This week we have more of Jeremy’s favorite seasonal vegetables.   Not really, but I think we do have some pretty tasty meals planned.  Last week didn’t go exactly according to plan, but we stuck to it for the most part.  The one meal we didn’t make last week was the beet greens with pasta.  And since I’m a couple of days late posting this and planning meals, I pushed that meal out until this week and we ate it Thursday night.   I have to say, it was surprisingly tasty, and even Jeremy who was not looking forward to it at all really liked it and in fact went back for seconds.  It’s even more surprising because we didn’t use pine nuts (Jake is allergic), and skipped the olives.  You will probably notice that I have some repetition on here from last week, we have a lot of similar veggies this week, and we are repeating some of our favorites from last week.

Produce (Our Garden)

Spinach, Turnip Greens, Mustard Greens,Turnips, Kale, Garlic Scapes

Produce (CSA)

Beet Greens, Peas, Beets, Head Lettuce, Shallots, Strawberries, Chard

Meals Planned

Meal 1 – Beet greens with pasta, a big salad, turkey deli meat (I like Applegate farms which is gluten free, dairy free, and casein free)

Meal 2 – Ground pork tacos with head lettuce, refried beans, avocado

Meal 3 – Steaks, a big salad with baked beets and green shallot tops, turnips (the same recipe as last week), and turnip greens

Meal 4 – Breakfast for dinner – bacon, Vans gluten free, dairy free, egg free waffles, and beet rosti (we haven’t tried this recipe before)

Meal 5 – Chard / beet green and black bean enchiladas (I am going to remove the cheese from the original recipe and add black beans…  I’ve never made this recipe before either)

Meal 6 – Pasta with spinach, artichokes, and sundried tomatoes and sugar snap peas with shallots

Snacks – Kale chips – set oven to 350 degrees, tear kale up into bite size pieces and toss with olive oil and salt, cook for about 7 minutes or until crispy but not burnt.  (Jake loves these)

Extra meal for leftovers – Mustard greens with rice from Local Flavors by Deborah Madison I’m planning on making this recipe without the rice and then freezing the greens for nice side with Asian dishes.

I didn’t mention the garlic scapes or shallots much, but the garlic scapes I chop up and use in place of garlic when a recipe calls for it and the shallots I use in place of onions.  Our farm gave us spring shallots that have not been cured and they have green tops just like onions.  We’ve been using the green tops just like you would green onions, and they taste about the same.

Now, off to make dinner!

In an effort to make our lives easier next year when this time of year roles around, I’m going to start posting a weekly “Seasonal Eating” series.  Every Thursday or so after we get our CSA share on Wednesday, I sit down and plan out the meals I’m going to cook for the week.  I usually first make a list of all of the produce we have from the CSA and our garden, and then plan meals around it.  Hopefully this will be helpful, for not only us, but others out there trying to eat seasonal and needing ideas for meals. I’ll also link to recipes when they are online.

Produce (Our Garden)

Spinach, Turnip Greens, Mustard Greens,Turnips, Kale

Produce (CSA)

Beet Greens, Peas, Carrots, Beets, Head Lettuce, Lettuce Mix, Garlic Scapes, Strawberries

Meals Planned

Meal 1 – Steaks, a big salad of head lettuce, baked beets, carrots and garlic scapes, and turnips with poppy seeds.  I’ve made the turnip recipe before and we really like it.

Meal 2 – Pork chops with balsamic strawberry sauce (I’m experimenting on this but that is the plan), cooked turnip greens, peas, and a salad.

Meal 3 – Pasta with beet greens (we haven’t tried this recipe before), salad, gluten free bread from Sweet Escapes pastries with white bean spread.  We like the gluten free Tinkyada pasta the best.

Meal 4 – Beet and kale risotto (recipe from a recent Cooking Light magazine) with a salad.

Meal 5 – Spaghetti with spinach, artichokes, and sundried tomatoes (from Bon Appetit magazine) and a salad.

Meal 6 – Mustard greens with rice from Local Flavors by Deborah Madison, and asian pork medallions (recipe from a Cooking Light 2006 magazine).

I usually just plan 6 meals a week and on Wednesday when we pick up our CSA we just wing it and make whatever sounds good.  We adapt these recipes so they contain no gluten, dairy, eggs, or nuts… most of them are allergy free anyway, but sometimes I leave nuts or cheese out of the recipe or use olive oil instead of butter.

I’ll try to post next week as well, things may get a little crazy as we get ready to move and have family in town in the next few weeks.