Local Box Meal Plan for May 18-22

Hi all! Woman With a Whisk here. I’ve been a huge supporter of Greenling and their Local Boxes for a few months now, and I’ve been blogging how I’ve cooked out of my Local Boxes since then. Hopefully, I can share some interesting ways to use the produce that comes to us each week, and I expect to learn new things from you also!

Each week, I’ve been making a meal plan to figure out how best to use the Local Box contents. I find that without planning, it’s hard to use some of the more esoteric items before they spoil. Besides, I get a huge kick trying to use as many local ingredients/Local Box produce as possible in one meal. Don’t we all?

So without further ado, this week’s meal plan. In the current Local Box: blackberries, golden zucchini, green beans, dandelion greens, carrots, red spring onion, mangoes, beets, and red potatoes. Where I’m using recipes, I’ll link to them. Otherwise, the recipes are either in my head (waiting to be blogged!) or are common enough that you may have your own.

This week, I’m planning on making:

Breakfast:

• Blackberry pancakes (though this verrine would make a wonderful dessert for a special occasion or dinner party)

Sides:

• Zucchini cakes
• Sauteed green beans tossed with soy sauce and sesame oil
• Roasted red potatoes with rosemary

Lunches:

• Dandelion greens salad with roasted beets, goat cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette (I’ll roast the beets and potatoes in the same pan the night before, then peel and cut up the beets when they’re cool for lunch the following day)

Dinners:

• Slow-cooker goat stew (made just like a basic beef stew) with carrots and red onions
• Ginger chicken stir-fry with mango chutney and red onion tops

If my husband would go anywhere near it (he hates mussels), I would make mussels with dandelion greens and linguini for dinner. Mmmmm. This recipe uses beer instead of white wine, which is an interesting twist on the usual.

Edited on 5/19: The Local Box video for this week is on Facebook here (you don’t need to be a Facebook member to check it out!). Turns out that we’re not getting red potatoes, but we are getting broccoli and swiss chard or red leaf lettuce. I’ll still roast the broccoli with the beets, and maybe wilt the swiss chard or use the lettuce to make lettuce wraps (since I’d also like to make dumplings this week!). Have fun!

Local Box, 04.01.2009

The usual suspects arrived in today’s Local Box. More strawberries we’ll use for fresh eating, lovely greens for any number of dishes, and some lovely purple kohlrabi I’m eager to experiment with further.

How do you plan to eat out of your Local Box this week?

Local Box, 03.25.2009

Wow – Those are some seriously large daikon radishes! Does anyone have any great ways with them? I’ve never cooked them before, but look forward to learning how!  I’m happy to see lots of greens this week, too, since I’ve been dreaming of polenta lately. And of course, strawberries float my boat like little else in the world.

What are you planning to make from your Local Box this week?

Local Box, 03.11.2009

STRAWBERRIES!!! Just-picked, local, and delivered to my door. Does it get any better than this? Makes all the cilantro seem worth it But back to those strawberries: If you haven’t snarfed them all already, I recommend letting them come up to room temperature before you eat them. Their flavor is excellent, but dulled by cold. (Want to read more on Texas strawberries? Click here.)

Also in the Local Box this week, we’ve got plenty of greens and a rogue avocado and grapefruit, too. It’s going to be a tasty week of local eating!

How do you plan to eat out of the Local Box this week?

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 02.09.2009

Here’s the forecast for next week’s Local Box contents.

• brussels sprouts or broccoli florets
• spinach
• cilantro
• herbs
• green shallots
• mixed bouquet of greens
• mixed lettuce
• grapefruit
• yellow onion
• kohlrabi or cabbage

Remember, you can order up until two days before your delivery day. So if your delivery day is Tuesday, you can still order through Saturday. To find your delivery day, enter your zip code on the left at Greenling.com. Then click here to add the Local Box to your order.

Local Box, 12.24.2008

It’s a truly merry-making Local Box this week, with lots of greens and oranges and apples, too! I’m looking forward to catching my breath when the festivities will have died down in a couple of days. Then I’m sure I’ll find this bounty inspiring! Until then, my hubby’s planning on making a greens soup of some kind for dinner this evening.Rumore has it, there’ll be brie involved, too! I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, let us know how you plan to eat out of your Local Box for the holidays this year!

Best wishes to all!

Keeping Warm with Polenta

Baby, it’s cold outside! Without any dinner plans last night and the furnace working hard to keep the house at a mere 62 degrees, I improvised from last week’s Local Box. I brought water to a boil and whisked in polenta, then added diced butternut squash I’d roasted last week. In the meantime, I rinsed last week’s mixed greens and sauteed them in a bit of butter and garlic. When the polenta looked done, I grated in some Grana Padano cheese and stirred in a tablespoon of butter. We scooped the polenta into bowls and topped with the greens, then let the warmth flow all the way down to our bellies.

What are you eating from your Local Box to keep warm?

Local Box, 12.10.2008

The season’s first cabbage – in my kitchen, anyway – is a welcome sight. But will I turn it into slaw or kraut? I’ve been yearning for the tangy, vitamin-C drenched goodness that is sauerkraut here lately, so I may try my hand at making my own. I hear it’s wicked easy… Have you ever made it? Please share your tips, if you have!

Grapefruits, too, are good to see – and conveniently loaded with vitamin C, too. In fact, beets are also great sources of this antioxidant nutrient. Is it a coincidence there’s so much of the magical C to be had locally as we get into the heart of cold and flu season??

I might just turn this week’s apples and those I have leftover from last week into a pie, or perhaps a galette. And those lovely mixed greens? They look like a sautée waiting to happen – perhaps with a little bacon or smoke-dried tomato for added flavor. I’m glad to see avocadoes again, too, as my husband wants to try a crazy avocado pie recipe he found – it’s sweet, with a graham-cracker crust! To me, it sounds just crazy enough that it might be wonderful.

What have you got planned for your Local Box this week?

Local Box, 11.19.2008

I’m tempted to decorate with the undulating sea of greens that arrived in my Local Box yesterday. But they’re too rich and flavorful – I’d rather eat them instead. I’ve got out-of-state guests coming for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I’m psyched to see avocadoes again — guacamole is a quick-and-easy hors d’oeuvre with real regional flair, especially when made with local onion and Key lime juice. I think I’ll plan to turn some of those Meyer lemons into sauce for gingerbread pancakes, too. And I’m hoping to find time to turn some of the Meyer lemons I’ve collected into marmalade for a cranberry sauce recipe I’m excited to try. I’ll horde this week’s sweet potatoes for next week’s big meal, and maybe fry some green tomatoes, too.

What have you got planned for your Local Box this week?