Oh yeah baby, it's strawberry time!

Oh, happy day! The CSA had strawberries today! I almost caved last week and bought a $7 pound of the jewel-toned fruit at Jimbo's, but I settled for the organic Chilean blueberries later on at Joe's.

But if I hadn't bought the blueberries, I wouldn't have this lovely picture of my baby!

That's not a gunshot wound, it's a blueberry stain. Here's to the next few months of abundant, local, and of course, organic, strawberry goodness!!!

This fave fruit also ties in nicely with February being the month of love. Strawberries even look like hearts. (Picture me all starry-eyed***) For the happiness project, this month I am supposed to focus on:

• Not nagging. Poo, I love to nag
• Not expect praise or appreciation. Dang, I love for others to sing my praises, and there are just so darn many to sing
  
• No dumping. Is there another way to greet your loved one after a long day at the office besides unloading all your many issues from the day?
• Give proofs of love. Man, I love these kids and my handsome man. Can't imagine telling them even more how much I love them. Guess I could try to show them by not nagging, expecting praise or dumping...

Hoppin' John

It's well into the first week of the new year, but not too late for Hoppin' John. Mmm beans and rice. It's supposed to be good luck to eat this dish on New Years, but we've established that I'm a procrastinator. I'm happy that I cooked the beans before they got too old and hard to cook. I'm so happy to try a new dish, have it turn out delicious &amps even use an older unused pantry item (the black eyed peas).
I made an amalgamation of Joy of Cooking & Vegan Soul Food recipes. Most directions from Joy, seasonings from VSF. In addition, I never have parsley on hand so I regularly omit it. However last week I got a huge bunch of the curly stuff in the CSA box. It really added some lovely color to a very beige dish.
Hoppin' John, in the pot

1. Put 1 1/4 cup dried black eyed peas in saucepan with enough water to cover by 1"
2. Bring to a boil, allow to boil rapidly for 1 minute
3. Cover and remove from heat. Allow to sit for 1 1/2 hours before draining and rinsing.
4. Over medium heat in dutch oven, cook 1 1/2 cups chopped onion and 2 chopped celery ribs in 1 T. olive oil, just until translucent.
5. Add spices and cook until the veggies start to brown: 1/2 t. onion powder, 1/2 t. garlic powder, 1/2 t. paprika, 1/2 t. chili powder, 1/4 t. cayenne, 1/2 t. dried thyme,
   1/2 t. dried oregano
6. Add beans and 4 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil then simmer until beans are tender, about 30 minutes to an hour.
7. Reserve cooking liquid when drain beans. Drain beans ;)
8. Preheat oven to 325, with rack in center of oven.
9. Cook 1 cup white rice in 2 T butter (or alternative) and 1 t salt until well-coated, 3-4 minutes. Add scant 2 cups of bean cooking liquid (try to leave sediment behind). Add extra water as needed to get 2 cups total.
10. Bring rice and liquid up to a simmer, stir and cover and put in the oven.
11. Bake 20 minutes or until rice has absorbed all the liquid. Sprinkle the beans over the top and return to the oven for 3 minutes.
12. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup minced parsley, toss to combine.
13. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes before serving.
    

My CSA items: celery and parsley.

Asparagus Pasta and Asian Pear Tempeh Salad

I was wary of asparagus at the market, since it is early November, but according to the CA Asparagus Commission, California asparagus growers harvest a small crop in September/October. I guess early November isn't that far off. Oh, and it was really inexpensive, so it must have been "in season". I learned recently that seasonal produce is usually cheaper since it doesn't have to travel far, or something like that.

Well, anyways, underneath all that freshly grated Parmesan cheese is one tasty pile 'o pasta.

jamie’s italian’s asparagus fettuccine

Courtesy of Jamie Oliver's website, I followed his recipe almost exactly. My only alterations were to omit the leeks (didn't have any) and used a tablespoon of dried basil in lieu of the fresh. Oh, and I didn't garnish with pea shoots. Um, what? I'm guessing they aren't readily available at Trader Joe's or Henry's. I'll look next time I'm shopping.

I served the lovely green sauce over Buitoni fresh fettuccine, which was very tender & a reasonable substitute for homemade. My husband had 2 servings, a good sign that he liked it. It also made it into his lunch this morning, so that is definitely a seal of approval. He doesn't wax poetic about food (unlike me, ha ha ha) so it's hard to figure out what he likes a lot of the time. It was a very quick recipe and we'll be making it again. The girls were too hungry to wait for the sauce, though and just had plain fettuccine with asparagus and parm. I did have to call the asparagus tips pinecones so my little squirrels would eat them. They ate all of them, so we weren't able to garnish our plates with them ;)

Asian Pear & Tempeh Salad with Wasabi Dressing

Another winner from Veganomicon. Man, this is one of my favorite things to eat. I don't know why I don't make it weekly. The baby pestered me all throughout my lunch wanting more and more tastes. This was after her own giant lunch. She saw my leftovers in the fridge later and wanted some, but by then the wasabi had gotten more spicy and she spit it right out!

CSA items used: zucchini, white onion

"weird" stuff in my pantry

These items from my pantry are at least 6 months old because a.)I haven't figured out what to cook, b.) I'm intimidated by the ingredient, and/or c.) lazy

• Hijiki. I was off seaweed for awhile because this type seems so, um, fishy.
  
• Canned lychee. They just look so unappealing from their picture on the can. Why did I buy them?
• Jarred hearts of palm. I never seem to have a coordinating ingredient to actually make a recipe.
• Some sort of jarred thai soup base. The ingredients are in english, but there are no directions so I'm afraid to try to make something.
  
• Tiny jar of pimentos. The idea of pimento cheese sounded good before I OD'd on cheese in Switzerland. Other ideas?
  
• Kidney beans. The girls hate them. Maybe make chili for the grownups?
  
• Wild rice. Super long cooking time.
• Lots of dribs and drabs of miscellaneous dried pasta
  

I challenge myself to use these ingredients by the end of the month!

Last night we had green salad, homemade mac and cheese, sauteed zucchini and leftover squash.

CSA items used in last nights dinner: lettuce, yellow bell pepper, grape tomatoes, butternut squash, zucchini

Roasted butternut squash pizza and Waldorf Green Salad

Yes, preparing a giant butternut squash is sort of a pain. OK, not sort of, it is a pain. The one I started with was 2 1/2 pounds. It was a beast. Nice and solid inside, not too many seeds. You gotta have a super sharp knife and a great peeler to get this done. I roasted 2 pans, one plain for the girls, and one seasoned.

Roasted Butternut Squash Pizza

Toss 1 1/4 pounds diced squash with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, a couple teaspoons of balsamic vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon eensy-weensy minced fresh rosemary. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast on parchment lined baking sheet at 425 for 25 minutes, don't need it overly-carmelized since it's gonna be a pizza topping. I also cooked down a small onion over low heat while the squash was roasting.

How was I able to hack into a giant squash with a preschooler and a toddler running around the house? Well, the older one was zoned out on Dora, and the other one was NOT watching Dora. She was doing this:

Well, at least she stayed out of the kitchen.

The finished pizza: Roasted squash, cooked onions, 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese, a drizzle of olive oil and topped with a couple tablespoons freshly grated parmesan. Baked at 450 for about 20 minutes to get good and toasty (used a preheated pizza stone with cornmeal). Man, oh so tasty! I can't wait to experiment with homemade pizza dough. I'll get there...

I also threw together a salad, we have a ton of lettuce from last week and we're due for more tonight!!! Yikes!

Waldorf Green Salad

Mixed greens, sliced celery, sliced apple, dried cranberries, feta cheese and Trader Joe's Sweet Poppy Seed Dressing.

CSA items used: butternut squash, onion, rosemary, apples, lettuce