First Amelishof CSA Veggies of the Season

On the 2nd of May our local CSA season started. It is still a bit too cold for the time of year over here (we even had night frost during the weekend) so the weekly loot is small — but TASTY!

Amelishof organic CSA vegetables week 20, 2012

• Red leaf lettuce
• Bundle garlic
• Rhubarb
• Escarole
• Plum tomatoes (grown in an unheated glass house)
• Thyme

Menuplan May 15th – 19th

• Tuesday (dinner guest) ~ vegan Chinese takeaway: mini lumpias, satay, tofu in Tausi (black bean) sauce, bami goreng, cassava krupuk.
• Wednesday ~ Indonesian dinner: rice with toemis broad-leaved endive (escarole), tempeh boemboe Bali, leftover satay & krupuk.
  

  Indonesian dinner

• Thursday ~ Lettuce soup, mushroom spaghetti with veg balls Provençal, escarole salad with mandarin and mustard dressing. Leftover beetroot-poppyseed cake.
• Indonesian dinner: Nasi goreng, leftover tempeh boemboe Bali & toemis escarole, garden peas ‘Indonesian style’ (with soy sauce & curry), lalab (lettuce, cucumber, carrot & sambal).
• Saturday ~ Savoury crêpes for the Evernote Cook-along
• Mediterranean vegetable stew (recipe acquired via Uniflame), salad.

Also planned: rhubarb cake and lentil loaf.

This week I’m testing my sustainable Salad Sac full of already washed lettuce leaves!

Amelishof organic CSA vegetables week 19, 2012

• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Red bell pepper
• Spring onion
• Combo of turnip tops and rocket
• Leek

Amelishof organic CSA vegetables week 18, 2012

• Spinach
• Curly red leaf lettuce
• Radishes
• Rhubarb
• Bundle garlic
• Tomatoes

Meals made with these vegetables:

Spicy spinach

Cherry-rhubarb crumble

Nasi goren with steamed spinach and mushroom salad

CSA Season Going Strong (weeks 45-47, 2011)

The quality of the photos logging my weekly CSA greens from Amelisweerd are showing how the end of the season is nigh. Not that we’re getting less, or ugly vegetables. Now that the days are shortening quickly it’s just getting harder to make good pictures without a photostudio in da house.
(Jump to menu plan)

Amelishof CSA vegetables week 45

• Baby cauliflower and broccoli (ending up in Jumble Bento)
• Lollo rossa lettuce
• Celeriac
• Spring onions
• Mustard greens
• Tomatoes
• And oooops… I forgot to pick up my green cabbage! :\

Amelishof CSA vegetables week 46

• Corn salad
• Broad-leaved endive (escarole)
• White cabbage
• Topinamboers (Jerusalem artichokes, sunchokes)
• Rocket (aragula, rucola)
• Conference pears

Amelishof CSA vegetables week 47

• Goudreinette apples
• Raddichio rosso
• Lettuce
• Late baby corn on the cob
• Parsnip
• Red cabbage
• Chervil

Menu plan November 25th – December 1st

I also got some organic veggies from another local garden that need(ed) to be finished: kale, carrots, leek and Brussels sprouts. Other foods in my fridge that won’t hold much longer are bell peppers, courgette, green beans, tofu, soy cream, shiitake mushrooms and coconut milk — a drinking variety which I don’t like and want to get rid of by cooking.

• [Friday] Brussels sprouts with ginger, cumin, walnuts and raisins (Ecofabulous cookbook), parsnip-potato mash, salad of raddichio and corn salad
• [Saturday] Chinese takeaway
• [Sunday] Faux teriyaki meat from the Vegetarische Slager (‘Vegetarian Butcher’) with vegetables and noodles (I used this recipe with green beans instead of sugarsnap peas and no bok choi but Brussels sprouts and shiitake mushrooms)
• [Monday] Spicy parsnip soup (Vegagerechten p.113), fruity red cabbage slaw and bakeoff bread
• [Tuesday] Veggie stir-fry (green and red paprika, white cabbage, shiitakes, onion, leek, carrot, garlic, ginger) and leftover takeaway bihun goreng
• [Wednesday] Pumpkin risotto with grilled zucchini, oven-roasted plum tomatoes & red onions (Vegagerechten p.375) on corn salad
• [Thursday] Chervil soup with oyster mushrooms, bean & bell pepper stew (Vegagerechten p.244), salad with walnuts & garlic croutons made of bread leftover from Monday (Vegagerechten p.196)

One of these days I also hope to make an apple tarte tatin for dessert. And I can already tell you next week’s menu will bring a veganised version of coleslaw with lime mayonnaise (Vegagerechten p.203) and saffron-sunchoke soup (Vegagerechten) on the table. I can hardly wait! ;) Still need to think up something with raddicchio and celeriac.

As I’m only getting around to posting this week’s veggies and menu plan today, several of the meals have already been cooked and eaten. ;) I’ll add some pics below!

Parsnip-potato mash, Brussels sprouts with cumin and ginger, raddichio salad

Teriyaki & cassava krupuk

Spicy parsnip soup and red cabbage slaw

Fall Greens (CSA vegetables weeks 43 and 44, 2011)

I’ve got a lot of vegetables left over in my fridge, so it’s time for some serious menu planning!

Amelishof CSA vegetables week 43

Last week’s veggies:

• red Batavian lettuce
• cilantro
• pointed paprika
• (Batavian) endive
• leek
• celery

Amelishof CSA vegetables week 44

This week’s greens:

• pumpkin
• lollo bionda lettuce
• Elstar apples
• parsley
• kohlrabi
• green beans

Menu plan Wednesday November 2nd – Tuesday 8th

You’ll even find vegetables on the menu from my CSA loot further back!

• Wednesday: eating out with birthday boy @variomatic in Hotel de Goudfazant (Amsterdam)
• Thursday (Mr Gnoe’s piano night): leek-fennel soup (veganized version of Vega Gerechten p.134) & veggie dog with greens
• Friday: spicy sweet potato soup, chili con ‘carne’ tacos and fennel-orange salad with black olives (Vega Gerechten p.150 & 179)
• Saturday: Indonesian dinner! Osèng-osèng kohlrabi, sambal goreng tofu & green beans with white rice (Vegetarisch Indonesisch Kookboek p.50 & 94)
• Sunday (Dexter-5 Night with Elsje): garlic-Jerusalem artichoke soup, garlic or rosemary bread from Vlaams Broodhuys, 2 types of hummus (red beet & pumpkin), cooking pears and red beet salad with walnuts and balsamico (Vega Gerechten p.81, 61 & 188)
• Monday: Ethiopian lentil dish (cutting from Leven, lente 2011) with ‘faux sour creme‘ (La Dolce Vegan!), pita bread and kohlrabi salad (Groentegerechten p.32) OR Indonesian leftovers with nasi goreng
• Tuesday: eating @ mother-in-law’s

Something Missing. Again. (CSA vegetables week 31, 2011)

Often when we’ve picked up our CSA veggies there will be a curious kitty checking out the new stuffs. So in most of the photo series we took there’s at least one picture with either Ringo or Juno — or both. Alas, with Ringo gone there was no cat interest this week :(

• Parsley
• Red beets & chioggia
• Red lettuce
• Carrots
• Leek
• Shallots

Menu plan

• [Thursday] Carrot-lentil soup with aubergine caviare (starters, Met machtig mooie menu’s de wereld rond p.60+61), tortilla with chilli leftovers and cabbage salad with avocado (main course, Groentegerechten p.58), faux sour cream (La Dolce Vegan!) and avocado purée for side dishes.
• [Saturday] Asian beet soup (Groentegerechten p.49), Indonesian takeaway leftovers with home-made sambal bawang, lalab, tempeh térik (Vegetarisch Indonesisch kookboek p.117) and possible sambal goreng cabbage.
• [Sunday] Home-made gnocchi (Groot Vegetarisch Kookboek p.) with Italian veggies.
• Cold avocado-tomato soup (Groentegerechten p.17), eggplant pilaf (Zonnig Zomers Tafelen p.39), sweet root vegetables in ginger coating, salad.

Today I’ll be eating out at Happy Herbi’s huiskamerrestaurant with a friend and Mr Gnoe will get his chance to cook something for himself.

I’ll leave you with a picture of Ringo seizing the bag I use to pick up my veggies :)

There’s Something Missing in this Picture… (CSA vegetables week 30, 2011)

• Basil
• Turnips (white & golden)
• Fennel
• Prunes

If you’re thinking we came off badly this week, rest assured: we didn’t. There’s just something missing from this picture… Since we changed pick-up points this CSA season, we have to bring our own bag and select the vegetables we’re in title to instead of just grabbing a pre-packaged selection. That’s fine with us because it’s greener that way! But you have to pay attention… and that doesn’t always go well. ;) So I had to make a second run this week. Collecting:

• Red Batavian lettuce
• Broad beans — yay!

Menu plan

The beans went into a potato salad right away. Tomorrow we’ll be having a dinner guest and I plan to make taco’s with Mexican frijoles, salsa picante, guacamole, tri-coloured veggie mix (corn, courgette & red paprika) and fennel-tomato salad. The turnips will go into salad (grated) and I want to try mamichan’s spicy crispy umami salad. It’ll be Wednesday again before we know it!

Cabbage and Carrot Salad Recipe (CSA vegetables week 26 and 27, 2011)

The first two weeks of summer brought some really nice greens to our dinner table. Introducing a new feature on Graasland as well! But you gotta read on a little for that. ;)

Organic CSA vegetables week 26, 2011

Here’s what we found in our CSA box the previous week.

• Leek
• Spinach
• Radicchio
• Gooseberries
• Celery
• Chinese cabbage (napa, michihli)

It may seem a bit meagre but there’s something missing from the picture! Half a head of Chinese cabbage and a whole head of red Batavian lettuce. We picked up the veggies on our way to my aunt’s and since our fridge was still rather full we decided to leave some of the loot with her.

Organic CSA vegetables week 27, 2011

Now more importantly: this weeks veggies…

• Broad beans!!! Love ‘em!
• Tomatoes
• Kapucijner peas
• Basil
• Iceberg lettuce
• Pak choi (bok choy)
• Savory (bonenkruid)

I hope I won’t bore you by sharing another menu plan?

Menu plan July 7-12 2011

Due to our schedule there’s a lot of ‘easy food’ on the menu this week.

• Vegan Spaghetti Bolognese [Wednesday]
• White bean & tomato soup (freezer stash), baguette, green salad with scapes, radicchio and pinenuts [Thursday]
• In between hike and going to the vets: Indian lentil soup (dahl, freezer stash), homemade pizza, cabbage & carrot salad (recipe below) [Friday]
• Broad bean soup, rosemary focaccia from Broodnodig, leftover mashed carrot salad, radicchio salad [Saturday]
• After a day of hiking: vegan ‘shoarma’ (Vivera roerbakreepjes) with pita bread, garlic sauce and leftover carrot-cabbage salad [Sunday]
• Kapucijner peas with veggies Provençale (adapting recipe for fresh peas), baguette, salad
• Stir-fry of pak choi, leek, mushrooms and tofu with rice

New feature!

Cabbage contours by Jacqueline Tinney

Many people don’t know what to do with cabbage. That’s a pity because it’s such a healthy vegetable; loaded with vitamins A & C, potassium, calcium, phosphor. It is also thought to be anti-carcinogenic! And if you’re a CSA participant like us you’ll often find it in your box. :)

So. I decided to share some cabbage recipes I like as a special feature on Graasland! Starting of with this week’s side dish of cabbage & carrot salad. Other recipes you can expect in the future are ‘Cabbage with Coconut’ and Indonesian ‘Sambal Goreng Cabbage’.

Easy cabbage-carrot salad

This is a veganised version of Eethuis Iris’ recipe from Zonnig zomers tafelen (p.20).

Cabbage-carrot salad & orange juice

Ingredients
Serves 4.

• 350 g pointed cabbage (I used a mix of pointed and Chinese cabbage; you could also take ordinary white)
• 100 g carrot, cleaned
• 3 tbs veganaise
• 0.5 dl fresh orange juice
• pinch of curry powder
• salt & pepper
• 2 tbs of roasted sunflower seeds
• chopped parsley (optional: it’s not in the original recipe but I added it for colour)

Preparation

1. Clean cabbage and cut out the hard core.
2. Shred the cabbage very finely.
3. Grate the carrot — or pulse a few times in your kitchen machine.
4. Make a sauce of veganaise, orange juice, curry, salt and pepper.
5. Mix vegetables and dressing, top with sunflower seeds and parsley.

On the contrary of what you may expect, the cabbage in this recipe is not overwhelming. I will make this salad again, maybe tweaking it here and there looking for an even better version: like adding a dash of lemon juice and possible some sweetener like agave syrup or golden raisins.

Do you have any favourite cabbage recipes to share? I’d love to hear them!

Join Beth Fish’s Weekend Cooking with a food related post!

Recipe submitted to the July Whip Up Something New! Challenge hosted on Joyfully Retired

Last greens of spring (CSA vegetables week 24 and 25, 2011)

Organic CSA vegetables week 24, 2011

Our tomcat Ringo coming to check out the escarole among the organic vegetables again…

• Radishes
• Broad-leaved endive
• Romaine lettuce
• Chinese cabbage (napa, michihli)
• Red & green basil
• Broccoli
• Scapes (garlic flowers)

Organic CSA vegetables week 25, 2011

• Pointed green cabbage
• Rhubarb
• Red lettuce
• Rapini (turnip tops)
• Courgette (zucchini)
• Snow peas
• Parsley

It’s the last rhubarb of the season and I haven’t figured out yet what to do with it. Any ideas?

Here’s the rest of our menu plan!

Menu plan June 22-27 2011

• Pea soup from a can [Wednesday]
• Sambal goreng cabbage tahu (Vegetarisch Indonesisch kookboek p.93) [Thursday]
• Szechuan noodles (leftover sauce) and Chinese cabbage with coconut (Exotic & Traditional Vegetables p.2) [Friday]
• Simple dinner with guests before going to piano recital: Cream of tomato soup (La Dolce Vegan p.114), salad with snow peas, brownies [Saturday]
• Imam’s Eggplant, mashed carrot salad & tabbouleh (World Food Café p.37, 39 & 31)
• Tomato, cucumber and green pepper mezze (World Food Café p.37), Turkish lentil soup (Met machtig mooie menu’s de wereld rond p.36), leftovers

From the menu plan I previously posted I’ve already shown you the Couscous salad with Orange Basil-Tempeh and Sweet Miso Dressing. Here are the pictures of two other dinners I photographed.

Lentil loaf (from Food for Thought podcast) and Turkish takeaway leftovers

Szechuan noodles from Vegan Family Meals

Join Beth Fish’s Weekend Cooking with a food related post!

Confusion (CSA vegetables week 23, 2011)

Even MORE strawberries this week! We have to thank that to a mix-up with our vegetables: at first only iceberg lettuce and dill were delivered to our CSA pick-up point… Now that won’t do, right? ;) When it was fixed later in the evening we got even more lettuce, dill — and two boxes of strawberries which we weren’t supposed to get at all since we had them last week. Lucky us!

• Bok Choy
• Strawberries
• Red beets
• Iceberg lettuce
• Chard
• Garlic flowers (scapes)
• Red bundle onions
• Dill

So there’s actually another head of lettuce and a hand of dill in the fridge; they didn’t feel like coming out for the picture. ;)

Menu plan June 9-11 2011

Dinner plans for the next couple of days:

• Salad with couscous, orange-basil tempeh and sweet miso dressing (Vegan Family Cookbook), Moroccan tajine (freezer stash) [Thursday]
• Japanese meal at a friends house. Our contribution: Ginger Miso Soup with Kombu Dashi (Vegan Family Cookbook) [Friday]
• Szechuan Noodles with Hot Spicy Peanut Sauce and Pak Choi (Vegan Family Cookbook) [Saturday]

I’ve already shown you our Mexican dinner (bento) and Summer Picnic Pie, so I’ll just leave you with a picture of the Hollandse pot (‘Dutch dish’) from last week’s menu plan: broad-leaved endive mash & bangers with mushroom gravy.

Strawberrrrries! (CSA vegetables week 22, 2011)

• Radishes
• (Bundle) leek
• Red Batavian lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Endive frisée
• Bundle garlic (spring garlic)
• Strawberries

Yum, I’ve been anticipating those strawberries for a whole week! So much that I couldn’t resist buying some in the days in between ;) The very last one ended up in yesterday’s cold noodle bento. These strawberries in our CSA vegetable bag come from about 3 miles from our home! #greenliving ;) We immediately had them for dessert last night, so no need to come over to have a taste! ;)

I did manage to keep Ringo from devouring the endive (he haz a taste for it), so you may want to hop over one of the other nights?

Menu plan June 2-8 2011

• Asian fusion: tofu in tausi black bean sauce (leftover Chinese takeaway), nasi goreng (fried rice) and toemis spinach (Vegetarisch Indonesisch kookboek p.45) [Wednesday]
• Mexican night: bean burritos with steamed spinach [Thursday]
• Bihoen with faux ‘chicken’ (leftover Chinese takeaway) and Toemis endive (Vegetarisch Indonesisch kookboek p.46), pangek brown borlotti beans (Vegetarisch Indonesisch kookboek p.51), nasi koening (freezer stash) and salad with leftover miso dressing
• Endive-potato mash with mushroom gravy (La Dolce Vegan p.181), onion and vegan sausage, salad
• Tomato-garlic pie (Amelisbode wk.22), green salad
• Gnocchi with grilled zucchini and tomato salad

I’ll leave you with two more pictures of dishes from last week’s menu plan. The noodle salad was good, especially with emping for topping (chopped nuts will probably be great too), so I’ll definitely make that again. The leek soup recipe was a bit of a disappointment though — will need to look further!

Cold noodle salad

Leek soup, noodle salad and emping kurupuk