Monday, September 19, 2011

Crop Share Box #8


What this Box Contained
Cucumbers, Italian Garlic, Summer Squash, Sweet Spanish Onions, Sweet Corn, Watermelon, Melons, Arugula, Edamame, Tomatoes, Red Grape Tomatoes, Orange or Red Ukraine Peppers, Roaster Peppers, Corn, Eggplant, Basil, Potatoes

Pictured Above
From Front Left to Right: Red Grape Tomatoes, Eggplant, Roaster Peppers, Potatoes, Basil
From Back Left to Right:  Edamame, Cucumber, Tomatoes, Arugula, Summer Squash, Orange Ukraine Pepper, Cantaloupe, Corn

New Recipes & Meals I Made

Crop Share Chopped Salad (side)
Rating: Sina: 4
Chopped Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, corn off the cob, chick peas, cucumbers and homemade mustard vinaigrette

Omelets for dinner
Swiss cheese, tomato, pepper, spinach and zucchini omelettes with a side of tomatoes with basil and cooked zucchini.



Jicama Cole Slaw and Fish Tacos (see bottom of post for recipe):
These are my favorite fish tacos. I got the idea of making a jicama cole slaw for the top of fish tacos from a restaurant in town called Chino Latinos. The roasted red pepper sauce is also a great touch. You can also add shredded lettuce or cheese to the tacos but we ate them with just the fish, jicama slaw and sauce. I'm disappointed at how they look in this picture because they taste much better than that! Also, I added cherry tomatoes to the slaw this time since I wanted to use them up.
Ratings: Sina: 4, Ryan: 4


Breakfast sandwiches with arugula, tomato, pecorino cheese and an egg on an English muffin. 


Potato and Swiss Chard Gratin
The original recipe is from Smitten kitchen and posted on my holiday blog from last year when we made it the correct way (with sweet potatoes). Since I had swiss chard in the garden and extra garlic and scallions I figured I'd make it with my crop share potatoes from the last box and this box
Ratings: Sina: 4 (delicious but not as good as when you make it with sweet potatoes)

Sina’s Fish Tacos (combining three recipes for the fish, sauce and slaw)

Baja Fish Tacos (Recipe from Baja Fish Tacos on myrecipes.com):
3-4 tbsp taco seasoning
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp orange juice
2 pounds tilapia or mahi-mahi
Flour or corn tortillas
Avocado slices
1 lime: wedged

Directions:
1. Combine first 2 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add fish; toss to coat.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish; sautee 5 minutes or until fish is done
3. Warm tortillas according to package directions.

I then Served the fish tacos with the jicama slaw, avocados, sauce and have people add what they like.

Roasted Red Pepper and Cucumber Yogurt Sauce:
(Recipe from Mediterranean fish tacos courtesy Rachel ray, 2008)
2 roasted red peppers, patted dry
1 cup fat free yogurt
½ tsp ground cumin
¼ cucumber, peeled and grated

Directions: Combine red peppers and yogurt in food processor. Add cumin, 1 clove garlic, zest and juice of ½ lemon, cucumber and process until smooth, transfer to a bowl.

Add to the top of the fish tacos

Jicama Cole Slaw (Recipe from Jicama Slaw courtesy Emeril Lagasse):
1 cup fat free yogurt
3 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves
1 tsp ground cumin1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
3 cups shredded or julienned jicama
½ bunch green onions, sliced thinly on the bias
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

Directions: (great side with the fish tacos or you can put it on your tacos)
1. Combine the yogurt, lime juice, cider vinegar, sugar, cilantro, cumin, salt and peppers and whisk to combine. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to develop
2. When ready to serve, combine the jicama, green onions, and red bell peppers in a large bowl and add the dressing. Toss gently but thoroughly to combine. Season with additional salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve immediately 

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Seattle/Vancouver

I have to report back on the amazing food we ate in Seattle and Vancouver. While I don't have pictures of every meal I can tell you it was a lot of fish, Mediterranean (delicious hummus and pitas for a few meals), home cooking, southern food and BBQ. Here is a mini recap of a few of our meals.

Sushi
How can you go to the Pacific north west and not get sushi. They have such a fresh supply of fish and tons of sushi restaurants offering fun specialty rolls. My brother and sister in law brought us to their favorite restaurant, Umi Sake House. I forgot to take a picture of all of our rolls since I was too excited to eat but here is a picture of two pieces at the end. A specialty one with jalapenos, salmon and blueberries and a spicy tuna with ginger on top.


Home Cooking with Sara
On the menu: Homemade cabbage cole slaw, corn on the cob and snapper cooked with soy vay sauce, mushrooms and bok choi.

Southern Food
Last but not least our southern meal at Kingfish Cafe . My brother brought my parents and I there 4 or 5 years ago when we came out to visit and it's been a place I still talk about to Ryan. The last time we went we had homemade sweet potato pudding for dessert that has made me think of going back ever since. You will be happy to know that even dietitians splurge sometimes. Take note at what I ordered...yes...fried chicken. If you're ever at a good Southern style restaurant they can make the chicken moist and not too greasy, which is  worth the occasionally extra fat.  It also came with delicious collard greens and potato salad.

Ryan's Entree: Slow Pokin' Sisters BBQ Beef Ribs
Sina's Entree: My Way or the Highway Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Monday, September 12, 2011

Food of the Month

I just returned from an eight day trip in the Pacific north west and Canada and while part of September is over it's still not to late to enjoy this months food. Peppers! They come in many shapes, sizes, colors and spice levels.

The Scoville Heat Scale is a great way to see what level of pepper is best for you. 

To start the celebration of the food of the month I made Un-Stuffed Peppers. You may be asking why I made the recipe "unstuffed." It came down to the size of my peppers. I was planning to make stuffed peppers for dinner but all the peppers I wanted to stuff were too small to fit much filling so instead I mixed all the things you would put in a stuffed pepper together in a dish and baked it. I am eating this dish as I type my blog post and OMG it's AMAZING! Every year when I make stuffed peppers I just use up what I have in my fridge and that is what this recipe was but the flavors came together perfect. The pepper mix was perfect since my husband and I like a small kick in our dishes.  This is a great dish that we will definitely have again!


"UN-Stuffed" Peppers
Ingredients: 
-2 cups brown rice (cook according to instructions. I did 2 cups of brown rice with 4 cups chicken stock)
-You could use any combination of peppers. Here is what I used: 7 small Bell Peppers, 1 Banana Pepper, 1 Jalapeno (without seeds), 1 unknown hot pepper from crop share (the dark green one), diced
-2 shallots, diced
-1/4 cup cilantro, diced
-1 tsp cumin
-1 tbsp Italian Parsley, chopped
-3 chicken sausages, cut into slices (you could also sub boca crumbles here for a vegetarian dish)
-1 small zucchini (or in my case it was 1/3 of a large one)
-2 ears of corn, cook and add only the kernels
-2 ounce of cheese (any type of shredded or diced cheese will work)
Directions:
Cook rice according to directions. Stir all ingredients in a big bowl with the cooked rice and mix. Grease a 9 x 11 pan and pile ingredients in.
Bake at 400 for ~35-40 minutes


"Unstuffed" Pepper dish pre-baking
The beauty of this dish is it's flexibility. Don't have one of the ingredients or want to add another vegetable, go for it.

...just went and got seconds...time to go.