Roasted Rosemary Potatoes and Carrots

My produce items: Rosemary, Purple Carrots (yes, those carrots are from the previous box and yes, they are still good)

1 tablespoon of rosemary (pulled fresh off the stick)

1 tablespoon of dill weed

1 teaspoon of paprika

2 purple carrots

2 orange carrots

4 red potatoes

4 tablespoons of olive oil

Place olive oil in a pan and heat rosemary (it will brown a tiny bit).

Cut potatoes into inch wide pieces. Peel and slice carrots. Place on a baking sheet and coat with the olive oil/rosemary. Spinkle paprika and dill weed over top.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Serves 2-3

Final Verdict: Awesomely good.

I love making roasted red potatoes with rosemary and dill weed. I've never made it with carrots before but it was delicious. The real treat was having fresh rosemary and the purple carrots that added a sweetness to the dish enhancing it. I've never had purple carrots before but they are an excellent addition to this dish. The fresh rosemary has a more powerful flavor than what you would normally get out of a spice jar so you can use less than a tablespoon if you don't want the flavor to be too powerful.

Corned Beef Cabbage and Carrots

My produce items: Cabbage, Carrots

1 corned beef brisket

1 cabbage

2 large carrots

1 bottle of beer

Place corned beef brisket in pot. Fill with water until it almost covers the brisket. Add the beer to cover the top of the brisket so it's submerged. Add the seasoning packet (it comes with the brisket) to the water. Boil on the stove for 1 hour. Cut the cabbage into quarters. Peel the carrots and place in the pot along with the cabbage. Boil for another hour. Drain and serve.

Serves 4-6

Final Verdict: Success

I've never made corned beef before, but it's actually the easiest recipe I've ever made. All you do is boil it and it comes with the seasoning packet you need. I think you're supposed to boil it for 1 hour per pound. This was a 3 pounder but I only boiled it for 2. The cabbage turned out great but I think the brisket could have been cooked a little longer. The beer is supposed to help tenderize it. It was tender but I think it just needed a little more time. Still it was very good, especially the cabbage.

Creamy Broccoli and Purple Turnip Soup

 Produce items for this recipe:

• one head of broccoli
• purple turnips

Decision:  Creamy Broccoli and Purple Turnip Soup!

• 1 head broccoli, cut into pieces
• 1 purple turnip, diced
• 3 c chicken broth
• 2 c half and half
• 4 strips bacon, crisped and crumbled, divided
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 t ground celery seed
• 1/4 t garlic powder
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese

 

1.  with a wooden spoon mix cream cheese with spices in a medium pot (big enough for your soup). Turn on heat and add chicken broth.  Stir until incorporated (you may have some stubborn flecks of cream cheese that won't blend, don't worry, you'll use a blender later)
2. add broccoli, onion, turnip, half and half, and half or crumbled bacon.  Cook on low for an hour or more, everything should be a bit mushy.
3. add cheddar cheese, cook and stir until melted.
4. use an immersion blender if you have one, I don't so I transferred everything into my food processor, blend to a smooth consistency.
5. serve.  Use remaining bacon crumbles as a crispy garnish. 

The soup was creamy and delicious.  The crispy bacon garnish adds a nice texture and extra flavor to the soup.

Creamy broccoli and turnip soup.

Winter Vegetable Salad

I had the following vegetables from the box: Swiss Chard, Leek, Purple Potatoes

Washed, cleaned and cut all vegetables in similar size and blenched them until slight soft. Left them cool.

Marinated chicken with mustard, Herbs de Provence, salt and pepper, lemon zest and roasted for about 45minutes (450F) until chicken was brown and the potatoes slightly soft. Left them cool.

Cut all vegetables (added one apple and one bell pepper for color and bite) and chicken in mouth-sized pieces and mixed them with a vinaigrette  (any mustard, any vinegar, any oil, salt, pepper, any additional spices like paprika or curry can be added).

Served cold.

Swiss Chard: high in vitamins A, K and C … and they have nothing to do with Switzerland (like Swiss Cheese!).

Leek is related to onion and garlic, and was used in ancient Egypt.

Purple Potatoes: native to Peru and Bolivia 

Tuscan Bean Soup!

I think it's an understatement to say I've been on a soup kick lately.

They're just so good. And so easily, for the most part (stupid beef stew).

For our latest produce box I received kale and broccoli (pictured below), oranges and a stick of rosemary.

Kale and broccoli are the ingredients for this dish.

I ended up grabbing some lemons from my supa'market and made me some orangade juice. 8 oranges, 3 lemons, a cup of sugar and then water to the top of my pitcher. Lots of squeezing. But! Very refreshing, love the stuff.

For my biweekly recipe I decided to give this a try:

Tuscan Bean Soup - From the Pioneer Woman

5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 med onion, chopped
3 cans of great norther beans (drained and rinsed)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp oregano
1/4 cup of tomato paste
3/4 cup white wine
1 can (28oz) diced tomatoes
6 cups chicken broth
1 bunch of kale (chopped)
2 heads of broccoli (trimmed, chopped)
1 hand full of torn basil
4 tbsp butter
1 1/2 lb shrimpies
1/4 cup parsley
Fresh parm

Combine garlic, onion and olive oil in a large pot, cook about 4-5 minutes. Add tomato paste, continue to cook another 2 mins. Add oregano and pepper flakes, cook another 30 secs. Pour in wine, and scrape bottom of the pot for all the tasty crusties at the bottom. Reduce wine concoction to about half. Add in broth, canned tomatoes, broccoli and beans, simmer for half an hour; add salt and pepper to taste.

Smells. So. Good.

In another pan, add butter and shrimpies. Cook until no longer opaque; 3-4 mins on medium heat. Salt and pepper to taste.

SHRIMPIES!

Add torn basil and kale to soup, let cook another 5-10 minutes. Garnish w/parsley & parm. Top with shrimpies.

The results:
Yum! Simple ingredients. Low dish count. Easy prep. Super flavorful. What more could a girl ask for? Now, please excuse me while I jump on the kale bandwagon.