Tag: cucumber

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How to Eat Your BOX! (Week of 7/16/17)

Fortune Plums:

Great in fruit salads, atop green salads (think Balsamic vinegar, goat cheese, walnuts, red onions) because they’re firm enough to hold up with a little tossing. Try them atop plain green yogurt with a drizzle of honey for breakfast. Plums are particularly delicious in fruit galettes as baking them brings out their sweet-tart flavor. If too firm to use, place in a closed paper bag at room temperature for one to two days.

How to Store: Once ripe, plums can be kept in a plastic bag in the refrigerator up to three days.

Rainbow Chard:

Both the leaves and stalk of chard are edible, although the stems vary in texture with the white ones being the most tender. When you get your box, give your chard a quick rinse in cold water, spin dry, and store in a Ziploc bag to use in smoothies, salads, stir fry’s, and as a wrap for tacos. Unless you’re using the chard as a wrap, you can take your meal prep a step further and tear the leaves into fork-friendly pieces to speed up your meal prep all week long.

Cucumber:

Now we’ve probably all had cucumber salad at some point but I still tend to forget that it makes a great main ingredient for salad, not just as a topping. Try marinating thinly sliced cucumber, onion, bell pepper, crushed garlic cloves in a one to one mixture water and white (or cider) vinegar and a tablespoon of sugar. Cover and let sit in refrigerator for a couple hours. If you leave it overnight the flavors come out even more! Drain and enjoy. Try adding a garnish of freshly chopped parsley or dill.

 

 

Grilled Plums with Burrata and Balsamic Basil Vinaigrette

A simple and quick summer fruit salad, featuring grilled plums atop creamy burrata, paired with fresh lettuce and a balsamic basil vinaigrette.

Ingredients

For Dressing: For Salad:

1/8 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon minced basil

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 pinch kosher salt

1 pinch black pepper

4 ripe plums, halved and pitted

2 tablespoons olive oil

8 ounces burrata (try to get two balls of burrata)

4 leaves romaine, sliced into ribbons

4 leaves fresh basil

A pinch of kosher salt

Directions:

For Dressing:

In a small bowl, whisk together ingredients for the balsamic dressing until emulsified. Set aside.

For Salad:

  1. Heat grill to high heat. Brush flesh side of plums with olive oil and grill, flesh side down, until the plums develop brown charred markings. This should take about 5-8 minutes, but will depend on your grill and how hot it is. You could also use a grill pan, or the grill side of a panini press (my favorite way to make this salad!). When plums are grilled, set aside and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
  2. Cut the burrata balls into quarters and divide evenly between two plates. When plums have cooled, divide them evenly on the plates. Top each plate with a handful of the sliced romaine and 2 leaves of fresh basil. Drizzle each plate with the balsamic basil dressing and a small pinch of kosher salt. Adapted from thecharmingdetroiter.com

 

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How To Eat Your BOX! (Week of 1/15/17)

Cucumber:

Apart from cucumber salad, cucumbers make a fun and refreshing topping to sandwiches! Whether it’s the traditional open faced cucumber and cream cheese with dill that they serve at showers, diced cucumber with tomato, onions and feta cheese wrapped in a pita bread, or simply sliced cucumber on your average, every day sandwich, I love the added crunch and fresh flavor it adds. Cucumber is also perfect in salsas, grain or pasta salads, egg salads or simply raw as a finger food. I like eating mine with a spritz of lemon and salt.

Zucchini:

I must admit, I didn’t use to like zucchini, However, what I’ve come to realize more and more (as about all produce), is that the problem often isn’t what it is, but how it’s cooked. Now I absolutely love zucchini because I’ve discovered ways I like to eat it. Firstly, I enjoy it raw! Who knew? 🙂 It’s great in salads or as a finger food with dip. I also like adding it to stir fry or making zucchini patties (which are amazing!). The key for me was to shred or “noodle” my zucchini when I cooked it. Chopping it into chunks always yielded the same mushy texture that just didn’t suit me. Whereas if I shredded it, suddenly it was a whole new experience! Make sure not to cook it too long or it might turn to mush. I always add it last to my stir fry or as the noodle to my “spaghetti”. It only needs to cook for about a minute or so. Try experimenting with zucchini this week to find how you like it best!

Cauliflower:

There are so many ways to use this vegetable that I don’t even know where to start. It can be chopped up and added to salad or soup, roasted in the oven, tossed in a stir fry, boiled and pureed as a stand-in for mashed potatoes or to make a creamy soup, baked into a pizza crust as a flourless alternative, or simply eaten raw. The options are endless! You don’t even have to cut it up. Try baking it whole by simply cutting off the leaves and stem so it can sit upright, baste in olive oil, salt and spices of your choice, and bake on a cookie sheet or cast iron skillet at 450°F. for about 45-60 minutes or until a knife can be inserted easily. Because of its mild flavor, cauliflower goes well in spicy dishes or curries as it soaks up all the other flavors. Healthy cauliflower recipes.

Brussels Sprouts:

The first time I ever tasted caramelized Brussels sprouts I was hooked! Below, I show you how I like to roast them in the oven, but they also caramelize well when sautéed!

Preheat oven to 425°F. Trim off the bottoms of the Brussels sprouts (don’t take off too much or they fall apart) and outer leaves and slice lengthwise. Toss with olive oil (about a tablespoon), salt, pepper, and mix until coated thoroughly. Roast on a baking sheet until tender and caramelized, about 20 minutes. They can be served as is or for a little extra flavor, try drizzling balsamic vinegar or lemon juice on top. Mix together and add salt to taste.

Celeriac:

Celery root or celeriac is prized for its distinctive flavor which is somewhere between celery and parsley. Although cooked celery root is excellent in soups, stew, and other hot dishes, it can also be enjoyed raw, especially grated and tossed in salads. Raw celery root has an intense flavor that tends to dominate salads, so pair it with other strongly flavored fruits and vegetables, such as carrots, beets, and apples. Before using celery root, peel and soak briefly in water with a little vinegar or lemon juice to prevent cut surfaces from darkening.

Recipe for: Mashed Celeriac

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Cucumber, Cantaloupe, & Summer Squash Salad

Looking for a creative alternative to the traditional garden salad? Try this refreshing and delicious recipe for a Cucumber, Cantaloupe and Squash Salad! Simple to make and effortless to enjoy, this will quickly become a staple for your summer get-togethers this season!

Cucumber, Cantaloupe, & Summer Squash Salad

Print Recipe
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
  • Finely grated zest of 1 lime
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 3 summer squashes about 1 pound, unpeeled
  • 1 cucumber about 10 ounces, unpeeled
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons unseasoned rice-wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1/4 large cantaloupe rind removed

Method
 

  1. Make the dressing: Combine yogurt, lime zest and juice, salt, cumin, and pepper. Cover, and refrigerate 20 minutes.
  2. Make the salad: Using a vegetable peeler or a mandolin, shave squashes and cucumber into wide ribbons, stopping when you reach seeds.
  3. Toss with vinegar and salt. Cover, and refrigerate. Shave cantaloupes into ribbons and refrigerate.
  4. Just before serving, drain cucumber and squash ribbons and toss with cantaloupe. Drizzle with dressing.

Notes

Recipe courtesy of MarthaStewart.com

Tried this recipe?

Let us know how it was!
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Fresh This Week Tips 05.03.11

Cameo Apples: Cameo apples have stormed onto the apple scene with their deep juicy flavor and crisp crunch.

STORE:

Keep apples as cold as possible in the refrigerator. Apples do not freeze until the temperature drops to 28.5 degrees F. If the apple skin wrinkles when you rub your thumb across it, the apple has probably been in cold storage too long or has not been kept cool.

USE: Great for cooking, especially soon after harvest when it still retains some tart hints to its otherwise sweet character.

Cucumbers:

Available all year-round, cumbers are a member of the gourd family, along with melons, squash and pumpkins.

STORE:

Keep cucumbers tightly wrapped in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

USE:

With their cool sensation, cucumbers taste delicious raw—alone or in salads. What else can your cucumber give you? Pickles, of course! Check out this easy recipe for quick dill pickles!

Quick Dill Pickles

Ingredients:

1 large cucumber

1⁄2 cup plain rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

1⁄4 teaspoon salt


Directions:

1. Thinly slice the cucumber and toss with

the vinegar, sugar, and salt.

2. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

3. Drain and serve.

Zucchini: Zucchini—coming from the Italian word of zucca, meaning “squash”—is the most popular summer squash, possessing a light, delicate flavor.

STORE: Store zucchini in a plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper drawer four to five days and do not wash until just before you are ready to use it.

USE: A component of ratatouille, zucchini is also good grilled, roasted, steamed, pan-fried, or raw. It also adds a boost to sweet breads and muffins. Zucchini is so versatile! If you haven’t “tried it all” with zucchini, do something different this week and try a new way of preparing them, just for fun!