover.  Continue cooking for about 4 minutes, or until the whites of the eggs are done, but the yolks are still soft.  

Sprinkle with parsley and enjoy :)

Seasoning Note:  You may be wondering why I didn't mention salt and pepper.  That is because the chicken and onions were already quite seasoned and brought enough to the table, but I also prefer food that is lighter on the seasoning.

FWF - Nothing Here

 

I have absolutely nothing to share. This is a certainly a good thing, but I cheated a bit because I haven't been home much. Tomorrow is another multi-day wedding weekend after just completing one last weekend over Labor Day. Of course, I knew these were coming so I stopped buying produce, aside from fruit for my morning smoothie, about three weeks ago. So leading up to the craziness I was eating anything that would perish, or freezing it.

Preparedness is key when schedules get crazy. Good luck to everyone else.

Thanks to Simply Being Mum for hosting FWF.

The Rest of the Okra

Spiciest Taco Ever...

You remember how I mentioned I put some jalapeno in that Okra I cooked?  Well it got hotter with time and when I put it in a corn tortilla with a bit of a spicy jalapeno cream sauce that made for one hot meal.  But man was it tasty.

Leftover vegetables make a great filler in a tortilla if you don't want to eat them plain.  Just sayin'.

Okra with Leftover Salsa

Okra and tomatoes are a great pairing in my mind and I've been making a version of stewed okra with tomatoes for many years.  Usually it is with frozen okra and canned tomatoes, but this time around I had fresh okra and leftover salsa.  In an effort to consume all the food that comes in my house, the two went together in a skillet.

Dice the okra and sear it in a very hot skillet.  If you look closely you will see some brown/black bits in the okra above.  That my friends is flavor.  Once the okra is mostly cooked through, toss the salsa in with perhaps a diced jalapeno if you like some spice, and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook a bit more and serve up.

I ate it with some pinto beans, sprinkled with a bit of cheese.