What I did with yesterday's Hungry Harvest
My Hungry Harvest yesterday was mostly vegetables. In fact, I think the only fruit was a bag of large apricots and some kiwifruit.
This is fine, but I (and probably a lot of people!) find fruit to be a whole lot easier to eat than vegetables.
Not only is it sweet, it also requires almost zero prep to be delicious.
On the other hand, most vegetables needs to have something done to them. Which makes me much more prone to wasting them.
So yesterday, I spent some time prepping my veggies so that I don't end up composting them.
First, I made a salad with my kale, using this recipe from Gimme Oven. Verdict: pretty good, for a kale salad. 😉
I tried this buttered leeks recipe to use up my leeks, and I'd say it's just ok. But I will probably manage to get through these now that they are prepped and cooked.
I got a LOT of carrots in this week's box, so I made a jar of carrot cake overnight oats.
(I use regular milk instead of almond milk, though.)
I used more of the carrots to make a batch of roasted carrots. SO GOOD.
I cut up the rest of the carrots to eat raw, along with one of the cucumbers.
I cooked the corn and cut it off the cob for use in quesadillas tonight.
So, that means I prepped/cooked all the veggies except these guys.
The asparagus is easy to saute with dinner and the cucumber will probably just get sliced and eaten raw.
The green peppers? Lisey and I can be depended upon to cook those to go in scrambled egg burritos.
So, I'm feeling pretty good about my odds of using every last bit of this up. Yay!
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P.P.S. If you're new to Hungry Harvest, you might want to read this: What is Hungry Harvest?
You can always chop or slice the peppers and put them directly in the freezer. Then just take out what you need as you need them. As long as you are cooking them, freezing them won't make any difference.
Frozen chopped green peppers come in handy for chilli, soups, sloppy Joe, etc.
Roasted carrots are soooo good!
We use a lot of English cucumbers thinly sliced with cheese on bread. And in salads. And even in drinks and cold soups.
I bought a cook book for my husband on how to make shrubs (essentially, vegetable and fruit infusions that are made in advance and stored in mason jars). These make such refreshing additions to drinks, such as plain club soda. We've made some with melon, cucumber, and fennel.
You can also make fajitas with the peppers. Altho I do find green peppers to be a bit on the bitter side and not sweet like the colored peppers.
I always use leeks in the Pioneer Woman's recipe for pasta, pancetta and leeks. It is one of our favorite go-to pasta dishes!
This makes me feel like I should find a new CSA. But I'm pretty sure there aren't any that deliver here in business right now so we'd have to pick-up and it's just such a demand on our time each week. Still... it's so nice to have fresh veggies.
Hmm. Is Imperfect Produce in your area? I know they cover some areas that Hungry Harvest does not, and they deliver. Not quite a CSA, but it does dump a bunch of produce at your house (which makes me eat more of it!)
Nope! We're not urban enough. The imperfect produce around here does go to our branch of Feeding America though, so it's not wasted. Eventually I'm sure another CSA will try home delivery before going out of business.
Thank you for the reminder about the roasted carrots recipe. I have stitches from dental surgery and I'm getting tired of steamed spinach.
Stuffed peppers? We much prefer the red/orange/yellow peppers for stuffing (typically an Italian sausage w/spinach, mushrooms, onions, garlic & bound together w/ricotta cheese) and roast them before stuffing them with the cooked filling. Then back in the oven for final warming all the way through before inhaling them. The green peppers may improve with roasting, and all the previous entries have excellent suggestions for using them up!
I feel like y'all don't eat a lot of potatoes, but potatoes and leeks are perfect partners. Plus bacon for extra perfection. Also, adding just a small amount of heavy cream to leeks is always a good idea.
I LOVE leeks. They're definitely on my "to grow" list for next year. I can't buy them here, but in places where I could, they're stupid expensive. And they're pretty easy to grow. At least, they were in New York. They might not like the dry winds here . . .
Hmmm, I think I might have some red potatoes in my cupboard...
I did the same thing yesterday with my veggies. I like to purchase a large amount of whatever vegetables are on sale so yesterday I steamed a bunch of broccoli and put them into FoodSaver bags and into the freezer. Then I cut up some red, yellow, and orange bell peppers, put them into the dehydrator and then into a canning bottle, sealed it and done. I am always running out of fresh peppers when I need them, so having dehydrated peppers on hand is my goal.
This is my favorite recipe for leeks and by that I mean it’s the only time I’ve bought leeks. It was delicious and I ended up making it for lunch all week 3 weeks in a row. https://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/creamy-wild-rice-soup/
I love leeks in a cheesy casserole, yum. And yes to leeks with potatoes and bacon. Oh, my, yes.
I have to make an effort with the fresh vegetables, too, because there is definitely more prep work to most of them than there is with fruit. I've done pretty well about not wasting them in the last few months, but overripe vegetables can still sneak up on me if I'm not careful.
Carrot-Raisin "salad" is an old favorite of mine from the days of being a kid. Shredded carrots, raisins, and just enough mayo to bind them together. I have been known to add well-drained chopped pineapple to it sometimes, too, or get fancy with craisins, which as far as I know weren't around when I was a kid.
I sauteed a package of baby kale that included a small amount of salad greens, and I didn't even notice the salad greens in it once it was all cooked. I sauteed the kale + salad greens in olive oil with leftover sliced fresh mushrooms, and it tasted good to me. I don't mind baby kale, but adult kale, I'm not so fond of.
No Hungry Harvest here yet, but I'm hoping it will work its way here, since I am in Florida.
Leek and goat cheese tart is FABULOUS!
And I LOVE the cucumber, feta, pearl couscous salad with lemon vinaigrette from Budget Bytes.
Roasted carrots is the only way I like to eat cooked carrots. Have you tried roasting or grilling asparagus??? SO good.
I've always loved green peppers so I'm surprised to see so many commenters don't care for them. I almost always get ours from our garden so maybe they are sweeter that way???
I think you did a great job with your veggies. I'm with you--fruit is definitely favored over veggies!
Yep, grilled asparagus is great!
And yes. Fruit is just way, way easier. And sweeter. 😉
We grow literally hundreds of leeks every summer, as they are very expensive here in Fairbanks. Leek pie is a winner, as is leek au gratin.
Leeks sauteed in butter with a splash of heavy cream (not fattening at all ahem), but delicious!!
I just got an email this week that Hungry Harvest will start delivering to my area (Charlotte, NC) this fall [insert big smile emoji]!! I’ve been on their waiting list for well over a year, maybe two, based on your recommendation. Thank you!
Yay! So exciting.