RoastFest 2012

I’m back! I’ve been cooking for a couple weeks now, but that also coincided with the beginning of the school year, which meant no time to blog. (I am no longer going to try and blog about everything we make, but I will keep sharing ideas for produce and recipes that turn out well.) The start of the school year also meant that we were dealing with some veggie buildup in the fridge because of nights that it was just too tempting to order pizza.

Due to the veggie build-up, John and I decided to roast basically everything in the fridge so it would be all ready to go for meals all week long. We loved it. It was so awesome to have yummy veggies to throw into everything, and it made dinners super simple. It took about two hours total, but at least an hour of that was inactive.

We started with the following:

That pile includes at least 3 summer squash, 2 ears of corn, a bag of green beans, a bag of broccoli, a bunch of carrots, and three bell peppers. Before roasting, I planned on making 4 meals out of the veggies: tacos, sandwiches, pasta, and stir fry. I knew I could just throw in whatever veggies sounded good that day.

In terms of roasting, I kept it pretty simple. The oven was a 375 for most of the veggies. We tried to cut the veggies into similar-sized pieces and roast veggies of similar thickness together. We had 2 pans of squash, a pan of peppers and broccoli, and a pan of carrots and green beans. I turned the oven up to 400 for the carrots and green beans since they are firmer vegetables.

Here are the end results…
Zucchini, bell pepper, corn, and white bean tacos:

Pasta with Roasted Veggies (Broccoli, Carrots, Green Beans) and Store-Bought Vodka Sauce:

We made veggie sandwich melts with hummus, peppers, carrots, and squash that were yummy. No photos, though.

And, finally, stir fry with green beans, carrots, bell pepper, and squash:

All in all, RoastFest was a huge success. If you have a fridge full of veggies and a couple hours, I’d recommend it. Have a great week!

Whoopsie.

So, I’m going to need a little break. From cooking and blogging. I’m okay, but my super sharp knife did a number on the side of my left index finger (only a little bit, thankfully). This clearly impacts slicing and typing. Please send a little hope that it will grow back like the doctor said it would. I’m in good spirits, anyway, and John bought cupcakes, so don’t worry, we won’t starve.

Dud Week

I have been a little lazy this week in terms of cooking, which means I unfortunately do not have much to share with you. I just wanted to check in to keep it real. Here are the photos of what has happened with our produce this week:

Double cucumber hummus melts (plain cucumbers and pickles). It’s too bad our pickles turned out really sharp and sour, so that was all I could taste.

 

 

Fried rice with carrots (leftover from last week), snap peas, and bell peppers. This fried rice was just okay. I really like fried rice as a “clean out the fridge” dish… you can throw whatever veggies you want in there and it generally turns out okay. Protein is easy because you can just scramble eggs right in the rice. I’ll post a great fried rice combination when I have one, and you can modify it to fit whatever produce needs you have.

 

 

I don’t even know what you might call this one. I made it last night, and the green beans were a big mistake. I think the recipe would have been delicious without them. As John said, perhaps some day we might just eat a vegetable on the side (have you noticed the vast number of one-pot dishes we eat?). The eggplant, peppers, and chickpeas were really working it, and then these green beans just got in the way and ruined the party.

Luckily, the food has been edible and nutritious. It just hasn’t really been worth sharing. And tomorrow I’ll be making the tortilla from last week to use the kale, so no new news there. I am making another batch of hummus, and I’ll keep a close watch on quantities, so hopefully I’ll have at least one decent recipe to share with you this week. Happy Wednesday!

 

Week 8: The Haul

We are still in drought-like conditions here even though we’ve had a bit of rain in the past week. It’s not enough to make a huge impact. Our farm was also the victim of an unfortunate aerial spraying incident, so there are some things up in the air about the rest of the season. I am so sad and angry for Rob and Tammy and all the lost work they’ve put in to bring us a quality product. Grr. 

Anyway, this week, I brought home the following:
1 bunch of kale

1 small eggplant

1 bag of green beans

1 bag of snap peas

3 cucumbers

I also picked up garlic, onions, and tomatoes at the farmer’s market, along with some broccoli and bell peppers. We were a little lazy this weekend in terms of cooking, so I have almost everything left to use in the next couple of days. The cucumbers will probably end up on hummus sandwiches because we are addicted to my new hummus recipe (I’ll post it as soon as I’m sure it’s consistent). I’m already craving the spanish tortilla, so we might have that with our kale. I’ll probably make a fried rice with the peas and leftover carrots from last week, possibly including the eggplant and peppers. I have some leftover jarred vodka sauce that was excellent (Victoria Vegan), so I will probably make a simple pasta with any of the remaining veggies. The best part is that I think I won’t have to go to the grocery store…

Week 7: Recap

 

We ate well this week. I was even excited to eat most of the leftovers, which I think is a really good sign.

Here’s the summary of how we used everything:

1 bunch of kale: Spanish Tortilla with Kale, Pizza

2 kohlrabi: 1/2 in Veggie Rolls, 1 1/2 in Sesame Green Stir Fry

1 bag of green beans: Pasta with Green Beans, Tomatoes, and Feta

1 small head of broccoli: Sesame Green Stir Fry

2 zucchini: Pizza, Rotini with Zucchini and Chickpeas, Veggie Rolls, Sesame Green Stir Fry

1 bunch of carrots: Veggie Rolls, Rotini with Zucchini and Chickpeas, hummus dippin’s (I’m perfecting my hummus recipe, and I will share it when it’s right)

2 cucumbers: Ooh, I forgot. We made pickles! They had a really sharp aftertaste–like an aftertaste that makes you gasp, so I wouldn’t say they were perfect. But they were pickles, and we will work to make them better. Then I will share the recipe.

1 sprig rosemary: Pizza, Spanish Tortilla

1 dozen eggs: Egg sandwiches, Pizza eggs (when we scramble all of our leftover Friday pizza veggies into eggs on Saturday morning), Spanish Tortilla

What are you making with your summer produce?

Spanish Tortilla with Kale

John and I had a great trip to Spain several years ago, where we fell in love with tortilla de patata, basically a frittata with potatoes. We make one at home probably about once a month, and every time we have it, we both say, “This is soooo good; why don’t we eat it more?” I suggested this week after eating this tortilla that we should put it on our weekly meal rotation. It’s that good. (We’ll probably go more like 2 weeks just to be sure we don’t get sick of it.)

Usually my procedure is like making a giant thick omelette: when the bottom is browning and the top is mostly set, I do what I call “the death flip,” which involves sliding the giant omelette onto a plate and flipping the plate back into the pan, usually dripping hot egg on my arm and the stove in the process. This recipe suggests just baking the tortilla. Even if it isn’t authentic, it still tastes delicious and it is much easier and safer. I’m sold.

I made this recipe exactly as written, except I still had half a sprig of rosemary, which I finely chopped and added to the mixture. Don’t skimp on salt. Last time I made this, I added less than the recipe called for. This time, I didn’t, and it was so much better.

 

Pasta with Green Beans, Tomatoes, and Feta

 

Yum. This is a fresh, easy recipe that showcases some of my favorite produce of the season: green beans, tomatoes, and basil. I had to rush off to a knife skills (for cooking) class, so I didn’t get to savor the flavors or let the feta melt enough into the sauce, but I still enjoyed it and will enjoy it again. I found the original recipe in a Student Vegetarian cookbook years ago, and I’ve just started throwing it together on my own (I’m not sure how close it is to the original). A great thing about this recipe is you can use it with frozen green beans and canned tomatoes in the winter, and while it isn’t as good, it’s still a quick easy meal.

Ingredients (serves 4):

1/2 pound pasta

2 T. olive oil, divided

1-2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 cups of green beans, snapped into bite-sized pieces

5 small tomatoes, diced

15 or so basil leaves, sliced

4 oz. crumbled feta cheese

kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Procedure:
1. Put the water on to boil and prepare the vegetables. When water is boiling, salt water, add pasta, and cook until al dente. Drain and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, add 1 T of olive oil to large skillet, heat over medium heat, and add garlic. Saute for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add green beans and saute until tender-crisp (about 5-6 minutes). Add tomatoes to pan and cook for a couple minutes. Juices will release–that’s okay, melting the feta in with the rest will thicken it up a bit.

3. When pasta is finished, add it to pan with remaining tablespoon of olive oil, feta, and basil leaves. Remove from heat and stir until feta is slightly melted and sauce has thickened. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!