Summer produce is in abundant supply now, with the exception of tomatoes which aren’t fully around yet.  Our CSA share included:  yellow romano beans, tomatoes (a small few), lettuce, fennel bulb, Caribe potatoes, beets, carrots, summer squash and sweet onions.  At the farmers market I picked up green onions, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes and bell peppers.

• Potstickers; Steamed Rice; Sesame Cucumber and Tomato Salad (green onions, bell pepper, cucumber, tomatoes)
• BAT Sandwiches (Bacon, Avocado , Tomato); Corn Fritters (tomato, corn, bell peppers, green onions)
• Mackerel Cakes; Latin Cabbage and Corn Salad; Russian Potato and Beet Salad (sweet onion, cabbage, corn, potatoes, beets, green onions)
• Baked Rigatoni with Italian Sausage and Fennel (substituting ground goat and spices for the sausage); Green Salad (fennel, lettuce, sweet onions, carrots)
• Egg Rolls; Marinated Beet Salad (cabbage, carrots, sweet onions, beets)
• Goulash; Roasted Romano Beans; Roasted Beets (carrots, romano beans, beets)

Pan-Fried Turnips

Turnips are another under-appreciated vegetable, I think.  They really aren’t all that common in American kitchens.  I’ve made turnips in quite a few different dishes, from stews and sautées to sliced onto lettuce-based salads and starring in a turnip slaw.  Out of all the preparations I’ve tried, the one we love most and, incidentally, the one I prepare most frequently is pan-fried turnips.  The simplicity of this dish makes it perfect for a busy evening, but the taste is outstanding.  Almost browning the butter in the sauté pan before adding the turnip wedges  imparts a slightly nutty and smooth flavor, while the caramelized  edges of the turnips are sweet and tender and some of the centers are just faintly bitter, but not unpleasantly so.  The whole pan of turnips is always eaten up when I prepare this side dish and it’s enjoyed by even our pickiest eater.

Pan-Fried Turnips

printable recipe

• two bunches of turnips (or about 1 1/2 pounds loose turnips)
• 2-3 tablespoons butter
• sea salt

Wash and trim the ends from the turnips.  Cut into wedges. I cut smaller turnips into quarters and larger into 1/8′s or 1/12th’s.  Heat a heavy bottomed sauté pan (I always use my enameled cast iron pan) over medium-high heat.  When pan is hot, add enough butter to coat the bottom of the pan when it is melted.  Right before butter starts to brown, add turnip wedges.  Continue to cook on medium-high heat, stirring frequently to prevent burning.  You want the cut edges to brown nicely, but they can also start to burn pretty quickly.  When the turnips are nicely browned, reduce heat to low and continue to cook until they are tender all the way through.  When the turnips are tender, remove from heat and season to taste with sea salt.

It seems that every week there is a greater abundance of summer vegetables when I visit the farmers market.  I picked up mostly the same things I got last week:  summer squash, corn, tomatoes, bell peppers, sweet onions, and cucumbers, but I also got new potatoes, cherry tomatoes, broccoli and green beans.  Our CSA share is chock-full of goodness too:  tomatoes, basil, cabbage, chard, lettuce, white salad turnips, carrots, summer squash, and sweet onion.

• BLTAs; Oregano Potato Salad (tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes, oregano) [the "A" is for avocado]
• Beluga Lentils with Rice, Corn, and Cherry Tomatoes; Easy Vinaigrette Coleslaw (corn, cherry tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, bell pepper)
• Spring Rolls with Shrimp and Summer Vegetables; Sesame Cucumber and Tomato Salad; Cantaloupe (basil, mint, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers)
• Shrimp Pasta Salad; Pan-Fried Turnips (bell pepper, basil, summer squash, tomatoes, turnips) [I used the linked recipe as a base and added some roasted summer squash, crumbled feta and chopped tomatoes]
• Chickpeas and Cabbage; Sautéed Zucchini and Corn (cabbage, onions, carrots, zucchini, corn)
• Roast Beef; Green Beans; Mashed Potatoes (green beans)
• Beef, Chard, Broccoli and Cabbage Stir-fry; Steamed Rice (onions, chard, broccoli, cabbage)

We’ve been picking up produce at our local farmers market in addition to our weekly CSA share.  This week I bought corn, purple cabbage, green onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, extra carrots and bell peppers.  Our CSA share included:  cauliflower, fava beans, lettuce, caribe potatoes, salad turnips, carrots, beets and sweet onion.  Friends also gave us some lovely summer squash.  This is a wonderful season when we are inundated with an array of delicious local vegetables.

• Beef Kabobs; Warm Corn Salad; Creamy Dilled Potatoes (corn, bell peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet onions)
• Lebanese Lentil and Beet Green Soup; Pan Fried Turnips (beet greens, turnips)
• Summer Squash, Fava Bean and Feta Pasta; Green Salad (summer squash, fava beans, oregano, lettuce, carrots)
• Falafel with Feta and Garlicky Yogurt Sauce; Garlic Naan; Spicy Carrot Salad (carrots, mint)
• Beet and Chicken Salad; Pan Fried Turnips; Bulgur (or Cous cous) and Cucumber Salad (beets, sweet onion, turnips, cucumbers)
• Potato, Walla Walla Onion and Gruyere Galette; Oven Baked Carrot Sticks; Roasted Cauliflower (carrots, cauliflower)
• Pork Carnitas Tacos; Mexican Rice; Easy Vinaigrette Coleslaw (purple cabbage, carrots, bell pepper)

After forgetting to pick up our CSA share for two weeks in a row, I finally got my act together and put a reminder on my cell phone.  Our share included:  onion, carrots, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, fava beans and fennel.

For various reasons, I have an abbreviated meal plan this week.

• Pork Carnitas Tacos Topped with Purple Coleslaw; Cumin Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower (cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower)
• Kofta; Fennel Salad; Spring Succotash (without ham) (fennel, corn, fava beans, mint, carrots, green onions)
• Potatoes, Kale and Black Beans; Sautéed Turnips (kale, turnips)
• Fava Bean Basil Pesto; Crusty Bread; Crispy Kale; Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower (fava beans, basil, kale, broccoli, cauliflower)

Pea and Radish Salad

When I first saw this recipe, I didn’t really appeal to me, but when I got a nice bunch of French breakfast radishes at the market and I wanted to do something different with them, I decided to try it.  I started out with this recipe, by Cathy at Wives with Knives and altered it for what I had on hand.  I wish I had fresh peas on hand because that would have made it spectacular, but even with using frozen peas, it was a cool and tasty salad.  The mint really tastes fantastic with the sweetness of the peas and the little bite of the radishes.

One note, I always make my own mayonnaise with with a combination of coconut oil and olive oil, so if you use a store bought mayonnaise or even a homemade mayonnaise without coconut oil, yours will likely have a creamier texture than mine.  The coconut oil in the mayonnaise sets up a little more firmly when it’s cold.  Though it’s not as beautiful as a creamier mayonnaise, the flavor was still excellent.

Pea and Radish Salad

printable recipe

• 3 cups frozen peas, thawed (If you have fresh peas, blanch them and use them, the flavor will be even better than frozen peas, of course!)
• 1 bunch of radishes, thinly sliced
• 1/2 small spring onion, finely chopped
• 1 – 2 teaspoons freshly chopped mint leaves
• 1 – 2 teaspoons freshly chopped chives
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 -  1/3 cup mayonnaise
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix gently to combine.  Taste and adjust salt and pepper to your preference.

Summer seems to be in full swing around here and with the 4th of July making Monday a holiday, I was thrown off all day on Tuesday and because of that, I completely forgot to pick up our CSA share.  It’s a terrible feeling to remember late on a Tuesday that I missed CSA pick-up.  I’ve only done that one other time in the years that we’ve been getting a share.  Luckily and unexpectedly, another set of friends gave us an IKEA bag that was nearly full of vegetables from their CSA when I happened to be at their place on harvest day.  (We are so blessed to have wonderful friends!)  They sent us home with enough salad turnips for 3-4 side dishes, 1 bunch of beets, 1/2 of a large cabbage, a small fennel, 2 shallots, 1 spring onion, fresh herbs (parsley and tarragon), one bunch of young parsnips, a bag of snow peas and snap peas (I think) and one large kohlrabi!  I supplemented this with some things I picked up at our local public market (formerly Saturday market, but it’s all weekend now):  one small purple cabbage, a bag of salad mix, celery, 1 cucumber and a bunch of radishes.  We had a few leftovers rolling around in the fridge from the previous week’s CSA share, so I feel awash in vegetables–in a good way, of course!

With all these vegetables and a full freezer, not only including beef and goat, but four of the six roosters we had processed a couple of weeks ago*, this week’s meal plan has lots of variety.

• Meatloaf; Oregano Potato Salad; Pea and Radish Salad (celery, bell pepper, carrots, oregano, spring onion, radishes, mint and chives)
• Slow Cooked Beef Heart Burritos; Turnip Slaw (spring onions, turnips) [I use Ren's ingredients for the beef heart burritos, but I alter the cooking method since I don't have a great way to grill]
• Pizza with Spring Onions, Green Garlic, Garlic Scapes, Mushrooms and Beet Greens; Green Salad with Beets, Cucumber, Fennel and Carrots (spring onions, green garlic, garlic scapes, mushrooms, beet greens, salad mix, beets, cucumber, fennel, carrots)
• Stir-fry with Chicken and Vegetables; Sautéed Turnips (broccoli, celery, peas, purple cabbage, spring onion, carrots, turnips)
• Thai Chicken Slaw; Chinese Kohlrabi Salad (shallots, cabbage, carrots, mint, kohlrabi)
• Goat Stew; Sautéed Parsnips (turnips, carrots, peas, parsnips) [I'll be using Kim's recipe and swapping goat for the lamb]

Also, this week we will be participating in an summer camp, so I need to pack lunches for the three girls and myself for four days in a row!  Two things I’m planning on making after cooking up a big pot of chickpeas are:  Smashed Chickpea Sandwiches and Chickpea, Feta and Cilantro Salad.

*You can read about our experience with getting these roosters processed here on my personal blog; don’t worry, it’s not graphic.

Roasted Broccoli, Quinoa and Feta Salad

I love roasted broccoli.  It’s especially good cold, though I usually serve it warm. When we got several heads in our CSA share, I decided that I needed to make some sort of grain and roasted broccoli salad.  I settled on quinoa for the grain and since I almost always have a large tub of feta in the fridge, it and feta is just plain delicious, I decided that it would be the third major player in this salad.  These ingredients are tossed with chives and oregano from the garden, fresh garlic, olive oil, and a little lemon juice to offset the olive oil and the saltiness of the feta.  The broccoli can be roasted and the quinoa cooked ahead of time, if necessary, and the salad assembles in a snap.  We’ve had a hot spell around here, so a room temperature salad that can be pulled together in a few minutes if you have all the ingredients pre-cooked, is a wonderful thing.

Roasted Broccoli, Quinoa and Feta Salad

printable recipe

• 2 heads broccoli, roasted with salt, pepper and olive oil and cooled to room temperature
• 2 cups quinoa, cooked and cooled to room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups crumbled feta
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 1-2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
• juice from 1 lemon
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• freshly ground pepper

Place roasted broccoli, quinoa and feta in a large bowl.  Mix chives, oregano, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, sea salt and pepper in a small jar and shake to combine.  Pour over salad and gently toss to combine.  Serve at room temperature.

This week, I finally meandered down to our farmers market for the first time this year, though it’s been open for more than a month.  I kicked myself for waiting for so long.  While I was there, I stocked up on wonderful things like:  beets, green onions, cabbage, cherry tomatoes, summer squash, bell peppers and salad turnips.  In addition to these goodies, our CSA share included:  sugar snap peas (loads and loads of them!), spring onions, broccoli, chard, lettuce and carrots.  Since the weather is supposed to be hot this week, it’s the perfect time for indulging in some summer salads.

One other excellent thing is that the side of local, pastured beef that we ordered was finally harvested and processed.  This is the first time in three years that we’ve been able to purchase a full-sized side of beef.  I’ve been stretching the last one along with a small Jersey side of beef we purchased from a friend last winter.

• Pasta with Summer Vegetables and Feta (summer squash, green onions, cherry tomatoes, spinach)
• Steaks (barbecued over a pine wood fire); Oregano Potato Salad; Easy Vinaigrette Coleslaw (oregano, onions, cabbage, carrots)
• Potato, Beef, Chard and Corn Enchiladas; Mexican Rice; Cantaloupe (chard)
• Cilantro, Bean and Rice Salad; Green Salad with Peas, Beets and Feta (lettuce, peas, beets)
• Taco Salad (lettuce, carrots, radishes, peas, bell peppers)
• Roasted Broccoli, Quinoa and Feta Salad; Sautéed Radishes and Salad Turnips (broccoli, radishes, salad turnips)

Hurray!  The weather has been warm and sunny this week.  By harvest time on Wednesday we had enough growth to harvest the first of some of our favorite crops–snow peas and beets!  By the weekend, we harvested the first of the broccoli (so delicious!) and the real snow pea madness began (so many!).  The rest of this week’s harvest included cabbages, both savoy and green, as well as more salad mix, fordhook giant chard, scallions, and a bit of basil, the rest of the spring kohlrabi, more turnips, and a morning surprise from the farmer–new potatoes!

Our pig is ready to be picked up from our local butcher, but we didn’t have it for this week so we did get some beef from the new grass-fed beef folks at one of our markets…it is lean and delicious.  We also took a day off and came home with a bag full of cockles and soft shell clams from the coast!  I wasn’t going to post this week’s meal plan, because it seemed so redundant; many of the same dishes or same types of dishes.  Oh well, that is just how it is, and probably how most of us cook anyways.  So, here is what we ate this last week!

Thursday: Breakfast–Eggs w/ kale and garlic//Lunch–Baked beans and salad//Dinner–Homemade pizza w/ garlic, green onions, & goat cheese and cabbage salad w/ vinaigrette

Friday: Breakfast–Frittata w chard, garlic, and goat cheese//Lunch–Creamy polenta w/ green onions, ground beef, and leftover pizza sauce//Dinner–Lamb and kale tacos w/ hummus and shredded beets in vinaigrette

Saturday: Breakfast–Scrambled eggs and oatmeal//Lunch–Pate and hummus w/ rye crackers and salad//Dinner–Baked beans, polenta, and braised chard

Sunday: Breakfast–Buckwheat and walnut pancakes w/ hard-boiled eggs//Lunch (Grandpa’s B-day BBQ)–Hamburgers on gluten-free English muffins, roasted broccoli and turnips, kale and chard coleslaw//Dinner–Popcorn! (we were exhausted from our trip to the coast)

Monday: Breakfast–Scrambled eggs and sauteed potatoes//Lunch–Kale and chard salad w/ toasted hazelnuts and vinaigrette//Dinner–Clam (cockle) chowder w/ kohlrabi and potatoes

Tuesday: Breakfast–Cornmeal pancakes w/ eggs//Lunch–Curried lamb and turnip greens w/ rice//Dinner–Red-wine vinegar braised short-ribs w/ braised kohlrabi greens, polenta, roasted beets, and pan sauce

Wednesday: Breakfast–Salmon cakes//Lunch–Rice pasta w/ sun-dried tomato/basil pesto and salad//Dinner–Chili w/ beef, red beans, chard