On to my fourth CSA basket round-up! If I've learned one thing this summer, it's that a half share of a CSA basket is not difficult at all for one person to consume. In past years when I've struggled, it was out of pure laziness and getting carry-out while beautiful, fresh vegetables languished in the refrigerator. I'm so happy that I committed to posting my round ups, because I realized just how much I love using all this fresh produce!
There's chard, collard greens, fennel, beets, carrots, tomatoes, garlic, basil and chives. I REALLY wanted to make some fresh mozzarella to add to a Caprese salad, but that needs a few days of lead time. So instead, I just made a balsamic reduction and sliced up some tomatoes and basil:
This was amazing; no cashew cheese needed. My air conditioning wasn't working and my windows don't really open, so it was 85 degrees in my apartment when I was eating this and I didn't care at all. It tasted like summer.
As I mentioned last time, I'm counting macros, bro. Or more specifically, trying to get a few more of my calories from protein than cookies. I really, really like Beyond Chicken, and the grilled strips are so easy to throw in any dish. (Plus I can reuse the trays as plates. Genius!) To round out the meat/starch/veg plates, I cooked some brown rice and added sauteed garlic and chopped basil. Then I peeled, diced and boiled the beets and sauteed the beet greens. Mixed together, this was delicious:
There were only about two servings of beets, so I made a few more portions with the collards and chard as the vegetable. I used this method to make the collard greens, which only took a few minutes, and added the chard at the end.
Without further ado, here's this week's haul (and an inquisitive cat):
There's chard, collard greens, fennel, beets, carrots, tomatoes, garlic, basil and chives. I REALLY wanted to make some fresh mozzarella to add to a Caprese salad, but that needs a few days of lead time. So instead, I just made a balsamic reduction and sliced up some tomatoes and basil:
This was amazing; no cashew cheese needed. My air conditioning wasn't working and my windows don't really open, so it was 85 degrees in my apartment when I was eating this and I didn't care at all. It tasted like summer.
As I mentioned last time, I'm counting macros, bro. Or more specifically, trying to get a few more of my calories from protein than cookies. I really, really like Beyond Chicken, and the grilled strips are so easy to throw in any dish. (Plus I can reuse the trays as plates. Genius!) To round out the meat/starch/veg plates, I cooked some brown rice and added sauteed garlic and chopped basil. Then I peeled, diced and boiled the beets and sauteed the beet greens. Mixed together, this was delicious:
There were only about two servings of beets, so I made a few more portions with the collards and chard as the vegetable. I used this method to make the collard greens, which only took a few minutes, and added the chard at the end.
Both dishes turned out great, though I may have gone a little overboard with the garlic and/or not cooked it enough. I had a few REALLY garlic-y bites. I threw the carrots in the Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette from Appetite for Reduction (my FAVORITE cookbook on the planet), but didn't take a picture. Lastly, I left the fennel to languish in my fridge. As I mentioned last time, I am not a fan. So technically, I'm not finished with this box, but I'm as close as I'm going to get!
