Greenling Vegetable Delivery Day (4th time)

I've been stressed out about vacations, secret missions, BabyAlice (pug) and now Lola (boxer cross) who is having 'experimental' surgery on Friday to try to help her stripped ACL.  Needless to say, it's been an emotional week. 

BUT

I opened my door this morning and found my fabulously refilled with local farm produce in a neon green plastic box on my porch.  YAY!  

Here's what came and what I'm going to do with it: 

Ahhh, the big reveal!

 

first a treatie! I LOVE a treatie!  Unfortunately, I hate kettle corn but Connor loves it so he snarfed the bag and ran upstairs to do science experiments, while eating kettle corn.  Nice!

So, let's look to see what we have and what I'm going to do with them: 

Strawberries:  We're just going to eat those, maybe some will appear on the next pavlova!  I am going to Cauliflower: I'm going to cook the cauliflower in the pressure cooker and fry it up as a side as needed this weekend. 

Greens: Another bag of delicious mixed greens.  They make a fabulous salad and that's what these are destined for.  I will make an orange vinaigrette with the oranges I got and maybe some of the strawberries on top.  Yeah.

Arugula:  I love arugula and it's peppery edge.  I will mix some in with the greens with my salad and some I will use in my egg salad sandwiches, on the homemade farmhouse loaf I just pulled out of the oven.
   
Oranges:  2 will be eaten and 1 will be zested and juiced for the salad I'm having tomorrow.

Mushrooms.  I'm going to fry them in butter and use then as a sauce on my chicken breast on Saturday night.

Kohlrabi:  I love this, I like it shredded and added to a slaw, I will salt and drain it a bit before I add it to some shredded cabbage and apples as a lunch on the weekend, nothing like a fresh, crisp coleslaw on a springtime Texas day.

Cilantro:  it'll go in, on and around everything.

   
Swiss Chard:  Love it sauteed in some bacon fat with garlic slivers until it's just tender then piled high as a side for whatever I make this sunday night.

Butter lettuce:  I love butter lettuce under grilled chicken with a chicken fat/olive oil vinaigrette ;)
 
Well, this is a beautiful box and I can't wait to get cooking with it! I <3 box="" farm="" font="" local="" my="" nbsp="">

/Tracy

Local Vegetable Farm Box delivery day!

My Greenling local farm box came today. I love the big green box on my stoop and I love opening it to discover the goodies! 

OH! SWEET!  I got a reusable bag as a little giftie.  I do love a little giftie.  

They passed a single use plastic bag ban here in Austin that started Monday.  I always have bags with me anyway but it's nice to get a new one...

There's not quite the same size haul it seems as the last two weeks but it's still delightful!  I got (and what I plan to do with it): 

Spinach

We love it raw or cooked in a little olive oil and garlic and a splash of water to get it steamed quickly so it doesn't go soggy.  I think we'll cook it tomorrow.

Broccoli

I will say I'm a little disappointed that they keep cutting the stalk off the broccoli they send.  The stalk is delicious and one of the best parts.  They need to keep them on, I'm going to send a note to that effect.  With this beautiful head, I'm going to make a broccoli casserole quiche on the weekend.  It's CRAZY delicious  Here's the link to the recipe  http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2012/12/broccoli-casserole-quiche-yes-really.html

Beets

Again, I love them and will roast them in tin foil with oil, salt and pepper.  When they're cool, I'll rub off their skins and slice them.  Maybe as a side, at room temperature, with the egg salad sandwiches OR more likely, as a side to the broccoli casserole quiche.

Radishes

I will have some, sliced thinly and have them with my winter salad mix, and a nice orange vinaigrette.  I'll have some, sliced thin on thickly cut, heavily buttered french bread (recipe I'm working on and will post a link here)  Radishes love bread and butter and salt.

I'll cut up the greens and have them tossed in with the spinach that I saute.  Oh yeah, hot, cold and combined, that's how to do it!

Winter Salad Mix

I see a salad in our future :)  I may save some to put in a bean soup I'm making on Sunday.  I'll post the recipe when I do it. 

Fennel

I like fennel simply roasted in a hot oven with some olive oil, salt and pepper, as a side.  It'll be a side on the weekend meal. 

Herbs

Looks like they sent Dill, I'll use it in dips and on potatoes and in the salad.  Anything left, I'll just use 'em :) 

Red leaf lettuce

it's a BEAUTY and will make a number of fabulous salads.  I'll also use it in the new recipe white bread I alchemied the other day (recipe to follow) and I'll use this lettuce in egg salad sandwiches because there's nothing better. 

Oranges

We're just going to eat 'em.  I will zest them first to keep the zest, frozen, to use for my next orangy dessert item. 

Grapefruit

Todays lunch!  Sprinkled with sugar and slurped up greedily, I can feel the amount of juice in this one and THAT makes me a happy gal. 

So, that's my plan for the things in today's local farm box. Here's the few beauty shots I took.

    

Third delivery box, third time I'm absolutely delighted.  IF you are local and want to sign up for the delivery, message me, I have a code you can use to get 10% off

/enjoy!!

LOCAL FARM BOX DAY! and some bread alchemy

Just some chit chat from me for the moment:

YAY! it's local farm box delivery day from Greenling, Austin! I was so delighted about my box last time and the whole experience and the fact you don't have to sign your life away in blood. I am equally as thrilled that three people signed up as a direct result of my waxing poetic and cooking with the bounty that arrived on my front porch. Oh yeah, I like that.

I have dutifully put my neon green box on my front porch and am waiting for delivery man to swap my sad empty box out for a happy, delicious, full, box. I'm going to try not to ambush him on the front lawn this time, yeah, I'm sort of scary like that. Again, I have not gone on their site to see what's coming today. I think it takes all the fun out of it. Isn't mystery the thing?

Speaking of mystery, I am also going to start receiving a "nibble box" from Graze this week. Husband signed me up for a healthy snack to be delivered weekly. I'm very excited and figure anything I'm not delighted with will merely be combined and dipped in chocolate... that's my idea of a healthy snack! I'll blog the results of the weekly box. Hopefully it'll be fantastic, I have reasonable faith at the moment but then I'm full of the fresh fruits and vegetable delivery spirit at the moment and may be looking through pale green colored glasses :-)

I have to say that I have noticed that people are starting to take my recommendations to heart. I know a number of people who went out and bought the Nesco pressure cooker that I own, bought the pampered chef garlic slicer solely on my recommendation. If the Graze thing works out, I know a couple of people who want to jump on that band wagon as well. I am rather enjoying the fact that I have an every growing online presence as well a voice that is being noticed among the small circle of cyber foodies who come to stop here. I also like that I stopped at least 2 purchases of the Cuisinart Hard Anodized pans based on my experience with their quality as well as their shoddy public customer service, it's only a 600 dollars I stopped (and I do realize that doesn't put a dent in a company of their size) but in my mind, it mattered. I'll keep my eyes open for cool things and certainly report my findings. I think we all need to stick together here and use our money, time and energy wisely. I don't mind taking the lead here at all.

Today, I have a new experimental version of my crusty Italian boule rising. I usually just toss everything in the mixer but last night, I looked at my original "recipe" and took out a 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water and 1 tsp of yeast, combined them and covered it and left it on the counter. This morning, I noticed it had risen about 2 inches above where it started but then had deflated before I got to it 9 hours later. Feeling brave, I added the rest of the ingredients I usually do, mixed it until it was a soft dough and put it aside to rise on the counter. I also used cool water instead of slightly warmer than room temperature. In my mind, I will develop more flavor from the starter/bigga/poulish whatever you call it in your neck of the woods. It may also become a lifeless blob that does nothing, I'll let you know.

I have reasonable faith will get this right, eventually. Luckily, I have a willing group of victims who are willing to test, test, test the food I deliver to them. I am pretty happy with the other breads I've mastered. I think they all taste separate and distinct. Unlike the store bread, even the "artisan" stuff that all tastes the same, has the same internal texture but merely the outsides look slightly different. I want DIFFERENT. I want my ciabatta, my baguettes, white sandwich bread and bolillo and Portuguese rolls to be different from each other, I think they are. Once I nail this Italian crusty boule thing, I'll be dancing in the streets.

I am delivering today's boule to a friend to test while we go on our way to Book Club (for teens) later today. I'll be itching for the report.

I'll report back after my green box delivery... with pictures, and my meal list based on what I see. We will do like last time, I'll do a list of what I think I'll be making then will post the dishes separately, all tagged with Greenling.

/Tracy

9:40 am! It's HERE!!! THE BOX IS HERE!!

WEEEE!  *yeah, I'm really this excited.  I am going to list my plans for the food here.  I'll blog the specific recipes when I do them and then will link back here.  All this is off the top of my head as I open...

I open and VOILA!  It just smells fresh and clean, let's dig through...  Ooooh, an oregano plant?!  cool! There's beautiful fresh spinach in here.  I'll eat some in today's salad and I'll put the rest in filling for some fresh pasta I'm going to make and roll into mini lasagnas.  NEW plan, I'm doing pasta for lunch, with olive oil, garlic and lemon and i'll chop half the spinach in. Yummy!

  

Brussels sprouts, ah, my favorites.
Last time, I cooked them in the pressure cooker and kept them in the fridge and tossed them in a little bacon fat when I wanted them as a side or just threw them in whatever I was cooking as a delicious addition.  I will do that again this week with them. 3 minutes on high over water in the pressure cooker, rinse, and put in a ziploc in the fridge.  YAY!

Oranges and meyer lemons.  I'll use a little zest and juice from both for a vinaigrette today.
I will eat 2 of the oranges ;)
I will use one orange to make the orange/lemon buttermilk pie minis that I experimented with and mastered.
I'll make lemon curd (recipe on the blog but I'll redo it with these) and fill the tart shells I made and froze a couple of weeks ago.

 

Chard, I love it.  It'll be chopped and sauteed and eaten with the chicken thighs and rice I'm doing tomorrow

 

Kale:  I'll make kale chips.  Toss lightly in olive oil, salt and pepper and into a hot oven for about 15 minutes.  Delicious snack!

Lettuce, oh look, still with roots.  Avocado!!  FABULOUS!
I see a greens (and thin red onion) salad at lunch, with a lemon/orange vinaigrette from some of the orange and lemon above and the avocado

 

Cauliflower.  Wow, it's a beauty.  Super quality.  It'll be steamed (in the pressure cooker) and then become cauliflower and cheese.  I'll make a bechamel, add some grated old Irish cheddar I have, drape the cauliflower, add bread crumbs and bake it until it bubbles.  It's a great satisfying meal.  I'll blog the long form of course.

 

So, here's this week's haul.  Bounty from the local garden.  All beautiful, fresh, clean, healthy and exactly the quality I'd pick at a farmer's market.

LOCAL BOX Roasted beets

LOCAL BOX

INGREDIENT;  BEETS 

Side dish, Oven roasted beets

Cut the tops off the beets (save, wash, chop for use in other 'greens' dishes)
Wash the beets.  Lay them on foil and drizzle handily with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Seal them tightly in the foil package and roast at 375 for about 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and leave, sealed until ready to use.

  
They look sad without their tops or tails... wash them!
  
Now, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and seal them up, tightly
  
Ok, into the oven!  375 for about 30 minutes.  Oh look.  They smell great, are cooked and tender.  I'm a big fan so I snuck a slice out of the middle before they were cool enough to handle.  Yummy!  When they cool down a bit, I run them under warm water to slip their skins off and wash my hands at the same time.  If you're quick, you won't wash flavor out of them.  Just don't dawdle.
  
Now, you have beets ready to use, warm or cold in anything!
  
I sliced them up to go with the sausage and pasta tonight, tomorrow I may put them in a sandwich, I do love a beet sandwich!


/get some beets
make this

LOCAL BOX Yogurt with berries and granola

LOCAL BOX

INGREDIENT; GRANOLA

Dessert:

Greek yogurt, fresh sliced strawberries (drizzle of local honey because I like to treat myself), big handful of local granola

  

yep. 

/enjoy

LOCAL BOX, Sausage and Greens Pasta

This is part of my new LOCAL FARM BOX section of the blog.

This is some of what I cooked from the Greenling Local Farm Box I received today.

Sausage, greens, garlic and roast beets with Egg Noodles

There's probably not going to be formal measurement recipes in this section.  There will be play by plays of what I did with the food that got delivered to me that day.  

I WILL write a formal recipe upon request.

From today's basket: Mustard greens, beets

Skin your favorite sort of sausage.  These are medium Italian sausages.  Use your favorite
    

Ahh, here's the naked sausages the their casings... toss the casing. Heat a little bacon fat in your large fry pan, yeah, I'm a bacon fat sort of girl.  Break up the sausage as you drop it into the hot pan... shush it around and try to break it up even more as it cooks.

   

wow,s 5 sausages broken up makes a lot of sausage!  Fry it until it's beautiful, brown and with little crispy bits. yeah, you love this!
  
When it's cooked through and yummy looking, drop your handful of chopped greens on top. This is a mixture of mustard greens and beet greens.  Washed and dropped straight in, the water helps steam everything.  I just lifted it with fingers out of the water and straight onto the sausage.  Add a little salt and LOADS of fresh cracked pepper. I also grated some fresh nutmeg over it.  Greens love Nutmeg.
  
Fry it a moment and toss it around, look how fast it shrinks!!  Slice 2 large cloves of garlic into it, using my new favorite kitchen toy the Garlic Slicer from Pampered Chef.  Keep tossing over a few times. Then cover it.
   
After a minute or so, LOOK!  it's cooked down to nothing, the garlic, since it's paper thin is cooked and the liquid has made a VERY light broth/sauce.  Drop your cooked noodles onto the mixture and toss around.
 
After a few tosses, the pasta soaks up the liquid and becomes infused with the sausage and greens and garlic.  Seriously, how tasty does THIS look??
 
Serve it in BIG bowls, it's light and tasty and a lovely change from thick tomato or cream based sauces.  I sliced the roasted beets over it.  Then I grated some good, sharp, nutty, Parmesan over that!  OH, lovely!!
  
Here's just a couple, oooh la la shots

 
Box 1, meal 1, YES!

/get fresh veggies... make this...