a couple of meals

Wednesday we had so much cabbage that we had to make thoren for dinner. When you make it with cabbage, unlike the recipe for asparagus or string beans, it comes out a little moist. Mr. P actually handled the cooking. I helped with prep work and made a big salad.

Thursday, we tried a simple broccoli dish we found in the same cookbook -- mostly flavored by toasted cumin seeds and garlic and a little hot stuff. Turned out well. We used both farm brocolli -- more like rabe with big loose clusters -- and commercial brocolli -- more like a velvet carpet -- and served it over the last of last week's brown rice. With a salad, of course.

Yesterday, I had a hankering for fresh rolls, but went a little nuts in the Chinese store's frozen section. So for dinner tonight, we'll have fresh rolls (with pressed tofu, lettuce, cilantro, carrots, cucumbers, and rice noodles); yu-hsiang green beans (soy, vinegar, and sugar sauce) over brown rice; and steamed vegetable buns (store-bought). For dessert, we'll have rice buns with red bean paste and a rice pudding with bean paste, both store-bought, accompanied by watermelon. And yes, we invited a guest to help us. We'll also send her home with a small care package for her ill long-term houseguest.
Update: Wow, that was good. The Yu-hsiang recipe I found was tasty, but not what I was expecting. The food was good, the guest seemed to enjoy herself, or at the very least was her usual gracious self. And a good time (and meal) was had by all.
Tip: We sprinkled a little limoncello on the watermelon -- definitely a repeat.

And tomorrow? Off to a summer porch party with a salad made of all the bits and pieces we haven't eaten yet and a few supplemental bits and pieces I bought at the market yesterday.

By Monday, we may have run out of farm goodies, but perhaps we'll make a simple tomato sauce and serve it over pasta. Or we'll think of something completely different; we'll see.

curry!

My share mate brought me piles of food from the farm today. We had some leftover peas from the farmer's market this weekend, and a small head of cauliflower fresh from today. I made a tasty curry. I started by steaming the cauliflower. Then I fried spices in hot oil until they popped -- cumin, mustard, ajman (thyme seed) -- and threw onions and mushrooms on top to cool things down. To that, I added turmeric and cayenne and paneer (Indian cheese). Toward the end, I stirred in the cauliflower, the peas (uncooked), chopped garlic and ginger, and the cauliflower water. Things simmered a bit and it was ready to serve over rice -- brown rice with a little unsweetened coconut and spelt mixed in.

Tomorrow, we'll try to make a dent in some of the cabbage we got.

night before next farm delivery

We had two main dishes tonight. One was potatoes, carrots, fresh peas, and garlic scapes cooked in butter and olive oil, then tossed with toasted sesame oil. The other was "teen greens," napa cabbage, escarole, and a little broccoli, with a honey-mustard sauce. We served brown rice on the side. For dessert, we had the last of the pound cake, soaked in a little limoncello, strawberries, and lemon sorbetto on top.

And tomorrow, it all begins again with a fresh new assortment of farm veggies.

cool, refreshing salads

Thursday night, we had a salad, which included avocado, brown rice, scallions, carrots, red peppers, cucumber, mozarella cheese, several kinds of greens, and possibly a few other things. After dinner, we headed out to a bar to hear a friend perform. While there, I had dessert -- a pint of Irish stout and an incredibly good cupcake. We'll go back to the venue soon for a full dinner and possibly more music.

Tonight, we picked up some veggie eggrolls at the grocery store. They were pretty good. We also had a salad reminiscent of salade nicoise -- lettuce, napa cabbage, escarole, potatoes, string beans, red pepper, carrot, cuke, scallion, mozarella cheese, and of course tuna. I forgot the capers. I might make a veggie version in a few weeks for a birthday party we're going to, possibly using lentils instead of tuna.

fairly simple

Tonight we had a stir fry of farm cauliflower, farm shelled peas, and farm garlic scapes, all barely cooked, with a little hoisin sauce mixed in. I added some fresh mint at the end and served it over brown rice with some spelt added in. We also had a huge salad -- lettuce, arugula, escarole, napa cabbage, carrots, scallions, red pepper, avocado, and fresh mozzarella.

For dessert, we continued nibbling on the pound cake, strawberries, and blueberries, with lemon sorbetto and amaretto on top.

Such good tastes, so fresh tasting!

behind and more farm goodies!

I've fallen a little behind in documenting our dinners.

Last Wednesday, I had a meeting after work and Mr. P took it upon himself to make a light dinner. He made a huge salad which included some whole wheat pita that he tore up and cooked with herbs in a dry pan, a little like Middle Eastern dishes we've enjoyed.

Last weekend was the first farmer's market of the season in our town. We can actually walk to it, which we did, hoping that a coffee vendor would be there. Not yet. But we did buy shelled peas and yellow beets from a nearby organic farm.

Sunday night, we used the very last of last week's farm goodies and made an over-the-top delicious salad, including the tail-end of last week's rice and cooked beets, which were sweet, almost candy-like. I cooked up the last of our mizaluna (sp?), a spikey green, with our peas, some olive oil, and butter, then added fresh mint at the last minute. Totally delicious.

Yesterday -- incoming! We now have fresh peas from the farm we belong to, cauliflower, escarole, arugula, lettuce, strawberries, a beet, teen greens, garlic scapes, parsley, cilantro, and more.

Last night, we had dinner guests, including one young child. The mom reassured me her daughter is an omnivore, but I was skeptical. Our younger guest is so enerringly polite that I felt it important to tell her that she didn't have to eat everything if she didn't want to. I was shocked and pleased that she cleared several platefuls of food.

At the grocery store, I had bought some produce that isn't in season (or doesn't grow around here) -- mushrooms, cucumber, scallions (which we got for a few weeks at the farm and will see again), a whole wheat pizza crust, and some things for dessert.

For dinner, we had pizza with tomato sauce (Muir Glen, of course), mushrooms tossed in olive oil, and cheese. We had a salad with lettuce, arugula, cooked beets, cuke, scallions, cheese. And for dessert, we had pound cake with mangoes, blueberries, and fresh-picked strawberries, and lemon sorbetto on top. Dinner was very satisfying and tasty without leaving us feeling stuffed. Both our guests seemed happy, which made me happy -- I'm not at all used to cooking for kids. Fortunately, this one's palate is much more adjusted to adult tastes than kid tastes.

dinner guest!

Yesterday was pickup day at the farm. It was too wet to pick strawberries, so I'll go back later in the week for those. We got a lot of great looking greens and lettuce and a big beautiful cabbage that I split with my share mate.

I was inspired to make cabbage thoren -- that curry coconut dish from Kerala that we frequently make -- with mushrooms added in. I prepped everything and Mr. P did the cooking. It came out beautifully, a little spicy, a little moist, and the cabbage was fresh and zingy. We served it over brown rice which I cooked with a little rye.

On the side, we had a salad with two kinds of fresh lettuce, arugula, red pepper, cuke, carrot, and blue cheese.

And then our friend brought bags of groceries and made us dessert -- layers of ladyfingers with fresh cut mangoes, blueberries, plums, strawberries, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream on top. We gilded the lily just a bit with a splash of limoncello. Oh my. That whole dessert almost made the dinner's glory instantly fade. It was a great dessert.

We sat at the table for nearly two hours. Very good food, great conversation.

Our friend left us with about six ripe mangoes (darn!) and a box of strawberries (darn!) and some ice cream (double darn!). We'll be eating lots of fruit for a while. Yum.