My Kitchen Garden Wish List

I still haven't been blogging or blog hopping very much lately and I miss it! I have been using some 'me time' to read and play around on twitter and Instagram, but it doesn't have the same level of engagement as blogging. I know I keep saying this, but I hope to catch up with all of you very soon. In the meantime, please tell me what's new and what's been keeping YOU busy lately?

My plan was to have a post up last month last week this week about my newly established, finished vegetable garden but alas, I'm still not finished! ArGh! I'm easily two months behind schedule, but that's okay. At least I'm finally getting somewhere with it and I will be growing things in there very soon. Hopefully I'll be able to harvest tomatoes before the fall frost. Ha ha I'm kidding. It shouldn't be that late. ; )

I'm going to save a lot of my thoughts and ideas about establishing a new vegetable garden for its own post when my garden is finished and I can post before, after and in between photos. In the meantime, I'll talk about my kitchen garden wish list. I'm not going to be able to plant all of my wish list this year and maybe not even ever if I don't have the space, but I've been thinking about what I'd like to grow. In the years that I had a vegetable garden [in the space which our four year old home addition now occupies], I learned a lot about what I can and can't grow easily, if it's worth it to grown my own of certain items, and so on. I've also been thinking lately about what we like to eat in my family that we do not get often enough in our organic co-op. Why work hard to grow stuff I already get from local farmers. Better to focus my efforts on the things I want more of for my family. Makes sense, right?


My kitchen garden wish list:
sugar snap peas
asparagus
rhubarb
strawberries
spinach
beets [ever since I discovered how lovely raw beets are in salad!]
herbs [especially basil and cilantro]
tomatoes [heirlooms]
cucumbers
zucchini [for baby squash with blossoms attached]
raspberries

I already have a rhubarb plant in a pot that I bought years ago and never planted in a permanent spot. It's truly amazing the plant is still alive. I can't wait to see how it responds when I finally plant it in a happy spot. I also have some perennial herbs growing in various places in my landscaping that I'd like to replant into the new kitchen garden area so everything is more accessible. I have mint, chocolate mint, oregano, chives, garlic chives [also called Chinese chives, I think], thyme and the tiniest potted French tarragon plant that really needs its own spot in the soil to thrive.

Asparagus takes a lot of space and time to get established and you need a lot to provide a respectable harvest for a family of five, so I don't know if it's practical for a small garden. Same goes for strawberries. I tried blueberry bushes many years ago, but it was a major battle with the birds for a small handful of berries. It just so happens that deer and rabbits like to eat the tender branches in the winter and one year they pruned my little bushes down to the ground. That didn't turn out so well. Perhaps raspberry bushes are less appealing to them and I can give them a try.

What edibles are on your kitchen garden wish list?

In other vegetable news, the local growing season is taking off around here and it shows in my latest co-op box:

Organic goodness in yesterday's co-op box

Look at all those greens! Two HUGE bunches of Red Russian kale, garlic scapes**, two bunches of arugula, red leaf lettuce, broccoli and dill. We also got Yukon gold potatoes and from CA-- oranges, carrots, and nectarines; a tomato, bananas and NJ blueberries!

**garlic scapes are the flowering stalk tops of hardneck garlic plants. They are cut off during the growing period just before this 'flower' starts to develop into seeds or tiny bulbs. This helps force the plant to put its energy into growing plump garlic bulb in the soil.

In what ways would you eat and or cook this organic goodness? I'm especially looking for inspiration with the arugula and garlic scapes.


The weather this weekend is going to be divine here in my neighborhood and I've got lots of healthy plans on my calendar: A 35 mile bike ride Saturday morning, a visit to a local farmer's market right after with my cycling partner, juicing some of these glorious vegetables at another friend's house later and then finishing up my new kitchen garden the rest of the weekend. I'll be sure to squeeze in some time with the family, watch a bit of Euro 2012 football and probably a midday nap in there somewhere, too! (I love those)... ^_^

What are some of your plans this weekend? Whatever you're up to... hope it's fabulous. xo

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Weekend Cooking, a weekly blog event hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food related post to share--a food related book review (fiction or nonfiction), cookbook review, movie review, a recipe, random thoughts, gadgets, food quotations, photographs, etc. Please visit Beth's blog for more information and join the fun! 

Note: your post does not have to be posted on the weekend, but do visit Beth's blog over the weekend to link up your post. 

This Week's Box of Organic Goodness

I received such great feedback from all of you the last time I posted what came in my co-op box that I thought I'd do it again. I loved all the suggestions on how to prepare some of the produce in new-to-me ways and even tried some of them. For example, I followed Marg's recipe and used the bok choi to make a really delicious asian-inspired soup. I also followed Beth and Diane's suggestion to put orange sections in my salad and whoa was that the most exciting thing or what? So awesome. The oranges added such flavor and juiciness that I barely needed any dressing on my salad! Definitely a keeper salad idea! Thanks, everyone!

Take a look at what I brought home in this week's share:

Beets with greens, two bunches of kale

potatoes, cabbage

bananas, Spartan apples, navel oranges, Bosc pears, Romaine hearts

tomatoes, avocados, turnips

Daikon radishes, carrots 

If you came home with this box of produce, what would you do with it? 

***Especially looking for inspiration with the turnips!!! Thank you!!

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Weekend Cooking, a weekly blog event hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food related post to share--a food related book review (fiction or nonfiction), cookbook review, movie review, a recipe, random thoughts, gadgets, food quotations, photographs, etc. Please visit Beth's blog for more information and join the fun! 


Note: your post does not have to be posted on the weekend, but do visit Beth's blog over the weekend to link up your post. 

Today's Organic Goodness

I picked up this week's share this morning and am looking for some recipe ideas! I get an email on Tuesdays from the group listing what's going to be in our share that Thursday, so I usually start thinking ahead of time which items are most perishable so I use those items first, and then I plan our meals around that "most likely to spoil first" order. It doesn't always work, though, because sometimes ... my creativity and enthusiasm for cooking is at a lull and I just can't think of anything to make for dinner. Or I get this idea based on one item in the share, but am missing some other crucial ingredient. For example, this week we got a beautiful bunch of leeks and right away I wanted to make potato leek soup. But I don't have any potatoes! I suppose I could go buy some potatoes, but I kind of don't want to because right now I have SO many other vegetables we need to eat over the next two weeks! Just look at this colorful array of fruits and veggies:

click to enlarge

From top to bottom, left to right:
green cabbage, butter lettuce, mustard greens, leeks
acorn squash, asian eggplant, carrots
cilantro, heirloom tomatoes, golden delicious apples, broccoli
bananas, green peppers, black plums, bartlett pears

Is it terrible to say I'm glad the bunch of mustard greens is really small? Definitely on my list of "un-favorite" vegetables. But I know how good they are for me, so I keep eating them. All the while hiding my shudders from my kids.

Glad we finally got some broccoli. We haven't had broccoli in the share in a long time--maybe since May?--and we love broccoli in our house. We should be getting broccoli in almost every share now through the spring. I seriously wish we got two bunches with every order. Even three wouldn't be too many!

Every time we get leeks--which is only once or twice a year, I always seem to think, "OOo yay! We got Leeks!" thinking they're so gourmet, when in truth they're probably among the humblest of vegetables. I'm looking for a go-to recipe for leeks and I'm wide open for suggestions--even if it is potato leek soup.

I'd also love a recipe suggestion for carrots that calls for A LOT of carrots. I have a backup of carrots in the vegetable bin from the last couple several orders that I really need to use before they turn into a pile of orange goo in the bottom of my fridge. Carrot soup maybe?

Thanks in advance for the recipe suggestions! No pressure.

No, wait! ... YES pressure! I need your recipe ideas!

Five hours until I start dinner prep...

I'm counting on you... ;o)


Even if you don't have a recipe suggestion for leeks or carrots, I want to hear from you.

What's your favorite fall vegetable and how do you like to eat it? 

And don't be a smart ass and say "with my mouth." :P

Late Summer Organic Goodness

Today was the most recent delivery from the organic co-op. Just look at how colorful and plentiful it is! One thing that I really love about being in this co-op is the way the produce follows the seasons and this time of year is one of my favorites. It's kind of a transitional period between seasons in which we still get a lot of the bountiful late summer harvests such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and plenty of greens and we start to get a selection of classic fall produce such as acorn squash, apples, grapes and pears. I am a little sad that we didn't get corn, but I'm hoping the farm stand down the street still has some fresh corn from its sister farm an hour or so south. If they do, I'll buy some over the weekend.

Here's a picture of what came in this week's share:


From top to bottom, left to right:

broccoli rabe, green leaf lettuce and spinach

scallions and beets with greens (vertically along the left)

bananas, gala apples, and acorn squash

cilantro, tomatillos, tomatoes, deVoe pears, unknown fruit? and niagara grapes,

green peppers, hungarian hot peppers, carrots
and an eggplant

I'm disappointed about the broccoli rabe [also known as rapini]. We were expecting regular broccoli, which I LOVE, but the farmer didn't have any so we got broccoli rabe instead. Ugh. I'm not a fan.

I'll definitely be cooking Mexican one night using the cilantro, tomatillos, tomatoes and the green peppers. I'm thinking chicken enchiladas or fajitas--one or the other-- with salsa verde.

As for the unknown stone fruit, I'm not sure what it is. It wasn't listed on the newsletter we get with our order, so I'm thinking it's probably a makeup item for something from last time that arrived in poor condition or was simply missing. Especially since I just gone one lonely fruit. Or maybe someone special ordered some of those and accidentally dropped it in my box? I think it's some sort of plum or pluot [that's a hybrid plum and apricot, I think] because it looks like a plum and feels soft like a plum. It doesn't smell like much, though, so I'll have to do some research, and see if it tastes like a plum!

I also special ordered a whole case of red peppers to share with my friend who hosts our local group in the co-op. This is probably the fourth of fifth year we've done this right around this time. We both love red peppers and this way we get to buy organic red peppers when they are at their peak and least expensive and then enjoy them throughout the winter.

This variety is called 'lipstick' red peppers. Can you see that they're sort of shaped like lipstick? There is also some small, really round red peppers in there. I'm thinking those might be a different variety. They look like they'd be hot peppers!

I usually cut at least half of the peppers into strips and freeze in ziptop bags. Then I can grab as much as I want and use as is in stir fries or dice them for stews, soups or other cooked dishes. I'll roast the remaining peppers, then pack them into clean jars and top off with olive oil for roasted red peppers to use on sandwiches and salads. I'll keep one jar in the fridge to use for now and freeze the other bottles for future use.

I used several of the lipstick peppers in tonight's dinner in a dish that is a reinvented version of stuffed peppers from an old CookingLight magazine issue. In my version, I saute the peppers and combine them directly with the filling in a one dish meal. For a side dish, I sauteed the broccoli rabe and beet greens in olive oil with half an onion and some kosher salt.

Any ideas what that little unknown stone fruit might be?

I'd love to hear what you'd cook for dinner tonight if you had some of this produce in your fridge!

Organic Goodness at its peak!

It's been a while since I've posted a picture of the goodness I've brought home in a recent co-op share. We're in the height of the local season here in New Jersey so our box is overflowing with a colorful variety of healthful fruits and vegetables. Just look at the rainbow laid out on my dining room table!

From left to right, starting at the top, we have...

corn and yellow onions

yellow, purple and orange carrots, cucumbers, yellow squash, eggplant, and butterhead lettuce

apples, nectarines and peaches

bananas, green bell peppers, yellow heirloom tomatoes, red tomatoes and collard greens

I have to admit that I sometimes get overwhelmed with all this bounty and can't figure out what to cook first. I got this share on Thursday morning and so far all I've eaten is one peach that was out of this world delicious and half of one of those big red tomatoes. Confession: I made myself a BLT sandwich for lunch today. It was a reduced guilt BLT, though, as I used only one and a half slices of bacon, reduced fat mayonnaise and plenty of thick, juicy slices of tomato. Amazingly, the sandwich came in at only 200 calories! I might just have another one tomorrow. ;)

So I'm looking for some inspiration!

I'd love to hear what favorite dish you'd prepare with one or more of these vegetables.

:)

A Fall Run Update & Some Organic Goodness

I had such an energetic morning today. Since I started that biweekly fall run class several weeks ago, I haven't been going to my usual Tuesday morning Zumba classes or my Thursday morning spin classes. This week, I decided to live by the simple, yet effective Nike motto and just do it. I went to Zumba Tuesday evening after running in the morning and today I went to 6 am spin class and then to run class from 10:30-11:30 am. We met at a different park today for the run class and ran 4 miles, which is the most I've continuously run in oh, maybe forever Interestingly, the third mile was brutal and then all of a sudden the fourth mile was done.

I guess the class is working at improving my endurance, but I have to say a lot of my success these last few weeks is most likely due to running in a group with these seven other lovely women. We talk a lot, although me not so much after the first mile and a half. Talking raises my heart rate too much and makes me huff and puff more, so I stick to short uh huh, yes, no type answers. Sometimes I'll add a sentence here and there, but it'll be like two or three words, pause, huff puff, two or three more words, pause, huff puff, and repeat until the sentence gets out. We mostly talk about fitness, fitness clothing, nutrition, healthy recipes, etc., so I'm really getting A LOT out of this class.

Next Tuesday is the last class and we're all discussing who wants to run the 5 Mile race on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Today's 4 mile run was the most I've ever done. I'm not so sure I'm ready to tackle 5 miles in just a week's time. I'm still debating. Cue Jeopardy music. ;)

In between spin class and running class, I got the girls off to school (with husband's help driving the teen to high school), and then went to help divide the produce up for all the families in my organic co-op. I did that from 8:45 to 10:15 am and as soon as it was done, I raced to the park for run class and barely made it there with a minute to spare. Needless to say, I could go for a serious nap right now. I only have a few minutes before I have to pick up the girls from school, though, so I thought I'd share this week's share with you instead of napping.

click on photo to enlarge

From left to right, starting at the top:
mustard greens, green leaf lettuce, celery,
sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, concord grapes, bananas
Candycrisp apples, brussels sprouts, pears, cauliflower and red cherry tomatoes
Underneath the brussels sprouts is a watermelon radish.

Can you guess why it's called a watermelon radish?

Isn't that pretty? I've had these in the past and found them to be rather mild, which I like since I'm not very keen on radishes in general. I'll just use a little here and there in salads until it's gone. ;)

Which item in my share this week looks or sounds most appealing to you?

More Organic Goodness

As some of you know from my earlier posts this week, my youngest daughter has been home with the flu this week and since she's such a good sharer, she gave it to me. I was pretty miserable Tuesday and Wednesday but thankfully, I'm feeling a lot better today and even accomplished a few things. I did a load of laundry, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, returned some library books including one that was due on Monday and for obvious reasons I didn't get out to return it, and last but not least, picked up this week's co-op share. Now I'm ready for a nap.

But first, I want to share what came in this week's order. I still have the two heads of lettuce in my fridge from the previous order so I traded this week's lettuce for two ears of corn with my friend. Believe it or not, the lettuce from two weeks ago is still fresh, although I will be eating it over the next few days before it does start to spoil. I use Evertfresh bags for my produce and although the bags are a bit expensive, they can be reused many times over and they really work at keeping your produce fresh for a long time. So in the end they're cost effective for me.

Here's what I got in this week's share:

click to enlarge image

Starting from top, left to right:

bananas, yellow onions, Hakurei salad turnips with greens,
Stayman apples, zucchini, yellow squash, a pie pumpkin, kale,
yellow corn, Bosc pears, green tomatoes, red potatoes
cranberries, mangos, carrots

My mouth was watering just handling the mangos. It's probably my body craving the Vitamin C since I've been sick, so I'll be having those tonight for sure. Actually, I think I'll go cut one up right now and eat it at the counter so I don't have to share it. :)

Another Organic Produce Share

I just picked up today's share from my organic produce co-op and am already planning our next several meals around this gorgeous array of fruits and vegetables!

From left to right, starting at the top:
Swiss chard, arugula, romaine lettuce . . . acorn squash, yellow onions, poblano peppers, tomatillos, an avocado, bananas . . . white mushrooms, Devoe pears, slicing tomatoes, baby asian eggplant . . . black plums, green lipstick peppers, empire apples, and carrots.

click on photo to enlarge

I timed my trip to pick up my share perfectly, because when I got to my friend's house, she had just finished cooking butternut squash soup seasoned with ginger, salt & pepper using the squash from the last order. Of course she offered me a bowl and of course I said yes. It was so delicious, I think I'll be making something similar in the next few days using either the acorn squash or carrots.

I'm also definitely seeing a Mexican meal or two made from the poblano peppers, tomatillos, and the avocado.

What about you? From this week's share shown in the photo above, is there anything in particular you'd like to see a recipe for?

This Week's Organic Produce Share

About 10 years ago, I joined an organic produce co-op in my area called Purple Dragon Co-Op that provides its members with a diverse selection of quality, seasonal organic produce purchased directly from local and regional farmers. The founder of the co-op basically acts as the distributor or liaison between local and regional organic farmers and the members by purchasing a selection of produce from the various farms based on what's available and also making sure the biweekly selection offers a wide variety of produce. Produce from more distant farms is purchased when items such as bananas are simply not grown in our region or when our area farms are not in season.

The co-op is made up of numerous groups in communities throughout the area--I believe there are about 60 right now. Each group receives enough produce to be divided into 15 equal shares. Every other week, boxes of fresh produce that were harvested and packed at the farms just a day or two prior are delivered to the groups' pick-up locations-- which in my case, is my co-ordinator's garage. My group's co-ordinator also happens to be a close friend of mine and it's through her that I discovered the co-op many years ago when our first children were just babies. Members of the group then take turns scheduling a delivery date to come to her garage at 9 am to sort the food into the fifteen equal shares for each member and get a monetary credit that day for "working" the co-op.

A few years ago I took a break from the co-op and gave up my spot for a year or more when home life got really hectic and I found I was wasting food that spoiled before I got around to cooking it. Then in the summer of 2008, I helped my friend out by being a sub in her group when members went away on vacation. I realized how much I missed the diverse selection of produce that came in the share and how fresh everything was. Not to mention it made me realize I wasn't buying and therefore eating the same quantity of vegetables on my own than when I was in the co-op. Since the co-op groups are designed for exactly fifteen members, there is often a wait list to get into the group in your area. Lucky for me, by the end of that summer there was an opening, and I was able to rejoin as a regular member again. So with my renewed interest in the co-op and the fact that I have a gorgeous new kitchen that's so much more fun to cook in, I'm more excited than ever to be a part of my organic co-op again.

Here's a photo of the produce that came in last Thursday's share. From left to right, starting at the top: kale, two heads of romaine lettuce, carrots, purple bell peppers, butternut squash, gala apples, bananas, yellow cherry tomatoes, broccoli, edamame, cantaloupe, red thumb potatoes, concord grapes and green cabbage. All produce is from local NY and PA farms except for the cantaloupe, carrots and bananas.


click on image to enlarge

If you brought home this share, which item would appeal to you the most?
Is there anything you haven't tried before?
Which would you like to see a recipe for?