In the heat of the summer there are so many amazing veggies we just don’t have enough time to highlight all of them. Each one is special in its own way, adding nutrition, flavors, and colors to our meals. So, here begins another honorable mention post. We invite you into our homes to see what happened with our fruits and veggies this week.
In Sarah’s house…
We took at picnic lunch over to Springdell this past week to visit the new alpaca. We brought chicken salad wraps with us using cucumbers, heirloom scallions, kale (which I Massaged to soften it), and basil.
The heirloom scallions have a pretty quick life so I used some of them and they rest were sliced and bagged for storage. I look forward to pulling them from the freezer and adding them to dishes in the winter.
Even more freezing happened this week. My greens seemed to have gotten away from me No veggies should go unloved so I bagged them for smoothies. I washed, dried, and chopped kale, chard, and collards. Giving each bag a little of everything, making variety for my green smoothies this winter.
Three of our ears of corn were used in a creamy corn salad. Most corn salads don’t have a creamy base but this was a nice change of pace. Great with a burger!
Stir fry was on the menu one night this week. Some summer squash, zucchini, and my green beans were happily devoured.
Last but not lease from my house was my highlighted smoothie of the week. This one included: Apple, banana, kale, cucumber, green tea powder, and flaxseed meal.
In Jess’s house…
We played around with the watermelon radishes! This recipe from The Kitchn for Kale Salad with Quick-Pickled a Watermelon Radish was quite good! I used champagne vinegar as a substitute for the white wine vinegar and it was still great! Remember to massage your kale if eating it in a salad, it really makes a big difference in the flavor!
I had a couple of extra radishes that I grabbed from the swap box at the end of the day. I braised them in a bit of butter and sugar. Yum!
I am still playing with the pasta maker with my greens. I ran the collard greens and red Russian kale through the pasta maker and sautéed them in a bit of coconut oil with a few of those heirloom onions and some garlic. Next I added sesame oil, brown sugar, soy sauce and topped it with sesame seeds. I’m really loving this combo!
I’ve noticed the lettuce hasn’t been disappearing off the dinner plates this week. Perhaps a these leaves had a little bitterness to them. I made Sweet and Sour Lettuce again and voilà! It all disappeared.
The stuffing squash in the sharebox was used for just that – stuffing! I love using peppers, zucchini, and these here beauties for breathing new life into leftovers. Here I had some of the leftover pork that didn’t make it into Sunday’s Tamales. I sautéed some tomatoes, basil, garlic, kale, and onion along with the center of the squash that I scooped out. I added the pork and stirred the mixtue before stuffing the squash. I sprinkled some cheese on top and put in in the oven for a spell until everything was done. A colorful and nutritious dish!
I also froze up my heirloom scallions. Freezing is a great way to preserve them for later recipes. Simply chop them…
Toss them in the freezer for a couple of hours on a cutting board, cookie sheet, or other flat surface. Then take them out and scoop them into your freezer bag before popping them back in the freezer.
The extra step of freezing before bagging ensures that your scallions won’t stick together in the freezer bag, making it simple to take in out only what you need as you need it. Never again will scallions waste!
Parmesan-Crusted Zucchini Fries from Oxmoor House… My husband took one reluctant look at this plate. I asked him to try just one and he obliged. The rest quickly followed.
Usually this is the part of the post where we review the happenings on Facebook from our Fellow Springdellians. However, these posts have been getting so long as we’ve all been so busy cooking and sharing together! In an effort to keep these posts to a more manageable size, we’ll save the Facebook recap for tomorrow’s Tell. Please tune in, as there is much to review! Until tomorrow, sweet and savory dreams!