Starting 2013 Afresh

I did some extra cleaning for the turn of the year, but that’s not what this post is about.

Maybe you noticed I haven’t been writing much lately; I even stopped (b)logging my weekly vegetable haul. Furthermore, I failed to make photos since December. O_o I guess I fell into some sort of winter slump.

CSA season ended the week before Christmas but there are still many greens left in the fridge… Not that fresh any more. :\ So now that the new year has begun I’m resolved to take up menu planning again — and actually started a few days ago. The pantry and refrigerator need to be emptied of 2012’s remains!

November 2012 CSA vegetables (week 45-48)

In stock

Veggies

• Pumpkin
• Parsnip
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Leek
• Brussels sprouts
• Red cabbage
• Savoy cabbage
• Sunchokes
• Avocados
• 1/3 courgette
• Thyme

Leftovers

• Chilli-tomato sauce
• Stewed pears (Yogi kookschrift: Bord 1-5)

Other

• Pickled Seaweed
• Blue Sheese
• Tempeh
• Tofu
• Open package of silken tofu
• Open package of soy cream
• Open package of oat cream

Once we’ve depleted this surplus we’ll get organic Odin vegetables till our local veggies return in May.

Menu plan December 30th 2012 – Januari 2nd 2013

• Roasted parsnip & carrot salad with thyme (Ecofabulous 151), mashed potatoes with celeriac, Asian “lemon chicken” and stewed pears, red grapefruit for dessert [Sunday]
  
• Tomato soup (freezer stash) and pita bread with bean-corn-avocado salad with leftover chilli-tomato sauce, homemade oliebollen (Ecofabulous 167): traditional New Year’s fritters [Monday]
  
• Spicy red cabbage with tofu and gingerbread… (Ecofabulous 138), mashed potatoes and salad [Tuesday]
• Microwave teriyaki, yuzu scented winter vegetable tsukemono and Brussels sprouts with sesame [Wednesday]

Further planning will follow on Thursday. Now I’m hopping into the kitchen to cook dinner!

Advertentie

Some More CSA (week 44, 2012)

So. VeganMoFo has ended and I didn’t meet my goal of 20+ posts… I got to 19! Not bad for a newbie, I think. Especially considering I’d planned to write some in advance but didn’t have the time. I also didn’t live up to the promises I made about travel-friendly recipes and how I survived my holiday in France as a vegan. Don’t worry, I still mean to make good on them! But now it’s back to normal with my weekly veggies and menu plan.

For some, CSA season has already ended. Not here though: our local organic vegetables will continue until the week before Christmas. Lucky me. :)

Here’s this week’s fall haul.

• Kale
• White cabbage
• Tomatoes
• Garlic
• Celeriac
• Radicchio

Menu plan Wednesday October 31st – Wednesday November 7th

Including veggies we didn’t manage to eat up yet (green cabbage, fennel, leek, sweet dumpling pumpkins) the following will arrive on our dinner table.

• Wednesday: Nigel Slater’s peppers & chickpeas with harissa (adapted) with Sarah Kramer’s cumin spice quick bread (freezer stash) and fennel-tomato-olive salad with fresh basil (Groentegerechten p.32).
• Thursday: stuffed mini pumpkins with rice and gyro style roasted lemon olive seitan with dill sauce (Vegan Eats World p.54, 253); radicchio Caesar salad.
• Saturday: dinner @ my aunt’s!
• Sunday: kale-celeriac-potato mash with leftover veggie dogs & chorizo tempeh (VEW promo card), cabbage salad with coriander-mayo dressing left over from Sarah’s spiced potato salad.
• Monday/Tuesday: Nigel’s spicy stuffend pittas and soup (probably freezer stash or pantry).
• Monday/Tuesday: leftovers or improvising.
• Wednesday (when @variomatic is joining us for dinner): Chloe Cascarelli’s pasta ‘Alfredo’ & salad.
• Possibles: apples from the oven with chocolate sauce (still have some left!) and Chloe’s cinnamon-espresso chocolate chip cookies..!

Bon appétit!

Changing Seasons (CSA week 38, 2012)

These are the veggies we got for the last week of summertime.

• Savoy cabbage
• Lettuce
• Escarole (2 bunches)
• Carrots
• Red paprika
• Corn cob

As we’re changing seasons today, these vegetables will be used in summer and fall menus.

Menu plan 21 – 27 September

While planning our meals I got distracted by all the yummy recipes and forgot to include the escarole, even though I had marked it urgent on my list. :\ So I’m somehow trying to squeeze it in at the last minute.

• Freezer stash Friday: courgette soup, Fry’s chicken style burger on bread with vegetable toppings.
  `
• Saturday ~ from summer to fall: fresh tomato soup, seitan piccata with longbeans (p.174 V’con = Veganomicon) and oven-roasted sweetly spiced carrots with maple syrup (p.34 V’con).
  
  
  Postscript: I used all ingredients but pretty much messed about with the proportions of beans and seitan – still it turned out awesome!
• Sunday: red lentil – cauliflower curry with leftover roasted carrots for lack of parsnip (p.186 V’con), cumin spiced quick bread (p.267 La Dolce Vegan) for the Dutch vegan society forums cookalong and some extra simple veggies on the side, like braised escarole/cabbage, corn on the cob and/or escarole salad.
  
• Mediterranean Monday: Briami (p.56 A Vegan Taste of Greece), Turkish bulgar with chickpeas (freezer stash) and lemony cucumber salad.
  
• Asian Tuesday: cabbage ramen/noodles (double recipe) and teriyaki tofu with leek or (vegan) egg roll. Maybe sautéed escarole with leftover smoky tempeh marinade.
  
• Wednesday: vegetable roti with tofu and chickpea salad (p.82 Vegan Taste of Greece) with raw escarole.
  
  
• Thursday: pesto pasta with Savoy cabbage (with pesto from a jar), Puy lentil salad with beet (and pine nuts, leftover smoky tempeh or bread garlic croutons instead of goat’s cheese).
  
  

I also hope to bake some lemon cupcakes, based on the recipe for  coconut-lemon Bundt cake in Veganomicon (p.256). I really don’t have a reason, except that it’ll be Nina’s first anniversary of being out of the shelter and living with us. She’s starting to believe she actually has a home! :)

Lemon cupcakes were a favourite when I still ate dairy & eggs and I haven’t dared trying a vegan recipe yet… But this cake by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero comes highly recommended! So will I find the time and courage this week?!

BTW did I tell you I’m going to be present at Terry Hope Romero’s World Vegan Eats cookbook presentation and cooking demo in Amsterdam at the end of October? Looking forward to it!

I updated last week’s menu with pictures from my meals, so have a look if you’re curious!

– – – – –

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

Back to Normal (CSA vegetables week 37, 2012)

It’s Monday, our holiday is over and things are back to normal. That means having more healthy meals at home and making my menu plans. Highly necessary because there’s a HUGE haul of veggies in the fridge.

Here’s this week’s addition to it (apologies for the bad pic).

• silverbeet
• green beans
• garlic
• mini plum tomatoes
• red beets
• red Batavia lettuce

We still got lots of veggies left from last week, and from another type of CSA haul. From the top of my head: tomatoes, potatoes, corn on the cob, leek, fennel, radishes, sprouts, spring onion, spinach, white paprika, courgette, turnips, pumpkin, pointed cabbage, carrots, string beans.

So let’s dig in and make a dent!

Menu plan September 16th – 19th

• SUN ~ Saffron garlic rice (Veganomicon p.119) and Italian style sautéed spinach & tomatoes  (p.106) with a tofu burger that’s a souvenir from France and radish salad with sprout greens and mustard dressing (inspired by Zonnig zomers tafelen p.21).
  

  

  foto

• MON Indonesian ~ Nasi goreng and leftover tofu tausi takeaway (= black bean sauce) with some extra veggies added, simple cabbage salad (Feestmenu’s p.68) and emping.
  
• TUE Mexican ~ Chilli with tortillas and a little leftover rice, corn on the cob, guacamole and coleslaw with avocado (Groentegerechten p.58). Change of plans: Indonesian ~ rice with sambal goreng boontjes á la Mr Gnoe.
  
• WED ~ Sautéed silverbeet (Veganomicon p.106) with smoky tempeh (p.130) on mashed potatoes and a sweet beet salad (Feestmenu’s p.68). Yesterday’s plan: Mexican ~ Chilli with tortillas and a little leftover rice, corn on the cob, guacamole and coleslaw with avocado (Groentegerechten p.58).
  
  
• THU ~ Sautéed silverbeet (Veganomicon p.106) with smoky tempeh (p.130) on mashed potatoes and a sweet beet salad (Feestmenu’s p.68).
  

I hope Wednesday’s loot will be on the small side! ;)

Veggies on the Menu (CSA vegetables week 27, 2012)

• pak choi
• red scallions
• basil
• lettuce
• broad beans
• turnip tops

Another bunch of awesome greens to plan this week’s menu with! In addition I got some green beans, carrots, marrowfat peas, courgette and fennel from another organic farm nearby.

Menu plan July 3rd – 10th

• [Wednesday] ‘Hokkaido pumpkin soup’: made up from kombu dashi & Japanse pumpkin out of the freezer, rice with Teresa’s garlic shoot stir-fry (La Dolce Vegan! p.138), using mizuna instead of chard and marrowfat peas for sweet.
  
  
• [Thursday] Batavian endive ‘sajoer boontjes‘, nasi goreng, tempeh asem manis (Vegetarisch Indonesisch Kookboek p.116), emping.
  
• [Friday] Tomato soup, lentil salad (Bonenkookboek), bake-off baguette and faux tuna salad.
  
  
  
• [Saturday] Tip-top tofu loaf for La Dolce Vegan! for cookalong on NVV forum (p.154), broad beans and cajun potatoes (Groot Vegetarisch Kookboek). Red berries and cherries for dessert.
  
  
• [Sunday] Fennel beans (Puur plantaardig), pasta marinara with fresh basil.
• [Monday] Thai carrot soup, pak choi stir-fry (Groentegerechten) with spring onions & marrowfat peas, spring rolls (freezer stash) & noodles.
• [Tuesday] Tomato soup, pasta zucchini cream wine sauce, salad.

Also:

• Courgette soup
• Rhubarb-strawberry muffins

Introducing the Salad Sac! (Amelishof CSA vegetables)

You may have noticed that we get a bunch of lettuce in our CSA every week. And I’ll be honest with you: when it still needs to washed once I’m making lunch, 8 times out of 10 I just leave it sitting in the fridge. Guess what happens after a week or two…

So. I need to wash my greens right when they come in. I used to spin them dry and store ‘em in plastic zip-lock baggies. I reused these, but that doesn’t really feel like the most appropriate way for sustainable living with local veggies.

Now I’ve discovered the Salad Sac! Additional advantage: there’s one step less in the process because you don’t dry the leaves before they go into the bag – its wetness moistens the fabric so that the lettuce stays crisp and is ready to use.

You know what? It works! Here’s a pic that I took on the morning of our next CSA, when I had the last salad leaves of the previous week for lunch.

A plus of plastic over cloth is that it’s transparent. As the salad sack is rather big I sometimes put several leafy greens in together and there’s a lot of digging around to get the right stuff out. Or Mr Gnoe doesn’t dare put in his hand at all as he has no idea what’s in there. ;) Then again, transparency would allow light to filter in, which is not helpful in keeping the vegetables fresh!

But it would be wonderful if the bag came in different sizes. Of course I’ve thought of making some pouches myself… But I think it may be a special kind of terry cloth, maybe even treated (although it’s supposed to be 100% cotton). Any thoughts on that?

I haven’t yet tried to put in things like sliced cucumber or other chopped vegetables. But the ‘instruction tag‘ says that works too!

Now just in case anyone wonders: I bought this article with my own money and am not in any way connected to the manufacturer, nor do I get paid for a (positive) review. I’m just a happy user! :)

On with our colourful organic CSA vegetables of the past three weeks.

Amelishof organic CSA vegetables week 21, 2012

• red Batavian endive
• pointed pepper
• spinach
• pumpkin chutney
• rucola
• spring onion

Amelishof organic CSA vegetables week 22, 2012

Don’t you just LOVE the purple of the beets and mustard greens?

• Swiss chard
• mustard greens
• mizuna turnip tops
• curly leaf escarole
• beets
• bundle garlic
• ramson flower (daslook)

Amelishof organic CSA vegetables week 23, 2012

This week’s veggies:

• leek
• plain lettuce
• spring onions
• basil
• tomatoes
• strawberries!!!

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

Good Vibrations! (MoFo#8: CSA vegetables week 42, 2011)

As I was planning on baking a chocolate-beetroot cake this weekend (!), I was hoping immensily for red beets among Wednesday’s CSA vegetable loot. And YAY — a wish come true!

Other nice veggies too, like fennel which I needed for a fennel-bean dish I meant to make that evening for my visiting brother: a surprisingly good recipe from the new Puur Plantaardig (‘Purely Plant-based‘) cookbook that I mentioned in my Cookbook Sunday Salon.

Here’s the complete list of this week’s greens.

• Dill
• Fennel
• Silver-stalked Swiss chard
• Bundel of young beetroot
• Lollo Rosso lettuce
• Goudreinette apples

I’ll leave you with a preview of my unfinished beetroot pie: only the chocolate couverture topping left to do. That’ll have to wait till morning — so you must have patience as well. I hope you can handle the suspense..? I know I’m finding it difficult! ;P

This food-related post is also submitted to Beth Fish’s Weekend Cooking!