Sunday, May 19, 2013

Did you hear about the race between the lettuce and the tomato?


The lettuce was a "head" and the tomato was trying to "ketchup"!


Well, that's the best vegetable joke I could come up with after scouring the internet for some clever way of introducing this blog entry. I signed up for this quasi-CSA program started by a former Peace Corps Volunteer here in Moldova who married a Moldovan and stayed here to work on their farm, Eco Valley. Every week I get a magic mystery bag full of fresh veggies.





As delightful as this sounds, it does create a unique set of challenges, as I don't want any of it to go to waste. Some things have a longer shelf life than others and some can be frozen to preserve them, although this is not the case with all. Lettuce happens to be one that doesn't freeze very well. And the first couple of bags from Eco Valley that I have received have had quite a bit of it.

So I have had to come up with some recipes to eat up all these greens...and even though I discovered a number of recipes that involved cooking the lettuce {the likes of casseroles & soups} the thought if it still kind of creeps me out. Here are a few that I actually did make.

Salad
Our latest salad kick involves greens, goat cheese, green apple, roasted pecans & an olive oil, garlic & honey-lemon dressing. We have our friend Hannah to thank for this magical combination.



Spring Rolls
From Eco Valley I used radishes, spring onions, lettuce & spinach. I supplemented with carrots & shrimp and would have loved to have added some fresh herbs such as basil, mint & cilantro {honestly, if felt like a crime to omit them} but alas, I did not have any on hand. I made a simple peanut dipping sauce to go with them.





Lettuce Wraps
I didn't have the ingredients to make this P.F. Chang's version, so I improvised and they turned out alright. It was my first time making the crunchy rice noodle thingies {I used this gal's blog for guidance} and I am proud to say I only burned a few.



Green Smoothie
Spinach, Green Apple, Pineapple, Mint. If I would have had a few other ingredients {yogurt? juice? berries?} on hand I probably would have added them in. And I would try to use my immersion blender instead of my food processor...or invest in a real blender some day since the consistency ended up being a little too chunky for my liking.






And the runner-up veggie jokes were...

Why do potatoes always argue?
Because they can never see eye to eye.
Why did the carrot get embarrassed?
Because it saw the chick "pea"!
Why shouldn't you tell secrets in a cornfield?
There are too many ears!