farmer market jackpot

• Tilapia, beets and zucchini blossoms Guess we must have been hungry when we went to the farmer's market on Saturday; because not only did we pick up a heavy CSA box, we hit the other stands too! We picked up some beets and zucchini blossoms! Did you know that beet tops are edible?!? So I roasted the beets wrapped in foil on 375 for alittle over an hour. The skins are much easier to peel roasted! For the beet tops, I sauteed them with some olive oil/salt/pepper. The were really tasty...Eric thought they were more tender than other greens (like chard or collards) and the held up better than spinach. If you haven't ever fried zucchini blossoms, you need too! I filled them with goat cheese and herbs (rosemary and tarragon) and Eric fried them. We got the tilapia from Trouts and seasoned it and Eric grilled it...super easy and quick!

• Crabcake, potatoes and kohlrabi Can't take credit for the crabcake...we bought them from Trouts. The CSA potatoes were sliced and sauteed with olive oil/salt/pepper and then the dash of white wine at the end. Another vendor at the market had kohlrabi...neither Eric and I had ever had it so we decided to give it a try. It's a purple color but once you peel it, it's white. You can eat them raw or cooked so again I sauteed them a bit. They tasted alittle like a mild broccoli.

July 11-15

Okay, Tam, this is all for you...have you tried any recipes yet?!?

• Thai Coconut Shrimp with Brown Rice okay don't let the picture fool you...this one was, well, pretty bad. Not sure if it was cooking error or recipe...though I'm leaning towards both. We used brown rice noodles and they were waaaay over cooked. The meal was rather flavorless. It didn't taste very Thai or coconutty (if coconutty is a word).
  
• Spiced Plank-Grilled Salmon We didn't end up grilling it on the plank. Eric grilled just the regular old way. Trout's (our local fish store) had sockeye salmon. It's a beautiful fish (if fish can be beautiful). It has a slightly different flavor than regular salmon. Eric brushed the fish with a little vegetable oil/salt/pepper. Everything we read about sockeye is that the flavor is wonderful on its own and not to put too much "stuff" on it. So we kept it simple. To finish the salmon, we sprinkled alittle fresh tarragon on top. For sides, we had wax beans, tomatoes and zucchinis in our CSA box. Eric grilled the zucchinis and I sauted the wax beans. The tomatoes were just tossed with olive oil and basil.
  
• Greek Grilled Chicken Breast Need time to marinate alert! We got a new grill pan and used it to "grill" the chicken inside. Okay, so now were asking ourselves why we didn't have a grill pan all along! I did the whole drain the yogurt thing here, but I really don't think it was all that necessary but there wasn't that much moisture that drained out. Also, we hardly used much so you definitely don't need to make a 1+ cup of it. For the sides, I got a bag of beets for $1.50 at England Acres (a farm really close to our house). I roasted the beets at 375 for an hour and sauted the tops.
  
• Baked Tilapia with Spicy Tomato-Pineapple Relish (haven't made this one yet).
• Burgers and beans Just a plain old cheeseburger here with CSA wax beans on the side. Cade tried one (cue Hallelujah chorus) and said it tasted like a french fry. Guess that's what happens when you dip it in ketchup. Cullen nibbled one, but to no avail! Don't know if I've mentioned this before, but my new favorite tomatoes are kumato (or brown tomato)...nice because we can get them from our local grocery store. Tossed with mozzarella + basil and a little olive oil=heaven

july 3 - 8

Hopefully this will be a less hectic, normal week...

• Thai Pork and Papaya Couscous I don't have the link to this recipe...I couldn't find it online. I got it from Clean Eating Magazine. It definitely needed more sauce especially paired with the couscous. I think I would try this one again after tweaking the recipe for a thicker sauce.
  
• Plank Grilled Scallops with Lemon-Mint Gremolata We used the cedar plank to grill the scallops and shrimp; however, since scallops and shrimp don't take long to cook, we really didn't get that smoked flavor we were hoping for. Guess we'll just have to save the plank for fish. The gremolata added a nice flavor. We used the mint from our herb pots. The cherry tomatoes and beans are from the CSA.
  
• Fruit and Gorgonzola Salad with Proscuitto haven't made this one yet...we ate the peaches and plums before we made the salad! Maybe next week!
• Grilled Yucatan Chicken Skewers Not bad, but we were expecting the chicken to be more flavorful since it had been marinating for a few hours. For sides here, I sauted some beans from the farmer's market in olive oil. I also couldn't resist Farmer Rick's cherry tomatoes so I tossed those with some mozzarella and basil.
  
• Grilled Shrimp and Lemon Skewers with Red Potato This was great! We didn't have long enough rosemary to use as skewers, next time for sure! I'd like to rename the red potatoes "drunken potatoes" because I added a splash of white wine to deglaze the pan...with all the potatoes we get with the CSA, I see alot of drunk potatoes in our future!
  
• Pork and Chorizo Kebabs with White Wine Marinade Not bad...the only problem was that the meats cooked at different rates so it turned out a little dry. We only had a half a bottle of wine to use although I don't think that's the reason the meat was dry. We cubed some watermelon and grilled it along with corn on the cob.