Kohlrabi

I was in Whole Foods this weekend and as I was walking down the aisle I overheard several of the guys working there talking amongst themselves. They were reminiscing about how much they had enjoyed the smoked okra they had the other night. These were young, typical Whole Foods guys who were probably on their way to get some surf as soon as they got off work. They were just so expressive about the good time they had with this smoked okra. I finally stopped and said "I know I'm a mom, and may not be the most "with it" but is smoked okra some kind of new drug I haven't heard of, or what?” They of course laughed (with me, not at me I’m sure) and walked me over to the jars of Smoked Okra.

In this week’s CSA box I found spinach/mixed greens, carrots, cippolini onions, kohlrabi, tomatoes, zucchini, oregano, ruby red grapefruit, oranges, Asian pears, and reed avocado.

Seeing something like kohlrabi might make the average person wonder if this is some off the beaten path new thing as well. It’s new and different produce like this that really flexes and allows my creative side to wake up. There are some days when the most creative thing I do might be the funny voices I make as I play with my son’s animals with him, or a new approach to an excel spreadsheet at work. The wheels are spinning around this interesting veggie and I’ll be spending the next couple days “playing with it.” (I’ll be sure to share any good discoveries.) The onions, tomatoes, oregano and spinach seem to speak to me….Veggie Lasagna! The recipe below serves 8 so I like to make it in two square 8’ by 8’ inch pans and freeze one to save for one of those weeks when I’m not feeling quite so creative.

This week’s menu;

Saturday

Lasagna Primavera (recipe below)

Uses the onions, oregano, zucchini, spinach

Sunday

Yogurt Marinated Chicken * grill

I serve this with flatbread or pitas

            Tip: make a double batch of the chicken and save some for Wednesdays meal

Monday

Tacos and guacamole

For the guacamole: Mix together avocado (one if it’s a Reed), garlic, salsa, lime juice salt and pepper to taste with a fork. (I like mine nice and chunky)

Uses the avocado and tomato

Tuesday

Leftovers

Wednesday

Avocado and Grapefruit Salad with Yogurt Chicken

            Tip: This could be served with the tomato soup from last week’s posting fresh or defrosted from the frozen batch if you made a double batch last week

Uses the avocado and grapefruit

Thursday Open

(Kohlrabi anyone??)

Friday

Homemade pizza night

Oregano, tomatoes, zucchini, whatever I have left!

Lasagna Primavera

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for foil
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped oregano
• 6 cups whole milk
• 2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry or bag of fresh spinach
• 1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas
• 1 sliced zucchini
• 1/2 pound carrots (4 to 5), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 container (15 ounces) part-skim ricotta (about 2 cups)
• 1 large egg
• 1 package (9 ounces) no-boil lasagna noodles (12 to 16 noodles) (use whole what for an extra nutritional boost)
• 1 pound part-skim mozzarella, shredded
• 1 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium; add flour and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes (do not let flour mixture darken); whisk in milk. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook, whisking occasionally, until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Sauté the peas and onions together in a separate pan. Add spinach, peas and onions, and carrots oregano into the sauce; season with salt and pepper. Set sauce aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and teaspoon pepper.
3. In the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish (or two square 8 by 8 inch pans), spread a thin layer of vegetable sauce. Layer noodles, zucchini, half the remaining vegetable sauce, another noodles, zucchini, half the ricotta mixture, half the mozzarella, and half the Parmesan; repeat if you have enough left.
4. Cover dish with lightly oiled aluminum foil, and place on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake 45 minutes, uncover, and bake until bubbling and browned, about 20 minutes more. Let cool 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Geeking out on the Co-Op

Geeking out on the Co-Op

Every week when I pick up my Co-Op box I'm excited to see what's inside and can't wait to play with the beautiful, fresh local produce that's always waiting for me. For me, it’s a little like Christmas every week. I am in fact a self proscribed Co-Op geek. This week’s box was especially bright, beautiful and delicious! My box was full of summer's bounty; spinach, cherry tomatoes, dill, sweet corn, baby patty pan squash, Armenian cucumber, red onion, gala apples, reed avocado, Asian pears and cantaloupe.

I signed up with Garden of Eden Co-Op here in San Diego about a year ago. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Co-Ops, Garden of Eden is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program for San Diego and other southern California regions. They provide a weekly delivery of seasonal, fresh, certified-organic and chemical- and pesticide-free produce. Community Supported Agriculture is a great way for the consumer to become directly involved with farmers by supporting the sustenance and operation of their farms. It’s also a great way to teach our kids about food, where it comes from and why it’s important. It's the best purchase I made all year and anyone who's spent time with me knows that I have a dozen reasons why I think everyone should do it....more on that as the next few weeks go by.

After devouring several pears, apples and part of the cantaloupe, and wiping the juice off my kid’s faces, I planned out this week’s meals. Meal planning is an important piece of the puzzle for ensuring my family and I have healthy, tasty meals together as much as possible. I keep a couple things in mind when planning out the week. I want to be sure to use the produce with a shorter shelf life earlier in the week. I also try to plan the more time intensive menus for Saturday or Sunday. And then of course try and work around whatever the week may bring (travel for work, soccer practice with the kids, etc.) Building in a night for leftovers helps reduce waste and gives us a night off from the cooking and clean up too. I almost always leave a night open to account for any specific cravings I might have or the usual midweek exhaustion that might call for a sandwich run instead. In the summer I like to build in as many grilling opportunities as we can. Here’s what this week looks like. I have included Monday's Summer Tomato Soup Recipe here. For the rest of the recipes seen here please see the links below.

Sunday – Melt in your mouth Stew and Spinach Avocado Salad

            Uses red onions, spinach, corn and avocados. Also used celery form last week!

*Save your left overs for Tuesday. Make a salad with spinach, avocado and grilled corn.

Monday – Summer Tomato Soup and Italian Style Sandwiches

            Uses the cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocado *Grill

             Tip: Make a double batch of the soup and freeze one for later.

For Sandwiches: In a medium bowl, whisk together 6 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and 2 teaspoons dijon mustard olive oil, lemon juice and mustard; season with salt and pepper. Reserve half of the vinaigrette for serving and stir in sliced basil leaves. Brush some of the remaining vinaigrette onto mushroom caps and/or chicken cutlets and marinate before grilling about 15 minutes. Build your own sandwiches with fresh crusty bread, grilled chicken slices and/or mushrooms and your produce, drizzle the dressing on your sandwich or make a salad out of it all. My kids had a blast doing this and ate even more because it was fun!

Tuesday – Leftover Stew Risotto

*Pour your leftover stew over your risotto

Wednesday – Open

Thursday – Pasta with Dill and  Pattypan Squash

*I substituted dill for the mint here

Friday – Homemade pizza *Option to grill it

We build our own using Trader Joe's Pizza dough and whatever is in season

Julie created Nourish as a way to bring families back to their dinner tables with ease for joyful, sustainable meals. Nourish provides a variety of practical services for clients and communities that will bring them back to their tables together.

Cooking and prep 30 minutes. Serves 4. 

Ingredients

Basket of small tomatoes, I used a mix of yellow and red

1 1/2 cups *marinara sauce

1 cup vegetable
e or chicken broth

1/2 cup basil

1/2 an onion

2 cloves garlic

Olive oil

Kosher salt

(optional) Ricotta or Parmesan for topping

Cooking Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 375. Wash and dry your tomatoes and put them on a baking sheet. Cut up the basil and spread on top of the tomatoes. Sprinkle with Kosher salt and pepper and the olive oil. Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. Tomatoes should be bursting open or soft to the touch. While the tomatoes are baking, dice up your onion and garlic and place in a skillet with olive oil (everything is going in a blender so they don't have to be perfectly diced.) Once the onions are translucent pour the marinara sauce in the skillet. Then take tomatoes out of the onion and pour them and all their juices into the skillet also. Be sure to scrape the baked basil in too. Stir everything together, season with more salt and pepper. Pour everything into a blender with a quarter cup of the broth. You'll want to leave the middle part out of the top of your blender lid or lift it up with a towel over the top while you mix it. The heat expands and will push the lid off if you don't let it breathe. Mix to the consistency you like - I like it a little chunky. Pour the rest of the broth in as you mix. 

Pour into bowls and place a dollop of ricotta on each.

Double the batch and freeze half or prep for lunches.

* With so many beautiful tomatoes out this time of year, I like to throw two cut up fresh tomatoes, a cup of basil and a can of diced tomatoes (I prefer San Marzano) into a large skillet with 1/2 a diced onion and a clove or two of garlic and make my own marinara. It freezes well and will keep for a week or so - much better than store bought and great to have around to throw into your meals throughout the week.