Conquering my CSA: Broccoli

So I have passed the overwhelmed phase and now it is game on CSA. I am eating/freezing every bite every week before the next batch comes. As C would say, "I am going to dominate you".
This week we got a massive amount of broccoli-two huge heads. More broccoli then a family could eat in a month in addition to our other vegetables.

The first trick to conquering your CSA is to prep it when you unpack it. This makes a huge difference. It takes about 20 minutes to clean and cut everything and makes it much easier to use on those busy week nights. Most things can be prepped ahead, exceptions tomatoes and cucumbers.  Get everything cleaned and sliced up. Not sure how you are going to use it? Make a commitment! If you don't do it now there is a high likelihood it will end up rotten in the back of your fridge. 

Prepped the broccoli right in the container for the broccoli salad. 

Next, you could eat steamed broccoli every night and not get through this amount so get creative. It works best if you divide it into multiple dishes. Make a cold snack or salad with some and then plan to eat some hot one night with dinner.  For broccoli, there are many options.  I have recipes for broccoli salad (not super healthy I know but SO DELICIOUS) and roasted broccoli. Other great ideas are:

• Shaving the stems and adding to salads for extra crunch
• Keeping the florets in the fridge to have with dip or for THE GREAT VEGGIE SWAP if you have kids (to be described later)
• Chop up very finely and add to quiche or omelets (see my post on Dinner Eggs)
• Broccoli coleslaw
• Broccoli and cheese soup
• Steamed Broccoli (C's favorite food)

Broccoli Salad

1 head of broccoli cut into bite sized pieces (use both the florets and some stems)
1 medium red or sweet onion cute into bite sized pieces
4-5 strips of bacon cooked and crumbled (make the whole bag and use the rest for BLTs for lunches this week)-If you are a vegetarian replace the bacon with 3/4 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup of raisins
3/4 cup of mayonnaise
1/2 cup of sugar
4 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

Combine broccoli, raisins, bacon, and onion.  Mix the mayonnaise, sugar, and vinegar together until smooth. Let chill for 3-4 hours prior to serving.

Make it right in the container you are going to store it in!

Roasted Broccoli
1 lb broccoli cut into florets
3-4 tbsp olive oil
2 minced garlic cloves
Sprinkle of salt
Juice from one lemon

1.  Preheat the oven to 425°F. 
2. On a cookie sheet toss the broccoli florets and minced garlic with olive oil and lemon juice until lightly coated. Sprinkle salt over the broccoli and toss to coat.
3. Cook for 10-12 minutes until browned and cooked thoroughly.  

Date Night: Mongolian Beef

10/10 from all three boys!

Going out to eat becomes much harder with children and leaving them behind with a babysitter is also no easy task. In an attempt to cope with the going out withdrawal, I have started copy cat recipes of our favorite dinners out. This recipe is an awesome copy of P.F. Chang's Mongolian Beef and is simple and delicious for a weeknight. The kids also love it which is a plus!

Mongolian Beef
2 small packages of thinly sliced beef cut into 1 in squares
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large scallions
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1. In a large plastic bag place beef, cornstarch, and a few teaspoons of water. Coat steak evenly with mix and let stand. 
2. In a pot, place 2 tablespoons of oil and heat over medium to low heat. Add finer and garlic cook until fragrant.  Add soy sauce and water. Dissolve brown sugar and remove from heat. 
3. Heat up the remainder of the oil in a wok or frying pan.  Fry beef until darkens on all edges. Place meat in sauce pot and heat up about 1-2 minutes.  Add chopped scallions at the end. 

Call it a burger and kids will eat it: Chicken Burgers

My kids absolutely love these burgers. They are easy to make and delicious. I often serve them with just a simple salad or in the summer with corn on the cob. 

Chicken Burgers

1 pound ground chicken
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning

2 shallots, finely chopped

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

5 mushrooms finely chopped (these don't add any flavor, they just help to keep the ground chicken moist)

1/4 pound Havarti with dill cheese, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs

1 egg

Burger buns of your choice

Combine ground chicken, poultry seasoning, chopped shallots, Dijon mustard, egg, bread crumbs, chopped mushroom, diced Havarti (yes the cheese goes right into patties). Mix thoroughly. Form into 4-6 patties 

Preheat a non stick skillet over medium-high heat. Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil over the patties and place them in the hot skillet. Also cooks up well on the grill. Cook 6 minutes per side until the patties are firm to the touch and cooked through.

Sour Cream Sauce

1 cup sour cream

3 to 4 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped or snipped with kitchen scissors

Place the burgers on a bun of your choice and top with the sour cream sauce. To make them more healthy add some baby spinach or fresh tomatoes on the top and enjoy. 

Adapted from a Rachael Ray recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/danish-burgers-with-herb-caper-sauce-and-a-mod-salad-recipe/index.html

Porky the Pig Part 2

Everyone loves pasta--kids, adults, even my Batman.  They love it more when the sauce is homemade. Homemade pasta sauce is great for a few reasons:

1. The sauce can be made ahead, freezes well, and is easy to reheat on week nights.
2. It is a meal that doesn't require a ton of planning--so when you get home from soccer practice and realize you forgot to thaw that chicken you were going to make you don't have to get take out. 
3. It is delicious and hearty.
4. If you follow my instructions then there are enough veggies in your dish that if you kids don't eat the salad or broccoli or whatever vegetable you make it doesn't matter.

This sauce can be made on the weekend in a large batch and frozen or because the meat is already cooked can be made on a week night.  Remember that pasta sauce gets better the longer you cook it so don't stress too much about cooking times.  I used pappardelle for this because I was having a craving but you can use which ever boxed pasta you have around.  

Pork and Pappardelle
**This makes about 12-15 servings. So enough for dinner tonight plus two frozen batches in the freezer**

2 cups slow cooker pork, chopped
3- 4 oz cans of sliced carrots
2 onions chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves of garlic chopped
2- 28 oz cans of kitchen cut tomatoes
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
4-5 fresh basil leaves
1/2-1 cup red wine or beef stock

In a large pot, heat olive oil then add onions and garlic and cook until translucent.  If using a slow cooker, transfer contents to slow cooker. De glaze the pan with red wine or stock then pour into crock pot. If doing on the stove stop just add in wine or stock and simmer. Add carrots, pork, cinnamon, and all spice. Cover and cook for 30 minutes to a few hours (longer you cook better the flavor will be) on the stove on medium heat or in the crock pot on high.  Add in fresh chopped basil leaves and serve over pasta. 


A few adaptations:

• Pappardelle is best with a hearty sauce so I left it very chunky. If you or your children prefer a smoother sauce--finely chop onions and carrots and allow to cook for at least 2 hours.  
• Red wine always adds a nice flavor to a dish. I like to cook with it then drink the rest with dinner :) Its fine to leave it out. 
• Canned carrots are one of my cooking short cuts. It shortens the time the sauce needs to cook because the carrots are pre-cooked. Remember if you use canned carrots and tomatoes don't add extra salt because they are canned with salt so your sauce will be nicely flavored. If you use fresh carrots and tomatoes you will need extra salt. 
• If you have a hard time getting veggies into your kids this sauce and all pasta sauce is great place to hide veggies. Adding a container of baby food carrots or dried baby food will add extra servings of veggies without changing the flavor.

Adding one of these containers of carrots adds an extra serving of veggies

Another way to add veggies

Call it a burger and kids will eat it: Moroccan Burgers

"On a scale of 1-10 its an 8ish Mom" ~PJ

Anything that ends in the word burger is acceptable at my house. It doesn't matter if they would never normally eat it--if it ends in the word burger suddenly they are scarfing it down. Because of this you will see many burgers on here. They are one of my favorite week night meals because they are quick and easy.   They are also a great way to introduce your kids to new flavor combinations in a way that's familiar and yummy.

Most recently I found these Flat Out Fold It  Flat breads at the grocery store which I thought would be awesome for doing a middle eastern flavored burger with this as the "bun".

Moroccan Burgers (makes 4-6 burgers)

1 lb ground beef, lamb, turkey, or chicken

1 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (feel free to also use Gourmet Garden or frozen cubes from Trader Joe's)

1 minced garlic clove

1 teaspoons ground cumin

1 minced shallot or small onion (onions help keep burgers moist so if you or your family doesn't like the taste, just grind up in food processor to paste like consistency and it will add moisture with minimum flavor)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 jalapeno seeded (if you want it spicy. I leave this out)

1 egg

1/4 cup of panko or other unflavored bread crumbs

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Form into flat round patties and grill or cook on the stove top about 8-10 minutes each side. Be sure chicken and turkey burgers are cooked thoroughly. 

Serve on pitas or flat breads with cucumber, tomato, and onion. I made a yogurt sauce to go with mine that the kids loved but just ketchup for the kids is fine too. Also would be good with garlic mayo or a Dijon mustard. 

Yogurt Sauce

2 cups Greek plain yogurt

1/4 cucumber grated

1 minced garlic clove

2 tablespoons fresh dill (feel free to also use Gourmet Garden or frozen cubes from Trader Joe's)

Mix all together and serve on top of the burger. Super quick and yummy.  

An easy Greek salad of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, and feta with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and oregano would go great with this or you could be lazy like me and pile high with veggies so you don't have to make a side dish.