Local Box Meal Plan: Nov. 16-20

Happy Thanksgiving! I realize that I’m a week early, but we’re having some friends over for an early Thanksgiving on Sunday. Because it’s not the actual Thanksgiving day, I’m taking some liberties and veering from my family’s traditional Turkey Day menu (and let’s face it, who wants to have the same meal twice in one week?).

This week, we’re getting sweet potatoes, red onion, and collards or mustard greens from Naegelin, Eureka persimmons from Indian Hill (Texas A&M has a good breakdown of persimmon varieties grown in Texas here), Cameo apples from Top of Texas, pie pumpkin, green beans from Animal Farm, hot and sweet peppers from Green Gate Farm, escarole and Louisiana shallot-scallions from Acadian Family Farm, Bibb lettuce from Bella Verdi and herb from Pure Luck.

So I’m making:

Appetizer:

• Persimmon-cranberry chutney with water crackers and brie

Main course:

• Herb-roasted turkey
• Chestnut-apple stuffing (made with a red onion) served inside a roasted pumpkin – this only works if we get a pumpkin, not fennel. Here’s hoping for a pumpkin for the super cool presentatation!
• Roasted sweet potatoes tossed with herbs
• Roasted green beans
• Sauteed greens with garlic
• Louisiana shallot-scallion dinner rolls (based on this sweet dinner rolls recipe)

And because we still have to eat dinner on Saturday:

• Italian wedding soup with escarole
• Green salad with balsamic vinaigrette

I’m also retrying hot pepper jelly with this recipe, since it didn’t work so well last time.

Are you changing up some of your Thanksgiving staples this year, or keeping it traditional?

Local Box Lookout, week of 03.30.2009

Here’s the forecast for next week’s Local Box:

• green lettuce
• green garlic
• collard greens
• purple kohlrabi
• strawberries
• spinach
• Swiss chard
• spring leeks
• microgreens
• cilantro

Remember, you can still order next week’s Local Box through today (and possibly later, depending on your zip code). Enter your zip code at www.greenling.com to get started!

Local Box Lookout, week of 03.23.2009

Here are the intended contents of next week’s Local Boxes:

• red or green lettuce
• tomato
• baby turnips
• green shallots
• collards
• baby lettuces mix
• strawberries
• oranges or grapefruit
• Swiss chard
• herbs
• daikon radish

Local Veggie Mish-Mash, with Quinoa

I heart quinoa. Last night I cooked some up using a new-to-me method from Paula Disbrowe’s book, Cowgirl Cuisine. Instead of rinsing it ’till kingdom come, she toasts it before cooking. (On a cookie sheet, 350 for 8 minutes.) After toasting, I dumped it into a pot of boiling water (3 cups water to 2 cups quinoa) to cook for 15 minutes. Yum! Until it gets so hot I’m loathe to fire up the oven, this method will serve me well. It did last night, especially under the mish-mash of Local Box carrots, scallions, and collards I cooked lightly, then spooned over it. I even added sliced avocado at the end. When the ingredients are this right, it’s hard to go wrong.

What did you eat out of the Local Box yesterday?

Local Box Lookout, week of 03.09.2009

Here’s what to expect in next week’s Local Box:

• baby carrots
• red-leaf lettuce
• cilantro
• green shallots
• kale
• collards
• strawberries
• grapefruit
• baby arugula
• yellow onions
• herbs
• avocado

If you haven’t already, you can still order next week’s Local Box through Saturday and later, depending on your zip code. Click here to check it out!

Bulghur Bowls

Do I need a more appetizing name for this dish? It’s my latest favorite quickie: Heat up a little olive oil or butter in a sautée pan. Add garlic or onions. Add rinsed (but not spun) and torn greens – collards, spinach, arugula, kale, or whatever else you’ve got. After greens are wilted, sprinkle bulghur over them and salt. Cover and reduce heat to low for 10 minutes or so – long enough to steam the bulghur. Season as desired. I like soy sauce on mine, and chiles are nice, too. I thought my husband was crazy when he whipped out the salad dressing for his bulghur bowl the other night, but he insists it was an inspired choice.

What are your go-to tricks for eating – FAST – out of the Local Box?

Local Box Lookout, week of 02.23.2009

Here’s what the folks at Greenling have planned for this week’s Local Box. Remember, you can still order this week’s Local Box through Saturday and later, depending on your zip code. Click here to check it out!

• spinach
• lettuce
• radishes
• green onion
• kale and collard bundles
• sweet potatoes
• carrots
• grapefruit
• kohlrabi
• mustard greens

Karen’s Green Pasta Sauce

I met Karen Hett from Sun City at a Greenling cooking class held last fall at Green Gate Farms. As conversations among local foodies are wont to do, ours soon turned to the subject of greens: What to do with so many collards, kale, chard, and more? Karen emailed me this recipe, for which she credits lots of sources and plenty of tweaking, a few days later.  I modified it a bit according to the contents of my refrigerator last night, but the results were still tasty – and outrageously nutritious. All told, I used up a bunch of Local Box spinach, one of collards, some green garlic, a handful of cilantro, and about a third of a Meyer lemon.

6 cups packed greens, including chard, basil, parsley, stems removed
1 small onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
red pepper flakes
salt to taste
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (not canned)
1/2 small lemon, sliced thinly
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chicken broth, can be made from bouillon cube
chopped olives, green or black
pine nuts
one cup sliced chicken, if desired
1 lb cooked pasta, your choice. This works well with any tube pasta or linguine.

In food processor with the motor running, drop in garlic, onions, lemon; add greens a little at time.

Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and olive oil until a paste is formed.

Remove from food processor and place in sauce pan with grated Parmesan. Add
chicken slices if using. Stir until the cheese is melted, adding more broth if
necessary. Taste for seasonings, add salt and red pepper flakes.

Serve over hot pasta of your choice, sprinkling with chopped olives and pine nuts. Pass extra Parmesan.

Local Box, 01.28.2009

Is there anything prettier than a picture that includes BOTH avocadoes and cilantro??? Yum! Our plans this weekend don’t include the Super Bowl, but they do include a molcajete – my favorite bowl for guacamole-making! I’m happy to see Meyer lemons again, too.  I think I’ll make some lemon squares for Grandma – and maybe some more marmalade, too. The sight of Meyer lemons alongside rosemary inspires me, also, though to what end I’m not yet sure. A pasta dish, perhaps, with a lemon-rosemary sauce? And capers? We’ll see. Those collard greens and this cold weather point to polenta for dinner some night this week, and the spinach is so tender and flavorful that it’ll make excellent salads. I’ll hard-boil some eggs today so I’ll have them on-hand to make spinach salad into a quick, hearty lunch.

What is this week’s Local Box inspiring you to make?

Local Box Lookout, week of 01.26.2009

Here’s what’s to expect in this week’s Local Box:

• baby carrots
• spinach
• cilantro
• collards
• green garlic
• white mushrooms
• yellow onion
• avocados
• Meyer lemons
• turnips
• tomato