freshbeetsandjams-blog

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

This year's system for keeping track of everything. The white board magnet has my produce on the left, and things I've made with the dates they went into the fridge on the right. The second pic has my ongoing grocery list and tentative meal plans. I am not an organized person, so lists are my best friend. Once the CSA starts rolling in, I've got to know what we have at a glance, so things don't get lost in the back of the fridge. So far I'm 3 for 3 on weeks with no food waste! Fingers crossed I can keep it up 😂😂 . . . . . #mealplan #mealplanning #csa #farmshare #zerowaste #kitchengoals #homecooking #listlistlist

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

Cooking beets always makes me feel like Lady Macbeth #outdamnedspot #worthit #freshbeetsandjams . . . . . . #beets #organic #csa #eatrealfood #eatyourveggies #cooking #homecooking #vegitarian

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

Super simple lunch today of turnip greens, garlic scapes, and an egg fried in garlic chive butter.🔹 I made the butter earlier in the week, and I just throw it in whatever I'm currently cooking to give it some extra flavor. Garlic scapes tend to be my CSA nemesis for some reason. This year, I'm trying to use them everywhere I would normally use a clove of garlic. The taste is a lot milder, which depending where you are on the garlic lover scale, can be a bonus. And here, combined with the garlic chive butter, it made a nice mess of garlicky greens.🔹 Everything, even the eggs, came from @redfirefarm!🔹 #csa #farmshare #redfirefarm #eatrealfood #eatfresh #localproduce #locallove #eattherainbow #lunch #turnips #greens #turnipgreens #garlicscapes #garlicchives #eggs #recipe #vegetarian #eatyourveggies

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

🔹 CSA Pickup - Week 3🔹 Kale, lettuce, salad turnips, scallions, cilantro, broccoli, summer squash, and garlic scapes. If anyone has any ideas for #garlicscapes let me know! CSA ➡@redfirefarm . . . #csa #farmshare #sustainableagriculture #redfirefarm #farmersmarket #fresh #green #kale #lettuce #scallion #cilantro #broccoli #summersquash #turnips #eatyourveggies #eatrealfood #bostonfoodies

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

Breakfast salad with soft boiled egg🔹 Let's pretend I made this as some kind of homage to #summersolstice, and not because I have to eat all the rest of the lettuce before I pick up the CSA today. #saladdays #fridgecleanout #brunch . . . . #softboiledegg #tomatoes #lettuce #salad #breakfast #internationalyogaday #csa #redfirefarm #fresh #eatrealfood #vegitarian #farmshare #farmtotable #eatyourveggies

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

#latergram of last night's dinner, White Bean Burgers. Recipe link: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012989-white-bean-burgers🔹 I swapped out the other fresh herbs for a couple tablespoons of winter savory, but honestly, you could put any seasoning you want in there. Just taste as you go, and when you like the flavor, mix in the breadcrumbs and egg. This meal is quick, cheap, and completely vegetarian! The egg is just for binding everything together, so if you replace that it would be vegan as well. I'm running an experiment now to see how well they freeze, so hopefully I can make these in bulk and pull them out when needed. 🔹 #plantbased #csa #meatlessmonday #vegitarian #whitebeans #beanburger #veggieburger #eatrealfood #eatfresh #wintersavory #freshherbs #eatlikeyougiveafuck #eat #comfortfood

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

🔹Pea Tendril and Jackfruit Stir Fry🔹 Check out how vibrant and healthy that bowl is! Just by looking at it, you can tell how fresh it tastes. Or, you could, if I wasn’t about to break that illusion. Turns out this works much better on Instagram then it did on my table. It was my first time cooking with pea tendrils, so I’m trying not to take it too personally. Since I’ve never used them before, I didn’t realize the stems were going to be too tough to eat until it was too late. What I got was a gorgeous, pleasant tasting bowl of pure roughage. Yay fiber. Ok, that’s not totally fair. The carrots were perfectly crisp, the jackfruit was juicy and meaty, and the sesame oil mixed with the garlic and chili tasted great! So what do you do when something you make is underwhelming? I generally follow this process: 1. Panic - I am culinary failure now and should resign myself to only making cold cereal and microwave burritos. 2. Bargaining - Maybe if I throw on some garnishes the boyfriend won’t notice that I’ve got him chewing on flavored cardboard. 3. Acceptance and Learning - Eat the damn thing and figure out how I can improve it next time. In this case, I have now learned what the normal texture of pea tendrils should be. Also, that jackfruit is delicious and versatile and I will be buying tons of it stat.

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

🔹CSA Pickup, Week 2🔹 Tons of fresh lettuce, popcorn on the cob, pea tendrils, garlic chives, winter savory, and a 1/2 dozen eggs. Timone has tested the pea tendrils and found them to be satisfactory, so those get cooked first. || CSA ➡ @redfirefarm || . . . . #redfirefarm #csa #farmshare #farmtotable #nofarmsnofood #eatlocal #eatfresh #farmersmarket #wintersavory #garlicchives #peatendrils #lettuce #popcornonthecob #popcorn #bostoncooks #boston #cambridgema (at Cambridge, Massachusetts)

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

Tiny surprise in the salad greens today! 🌼🌼 Also, a bonus pic of Timone trying to steal a garlic scape #badcat . . . #csa #redfirefarm #farmshare #farmtotable #eatlocal #eatrealfood #freshcats #freshveggies #cattax #catsofinstagram #veggielife #wellnesswednesday

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

Raspberry chèvre on baguette toast. When it's too hot to make a lunch, bread and cheese is here for you 🙌🍞 #breadandcheese #lunchbreak . . . . #goatcheese #lunch #cheeselover #frenchbread #chevre #baguette #freshbeetsandjams

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

Turnips are delicious, but also can be big, fist sized clunkers that take up way too much space in my tiny refrigerator. So, even though they’ll keep in the fridge for weeks, I always try to use them up fairly early.

I decided to mash them, but I wanted to go beyond salt and butter, so I looked up a few recipes to get inspiration. I landed on this: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/mashed-root-vegetables-with-bacon-vinaigrette , and I liked it for two reasons:

It steamed the veggies. For a mash, I usually boil them, but steaming takes almost the same amount of time, and only adds one thing to wash,the steamer basket. And the flavor payoff is worth it.

Bacon and vinegar made this look like German Potato Salad, which is the best.

The only downside was the mustard seeds. Like I said in the previous post, mustard seeds don’t live in my pantry anymore. Yes, theoretically I could make mustard or something out of them, but I’m not quite at “crafts all her own condiments” levels of kitchen crazy yet. What I do have is a whole grain Dijon mustard that I use to boost flavor in almost everything.

So instead of steeping mustard seeds in vinegar, I just skipped that step, and mixed about 2 tablespoons of the whole grain mustard into the cooked bacon and onions. Then, I stirred that into the mash along with the cider vinegar. I left out the parsley, because I forgot to cut it and was too hungry to wait.

Next time I make this, I’m either going to use half the sugar or leave it out completely. Turnips and other root veggies are sweet enough on their own, and I felt like I needed to add more vinegar to balance it out.

If anybody else remixes the recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Ask box is open, so hit me up.

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

Turnip mash post is postponed until tomorrow because this happened! Our roommates parents are visiting from China, so we get homemade dumplings for dinner 😍🙏😍 #dumplings #homecooking #sundaze . . . . . #cambridge #bostonfoodies #dumplinglife #chinesefood #dumpling #dumplingtime

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

So last night I made a hot bacon and turnip mash to go with dinner. Easily the best root vegetable related decision I've made all week. This is leftovers made into breakfast, because putting a poached egg on anything instantly makes it a breakfast food.

Mash was inspired by a @bonappetitmag recipe, but I switched up a lot. Biggest change was subbing out mustard seeds for a whole grain dijon mustard. Whole mustard seeds are one of those things you buy for one recipe, then the jar sits taking up space for 5 years slowly losing flavor and reminding you of how much you spent on the damn things every time you look at your spice rack. I don't need that kind of guilt in my kitchen.🔹 Turnips and egg came from the #redfirefarm CSA. Full recipe notes are going up on the Tumblr this weekend. Link is in my profile!

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

When you still have to eat breakfast but the Comey testimony is about to start. 🔹Peanut Butter Popcorn🔹 Melt together 1tbs butter, 1tbs honey, and 1/3 cup peanut butter, then mix with 4 cups of popped corn. Breakfast of drama loving champions. #popcorn #peanutbutter

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

First CSA share of the year!! Butterhead lettuce, purple kholrabi, cilantro, turnips, green garlic, spinach, and fresh eggs. The first pick-ups are usually a little smaller, which is awesome, because it gives me a couple weeks to get used to cooking and storing everything. Today, for instance, everything was washed, prepped, and in the fridge about 30 minutes after I picked it up! In a month or so, this will be a very different story. 🔹🔹🔹 CSA ➡ @redfirefarm . . . . . #csa #farmshare #veggies #eatrealfood #farmtotable #cleaneating #veggielover #greengarlic #newengland #freshbeetsandjams (at Cambridge, Massachusetts)

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

Spring Playlist! Not as long as some of my others, but it’s been keeping me dancing

[freshbeetsandjams-blog]

Coconut pecan frosting for German Chocolate Cake! #cake #frosting #somethingforthegroundskeeper