So my first week went well.  I definitely can tell a difference in the produce compared to the grocery store as well as my meat and eggs. It is all delicious!!!  Of all the recipes I made this past week I have a few that are winners in my book.  The cucumber sandwiches are amazing for lunch during the summer very fresh and light. Serve the zucchini fries as a side with meat, and the verde salsa is my afternoon snack with chips as well as my topping with red meat, pork, and chicken. The recipes are at the end of the blog. While I was at the farmers market this week I bought local fresh mozzarella and basil and had it with my CSA tomatoes!!  I hate raw tomatoes but I loved these.




This week in my basket I have zucchini, squash, roma tomatoes, spaghetti squash, green peppers,  a canary melon, and half a dozen eggs.

Menu for the week:

Stuffed green peppers
Spaghetti squash with mushrooms
wheat pasta with roma tomatoes, zucchini, squash and homemade pesto
egg salad sandwiches
cucumber sandwiches
chicken salad with my leftover chicken from last week.

Recipes from last week:

Baked Zucchini Fries with Persian Yogurt Dip

Zucchini Fries
Ingredients:
1lb zucchini
1/2 c  panko or regular bread crumbs
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg

preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking oil or just brush with oil.

combine bread crumbs and cheese, I also add pepper, season salt, and garlic powder.

whisk the egg in a separate bowl

cut the ends of the zucchini off then cut the zucchini in to thirds, take each third and stand in up on its end and cut three to four thin strips. the ends will have the skin on one side, just take a peeler and remove the skin for the end pieces.

next dip the zucchini in the egg then the bread crumb mixture and place on cookie sheet
bake for 10 min then flip the zucchini and bake for another 10 min. remove and serve immediately with the persian yogurt dip.

Persian Yogurt Dip
Ingredients:
16 oz plain yogurt
2 T dried dill weed
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cucumber peeled, seeded, and chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all together and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

English Tea Cucumber Sandwich
Ingredients:
1 cucumber peeled,  thinly sliced (for 2 to 3 sandwiches)
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
1/4c mayo
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion salt
dash Worcestershire
bread of your choice
pinch of lemon pepper

peel cucumber and place between paper towel to remove excess water, at least 10minutes

mix all ingredients except lemon pepper

spread mixture on each side of toasted bread, add thin layer of cucumbers on one side, add dash of  lemon pepper on the cucumber.

Eggplant Caponata

• 2 cups cherry tomatoes
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 med. yellow onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 med. eggplant
• 1 med. Yellow bell pepper
• 3 oz. tomato paste
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 bunch fresh basil
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1/4 bunch fresh parsley

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and roast cherry tomatoes for 12min. Set aside.

Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Place them in a large pot
with 3 Tbsp of olive oil and cook over medium heat until softened
(about 5 minutes).

While the onion and garlic are cooking, wash the eggplant and cut into
1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes. Add the eggplant cubes to the pot with the
onion and garlic and continue cooking. Add a pinch of salt to help the
moisture come out of the eggplant.

Wash and dice the yellow bell pepper. Add to the
pot with the other vegetables and continue cooking until all of the
vegetables have begun to soften (5-10 minutes).

Add the roasted tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, basil,
crushed red pepper  to the pot. Give everything a good stir.
Taste the mixture and add more salt and pepper as needed (I added
about 1/2 tsp of salt). Let the mixture simmer over low heat for about
15 minutes to further break down the vegetables. Add water as needed if you want a thinner sauce. I did not add any to mine.

Roughly chop about 1/4 bunch of parsley. When the caponata is finished
cooking, turn off the heat and stir in the fresh parsley.

Uses:  Add to cooked pasta, top onto whole grain crusty bread or use
as a topping for fish or chicken.   Use leftovers over eggs the next
morning! 

Tomatillo Salsa Verde

Ingredients

• 1 pound tomatillos, husked
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1-2 jalapeno chile peppers, minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 
  

Directions

1. Place onion, garlic, and chile pepper into a saucepan. Season with cumin, and salt. set aside.
2.  Bring tomatillos to  a boil over high heat then boil for 5 min or until very soft, then drain and put into food processor. puree the tomatillos
3. add the onion mixture puree again
4. add fresh cilantro leave and stem and pulse to leave cilantro with chunks in the mixture
5. add one T sugar
6. cool and enjoy with chips or over any meats!

Tomato and onion quiche:  

Ingredients:

4 eggs

3/4 c milk

3/4 c half and half

2 T melted butter

1 T flour

pinch of salt

pinch of Cayenne pepper

pinch of pepper

1-2 tomatoes thinly sliced then half the slices

1-2 onions sauteed

pie crust whole wheat store bought from whole foods freezer section

1 cup shredded cheese of your choice

mix all ingredients up to tomato in a bowl and whisk well

add sauteed onion and tomato to pie crust, layer your choice of shredded cheese on top then pour egg mixture over and bake at 375 for 30 to 40 min until top is light brown.

Well I hope you try some on the recipes I explored this past week. I look forward to trying my spaghetti squash this week, I have never had one. 

Welcome friends and family reading my blog. I am not a great writer but I know how to cook and bake.
I have just moved to Durham North Carolina with my fiance and we have decided to try our best to eat local and seasonal.  We have joined a CSA (community shared agriculture). In simple words we have a local farmer who delivers us fruits, vegetables, eggs, and meats weekly. Each week we will see what is delivered in our basket and make a menu for the week. We will buy any supplemental items we need at the farmers market and then any additional items if we need them from Whole Foods.

This week in our basket is tomatillos, gypsy peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, squash and zucchini. We also had delivered a half a dozen free range eggs and free range antibiotic free pork and chicken. Here is the menu for the week:

English Tea Cucumber Sandwiches
Persian Yogurt Salad
Mom's Cucumbers
Tomatillo Salsa Verde with Grilled Pork Chops
Eggplant Caponata with whole wheat penne
Whole Baked Chicken with squash and zucchini
Tomato Quiche

Total cost after CSA delivery, farmers market, and whole foods: $65.00. I know right!!! Eating local is affordable and helping your local farmer. This food is the amount for two people for 7 dinners,  2 lunches, and 2 breakfasts.

This blog is new for me so I hope to be able to share with you what we make in our basket each week and if I approve of the recipes I have tired, I will share them on the blog. I hope you also become interested in eating local as well. I also will do some blog entries on my baking and exploring to find the prefect recipe for foods that to me are Southern.

Stacey

Sweet Tea

This is my first entry. I find it very fitting that this it my first topic. I am known as GRITS, girl raised in the south. I am from South Carolina and sweet tea is a must in my diet. Everybody has their own way of making it and I think I make a very nice pitcher of sweet tea. It is so good that I have my northener co-workers drinking it! I live in New Jersey now so I have to hold on to my roots! Here is how I make my sweet tea.

Items needed
4 family size tea bags
Tea pot filled with water
2 quart pitcher
1 1/4 cup sugar

Directions
Bring kettle to a boil and remove from heat. Add the tea bags and brew for exactly 4 minutes. Any longer and it will make the tea taste sour. Remove the tea bags. Pour the tea mixture in to the pitcher with the sugar. May sure the sugar completely melts. Then add water to taste.  The more water you add the weaker the tea will taste. I then place in the frig and serve over ice. I have received compliments every time I make it.