Curried Veggies Slow Cooker Style!

Howdy there folks! I know it’s been a while since I posted anything of any substance other than photos of my sweet babe, Harriet. I’ve been spending as much quality time with that little lady as possible and blogging took a back seat for the last month or two. Needless to say I dearly missed posting here and can’t wait to get back in the swing of things!

I’m starting today with a post on the fabulous curry I made in the crock pot yesterday. The crock pot had been a real savior since Harry came! I can do a few quick preparations whenever Harry is napping during the day and it will be ready to eat at dinner time!
One thing I love about this recipe is how vibrant the colors are! Even though it cooked for a good four hours, it is still brightly colored and tasty looking. I hate it when good looks like brown mush. My theory is, the more varied color on your meal the more you will take away from it. Not just vitamins and nutrients, but happiness as well! I mean, come on, who wants to eat a plate full of brown mush? Just looking at this plate makes me happy!

Curried Veggies
with simple mixed whole grains

1/2 onion-diced
3 cloves garlic-diced
2 tbs butter
1/2 c yellow curry paste
1 1/2 c veggie broth
2 potatoes-cubed
4 med carrots-cubed
1 can chick peas
1 package tempeh-cubed
1 can coconut milk
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbs Sriracha
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1 bag frozen peas

Melt butter in fry pan and add onion and garlic. Cook on medium heat until onion is transparent then add the curry pasted and broth. Heat through until paste is dissolved.

Meanwhile chop veggies and tempeh to like sizes. Approximately 1/2inch cubed. You may need to slice the carrots into thick pieces depending on their diameter.

Add everything except the coconut milk and peas to the crock pot on high. Set the crock pot for 4 hours and sit back and wait.

About a half hour before the time is up add the coconut milk and half the frozen peas. The sauce will thicken and the peas with warm up – be sure not to over cook the peas!

I made a combination of whole grains to go with my curry. I used 1/2 cup long grain brown rice, 1/2 cup wild rice and 1/2 cup wheat berries. I just simmered it on 3 cups water and a dash of sea salt for about 50 minutes or until the wild rice had opened up and the wheat berries were softened yet still chewy. If the wild rice has not yet bloomed, go ahead and add a 1/2 cup more water at a time until it is cooked entirely. Serve the curry over the rice. I like to eat it with a simple mint chutney and more Sriracha sauce. Yum!

-Graceface

My Weekly CSA!

We’ve received two produce box deliveries since my last Weekly CSA post and we’ve been tackling using up all the amazing fresh produce we’ve received. There seems to be an abundance of broccoli so we’ve been trying to think of interesting and creative ways to use it all up. I came across the idea for the Broccoli pesto in some cookbook or blog recently and the recipe idea stuck with me, but the cookbook did not. However I couldn’t get it out of my brain so I attempted to recreate it regardless! There has also been an abundance of summer squash – one of my favorites! And I’ve tried all kinds of preparations using it – lemon dilled roasted squash, stir fry and simple steaming. However, It occurred to me that I make little squash fritters (similar to latke actually) and just fry them up! Man, were they good! It’s all I’ve been wanting to eat lately!

The photo above is a sample of one of the produce boxes we receive every week from Farm Fresh To You. We get such great stuff! The plums and peaches have all been gobbled up by me – I’ve been addicted to fresh fruit since I became pregnant and they make perfect snacks while I’m working. The green beans were tossed in a pan with some Braggs, toasted sesame oil and sesame seeds – super simple and so yummy! The carrots were cut into strips and stored in water in the fridge to use as snacks with hummus. The avocado became yummy guacamole for some beef tacos Pat made earlier in the week. And the lettuce? That became a simple green salad! You can see what became of the broccoli and squash below.

BROCCOLI PESTO RIGATONI

1 head broccoli – cut into bite sized pieces and blanched (I included some of the stalks as well to use in the pesto)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese – grated

1/2 cup walnuts – toasted and chopped

1/2 cup fresh oregano – shredded

1/2 cup  olive oil

1 lemon – juice and zest

salt to taste

rigatoni

2 field roast sausages – cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Cut the broccoli into small bite sized florets as well as some small pieces of the edible stalk. Wash these thoroughly and blanche them in boiling water – removing them while they are still bright green. Rinse with cold water to cool so that they stop cooking. You want the broccoli tender but not mushy. Add 3/4 of the broccoli (including all the stalk pieces), cheese, nuts, herbs, olive oil, lemon and salt to a food processor and pulse until the mixture becomes a course paste and broccoli has been broken up. You may need to add more (or less) oil to get the consistency you prefer. Meanwhile boil the water for the pasta and cook it until al dente. Add the remaining blanched broccoli to an oiled fry pan along with the sausages and let them brown (or roast on the broiler). Combine the broccoli pesto mixture with the pasta until the pasta is well coated. Stir in the browned broccoli and sausage pieces and toss with the pasta. Sprinkle additional Parmesan cheese and the lemon zest on top as a garnish.

YELLOW SUMMER SQUASH FRITTERS

4 small yellow summer squash – grated

1/2 small yellow onion – diced

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

2 eggs

3 tbs whole wheat flour

salt to taste

spices and herbs – I prefer paprika and/or dill for these

olive oil for frying

Combine all ingredients (with the exception of the olive oil) in a bowl. Mix well and let sit for a 1/2 hour in the refrigerator. Once mixture has chilled, heat a shallow fry pan on low heat and add 1/2 cup or more of olive oil. You want there to be enough oil to fry the fritters (about 1/4 inch). Add large spoonfuls of the mixture to the pan and cook until golden brown and then flip. Brown the other side and then transfer to a paper-towel lined plate to catch excess oil. Repeat until all the batter is used.

I served mine with a mixture of 2 parts greek yogurt 1 part sriracha sauce. But, like a latke, they would be yummy with sour cream and apple sauce too!

And there you have it! Two fantastic recipes using some of your CSA boxes most plentiful produce! Or maybe you just really loooove broccoli and are looking for new uses for it. Pat loves broccoli so it’s always a good day when I find another great way to use it that we can both love!

-Graceface

The Vegan Omnivore – Corn Salsa & Lamb Sausage Tacos

I’m LOVING fresh corn on the cob right now and was super excited when last weeks CSA box included 4 ears! I promptly concocted a quick corn salsa recipe without really knowing what I would do with it in the end. But, looking through my fridge I found two Lamb Sausages, a carton of greek yogurt and some corn tortillas. PERFECTO! Corn Salsa & Lamb Sausage Tacos were born! The sweet corn and tart lamb sausage were a PERFECT combination – I added the yogurt to add a bit of creamy texture to the dish. This recipe is clearly not vegan but easily could be if one used vegan sausages and sour cream in place of the lamb sausages and yogurt. I prefer the Apple Sage Field Roast Sausages – they’re my fave vegan sausage! I did not have these on hand however, and tend to use what is in my fridge and pantry whenever possible instead of running to the store for just one or two items.

CORN SALSA

2 ears corn – blanched & kernels removed from cob

4 fresh basil leaves – shredded

1 heirloom tomato – diced

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp lemon zest (1/2 lemon)

squeeze of 1/2 lemon

2 tbs Parmesan cheese – grated (optional)

Blanche ears of corn in a large pot of boiling water just until they turn bright yellow. Using a knife cut down against the corn to remove the kernals from the cob. Place in a mixing bowl and add the rest of the ingredients and combine. Salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top as a garnish if desired. SIMPLE!

This was the perfect fresh summery lunch – exactly what I was looking for! I can’t wait to make this simple dish again with the corn that is coming in tomorrow’s CSA box. I just browned the sausages as the pot of water was coming to a boil and browned the tortillas on my gas stove top (if you do this – be sure to keep an eye on them – they burn easily). The tacos basically built themselves from there!

The corn salsa would also be perfect as a side dish at a summer BBQ,  mixed into farfalle pasta with the yogurt to make a simple pasta salad, used as an ingredient in a falafel pita sandwich and more! There are so many ways to use this simple dish – and I was able to prepare it in very little time – 15 minutes tops!

Enjoy it!

-Graceface

The Vegan Omnivore – Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

MILK AND WHOOPIES!

I’m drooling just looking at the photos and wishing I had some more of these puppies left – but they are loooong gone. They were surprisingly easy to make and I definitely recommend trying them out, it’ll be so worth it I promise!

I used the recipe from Martha Stewart for Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies, with just slight alterations such as butter in place of shortening and the exclusion of vanilla extract. Oh, and I used at least two to three times more Buttercream Frosting in the centers that the scant Tbs the recipe calls for. I’ve used Martha’s Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting recipe a bunch though and it is EXCEPTIONAL!

Sorry about the photo heavy post, I am basically madly in love with these cookies! Oops, I mean whoopies!

-Graceface

My Weekly CSA Box – Menu Ideas

We received a lovely box of fruits and veggies from Farm Fresh To You this week – though I’m anxious for the summer crops to begin to be harvested! The contents of the box have been neatly packed away in the fridge in their respective compartments, shelves and drawers to help them stay crisp and into bowls on the counter to ripen.

I have some interesting ideas this week about how to use up all that broccoli we’ve now got! Since we still haven’t used last week’s broccoli and we received extra in place of the cucumber we asked not to receive this week (we don’t likey cucumbers!), we now have 6 HEADS of broccoli to use! I’m going to try something new and blanch some broccoli on the stove top in a pot of water and then make a sort of pesto with it to cover some awesome Rigatoni I found in bulk bins last week. Then I plan to roast up some more broccoli to toss with the pasta, pesto, a little parmesan and some lemon zest – I can’t wait! I also threw in the Peanut Butter Coconut Curried Veggies, which will work out well for whatever veggies are left toward the end of the week – they can all get thrown into the pot and covered with a rich and nutty sauce and served over some hearty rice. YUM!

We love a good salad over here so I’ve even created a little inspiration list of simple salad toppings for that romaine lettuce that came in the box this week. I don’t normally get excited about fruit in a green salad, but these days (preggo days) I’ve pretty much been wanting fruit every which way I can get it. So salad it is! My favorite option I came up with is the Grapefruit, Fresh Dill, Ricotta and Vinaigrette. I think it would be exceptional with a few toasted sunflower seeds or pepitas thrown in as well, and would be just as yummy with the black plums in place of the grapefruit. Did I ever mention how much I LOVE stone fruit? Cause I totally do!

The Box:

4 small heads of broccoli

4 yellow summer squash

2 green peppers

1 bunch nantes carrots

1 bunch beets

1 head romaine lettuce

1 carton blueberries

2 grapefruits

5 black plums

+ the tomatoes and 2 heads of broccoli leftover from last week’s delivery

Menu Ideas:

Breakfast – Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes/Greek Yogurt, Honey & Plums/Tempeh, Potato, Carrot Hash with Fried Egg

Salads – Grapefruit, Ricotta, Fresh Dill and Vinaigrette/Shredded Beets, Goat Cheese and Vinaigrette/Hard Boiled Egg, Shredded Carrot and Poppy Seed Dressing

Dinner – Rigatoni with Broccoli Pesto (broccoli,garlic,parmesan,walnuts,lemon) with Roasted Broccoli/Quinoa Salad with Tomatoes, Parmesan and Vinaigrette/Grilled Summer Squash and Vegan Sausage with Sage Brown Butter Over Orchiette/Peanut Butter Coconut Curried Veggies Over Brown Basmati Rice

Dessert – Honey Tapioca Pudding with Blueberry Compote/Buttery Plum Galette

Nothing listed here is very involved – it’s all pretty simple actually. I’ll be out of town for the majority of the week and these are all simple ideas that Pat can take advantage of while I’m gone. Not that he needs inspiration, he’s a pretty darn creative cook himself, but it never hurts to throw ideas out there right? hm?

Since I’ll be away from Monday until Thursday in Carmel, CA on a little Libby Ladies trip, you probably won’t be hearing from me for most of next week – though I will still be posting throughout the weekend when the mood strikes me! I’ll be sure to document the trip carefully so that I can share it with you!

-Graceface