tomato

Meatless Monday: Summery Kale, Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 3 Comments

I realllly wanted to call this salad The Best Summer Quinoa Salad Ever, but that was too ambiguous. Or even Quinoa, Kale, Black Bean, Avocado, Tomato, Onion, Hot Pepper, Corn Salad with a Lemon Vinaigrette but that just seemed like too long of a name and you would probably would have stopped reading then. So just go with it.

Anyway, I love a good summery salad. Something with a good light vinaigrette, add in corn and avocado and I’m sold. So when I realized we had pretty much all of my favorite ingredients for a salad thanks to our Fresh Fork CSA and some farmer’s market finds, I knew I had to just put it all together and make the best summer salad ever. Add in some quinoa and a can of black beans and it was perfect for a vegetarian main meal. Oh yeah – even B ate it as a main dish without meat. That’s how I know it’s a success.

Don’t be fooled by the name, I may just be making this salad this fall and winter too. Because we all need some summer meals all year round, don’t we?

kale, quinoa, black bean and avocado salad

Kale, Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

Here’s what you need:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1/3 olive oil (divided)
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
  • 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
  • 2 hungarian hot peppers or jalapenos, diced
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 2 cup water
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 3 c. thinly chopped raw kale leaves
  • 1 c corn (approximately one giant cob)
  • 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 medium tomato, diced
  • 1 avocado, chopped into cubes

Here’s what you do:

  1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add garlic, onion and hot pepper, and saute for about 3-4 minutes. I also added a few slices of kale, but feel free to use all the kale in step #4 and keep it raw.
  2. Add quinoa and two cups water.  Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until quinoa is cooked through, about 15-20 minutes.
  3. While quinoa is cooking, prepare the rest of the ingredients for the salad. First prepare the dressing. Mix 1/4 c lemon juice (about one whole lemon) with 1/3 cup olive oil and cumin.
  4. Finely chop the kale (remove the large thick middle stems from the leaves and then roll up kale into rods before finely chopping) and add to the salad dressing. Coat kale thoroughly in dressing. Add in corn and black beans.
  5. By now the quinoa should be nearly done cooking. After letting cool for a minute, add cooked quinoa, onion and pepper to kale, corn and tomato. Mix well.  Gently add in chopped tomato. Just before serving, add in avocado.
  6. Enjoy! Mine made 3-4 vegetarian main dishes.

kale, quinoa, black bean and avocado salad

Fresh Fork Week 8 – And Fennel, Tomato and Avocado Salad {Recipe}

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / Leave a comment

How are we already EIGHT weeks into our Fresh Fork summer share? It may seem weird to say this – and somewhat cheesy – but I feel like it’s become a part of B and me. We look forward to picking up our weekly share, trying the new recipes and enjoying all the glorious fresh produce and some other local grub (those local corn chips … and local oats … and more – were SO good!).

Anyway, enough blabbering with how much I am loving my Fresh Fork. Here’s what we got this week:

  • 1 lb grassfed ground beef
  • 1 bulb fennel
  • 3# red skin potatoes
  • 1 candy onion
  • 1 head red cabbage
  • 1 lb yellow beans
  • 1 cucumber
  • 1 dozen eggs
  • 1 pint sweet cherries
  • 1 quart apricots

And a blurry photo of what we got (I may have been at Parnell’s for happy hour before the pick up):

fresh fork week 8

We’ve finished pretty much everything, minus the beef, which is in our freezer until B figures out what he wants to do with it. Because I don’t really like ground beef unless it’s in a meatball. Even then I prefer turkey. It happens.

Some of our meals:

B made this dish, featuring the cabbage (doesn’t it look professional?!)

pork and cabbage

We had a wine and cheese night – and the apricots went deliciously with it!

wine and cheese

A summery meal featuring potato salad from the potatoes (and the corn, tomato and eggplant are from week 9 – shhhh yes I’m skipping ahead)

20130803_203724

And my favorite (well, not my favorite – the pork and cabbage was probably the best, but don’t tell B) – fennel, tomato and avocado salad – which we enjoyed with the beer can chicken.

20130728_174833

You can make the fennel salad too – it was really easy so here’s another non-recipe for you to enjoy for the next time you get fennel. There was something just so delicious about the sweetness of the fennel with the bitterness of the balsamic. And who doesn’t like tomato and avocado?

fennel tomato and avocado salad {i crashed the web}

Fennel, Tomato & Avocado salad

Here’s what you need:

  • 1 bulb fennel
  • 2 fresh tomatoes
  • 1 ripe avocado
  • Your favorite balsamic vinaigrette. Don’t have one? Make your own! Here’s my favorite recipe – it makes more than enough for this salad plus more:
    • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
    • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
    • 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 garlic clove, crushed or minced

Here’s what you do:

  1. Cut up the first three ingredients. Chop up the fennel bulb into 1/2 inch thick slices. Cut up tomato into thin slices. Find a ripe avocado and cut it into bite sized pieces.
  2. Arrange tomato, avocado, and fennel on a plate.
  3. Drizzle about 1-2 tbs of your favorite balsamic dressing over the salad. If you’re making mine, combine vinegar, oil, mustard and garlic in a jar and shake well to combine before drizzling a little over the salads. You’ll have leftover dressing for later.
  4. Enjoy!
fennel tomato and avocado salad {i crashed the web}

Fennel, tomato and avocado salad

For other Fresh Fork Recaps:

Fresh Fork CSA Week Four And An Asian-Inspired Bok Choy Stir Fry {Recipe}

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 2 Comments

Week Four of Fresh Fork was the first week that did not include any meat. I know, right – that meant tons of even more great greens and other veggies. And cheese! OH cheese. How do I love thee. Anyway, I digress. We picked up Week Four and were greeted with the following:

fresh fork week 4

everything from our bag (minus the camera-shy cherries)

Week 4:

  • 1 dz eggs
  • 1 head large stem bok choy
  • 1 head red leaf lettuce
  • 1 head baby bok choy
  • 1 6 oz piece Charloe cheese
  • 1 lb bag snow peas
  • 1 head broccoli
  • 1 lb sweet cherries
  • 1 bunch beets with tops
  • 1 bunch spinach
  • 2 ct zucchini
  • 1 quart strawberries

This week did the following:

  • Bok choy, baby bok choy, snow peas, broccoli: I made an awesome Asian-inspired stir fry. I had never cooked with bok choy before but was excited to stir fry it with some of the other veggies we had. I’m pretty pleased with the results and am sharing the recipe below.
  • Eggs: Breakfast and baking! I just made some awesome peanut butter cookies that are also blog-worthy.
  • Lettuce: Salads for lunch.
  • Cherries: SO delicious! B isn’t usually a cherry fan and they are not typically my fruit of choice but they were so delicious. I’m sad they are gone.
  • Strawberries: These were pretty ripe when we got them and I knew we wouldn’t be able to finish them AND the cherries right away so I froze them. Can’t wait to decide what to do with those!
  • Spinach: sauteed in a little olive oil and garlic and enjoyed for breakfast with my eggs.
  • Zucchini: TBD. I was going to roast them like last week but haven’t had time – I may just blend them up and save for future zucchini bread baking.

    fresh fork week 4 prepared

    fresh fork week 4 prepared

Yup. That’s it. Nothing else to report on. What’s that? You notice  I missed the beets and you’re you’re dying to know how I prepared them? Don’t worry, I’ll feature them on an upcoming meatless Monday post. And let you know what to do if you also spill them all over your white dress. Not like that has ever happened to me.

asian inspired bok choy stir fry with baby bok choy sugar snap peas and broccoli

Asian-Inspired Bok Choy Stir Fry

 Here’s what you need:

  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil (you may need a little more if you have a ton of bok choy like I did)
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
  • 1 Tbs powdered ginger (you could use fresh ginger but I didn’t have any so the spice from my spice rack had to do)
  • 2 large bunches of chopped fresh bok choy – I used all the bok choy we had which was a LOT. One huge bunch bok choy plus a bunch of baby bok choy
  • 1 c chopped broccoli
  • 1 c snow peas
  • 2-3 Tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • Sriracha to taste

Here’s what you do:

  1. Chop up bok choy. Not sure how to do this? This is a pretty good video to show you how.
  2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
  3. Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute.
  4. Add broccoli and snow peas and cook 2-3 minutes.
  5. Add bok choy, soy sauce and ginger powder. Bok choy cooks up pretty fast, so keep an eye on it. Recipes I had said it could be done in as little as 5 minutes, but since I had SO much in the pan it took me more like 10 minutes. The bok choy is done when the green parts are dark green and wilted and the stalks are crispy but tender and flavorful.
  6. Add sriracha to taste. I like mine spicy so I added a good drizzle over the top.
this is only like 1/3 of the bok choy we had.

this is only like 1/3 of the bok choy we had.

bok choy stir fry with broccoli and snow peas

bok choy ginger stir fry with broccoli and snow peas .. and sriracha!

Fresh Fork CSA Week Three And Tomato, Corn, Onion and Cilantro Salsa {Recipe}

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 6 Comments

Week Three of Fresh Fork was great! I’m so excited to be getting all of this fresh produce and meat each week and not have to plan meals. It’s so easy to just use what I have as opposed to making a trip to the grocery store to pick everything up. Yup, I’m drinking the Koolaid.

closeup of B's favorites - the cheese, corn chips ("crackers") and ground beef

closeup of B’s favorites – the cheese, corn chips (“crackers”) and ground beef

check it out! More strawberries, plus lettuce, RADISHES, cilantro and some more yum yums

check it out! More strawberries, plus lettuce, RADISHES, cilantro and some more yum yums

Can’t tell from the picture what we got? Week Three included:

  • 1 lb grassfed ground beef
  • 1 bag heirloom corn chips
  • 1 piece, 6 oz, aged sharp cheddar (called Hull’s Trace)
  • 1 bunch swiss chard
  • 1 head green leaf lettuce
  • 1 bunch radishes
  • 1 bunch cilantro
  • 2 ct zucchini
  • 1 quart strawberries

So what did we make this week?

  • Corn chips: Were eaten with the sharp cheddar (B liked, but I wasn’t a huge fan. I prefer less sharp -softer?-cheese) and we also ate with the corn, onion, tomato and cilantro salsa.
  • Grassfed beef: B made some burgers on our grill over the weekend. I had turkey burgers, but had a bite of the grassfed beef and was pleased – it seemed pretty good!
  • Lettuce and radishes: used for salads and snacks. I LOVE radishes just cut up as a snack so those were gone immediately.
  • Swiss chard: I cooked it up and we had it for dinner one night with some chicken I marinated. B liked it a lot!
  • Zucchini: I roasted some to serve with the chard and chicken.
Chicken, zucchini, swiss chard and lentils

Chicken, zucchini, swiss chard and lentils

  •  Cilantro: This was a tough one because B is not a huge cilantro fan. So I put it on a few salads and added it to a few dishes that I was eating on my own. I did make a salsa to serve with our burgers and chips with some cilantro that was pretty good. That sorta/not-really-a-recipe is below.

tomato corn onion cilantro salsa

Tomato, Corn, Onion and Cilantro Salsa

Here’s what you need:

  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 ish Tablespoons of red wine vinegar
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp lemon or lime juice  (I bet lime would be great! I used lemon. Because that’s what I had on hand)
  • 2 tomatoes, diced
  • 1/2 red onion, diced
  • 1 15 oz can of corn (or if you want you can grill up some corn on the cob and use about 2 cobs worth of corn!)
  •  As much cilantro as your heart desires (if you’re like B, the answer is none. If you’re like me, it’s more like 2 bunches…only sorta kidding)

Here’s  what you do:

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, lemon juice and minced garlic.
  2. Finely chop onion and tomatoes. Taste the onion – if it’s too spicy (B thinks that red onions can be too spicy at times) soak it in ice water for a little while.
  3. Combine chopped onion, tomatoes, and corn. Mix with dressing.
  4. Add cilantro to taste.
  5.  You’re done – enjoy! It’s a nice refreshing salad that we served with our grilled burgers and corn chips.

Optional: Chop up 1-2 avocados and add those as well.

tomato corn onion cilantro salsa

For other Fresh Fork Recaps:

Crock Pot Veggie Casserole

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 3 Comments

I love my crock pot, and I’m always looking for new recipes other than stews, soups and heavy beef/chicken dishes. Well – I definitely found one, and it’s a keeper! When perusing the Internet a few months ago, I came across this recipe for a Vegetable Casserole in the slow cooker. Since B has what he likes to call a “meat tooth,” I hardly ever make vegetarian recipes and had put it aside. So, this week when I was home in NY, when my mom told me she had never used her crock pot and was looking for a recipe to try, I knew exactly what to suggest!

We made this recipe. It was delicious and filling – and my whole family (mom, dad and brother) really enjoyed it. Although my dad did end up grilling some chicken to eat with it, but it’d definitely be filling enough (in my opinion) on its own.

slow cooker vegetarian casserole
Crock Pot Veggie Casserole
(slightly adapted from Better Homes & Gardens)
Here’s what you need:
  • 2 15.5-ounce cans cannellini beans
  • 2 15.5-ounce cans chickpeas
  • 1/4
    c basil pesto (I used homemade, but you can certainly buy it at the store)
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 4
    cloves garlic, diced
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1
    16-ounce package refrigerated cooked plain polenta cut in 1/2-inch-thick slices – we used this Sundried Tomato Garlic Polenta and only used 2 cloves of garlic, above
  • 1 l
    arge tomato, thinly sliced
  • 1
    8-ounce package finely shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (2 cups)
  • 2
    cups fresh spinach
  • 1
    cup torn radicchio

Here’s what you do:

  1. Rinse and drain chickpeas and beans. In large bowl combine beans, 2 tablespoons of the pesto, diced onion, garlic, oregano and basil.
  2. In your large crock pot, layer half of bean mixture, half of the sliced polenta, and half of cheese. Add remaining beans and polenta.
  3. Cover; cook on low heat setting 4 to 6 hours or on high heat setting 2 to 2-1/2 hours.
  4. Add tomato, remaining cheese, spinach, and radicchio. Combine remaining pesto with 1 tablespoon water. Drizzle pesto mixture on casserole.
  5. Enjoy! Serve alone, or as a side dish to a meat item (such as grilled chicken) if you prefer.

vegetarian crockpot casserole

labeled 2 bean mixture

labeled 3 first layer

vegetarian crock pot casserole

labeled 5 final layer
slow cooker veggie casserole