Produce Box Continued ....

So if you read my earlier blog I'm trying to utilize everything in my Produce Box this week. So far so good.

Kale - Roasted Red Pepper Soup / Root Vegetable Chicken and Dumplings

Apples - Snacks

Clementines - Snacks

Radishes - Snacks ( not bad raw with hummus )

Carrots - Root Vegetable Chicken and Dumplings 

Golden Beets - Root Vegetable Chicken and Dumplings

-Kale 
-Rainbow Chard
-Apples
-Clementines
-Radishes (Heard you can eat raw...hmmm)
-Fennel (Eh... okay)
-Carrots
-Golden Beets (What?!)
-??? <--- still not sure what this it. It looks like lettuce, kale, spinach all combined??

Rainbow Chard I added as a side to some sesame seared tuna. I kept the recipe pretty much spot on with the exception of switching corn oil with olive oil and did not need to add sugar. Yum yum! Stir-Fried Rainbow Chard

And then the fennel was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I just roasted it along with potatoes and onions some dried sage and olive oil S&P. Delicious! Roasted Potatoes and Fennel

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

As a part of using up my produce box I was also looking to utilize some roasted red peppers we got from Costco. At the time we thought it was great purchase and I used them for some homemade frozen pizza but I noticed I needed to make an effort to include them which is when I thought of making a soup. Further, I wanted to use up some more kale I had which is when I found this recipe.

• Olive oil
• 1/2 Onion, Chopped
• 2 Bay leaves
• 1 Tablespoon dried Thyme
• 3-4 cloves, Garlic
• 1-2 cups, Kale chopped
• 1 Tomato, chopped (or canned diced tomato)
• 1 Tablespoon, Srirachi 
• 2 Cups Chicken broth (or Vegetable broth for vegans)
• 4 Roasted Red Peppers

1. Heat olive oil in a medium size sauce pan. Add onion, thyme, and bay leaves. Saute 7-10 minutes until tender. 

2. Add garlic ( I just added them whole since they will be blended up later ) saute 1 minute then add kale, tomato, and srirachi. Bring to boil then down to low to simmer for 10 minutes until kale wilts.

I made the broth with 2 cups of hot water and 2 bouillon cubes

Rough chops as everything was going to be blended later

3. Add peppers, then simmer for 10 more minutes

4. Remove from heat, remove bay leaves and place in blender. Blend until smooth. Serve.

Delicious! Look at that color!

Thoughts: SPICY! But delicious - so low calorie you could eat the whole recipe for under 150 calories. I wouldn't recommend unless you're using a low sodium broth but it is very nutritious and the spicy and vegetables will help fill you up with a 1-2 cup serving!

Modified from Roasted Red Pepper and Kale Soup

Produce Box / Root Vegetable Chicken and Dumplings

Mornin' Chickpeas,

I am all for eating healthy and trying to include what I call '5 a day' that is 5 vegetables and/or fruits a day. In turn, I'm very much into incorporating vegetables and fruit into my recipes for dinner which I call 'hide the healthy' for any of you out there with husband, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, friends, etc who still aren't on the healthy bandwagon you know what I'm talking about. You have to go above and beyond to show them that healthy foods can be delicious and if it's not - well 'that healthy stuff is nonsense' so I like to keep a pretty healthy consistent diet when it comes to breakfast, lunch, snacks during the day then I play 'hide the healthy' and make a nutrient filled dinner but may have some extra 'lovin' to get my boyfriend asking for me.

We've gotten produce boxes before but usually just through Groupon. We've discussed getting apart of a plan that you pick up produce box weekly for a nominal fee compared to going to the store weekly and getting all that produce. The only problem is that I feel very compelled to use up all the ingredients in the box - not a 'problem' I should say but an opportunity. However - and here we get to this week's posts sometimes I have no idea what the vegetables are or any idea on how to prepare them.

This Week we received:
-Kale
-Rainbow Chard
-Apples
-Clementines
-Radishes (Heard you can eat raw...hmmm)
-Fennel (Eh... okay)
-Carrots
-Golden Beets (What?!)
-??? <--- still not sure what this it. It looks like lettuce, kale, spinach all combined??

So we get to my first meal - what in the world to make. I'm okay with using the kale in my smoothies or putting them in soups I can freeze for my lunches later, I've decided to use the rainbow chard in a saute with some tuna later this week, apples/clementines/radishes all good snack, then we get to the fennel and golden beets. After googling beets I decided to go with a stew.

Root Vegetable, Chicken and Dumplings

• 2 Tablesoons olive oil
• 4-5 small to medium carrots (Produce Box)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 12 ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bit size pieces 
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup dry white wine 
• 3 golden beets, cut into quarters (Produce Box)
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1-2 Tablespoons of dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 3 kale leaves, de-stemmed chopped (Produce Box)

Biscuits

• 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour* (See tips)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk*

1. 1. Place a 9- or 10-inch Dutch oven over medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the carrots, onion, and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables have softened, 8 to 10 minutes.
2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the chicken, and cook until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the white wine and reduce it slightly, 30 seconds.
3. Stir in the beets and chicken stock. Simmer over low heat, partially covered, until the vegetables are tender, 50 to 60 minutes.
4. While the stew simmers, prepare the biscuits: In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and stir with a fork to blend. Add the oil and buttermilk, and mix until the ingredients are just incorporated. Set aside. (This may look very runny - it's okay!)
5. Preheat oven to 375F
6. Stir the cornstarch into ½ cup water to form a slurry. Stir this and the kale into the simmering stew      and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until thickened.
7. Drop tablespoons of the biscuit dough over the top of the stew. Transfer the pot to the oven, and bake for 20 minutes. Brush on some melted butter/olive oil, sprinkle with dried thyme and bake for another 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

*TIPS:

• Sifted Flour - yes there is a difference and I don't own a sifter. Therefore google to the rescue! If you dump a little more than the required amount (in this case 1 1/4 cup of flour) into a bowl and take a whisk and vigorously whisk for about 1-2 minutes you will end up with fluffy just as good as sifted flour. Make sure to level off the flour. Other tips for sifted flour: Sift-Flour-Without-a-Sifter
• Low-fat Buttermilk - I rarely if ever buy buttermilk. I only find it necessary for biscuit and since we've been cutting back on carbs that is a rarity. Easy fix - for 1 cup of buttermilk put 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in a liquid 1 cup measuring cup, fill the remaining with milk ( in this case I used what we had on hand which was low fat milk) 

Thoughts:

• AMAZEBALLS! I was SO thrilled with how this turned out - moreso how well the biscuits turned out. They were very runny when I put it on top of the stew and was just afrad it wasn't going to work. It was more of a biscuit crust on top but it was delicious. I will definitely make again. Only mistake was I told the bf about the beets - he was a little turned off and just admitted I shouldn't have told him it was beets and he would likely not have picked them out. However he enjoyed the biscuits, chicken, carrots, and even didn't mind the kale!
• Golden beets are delicious! They had a more full flavored potato taste. 

• Diary Free -I'm trying to cut back on diary for bikini season so I've been trying to make dinners without diary however I do not go out and buy ingredients based on this - I like sticking to my budget moreso. Therefore I will most like try this recipe with almond milk but only had vanilla on hand and wasn't confident that would work.

Modified from: Biscuit Topped Chicken and Root Vegetable Strew