Posting blitz!

Okay, two recipes and a summary! Read below for recipes.

Total for May was $160.35, goal $160.

I cheated and spent some of June's money yesterday. Because really, I didn't *need* the stuff, but I also didn't want to have to make a second trip on Monday just to be "true to the budget".

So I've already spent $20 of June's budget.

Pinto Bean Burgers

Again with the "what to cook this weekend". I have about 2/3 of a 10-lb bag of pinto beans. I've done soup. I've done enchiladas. I've done refried beans. I wish I could find 10-lb bags of garbanzos. I could eat those beans every day.

I found a pinto bean burger recipe. This was supposed to be Saturday night's dinner, but we went to a friend's instead. So I added it to the risotto night.

Again, a lot of adjustments. I made it vegan (well, except for the slices with cheese). I also could not find corn for the life of me. I looked in the freezer 3 times! Hubby gave them the thumbs up.

Pinto bean burgers:
4 c. cooked pinto beans: 0.44
1 bu chard, steamed 5 min and pureed in food processor: 0.25? from the garden
2-T T. chopped green chiles (we froze these last summer): 0.25
garlic powder, salt, pepper to taste
1 tsp cumin: 0.10
1/2 c. diced onion, sauteed until soft: 0.10
1 c. bread crumbs: free (from heels of old bread)
1/4 c. wheat germ: 0.25
2 T. canola oil: 0.08
Total: 1.37 for 9 burgers, or 0.15 each

Chop chard in food processor. Add sauteed onions and chiles. Chop. Add all but one cup of pintos. Chop.

Add these ingredients to whole pintos in a bowl. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, bread crumbs, and wheat germ.

Put in fridge until ready to use. Form into patties, fry in a little oil on each side for a few min.

We had them on toast. I used salsa, arugula, and a little mayo. Dh used mustard.

Wild Mushroom, Leek, Sun-dried Tomato Risotto

Man, how did I get to be 38 years old before discovering risotto? Especially when you can cook it in the pressure cooker so quickly and easily.

I was looking through my cupboard, trying to figure out what to cook this weekend. You know, with full-time work, and this being a $40/week month, it was getting hard. For one thing, our freezer and pantry were a little low - partly because I stopped buying meat of any kind, so there was none to fall back on. And partly because March was the third $40/week month of the year.

But I saw a little baggie of arborio. Now, I know that I didn't have asparagus, peas, or goat cheese like my last risotto (made on a flush month). But I did have this little bag of dried wild mushrooms from Trader Joe's. So I googled "pressure cooker mushroom risotto", and found a blog that mentioned a recipe, from none other than Vegan with a Vengeance (love this book!) Now, I altered this recipe a lot, based on what I have in the pantry. But it was still good!

Wild Mushroom, Leek, Sun-dried Tomato Risotto
1.5 c. arborio rice: 1.96
3 T. canola oil: 0.12
1/4 c. sun dried tomatoes in oil, chopped: 0.67
2 cloves garlic, minced: 0.10
2 large leeks, chopped and soaked in water to remove dirt: 1.50 (just a guess)
1 small pkg dried wild mushrooms: 2.00
6 c. water (Free)
1 T. veggie stock bouillon: 0.25
1/2 tsp salt, pepper to taste
fresh or dried thyme and rosemary
Total: $6.60 for 6 cups, or $1.10 per serving.

Rinse mushrooms and drain.

Mix 6 c. water and stock flavoring in a saucepan. Bring to simmer. Add mushrooms and simmer 2 min. Remove from heat, use slotted spoon to remove mushrooms. Let cool and chop. Save the stock.

Scoop leeks out of soaking water and drain on a towel.

Saute leeks in 1 T. oil in pressure cooker until soft. Add garlic and rice and remaining oil, saute a couple of minutes. Add 3.5 cups stock, herbs, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, salt and pepper.

Bring to boil. Put cover on pressure cooker. Bring to high heat, reduce heat to low enough to maintain pressure. Cook at high pressure 5 min.

Reduce pressure quickly under the faucet. Remove lid and stir. Yum!

Chard!

Picked some chard from the garden. Second thing we've picked (after radishes). Still waiting for the beets, and haven't planted the green beans yet. Just don't find the time.

Vegan Chocolate chip cookies

So, I promised my son yesterday some chocolate chip cookies. Realized too late that I have no butter of any kind. Did a search for "vegan" cookies, figuring I'd find one with oil instead. Did. They're here. They are tasty!

Pesto Pasta

I remember the days when, trying to control portion sizes, I would make 1/2 lb of pasta. That's four servings, two for dinner, two for lunch the next day.

With a kid and a job, those days are gone. I make the full pound, and it lasts us four full meals now.

Today's pasta had spinach/arugula/parsley pesto (made with one clove fresh garlic and three roasted...the fresh one was POTENT), sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, and some diced ham from the freezer. Toddler loves it "green sketti!" We topped it off with a big salad with avocado, radishes, carrots, olives.

Cool-totally-non-food-related-stuff

So, this morning my spouse was off playing tennis, like he does on Sundays (no real games, they just hit the ball around). Nick and I were doing (another) floor puzzle (we're up to 100 pieces now). I heard two huge "booms", and the windows rattled. Truly, felt like someone hit the house or the window.

I locked the front door and peeked out our windows...nothing.

Spouse came home, I joined my walking buddies for the last half of an 8-miler. Came home and googled it.

It was the space shuttle Atlantis coming in for a landing at Edwards Air Force Base. More than 150 miles away, and we felt the sonic boom. Pretty cool.

On a side note, when I first moved to Cali, I actually got a call back from a resume that I sent, from a company that works at Edwards...coulda been a rocket scientist. ;)

Roasted Leek Dip

So, we got three large leeks from the farm this week. I still have some roasted potato leek soup from last week, but I really didn't feel like more of that.

My mom mentioned on the phone that some neighbor has a friend who makes "really good leek dip" (not that she's ever had it). So I started thinking, how about roasted leek dip?

I searched the web for leek dip recipes. Found one that called for fresh leeks (and not "powdered leek soup mix"). But it also called for a bottle of "creamy salad dressing", and I generally don't go there.

Then I remembered the spinach artichoke dip that I like from Alton Brown. I figured I could adjust it for roasted leeks.

This was really tasty and...tasted EXACTLY like the dip you grew up on (well, I did), that was basically Lipton onion soup mix and a cream base. Gee, kinda glad I put in all that effort (but hey, I know what's in it!!)

Roasted Leek Dip
3 large leeks: $2.00
8 oz cream cheese: 1.00
1/4 tsp garlic powder: 0.02
1/4 c. mayo (eyeball it): 0.17
1/4 c. sour cream (eyeball it): 0.19
1 T canola oil: 0.04
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes: 0.02
1/4 c. grated parmesan: 0.37
Total: $3.81 for about 2 cups.

Preheat oven to 400F. Slice white and light green parts of leeks. Dunk in bowl of water to get out grit. Put in a paper towel and dry. Put in rimmed sheet with oil, S&P. Roast for 20 to 25 min, stirring once. Some of the leeks will get crispy.

Let cook. Puree in food processor with remaining ingredients. Serve with crackers, warmed.

It's a little thick. I might thin it later.

Oatmeal

So, I like oatmeal. We buy the instant packs as "emergency" breakfasts. They are kinda gluey and have way too much sugar, but they do the job. I prefer steel cut oats...nutty and chewy. They take a long time to cook, so I cook a bunch. But it takes me 5 days to eat them all...I get kinda tired of them.

Recently I discovered a new blog: http://www.katheats.com/

It's awesome, and exactly my kind of eating. She really eats a lot of oatmeal. She has a tribute to oatmeal.

http://www.katheats.com/kaths-tribute-to-oatmeal/

We ran out of bread yesterday for breakfast. I am running low on steel-cut oats, but got a huge box of regular (not quick cooking) oats awhile back. So I decided to look at Kath's site and find some oatmeal to try.

I did the whipped banana oats with a little less liquid. I added in about a tbsp of 9 grain cereal, and topped with a bit of almond butter.

The first bite was...chewy. But they grew on me VERY quickly. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them, and with no sugar either! I ended up losing 1/3 of the bowl to my child. This new way of making oats (and choosing different toppings) will be very fun, I am thinking. And I may never have to buy steel cut oats again.

Whipped Banana Oats:
1/3 c. old fashioned oats: 0.05 (I think I got a really good deal at the store with a coupon)
1/2 banana: 0.10
1 tsp almond butter: 0.05
1/4 tsp vanilla: 0.04
pinch salt
1/3 c. water
1/4 c. milk: 0.03
Total: $0.27 for one serving.

Potato and Pinto Bean Enchiladas

I don't know possessed me to google this. Or even how I found the recipe. But since I have part of a 10# bag of pinto beans, and a few pounds left of the 10# bag of potatoes, it seemed like a good recipe. As often has happened in the past, allrecipes.com didn't let me down (everyone has their favorite recipe site...that's one of mine). I found this recipe, and of course tweaked it a bit.

I added chard, because we had it from the farm, and I don't really know what to do with chard, except for put it in stuff. I have some really good kale recipes though. Chard's a little different.

I also didn't make my own tomatillo salsa. I had a jar in the pantry. I tend to stock up on salsa with coupons and sales. It was actually my last jar of salsa. It was probably a little too spicy for my 3 year old, so I made two trays...a small tray with the dregs of some red mild salsa. And I subbed cheddar for the salsa fresca.

These were very very good. I really wanted to have two. But I am noticing a little extra around the middle, and this weight isn't going to go away on its own.

We had these with guacamole. I love avocados, been craving them for weeks. Haven't made it to the farmer's market. I haven't had the best luck with buying them elsewhere at stores, and it makes not a lot of sense to buy chilean avos when you live in So. Cal. I have two favorite vendors at the market, so ended up with five avos instead of two. My friend Tessa (who I used to know from the CSA) sold me two large avos with a high oil content...man, they are so buttery and delicious, I used my finger on the bowl. I mean, given the choice between a second enchilada and some guacamole...the green stuff is going to win every time.



Potato and Pinto Bean Enchiladas
1 bunch chard: 1.00
1 cup dry pinto beans: 0.29
1 lb potatoes: 0.39
1 tsp each salt, cumin, chili powder: 0.25
1 T. canola oil: 0.04
1 T. ketchup: 0.05
11 flour tortillas (because that's how much filling I ended up with): 1.43
12 oz salsa: 0.75
1 cup shredded cheddar (about 4 oz): 0.75
1 T canola oil: 0.04 (a different tbsp)
Total: $4.99 for 11 enchiladas, or $0.45 each

1. Soak beans overnight. Drain and rinse. Cook (I use the pressure cooker, and I cooked a double batch...will freeze the rest).

2. Steam chard for about 5 min. Cool. Squeeze dry. Chop in food processor.

3. Peel and dice the potatoes into about 1/2 inch dice. Toss potatoes with ketchup, cumin, salt, and chili powder. Place on greased cookie sheet and roast at 400F for 20-25 min, stirring once.

4. Mix beans (2 cups), and potatoes in a large bowl. Stir in chard.

5. Microwave the tortillas to soften.

6. Grease a 9x13 pan (though I needed an extra small pan). Fill each tortilla along the length of it, about 1/3 of the way from the end. Roll tightly, place seam-side down in pan.

7. When pans are filled and filling is gone, spoon the salsa over the top (or enchilada sauce, if you've got it. Pre-kid, I used to make my own. It's good stuff. Time consuming, but good stuff). Top with cheese.

8. Bake for about 20-25 mins at 350F.

9. Try not to eat the whole pan in one sitting.

Cheating

It's probably no secret that I'm pretty busy. When a new coworker looked at me and pointed out that I am "into sports" (meaning, I work out regularly), I work full time, have a toddler, etc. - well, it made me kind of tired. It all started with how I was torturing him with the smell of my homemade food, and I pointed out that I cook three big meals on the weekend to eat for lunches.

But I digress...I've been pretty busy and stressed, and I'm looking for ways to simplify dinner. I don't cook as much on weekdays, so I am leaning to the emergency tuna sandwich for lunch more often than I used to. My husband and I were discussing making Friday nights (which used to be leftover nights, but now leftovers are gone by Thursday) "frozen pizza night". We used to eat out on Fridays (pre-kid), and for monetary and health reasons, I just don't want to go back there.

Then I struck on a different idea.

Enter the "powdered food". See, I waffle - I have this idea that I'd like to have an "emergency stash" of food in the house. In the case of a disaster (fire, flood) or job loss (lack of funds), I think it's a good idea to have a fair bit of food on hand, that you can't lose due to loss of electricity. Some religious groups (Mormons) even believe in keeping 1 year on hand.

I think that's excessive for us. Namely, I have a 2br, 1 ba, 1100 sf house. One year is ridiculous. Also, I really like eating healthy, fresh food. If I have a lot of canned fruit, vegetables, fish, white rice etc. on hand, then I have to actually eat it.

So, I compromise. I have usually about 5-10 lbs of dried beans on hand. Plus some brown rice, whole grain pasta, canned tomatoes, canned fish. Recently, though, I decided to answer the "emergency kit" with Costco's emergency kit. For $75 each (I bought two, it was on sale), I have sealed containers that supposedly last 20 years. And they are advertised as being great for camping! Which we haven't done recently, but plan to.

So tonight I decided to give it a try. I mean, 5 cups boiling water, one packet (at $1.27 each), 25 minutes. Add a side of vegetables, and how bad could it be? I figured I could test it out, occasionally take some camping, and still rest assured that I have a month of food on hand in emergencies. All of the meals are vegetarian, but not vegan.

Tonight, we had the "cacciatore". It wasn't bad. Now, compared to the food that I actually COOK, yeah, it sucked. But compared to processed/packaged food that you'd take camping, it's not bad. I ended up mixing the frozen steamed vegetables in, which improved it greatly. My son liked the broth. He loves broth.

So, certainly not something to be part of your regular repertoire. But not bad on occasion, and still - good for camping.

My son stole my apples.

Breakfast and dinner

Breakfast: homemade bread with homemade pumpkin butter and cheese.


Dinner: potato and cheese quesadilla from this recipe.

Roast beets

Well, this is the week of the potato (bought a 10-lb bag, when your grocery budget is low, they go a long way). Tonight, however, I finished up most of the last of the veggies from the farm - the beets, roasted with some rosemary, garlic, and fennel.

Candy cane beets, yum! Only thing left is a little lettuce (in tomorrow's tuna sandwiches), and some carrots (probably destined to become sticks).

Week's meals

Still been pretty busy the last week. Here are some photos of what we've been eating.
Potato leek soup.



Spanakopita and sauteed scallops.



The full tray of spanakopita.



Steel cut oats with raisins and pumpkin butter that I made last year and froze.



Cream cheese, radish (from the garden!), arugula, and ham wraps.

Potato and Chickpea Curry

I love chana masala. I have a recipe...somewhere...from my friend Shithi, from Bangladesh. I need to find that. But in the meantime, I decided to surf the web for some potato and chickpea curry recipes.

I had a couple of promising recipes from my shelf - World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey has a Caribbean version and a few other good options. But I was missing a few ingredients. I figured if I was going to adjust the recipe right off the bat (which I almost always do), it should be by a minimal amount.

Then I stumbled upon this recipe from Simply Recipes. It was delicious! Now, I made the following adjustments:

Used 22 oz of diced potatoes (I bought a 10lb bag)
Used dried chickpeas (1.25 c.) that I cooked in the pressure cooker.
Pureed the diced tomatoes and added about 1/2 a small can of paste (I like it thick).
Added a clove of garlic.
Increased the cumin and coriander to 1.5 tsp each because of the increased potato.
Sauteed the onion until browning in canola oil, then added hot peppers, garlic, and ginger for a couple of minutes, then added the other ingredients.

It was yummy!! Definitely a keeper.

Cost breakdown:
2.5 c water (instead of broth): free
22 oz potatoes: 0.49
1.25 c. dried chickpeas: 0.65
1 onion: 0.20
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes: 0.57
1 clove garlic: 0.05
2 tsp. ginger: 0.10
cumin, coriander: 0.15
diced hot peppers: 0.20 (I used poblanos that I roasted last summer from the farm)
salt: 0.01
canola oil: 0.04
tomato paste: 0.12
Total: $2.63 for about 9 cups, or $0.29 per cup

wow that's cheap

Week's update

Well, with the fire, we decided to ditch town and drive to visit friends for the weekend. So there was not a lot of cooking going on after last Weds.

The hubby made his famous tomato soup (from Betty Crocker? Better Homes and Gardens?) one night. Thursday.


We had a really nice salad a couple of nights this week with lettuce, arugula, steamed beets, carrots, corn, black beans, vinaigrette, and toasted walnuts. And some more of that vegan "blue cheese" (doesn't taste like blue cheese).


And tonight I made this cabbage slaw, with red cabbage 'cuz that's what we had. I cut the oil in half. But I didn't eat it, because I was off running a 5k and got free snacks and beer. Hubby didn't care for it much, said the cilantro was overpowering but the bites with nuts were good. So I added some cashews, shredded kohlrabi, and shredded carrot. I'll let you know how it is tomorrow, when I have it for lunch. It's not too far off from the ramen slaw that I've made, except no ramen and the added cilantro and sesame oil.

Asian noodles - Fire edition

Yup, my town is on fire again...between the areas where two fires burned last year. Some friends have been evacuated, so lets all hope the sundowner winds die down and no homes are lost.

As soon as I saw the fire (around 3:15), I decided to pack it in, grab my stuff, and go pick up the family. Then I went home and cooked dinner before we lost power (which hasn't happened yet, but did happen to 32,000 others).

As usual, this recipe has a little of this and that, whatever's in the fridge

Asian Noodles (a variation of Sesame Cashew Pasta)
1 lb spaghetti: 0.50
1 T canola oil: 0.03
1 red bell pepper, julienned: 1.10
1 slice onion, into strips: 0.05
2 medium carrots, julienned: 0.15
3/4 lb broccoli florets, steamed 3 min: 0.75
1/4 c. frozen corn: 0.06
2 cloves garlic, chopped: 0.10
2 T. soy sauce: 0.19
2 T. rice vinegar: 0.17
2 T. sesame oil: 0.40
1 T. tahini: 0.16
1/2 c. cashews: 0.65
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/3 c. water
1 T. olive oil: 0.11
3 T. Trader Joe's soy sesame vinaigrette: 0.25
Total: $4.67 for 8 servings, or $0.58 per serving.

Boil pasta al dente, according to package directions. Drain.

Meanwhile, in a blender, puree the garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, tahini, cashews, red pepper flakes, olive oil, and water.

In same nonstick pot, saute onion in oil until soft and starting to brown. Add carrot and bell pepper, and saute over medium until soft, 5 to 10 min. Start adding noodles and broccoli and sauce, alternating, so that you get the veggies and the noodles mixed well. This is when I added the soy sesame vinaigrette dressing, because I needed more liquid. Then I decided to add the corn for the heck of it.

Warm through. Yum.

Bessara

See recipe here: Bessara

I used only two Tbsp of olive oil and two Tbsp of lemon juice, but otherwise followed the recipe starting with 2 lbs of unshelled fava beans.

I've tried many fava bean recipes. I've shied away from purees because one of the coordinators at the CSA thought it was a horrible way to ruin such a wonderful vegetable.

Best recipe with fava beans I've had so far. But I love hummus, so it's not surprising.

Vegan Sausage and Gravy over (non-vegan) biscuits

So, I've been interested in tempeh. Bought it once, cooked it once, but that's about it. So when I was at the local health-foodie store snacking on the nice cheeses they have out to sample at the end of a workday, I bought a package.

Then I went home and opened up my favorite vegan cookbook Vegan With a Vengeance and looked up tempeh in the index. Now, I also have Veganomicon, but that cookbook kinda scares me (I have made at least one recipe from it). Being that I work full time and have a toddler, most of those recipes look a little bit much for me.

Thus, I found vegan sausage crumbles and white bean gravy over biscuits. Now, making my own biscuits was just not something I was up to, so I paid $1 for a bisquick packet (complete with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, eggs, and buttermilk, so not vegan and not particularly healthy either, but only a buck and only required water).

This was very easy, and very very tasty. Not at all tasting like true southern biscuits and gravy (or even northern), but very good nonetheless. We will be making it again. I did make a substitution, as I didn't have fresh sage leaves, but I did have fresh savory. I did adjust the dried seasonings a bit also.

Vegan Sausage Crumbles and White Bean Gravy (6 to 8 servings)
1 8-oz package tempeh: 2.99
1 T fennel seed: 0.10
1 tsp basil: 0.03
3/4 tsp dried marjoram: 0.02
3/4 tsp dried oregano: 0.02
1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes: 0.01
1/2 tsp sage: 0.08
2 cloves garlic, pressed: 0.10
2 T soy sauce: 0.09
1 T olive oil: 0.11
2 Tbsp lemon juice: free for me
Total: $3.55 for 6 servings, or $0.59 per serving

In medium saucepan, crumble tempeh. Mostly, but not completely, cover with water. Simmer over medium heat until most of the water is absorbed, about 10-12 mins. Add the rest of the ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until brown, 8-10 min.

Meanwhile, make the gravy:

White Bean Gravy
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed: 0.79
1 T olive oil: 0.11
1/2 c. water
1 tsp vegetarian stock powder
salt and pepper to taste
two sprigs fresh savory, leaves removed from stalk: 0.10
Total: $1.00 for 6 servings, or $0.17 per serving.

Puree beans, olive oil, water, and stock flavor in a food processor until smooth. Add to tempeh crumbles when they are browned. Add salt and pepper. Three min before serving, add savory.

The biscuit mix made 8 biscuits, but really only 6 servings (2 biscuits for the adults, one for the toddler, so two meals). Also $0.17 each.

Total for the meal, per serving: $0.93

We ate this with asparagus from the farmer's market (at $0.17 per stalk...hey that's the lucky number for the day). It was delicious.

Sadly, no pictures, as my camera battery died at the park today.

Now back to shelling the fava beans for tomorrow's dinner...

Vegetarian Chili and Cornbread

I felt like chili and cornbread today. Well, I've been feeling like it for awhile, to be honest. I plan my meals 2 weeks in advance, so it's not like I woke up today feeling like chili.

Last night, I soaked the beans. This morning, I cooked them. Then I fired up the crockpot. I make my chili a little different every time. This was excellent, and needed a teensy bit of salt because I used dried not canned beans.

Vegan Chili
1.5 cups dried pinto beans, cooked: 0.44
1 cup dried kidney beans, cooked (I cooked separately in the pressure cooker): 0.44
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes: 1.29
1 cup frozen corn: 0.25
3 carrots, shredded: 0.30
1/2 large onion or one small onion, diced: 0.50
1 bell pepper, diced: 1.00
1 clove garlic, minced: 0.05
"some" cumin, oregano, salt, chili powder, and garlic powder: 0.10
1/2 a packet of low-sodium taco mix ('cuz I had it): 0.30
1/2 cube of chipotle in adobo, pureed: 0.25
1/4 cup bulgur: 0.08
1/2 can tomato paste: 0.15
Total: $5.15 for about 13 cups, or $0.40 per 1 cup serving.

Cook beans first. Saute onion and pepper until soft and carmelized.

Put beans and some of the cooking water, but not all, in the crockpot. Add remaining ingredients. Cook on low all day.


Vegan Corn Bread:
My spouse ate an egg sandwich for lunch, then realized that we needed 6 eggs for two batches of cupcakes and 1 batch of cornbread. But we only had four. So I looked up a recipe for vegan cornbread, and found one at the ppk here. I have two cookbooks by Isa, and this recipe did not disappoint, even though I didn't make it vegan. I added two TBSP of sugar to the recipe, and used regular milk in place of soy milk.

Cost:
2 c. milk (from dried): 0.25
2 c. cornmeal: 0.50
1 c. flour: 0.16
2 tsp baking powder: 0.15
2 T. maple syrup: 0.54
2 T. sugar: 0.05
2 tsp vinegar: 0.05
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c. canola oil: 0.20
Total: 1.90 for 20 slices, or $0.10 per slice, not counting the honey that my honey douses it in.

We topped the chili with sour cream and cheese, and had the whole thing with chips, guacamole, and salsa.

The guac was AWESOME. There's the one guy, at the farmer's market, and his avocados are so rich and creamy. 2 weeks in a row, he hasn't let me down (sometimes, there are issues with avos anywhere). I wish I'd bought two. They were only 50 cents each. Next week: two.

Salsa is my new fave - Trader Joes garlic chipotle.

Fava Leaves

So...we got fava leaves from the CSA this week. Now, every year there's always at least one "new" thing. This time...I think the CSA is trying to get a two-for-one. Give them fava beans, and hey, we can give them the leaves too, fill up the share, bonus!

Fava leaves apparently going to be the "next big thing" for foodies. At least that's what google tells me. In fact, if you google fava leaves recipes, you get exactly two recipes. One, shred for salad, two, steam.

So I decided to saute, mix with garlic, pesto, cheese, and pasta.

It was okay. The fava leaves are a bit strong-flavored. I love chard. I love kale, but these fall in the collard-green category. So if I get them again, I will steam, puree, and mix into something like pasta sauce, lasagna, or soup or rice. It was too big of a part of this meal.

FYI, check out my new blog (click the link on the top right), where I'm trying to post my meals and exercise each day. Just to be honest with myself on what I'm eating.