CSA Box 4

The last CSA box I picked up from Johnson’s Backyard Garden. It’s the last one I was scheduled for so I’m going to wait until we get back from our Las Vegas trip in a couple weeks to pick up my next one. There are so many veggies I don’t want to have them go bad while we’re away!

Quorn Turk’y Salad

This is such a yummy and filling salad! Romaine lettuce, carrot, celery, a Quorn Turk’y patty cooked and cut into cubes, and Annie’s Buttermilk Dressing.

 

 

 

Green Smoothie with Banana and Strawberries

Spinach, frozen banana, frozen strawberries and water!

“Fish” Tacos

I love the tanginess of the lemon and cilantro in these tofu “fish” tacos.

Tacos, ready to go!

Condiments

Ingredients:
Tacos:
1 package firm tofu, cut into cubes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoons ancho chili powder
1 jalapeno, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
8 corn tortillas

Garnish:
Shredded white cabbage
Hot sauce
Vegan sour cream
Thinly sliced red onion
Thinly sliced green onion
Chopped cilantro leaves

Mix olive oil, lime juice, chili powder, jalapeno and cilantro. Marinate tofu in this mixture at least 15 minutes up to 4 hours (the longer it marinates the more flavor it has). Preheat grill to medium-high heat and place foil on top. Place tofu on foil and cook for 20 minutes or until it is lightly browned. Place the tortillas on the grill and grill for 20 seconds. Use 2 corn tortillas per taco. Add tofu to tortilla and use any or all garnishes.

Chocolate Hemp Shake

I’ve been wanting to try out some hemp shake mix so I recently picked up this packet of shake mix.

I mixed it with 1 1/2 cups almond milk and 1 frozen banana and here’s the result.

I thought it was pretty good! Nice and thick and it had sort of a chocolate coffee flavor.

Raw Cashew “Cheese”

I recently made this raw cashew “cheese”. It turned out to be pretty good, but I’d recommend thinking of it more like a dip than a cheese. It was great on crackers and raw veggies! Recipe is from vegweb.com

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups raw cashews
1/4 to 1 cup water
1 to 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon salt
2 dashes black pepper
2-3 cups spinach (optional, for spinach dip)

Place the cashews in a medium sized bowl. Fill water 2″ above cashews. Soak for two hours then drain. Place in a blender or food processor with some, not all, of the water and add the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth then scrape into a bowl and cover. Set in a cool place for 24 hours. The cheese will set and become firmer by the next day. Then it lasts about a week in the fridge.

CSA Box 3

 

Here’s the third box I got from Johnsons Backyard Garden! Lots of lovely peppers and squash plus amazing okra and many other great veggies!

Spent Grain Pizza

My husband and I occasionally brew beer and when we do we have tons of grains leftover (we’re talking about 15 lbs worth!) There’s no way I could use it all, but I did find a great recipe to use some of those grains to make pizza dough.

Ingredients:

1 pkg. dry bread yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 T sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup flour
1 cup spent grains
1/2 cup water
3 cups additional flour
olive oil for bowl
flour to sprinkle bread board

Proof yeast by mixing with 1/2 cup warm water and 1/2 tsp sugar. Let sit 5-10 minutes–a nice layer of foam should prove that the yeast is alive and well. In large mixing bowl, mix together olive oil, sugar, and salt. Blend in yeast mixture. Stir in 1 cup flour until well blended. Set aside while you prepare the grains. Add 1 cup spent grains (drained well, but still wet) and 1/2 cup water to bowl of food processor. Process until you have a semi smooth mixture. It doesn’t ever get really smooth, but you don’t want it too chunky either. Add grain mixture to yeast slurry and mix together well. Add remaining 3 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing well with each addition. I do this by hand with a wooden spoon. It goes quickly, but you could do it in a mixer with a dough hook if you wanted. The last cup of flour will make the dough seem pretty stiff if you are mixing by hand, but it’s ok! Don’t worry. It’s still a bit sticky, but will clean the side of the bowl. I just use my hands at the end and knead it together right in the bowl. When you have a rough lump of dough together and the sides of the bowl are clean, push the dough ball to one side and add a bit of olive oil to the bottom of the bowl. Push the dough into the oil and flip it over, smoothing the oil over the top of the dough. Reshape the dough into an even round. Cover lightly and place in a warm place to rise for about an hour.
When ready to use, push dough down, deflating it. Bring sides in to center and flip dough over. Put dough out onto floured board and pat out evenly. Cut dough into equal sized pieces for each pizza you will make. If making all pizzas, you should have 8 equal sized pieces of dough. Shape each piece into an evenly round ball and place on a cookie sheet. Cover lightly and let sit 20-30 minutes. When ready to bake, take each little round of dough and pat it out on the floured board into an evenly round shape. You can use a rolling pin if you want to speed the process up a bit. I like them about 9″ around for a thin crust pizza. Obviously, a thicker pizza would need to be pushed or rolled out to a smaller round.

For toppings I used marinara, crimini mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. It was delicious!!

Easy Vegan Ranch Dressing

Ranch dressing is great for salads and dipping vegetables. Store bought ranch dressing and dips are loaded with fats and preservatives and are definitely not vegan. Here’s a great recipe that’s super quick and easy to whip up!

Ingredients:

vegan mayo (I use vegenaise)

italian spices

vegan milk (soy, almond, rice, etc)

salt and pepper, to taste

 

Start off with adding some mayo into a bowl (it will be the main base of the dressing). Add some milk, how much you use depends on how thick you want your ranch. If you want it like a dip, just add a little bit but if you want it for a dressing on salads add more. Use a fork to blend the mayo and milk. Add more milk or mayo to get desired consistency.  Then go crazy with spices. I use the Italian grinders you can find which have rosemary, oregano and basil. You can also use fresh herbs or whichever dry herbs you enjoy the most. The fresh herbs won’t keep as long so keep that in mind. Add salt and pepper to taste and you’re done!

 

This dip would also be a good dip for the fried okra recipe that I just posted!

Fried Okra

Okra is in season! I love okra and have been getting a lot in my csa boxes. This was the first recipe I made because it’s one of my favorites and definitely a classic!

Ingredients:

okra, cut into 1 inch slices
corn meal
egg whites
salt and pepper
oil for frying

Put egg whites in one bowl and corn meal in another. Add salt and pepper to corn meal. Pour about 1 inch worth of oil in a pot (I actually used a saucepan) and put on high heat. Meanwhile put a handful of okra in egg whites and mix to coat. When the oil is hot enough transfer the okra to the cornmeal and then into the oil. Fry stirring occasionally to brown the entire okra. Once they are completely browned transfer to a plate covered with a napkin. Repeat the eggwhite, cornmeal and frying process until all your okra is cooked. Serve with ranch or in this case buttermilk dressing.