Tag Archives: onions

CSA Week 9

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It looks like agriculture in North Carolina turned over last week. Greens have been gone for a couple of weeks now and it looks like the squash season was short. This week is the first of the blackberries and the blueberries are a week or two out. Onions are consistent and getting larger. This week included:

  • 1 pint blackberries. We ate all of these but stay tuned next week for some grilled pork chops with blackberry chutney.
  • 1 fennel. This is one of my favorite vegetables although it is hit-or-miss with people. If you really like the flavor, try serving it raw on a salad with blue cheese and fresh orange. If you’re looking to chill out the licorice flavor, try making this vegan- and paleo-friendly roasted fennel and tomato soup.
  • 3 large onions. This is the first red onions we’ve seen.
  • 1# carrots. Had these for lunch with some sliced cucumber, tomato and tuna salad.
  • Potatoes. While these are not strictly paleo, I’m not going to turn down any fresh farm food. We incorporated these into a gratin with grass-fed cheddar. I used the rest for roasted potatoes with rosemary served with fresh farm bratwurst and sautéed peppers and onions.

CSA Week 7

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So I’m liking this posting with a week delay. Rather than speculation, I have results. This week (last week) was sort of a transition week. More summer veggies and a really great variety. Spinach and lettuces are less frequent. Summer squash is plentiful. This week included:

    • 1 lettuce. Instead of salads this week we did chicken lettuce wraps. We cooked skinless chicken thighs in enchilada sauce I had frozen with a dash of homemade hot sauce. I would say this was a marginal success. The chicken was really good but it was too messy.  I have yet to find a good paleo tortilla. I’ve tried coconut flour but they were too fluffy and fell apart easily.
    • 3# squash. This was mostly the yellow summer squash and 1 large green zucchini. We incorporated this into “meatless Monday” by making a squash “pasta bake”. Essentially this was cooked sliced zucchini, onion, garlic, diced tomatoes and italian seasonings topped with fresh mozzarella and baked until brown and bubbly.
    • 1 large onion
    • Leeks. Now I love leaks. I posted my favorite preparation a while ago served with seared sea scallops. This time I quickly charred them on the grill, then wrapped them in foil with a little balsamic vinegar and let them braise on the grill for about 10-15 minutes.
    • Swiss chard. We made Jacquie’s breakfast casserole again using local sausage and sweet potatoes. Went really well with the homemade hot sauce and yielded breakfast for four days this week.
    • Beets. One of me and Jacquie’s favorite veggies. Nothing better than roasted beets with a little olive oil. There weren’t many so we also made roasted parsnips to go with them. Both were a great side dish for chicken Kiev.

      Chicken Kiev

      Chicken Kiev

    • Cucumbers. Made some quick pickles with these to serve with a marinated and grilled flank steak.

Quick Pickles

CSA Week 5

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So Morley and I just went to pick up our CSA box and it’s like Armageddon in Chapel Hill, NC. We had thunderstorms roll through this evening and some of the traffic lights lost power.  There were car horns and sirens everywhere (which Morley likes to imitate by howling at them).  To be fair this is how it gets every time there is weather down here; North Carolinians can’t handle it. Or maybe it was just a free-for-all mob-style protest of the passing of Amendment 1, I can’t be sure…

But anyway, Morley and I did manage to eventually get our veggies home. You can tell this stuff is fresh. It was dirtier this week than the last couple of weeks, probably because of the rain today.

I didn’t do a Week 4 post because everything was a repeat of something we had previously. I still have some lettuce and spinach from last week that I am trying to quickly finish up now that the stocks are replenished. I’m also super-excited that we just bought a food dehydrator. I can’t decide what to dehydrate first! Looks like there are some possibilities here. So here’s a list of the contents. Quite a bounty this week.

  • 1 pint of strawberries – Still strawberry season here in NC. No complaints from this guy. I might try dehydrating these.
  • 1 head of cauliflower
  • 1 lettuce
  • 3 onions
  • 1 bunch of turnips – The onions and turnips are easy. I was really excited to see these. I see a breakfast casserole in our future made with grated turnips, diced onions, eggs and farm sausage.
  • 3 green/3 yellow squash – Another option for dehydrating. I want to try me some zucchini chips.
  • 3/4# spinach – I’ve been eating a lot of spinach lately. Will have to think about this one a little more.

Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

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Vegetables are often overlooked when grilling. And with beer in hand, grilling is what I like to do on warm Sunday afternoons. So next time you throw those steaks on the grill, consider grilling some veggies to go with it.

I used to make this salad with red potatoes or yukon golds. Since going paleo, I decided to try it with sweet potatoes and it came out great. I used to add some honey to the vinaigrette but I left it out of the sweet potato version. For even a bit more bite (a little less sweetness) I might try replacing the cider vinegar with red wine or rice vinegar. For our non-vegetarian friends, may I also suggest some bacon?

Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients

For the salad…

  • 4 sweet potatoes
  • 1 red onion
  • 2 jalapenos
  • 6 green onions
  • ~1/4 c. parsley + more for garnish
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper

For the vinaigrette…

  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp whole grain dijon mustard

Instructions

  • Wash the sweet potatoes and slice about 3/4″ thick. Boil the sweet potatoes until they are barely fork tender. Don’t overcook them since they will be going on the grill. I think if I could cook a vegetable medium-rare, that’s about where these would be.
  • While the sweet potatoes cook, trim the ends from the green onions and peel and slice the red onion about 3/4″ thick. Don’t go too thin with them since all of this is going on the grill. I get about 3-4 slices per onion.
  • Prepare the vinaigrette by mixing all of those items well.
  • After the sweet potatoes have cooked drizzle all the veggies with a little bit of oil and season them with salt and pepper. Throw them all on the grill. Pull the green onions off after a quick char (that will go pretty quickly). Cook the sweet potato and red onions on each side until they have a nice char as well. Turn the jalapenos frequently until the outside skin is blistered and charred. The jalapenos, onions and sweet potatoes take about the same amount of time, about 6-10 minutes total.
  • After the veggies are done dice the jalapenos and onions. Cut the sweet potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Combine the veggies and dress with the vinaigrette while everything is still warm. Mix in the fresh parsley and serve while still warm or at room temperature.

 

 

Pan-seared Sea Scallops with Braised Leeks

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Leeks are vegetables in the onion and garlic family. They are pretty robust plants that basically look like big green onions. Instead of forming into bulbs, they produce leaf sheaths in a long cylinder. We found pre-trimmed leeks at Trader Joe’s this week. They were already pretty clean. I just trimmed off the ends and soaked them in water for a few minutes. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for new ways to add leeks to our regular menu, especially since TJ’s makes it so easy.Sweet Scallops and Braised Leeks.

I’ve never cooked leeks and honestly, I’ve never really thought about them until now. We were really interested in trying them last week after watching Growing a Greener World on Saturday morning. Nathan Lyon made a recipe with braised leeks and pan-seared tilapia which looked incredible. I won’t re-post the leek recipe here since I followed it basically to the letter. I did use homemade chicken stock in place of the vegetable stock. I made this with seared sea scallops instead of tilapia since we had the scallops on-hand. After trying a few of Nathan’s recipes though, I’ll be sure to try that tilapia as well.

For the scallops…

  • In a pan, heat about a tablespoon each of olive oil and grass-fed butter.
  • Once the oil and butter are hot, place the scallops in the pan and sear (~2-3 minutes) on each side.
  • Make sure the pan is hot. The key is to not overcook them. They should have a deep golden color on the outside and still be sweet and tender.

Tempeh with Cabbage and Onions

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Cabbage

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Cabbage is part of the Brassica genus of plants known more commonly as the group of cruciferous vegetables, it is a great source of Vitamin C, is low in calories, and high in fiber.

We sautéd with onions, garlic, and tempeh to make a main dish that packs a serious punch with nutrients, flavor, and overall satisfaction.  I definitely would make this one again! We served with an avocado, tomato, and romaine salad.  (Recipe was adapted from christinacooks.com.)

Recipe

Makes 4-5 servings and is perfect for lunch the next day!

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves fresh garlic, thinly sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced into thin half moon slices
8 ounces tempeh, crumbled
Bragg’s liquid amino (for some extra amino acids!)
2 teaspoons brown rice syrup
1/4 head green cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels

Directions

Place oil, garlic, and onions in a skillet over medium heat. When the onions begins to sizzle, add tempeh, a splash of liquid aminos, and the rice syrup. Sauté for 3–4 minutes, until the tempeh is beginning to brown and the onions are soft.

Stir in cabbage and corn and, season to taste with another splash of aminos; cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until the cabbage is quite soft, 10–15 minutes. Serve with a side salad or a grain of your choice.