random produce...

this week's haul

     WEDNESDAYS   i love wednesdays... when i wake up on wednesday mornings and open the front door to grab the paper, there is always another wonderful surprise waiting there for me... my weekly box of organic produce.  i eagerly open the box, check the contents against the packing slip, and then start planning what to make with it all... i rifle through recipes, peruse foodie sites, and flip through cookbooks until i find things that suit my fancy for that week's haul... seriously, check this out!  i've got savoy cabbage, green leaf lettuce, kale, arugula, fennel, baby carrots, zucchini, purple radishes, avocados, oranges, apricots, plums and pluots... how i will ever eat it all in one week, i do not know, but i'm willing to make an effort :)

     ORGANIZATION   you may notice that all this produce is neatly packed up and organized here, but i assure you, it does not arrive that way... it's fresh from the farm to the box to my doorstep, the best way to get produce... given that, there's something else to look forward to on wednesdays... produce processing!  an activity that is best accompanied by 80's music (thank you, pandora!) to the disdain of my kids... ok, they don't hate the 80's music per se, more my rendition of every song that comes on (there's usually singing and dancing involved.)

the spinner

     PRODUCE PROCESSING   the best part of produce processing for me is the lettuce'y stuffs... ya know why??  cuz i get to use one of my favorite kitchen gadgets, the salad spinner!  i chop up all the lettuce first (and whatever else i'm gonna spin) while it's still dirty, toss it into a sink full of cold water, swish it around a bit and wait for all the dirt and stuff to sink to the bottom... then into the salad spinner it goes... there's no greater satisfaction than pumping that thing 8-10 times and watching it spin, almost uncontrollably, until the stuff inside is all nice and dried off...  now it's into labeled ziploc bags, ready for my delicious recipes... i think the one i'm looking forward to most this week is barbecue pulled pork sandwiches with spicy cabbage slaw (made with carrots and purple radishes)  i am SO hungry thinking about it... tomorrow, i shop!

what i'm making this week:

• bbq pulled pork sandwiches with spicy slaw garnish (but you already know that!)
• a cape cod inspired cobb salad (with arugula, fennel, turkey bacon, apple, toasted walnuts, dried cranberries, bleu cheese, and an orange-dijon viniagrette)
• kale chips (this will be my first time, so we'll see... but you toss the kale in olive oil, and s&p, and bake until crispy... then sprinkle with a little brown sugar and nutmeg)  will it replace lays dill pickle chips?  never, but at least it's a healthier option!
• zucchini bran muffins
• zucchini and kalamata olive flatbread
• lemon basil cupcakes

anybody gonna be hungry over the next week?  i'm sure i'll have plenty to share :)  #eatingwell