Tag Archives: green leaf lettuce

May 02 2012
37 Comments
CSA Box

What’s in the Box? #24

Happy May everyone!  Can you believe we are nearly halfway through 2012?  Crazy, huh?  Time is a tricky thing.  That is why I do my best to live in the moment, and enjoy where I am right now.  And Wednesdays are always good to me.  Nothing puts a smile on my face more than a fresh box of produce.  Because in case you haven’t noticed, I am a huge nerd when it comes to fruits and veggies, and yes, my day is made by the sight of this lovely goodness.

I want to thank all of my link party participants from last week :)  We had 11 bloggers join in.  That’s the most we have ever had.  I love how we are growing!  Let’s see if we can top that for #24 :)

New to the link party?  Check out the guidelines here.

Guess it’s my turn to gush…

A lovely rainbow of vitamins and nutrients.  Definitely most excited about the strawberries.  I have been on a recent kick of belgium waffles with homemade whipped cream topped with sliced strawberries for breakfast.  Don’t mind me while I indulge.  It’s a habit I picked up when I was little.  My family and I used to enjoy brunch on Sundays at a local beach club and this was by far my favorite item at the buffet.  And I have to say, Trader Joe’s makes a mean batch of frozen Belgium waffles.  Makes it an easy treat!  And while we are on the subject of breakfast, did you happen to see the size of those spring onions?  Biggest I have ever seen!  They smell delicious and will be the perfect addition to Freddie’s morning eggs.  Wouldn’t those pixie tangerines and star ruby grapefruits make a mean fresh juice to serve alongside our breakfast of champions?  Yeah, I think I just kicked it up a notch…

Mashed potatoes anyone?  I feel a delicious dinner coming on using those Yukon gold potatoes and that lovely rainbow chard and possibly the stir fry mix as well.  Now to figure out the protein.  I am still kind of loving the whole lamb idea.  I might just have to find a few more recipes to add to my repertoire.

And then there is our ever loyal lettuce.  As I mentioned before, sometimes salads can get old…quick.  So I am constantly thinking of new and creative ways to use my lettuce.  This week…I got nothing.  Although lettuce always works great for a garnish on a sandwich or burger.  Not the most fancy or exciting choice, but it will do.  Because just in case you didn’t know…lettuce doesn’t freeze well.  And yes, I tried it.  Back in college.  I was an amateur and was doing my best not to waste.  Just thought I would pass that bit of info along.  True story.

The cauliflower?  Already gone.  Demolished.  Loved it!  My new favorite way to eat it is to roast it.  And it turns out divine.  Wish it could have stuck around a little longer but my belly had other plans.  For dessert?  I am in the mood for some beet cake.  It has been too long since I reunited with my old friend.  And I think it is time that my beet cake makes a comeback.  Already drooling.

Your turn:  What are some of your favorite ways to use the fruits and veggies shown?  Any special recipes, tips or tricks you’d like to share?  Looking forward to hearing your responses :)


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Apr 19 2012
39 Comments
CSA Box

What’s in the Box? #22

My first link party was a big success!  Thank you to all of the fellow produce lovers who attended.  If you haven’t had the chance to scope out some of the other CSA boxes around the blogosphere, please visit a few of the links from last week.  There are some beautiful boxes and great recipe ideas.

I am looking forward to more attendees this week.  If you know of anyone who subscribes to a CSA or enjoys purchasing produce at their local farmers market, ask them to link up and share their finds.  The more the merrier!

Before we move on to my box for this week, I wanted to mention a few housekeeping notes that I think might enhance this link party experience.

  1. When applicable, please link up to the URL of the post you wish to share, not the URL of your main blog.  This will help our readers navigate directly to the desired post.
  2. I am in the midst of learning how to create a button you can grab that will help readers navigate back to this post, but in the meantime a simple text link back would be much appreciated.  (ps: while we are on the subject, if you think you can help with the html language of a button, your assistance is much appreciated!)
  3. Share your weekly produce indulgences.  Whether it be your CSA box, Farmer’s Market finds or grocery store binges.  If it is fresh and delicious, we want to see it.  Any posts related to how you prepared it are also welcomed.  Feel free to link up to all of them.
  4. Please leave a comment telling me that you’ve linked up so I can keep track of my attendees.
  5. Please visit at least two other attendees and comment on their wonderful additions to the party.

I think that is all for now.  This is a work in progress, but I am having a blast getting this up and running.  I appreciate your participation in this project and your shared passion for fresh, local and organic fruits and veggies :)

Grateful for another great week of fresh and delicious fruits and vegetables.  My number one prize?  Blueberries!  And they are exactly how I like them.  Plump, crunchy and sweet :)  I have a thing about soft blueberries.  I just can’t eat them.  I need my blueberries to burst when I pop them in my mouth, not ooze.  If I can practice self-control and not eat the entire carton (half of which is already gone) I might get to enjoy a few in a bowl of oatmeal or yogurt.  But it has been a while since I have eaten fresh, raw blueberries, so I can’t promise anything :)

Speaking of raw, celery and carrots are always a healthy, nutritious and delicious raw snack.  Or when you cook them up with some onion and garlic, they make a nice base for soups, stews and sauces.  There is more than enough in each of these bunches to enjoy both ways.  Which works for me.  I love it when I get mileage out of my veggies.

And we might as well address the elephant in the room.  The elephant garlic that is.  The big ol’ white bulb that I initially mistook for a leek.  It’s pretty much the biggest garlic bulb I have ever seen.  This will make an excellent addition to any meal.  As I admire those red potatoes, I can’t’ help but think about spicing up my mashed red potatoes with some of this garlic.  Sounds like the perfect pairing.

You know what else is the perfect pairing?  Broccoli and lemons.  No really…amazing!  As I have mentioned before, I love a batch of simply steamed broccoli.  I typically dress it up with some butter, salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon.  Kicks it up a notch and gives the broccoli a whole new lease on life.  Try it!

A few weeks back I received my first bunch of dino kale, and ever since then I have boldly declared, that it is by far my favorite variety of kale.  I prepared it with some Turkey Meatballs and it was delish!  I might just have to recreate that masterpiece again.

Last but not least, we have some Murcott Mandarins and green leaf lettuce.  Something tells me there might be a marriage of these too in the future.  My mom used to prepare a delicious salad using these two ingredients so I am going to do my best to get a hold of it.  I need a few more jazzy salads in my life right about now.

Your Turn:  What are some of your favorite ways to use these fruits and vegetables?  Feel free to share techniques, tips and recipes.  I look forward to your responses :)

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Mar 15 2012
4 Comments
CSA Box

What’s in the Box? #17

Hooray for Wednesday everyone!  The day I get to stock up my fridge and drool over fresh, organic and local produce.  There is nothing better than celebrating the goodness of nutritious and delicious food.  Get’s me going every time :)

For weeks now I have wanted to share a very special recipe with you.  But for some reason or another I haven’t gotten around to making it.  After setting my eyes on those plump strawberries this week, I have no choice but to get busy.  So get ready for a delicious dessert coming your way.  My mouth is already watering…

Moving on to cooking ideas that are more nutritionally based (always wanted to start with dessert!)…did you check out all that green!  How fitting for St. Patrick’s Day :)  And I love all the various forms.  I am excited to see the spinach.  The spinach we got last week was mouth-watering.  Only problem was, we ate it too fast.  I have been getting a craving for spinach in the morning alongside my eggs (a breakfast idea I am revisiting from my GD days).  So I am looking forward to a new way to start my day.  And while we are talking about eggs, as I mentioned before, Freddie likes his eggs with onions.  Lots and lots of onions.  So this red onion will make a delicious addition to his morning routine.

And then there are those awesome artichokes.  I have been eating artichokes for as long as I can remember.  I used to love it when my mom put them out before dinner so we could snack on something healthy.  Of course than I would turn around and dip them in melted butter.  Mmmmm…butter!

Speaking of butter, I also like butter with my steamed broccoli.  Season it with salt and pepper, toss with butter and squeeze a dash of lemon juice.  Simple but oh so good.  And then there is the white broccoli, or what you might know as cauliflower.  I found a new way to prepare it and am eager to see how it turns out.  It is always fun to experiment with a new twist on a staple ingredient :)

Back to the green…do you know what these are?

They are called sapotes and they are a sweet and mild fruit.  I got a ton of them last year and enjoyed them in smoothies or just eating them plain.  These ones still need to ripen a bit but when they are ready I plan on eating them for dessert.

What is more Irish than potatoes?  Or shall I say spuds?  I was very glad to see these because I have a dinner recipe I plan on making tomorrow that calls for potatoes.  So now I don’t have to buy any at the store!  Love that :)  Oh, and I will of course be serving a green salad on the side…with this massive head of lettuce!

And finally, a few tangelos to satisfy my snacking.  I’ve already indulged myself in a few and they are juicy and sweet :)

So here’s to fresh, green produce and a Happy St. Patty’s!

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Jan 19 2012
3 Comments
CSA Box, Food/Drink

What’s in the Box? #10

As we sat down for dinner tonight, and enjoyed a family meal together, we were going over our days activities as well as planning for the rest of our week.  Freddie kept getting thrown off by the fact that it was Wednesday, because he was off Monday for the holiday.  So in his mind, it was only Tuesday (2nd day back at work).  But I of course had no trouble remembering it was Wednesday because it’s my produce box day and I look forward to it every week!

Ok, so apparently they decided to send me a forest this week.  Greenery everywhere!  Loving the chlorophyll :)

I guess we can start with that lovely and fragrant italian parsley on the upper left corner.  Parsley is a great  herb to always have on hand.  And not just for garnish.  Parsley helps to perk up dishes such as potatoes, grains and pastas.  It also helps to enhance and compliment the flavors of other spices.  So who knows where this will end up?  Most likely it will make an appearance in many, if not all my dinners this week.

Next, some lovely green leaf lettuce.  I am feeling a delicious fresh salad coming on that will compliment those bacon avocados.  Yeah, I said it…BACON avocados.  Never knew there ever was such a thing.  But put my two favorite foods together in one sentence and I am beaming from ear to ear!  Unfortunately they don’t really taste like bacon, but I’m happy either way.  Avocados are a delicious treat in any form!

I have been craving an amazing pork Bolognese recipe lately.  It was one of the first dishes I made after Freddie and I got married and I haven’t made it sense.  Mostly because it is a proper Bolognese sauce that takes hours to cook.  But I will carve out some time this week to make it because those carrots and celery will be perfect for the mirepoix, which is the flavor base for the sauce.

Another thing I have been craving lately are my mom’s lemon bars.  It has been ages since I have had some and for some reason they have been on my mind.  So I was excited to see those vibrant and pungent lemons.  I have never made the lemon bars on my own, so the pressure is on.

Loving the mandarins and kiwis for snacking.  Although, like I mentioned last week, Freddie has dibs on these.  He is still on his smoothie kick and today mentioned that he has concocted a new recipe that will include the mandarins.  So we will see how that all works out.  But I will do my best to snag a few before he notices :)

Looks like we will be enjoying a batch of beet fritters this week.  Or, I could make some cheesy cauliflower pancakes instead and save the beets for a batch of chocolate and beetroot brownies…yum!  Of course, I can’t let those gorgeous greens go to waste so I will cook up the beet greens using this recipe.  And then I can feel good knowing that I was able to achieve some balance.

Can’t wait to get cooking on some of my favorite dishes this week.  And of course, I always get just as much pleasure sharing them all with you.  Happy Hump Day!

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Nov 16 2011
2 Comments
CSA Box, Food/Drink

What’s in the Box? #3

Skittles got nothing on me.  When I opened up my box today, I was waiting for a little leprechaun to jump out with a pot of gold.  This is what it means to eat the rainbow.

But before we go on to talk about healthy things, let’s get back to those Skittles.  I mean, really, who eats every color?  I for one, go for the reds first, then a few purples, possibly a yellow or green, but never an orange.  When I was a kid, I would always “share” the rest of my Skittles with my brother (can you still call it sharing if you are simply giving someone your leftovers?).  Turns out I did him a favor, because now he always goes for the colors no one likes first, the purples, oranges, yellows, when the rest of the group always wants the red.  Therefore he always gets what he wants :)

Anyways, I digress.  Back to my fruits and veggies.  Is that not the most beautiful sight?  And to top it off, they gave me rainbow chard!  So we are definitely in a rainbow mood today.

So many delicious options, I don’t even know where to start!  But I have to say, I was excited to see my little mandarins again.  I have been fighting a nasty cold, and these tiny gems deliver me with a nice dose of Vitamin C.  Though, not as much as those vibrantly green pineapple guavas.  They are in the top 10 for having the most Vitamin C found in a plant source.  So looks like I am in good hands.  The jury is still out on the guavas as to whether I will eat them raw or find a yummy dish in which to incorporate them.  But regardless of how they end up, my tummy is sure to be happy.

There is nothing like the tartness of a granny smith apple.  My mouth begins to water when I look at one.  The taste is so distinctive. I have so many delicious savory dishes in which I could use these.  But chances are I will make another dessert for Freddie, as he has his eye on an apple cake he would like to try.  We’ll see how it turns out.  I will have to make sure I leave at least one apple leftover though.  It is one of my favorite ingredients to throw into a side salad.  And that green leaf lettuce is calling my name.

One look at those sweet potatoes and I was in heaven.  I have had a strong craving for some sweet potatoes lately.  It’s definitely the time of year.  Sweet potatoes are always one of my favorite sides at Thanksgiving Dinner.  But of course, I never limit their appearance to that meal only.  I like to eat sweet potatoes all year round!  And with the leftover butternut squash I have yet to use up, I have a feeling these two will be having a rendezvous in the near future.

I love it when I get different ingredients in my box that can be used for the same recipe.  These bell peppers and shallots will work perfectly in a yummy chicken recipe I have planned.  This one is sure to be a post in the coming week.  The chard will probably make an appearance in that meal too since it has been a while since I have sautéed some chard as a side dish.  The last few times I have gotten chard I have experimented with other ways to prepare it.  All of which were a success but it never hurts to go back to an old classic.

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes.  I can’t seem to shake them!  I just used the ones for the last two weeks in a delicious Bolognese recipe I found.  It’s rare to find tomato sauce recipes with fresh tomatoes.  Most of them call for canned.  So I was excited to see how it would turn out.  Plus, the recipe called for 2 lbs of tomatoes which is exactly how much I had.  Success!  I said last week I would make my homemade tomato sauce, and ended up trying something new.  Maybe I will go with my original plan but find a new way to use it, since we are little “pasta-ed” out at the moment.

Finally, turnips.  I can’t say I am very familiar with this vegetable.  But looking online, there seems to be a million ways to prepare them.  I am excited to see what will come of this experiment :)

Looks like I will have a colorful week ahead of me.  And who knows, the leprechaun might still show his face when I get to the end of the fruit and veggie rainbow!

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