Weekly Menu 5/24/09

I had mentioned that we are participating in a local CSA this summer and this was the first week I had a box from them! Here is a picture of our first box. This week we have:
Green garlic, spring onions, romaine lettuce, red lettuce, spinach, carrots (with the tops, which you can eat!), radishes, strawberries, red russian kale and strawberries. The carrots and radishes will make great raw veggie snacks as well as impromptu toppings for salads.
At the farmers market I picked up some of my favorites to supplement like the Guisti Farms baby artichokes (great taste, good for the liver and great for spring eating) and nectarines and apricots from the main fruit stand (if you walk by a booth and the perfume of the fruit overwhelms you - you can bet the fruit is worth buying).

So what we ended up with in our house is an abundance of lettuces and leafy greens, and some aromatics to enhance some meals (garlic, onion, etc). With more research, you can come up with some more extravagant meals for these ingredients, but I love keeping it simple - for both time as well as preservation of the flavors that come from farm fresh, organic produce. So this week there are more salads and simple balanced meals (meaning good quality carbohydrate, protein and fat supported with an abundance of vegetables).

Sunday:Thinly sliced, grilled Ribeye served over a bed of romaine and red lettuce with thinly sliced radishes, sunflower seeds, avocado, fresh corn stripped from the cob, topped with cilantro vinaigrette (I switched the vinaigrette up a bit since I had the green garlic I used that as the base, then mustard, honey, cilantro, oil, s&p)

Monday:Long rice noodles with Thai red curry chicken and mixed vegetables (onion, zucchini and spinach) with a side salad

Tuesday: Vegetarian night with Adzuki beans and rice with Mexican spices served over a bed of sauteed Red Russian Kale with onions and carmelized carrots with butter and garlic

Wednesday: Turkey slider hamburgers with cilantro-garlic-mayo dressing (no bun) over a bed of lettuce, avocado, fresh corn and sliced tomatoes (you can do regular burgers, I just like mini things :) )

Thursday: Mixed veggie soup with thinly sliced kale and chard, potatoes, zucchini, artichoke and chopped chicken