I went to bed before nine o’clock last night. I could barely keep my eyes open, even during my daily Face Time call with the Hubby. The extra sleep was lovely, and I feel almost completely recharged today.
I am also beyond excited Friday is here. The fact that it’s a Friday before a long weekend is just icing on the cake. Mmm, icing…..and since it’s a long weekend, I’m skipping the Week In Review come Monday. Have no fear my hordes of participants (or two or four) because I’m just pushing it back a day. Look to get reviewing on Tuesday.
Speaking of skipping, I scored my most recent CSA share last night, and while it’s not the same as the week I’m about to reveal, it makes me happy and skippy nonetheless, especially when you factor in I’m bypassing my typical farmers market jaunt today. As much as it pains me to do so, it has to be done. If you saw the amount of produce in my fridge and on my counter, you’d understand. Quite frankly, you might have yelled at me for going last week. See what happens when the Hubby isn’t here to keep me in check; I go veggie crazy.
Now that the topic of veggies is on the table, I think it’s time we talk CSA veggies. We are halfway through our season here in Ohio, and week ten netted us (in order of appearance, which trumps alpha today): a luscious watermelon, purple leaf lettuce, three bunching onions, four baby carrots, red-skinned potatoes, a green bell pepper, blackberries, a handful of big beefsteak tomatoes, and yes the inevitable and unstoppable green beans.
I am so damn tired of green beans. I think some freezer action might be in order….then again I have company coming on Sunday, so it might be a good time to pawn some off on them….er, I mean make a delightful dish involving green beans. Of course, I could always package them up for the Hubby; he still gets excited when he finds out we got green beans in the share. I’d say he’s weird, but the man loves his veggies, and that warms the cockles of my heart; a couple of other places too.
Enough dirty talk (really, can you blame me? I’m alone all week long), let’s get to the eats.
I like to mix my morning granola with some plain or honey flavored Greek yogurt and fruit, and the blackberries make a perfect addition.
They also act as an accoutrement to my usual weekend breakfasts (or weekday dinners) of eggs and potatoes.
If you’re observant enough to think those might also be my CSA potatoes on the plate, well then you get a gold star. I made another round of Parmesan Roasted Red Skinned Potatoes because they are extra delicious with more than a hint of nutritious. Honestly, I love to make big batches of these, so I can have them as a side dish several times in the same week. Instead of microwaving them, I stick the leftovers back in the oven for a couple of minutes at 300 degrees. This way they retain their flavor, and you still get the crispy texture you’ve come to know and love.
Another thing I’ve been making in big batches is Tomato Pesto. I’ve actually made this half a dozen times now this summer and frozen almost as much. This is a great way to easily use and get the most of your fresh summer tomatoes. It’s also ideal for those who don’t enjoy a traditional pesto. I know it’s shocking, but there are folks out there who don’t swoon for a big pile of green garlicky goodness. Not me; I swoon and then I face plant. Hard.
I’ve sent the Hubby back to school with jars of this stuff as well, so he can easily make great pasta dinners for himself. I’ve also used it on cheese pizzas, and it absolutely elevates this simple pie to drool worthy; not that pizza really needs much help.
The tomatoes that didn’t get turned into Pesto became a featured star, along with my CSA onions, in this pasta sauce. Also in the mix are a handful of hot banana peppers from last week’s CSA share. I ultimately froze this sauce, but I can say it will do wonders to warm even the dead come winter time. It is hot and spicy, and I love it.
The lettuce got eaten the same way it always gets eaten; in a lunch time salad. I keep half of it here at the house, and the rest I send with the Hubby to school. His new roommate told him he eats really well and “healthy,” which pleases me to no end. Obviously.
The green bell pepper got stuffed along with last week’s hot peppers. See him; up there in the far right corner. He’s just a little guy.
Since the carrots and the green beans, well the ones the Hubby hasn’t eaten, are still sitting in the fridge, that just about wraps it up for me. Except for the watermelon, which I deliberately saved for last. In an ode to my hero, Ina Garten, I made Watermelon Mojitos using our CSA melon plus fresh mint from my herb garden.
Be prepared to share these with friends, or be prepared to wake up with a hangover. Me, I shared. I’m nice like that. I’m also not a fan of hangovers. Imagine that.
On that note, I shall bid you adieu with warm wishes for a wonderful weekend.
Do you have Monday off too? Any exciting plans for the long weekend? Tell me all about them.
Do I have Monday off? Snort.
But I do have exciting plans for the weekend–to spend 6 hours in an ice rink near you, plus 4 hours driving each way, so, you know, that will be exciting. 🙂
I’m very impressed with your pizza, it looks delicious. I’d love a mojito, too. Really, I’ll take it all, stuffed peppers and everything.
You’re a momma so you don’t get any days off.
I should have made you a mojito. We could have had it with our gelato.
Seriously. That is a lot of veggies for one gal. I think pawing off some of them on your guests is a fantastic idea.
I’ve never seen tomato pesto before but it looks delicious. Topping it with pizza is probably great too. Oh, and I love the looks of those stuffed peppers. So cute!
Sounds like you are missing the hubby. You should totally make him up something delicious for the next time you see him! Perhaps with all of those green beanies 😛
Yep, this week I did miss the Hubby. I was also super “emotional” so it was also probably best for him to be in a different state. Ha.
I plan on filling him with veggie goodness this weekend. In fact, we’re already halfway there.
I want those breakfast plates and that pizza!! YUM!
Yum is right!
Watermelon mojito!?! WOWZA! YES YES YES! Your meals look divine as always, and man would I love to be your hubbbbby reaping the benefits of all this goodness.
The mojitos are VEGAN too!! So is the tomato pesto; no cheese. You should make it and use it to top your pasta or veggie bowls. You would love it.
He’s pretty happy about my cooking jaunts.
Jealous of those gorgeous berries!
We got another container of them this week too. In fact, we’ve been getting a lot more fruit in our shares this year. Go Geauga Farms.
Oh man, Ida is totally my hero too. I need some watermelon mojitos stat!
Yep, I love Ina.
That tomato pesto looks amazing!
I just made homemade salsa with my tomatoes! So yummy!
I’ve been thinking about doing some salsa too. Thanks for reminding me. I’m wondering if it would freeze well….must go investigate.
I know I made this same comment before but those stuffed peppers look wonderful and are such an incredible idea! So many variations could come about and I could make the spicy ones for me and the regular for the non-spicy Ralph. Yum!!
You could and you should Fran. I bet Ralph would like it.
you inspired me to rejoin a CSA here in Cali! I thought I didn’t need one because of the year round farmers markets but I realized that getting produce I wouldn’t necessarily buy makes me more creative!
Hip Hip Hooray! I’m thrilled to hear that and yes unexpected produce has a way of pushing you outside your comfort zone and increasing your creativity. Plus it’s a great way to support the farmers on a more steady basis. Farmers markets are great (and I love those too), but participating in a CSA is stable and certain income for farmers. I can’t wait to see what you started doing with your CSA.
What did you stuff those peppers with? Looks good!
I’ve been roasting my green beans, so good. Garlic + lemon + parmesean + beans = yes.Though I like snacking them cold too (after a quick blanching). I keep a dish of these in the fridge and grab a few whenever I go pillaging.
I stuffed them with beans, cheese (of course) sauteed onions, peppers and some seasoning.
I will try beans your way. Heck, I’ll try them any new way at this point. 😉
Oh my LORD…that pizza! If I hadn’t won the smackdown that went down between my GINORMOUS collection of tomatoes from the man-friend’s garden over the weekend by not only making homemade pasta sauce (for the FIRST time…where’s my gold star?!) but also a HUGE bowl of deliciousness that I am lovingly naming “Rainbow Salsa” then I would TOTALLY make some of that pesto! Woo hoo…another gold star…for that killer run-on sentence! 😉 But seriously, how could anyone NOT like pesto?! It’s like hummus…you can slap just about anything in that shiz! Mmmm!
You REALLY have me convinced that I need to go to the store for some potatoes! Why must you describe crusty cheesy deliciousness in such ways?!?!
I can’t separate myself from potatoes; I just love them so. Pesto too and especially this tomato pesto. You need to have another smackdown or steal some more tomatoes from the Man-Friend’s garden and make this stuff. It’s like tomato crack…but better!
Or you can wait a couple of weeks, and I’ll throw it on a pizza one night when you’re here.
Guess whaaaaaaaaaaat!!! I made it today!…but I of COURSE had to add my own little spin to it! Omg, it turned out SO good! Oh and since I was having trouble sleeping, I went ahead and made three other batches of DIFFERENT pesto! Ha! 😉
I might have to rename you Pesto Queen.
You know what else rocks about pesto? It freezes really well. I take a cookie scoop and add dollops (it ends up being about 2 Tbsps) to a cookie sheet covered in wax. Stick the cookie sheet in the freezer overnight and then the next day, you can stick all your dollops in a freezer safe Ziploc bag for future use.