IG Fresh Haul Week 7
Beers and Sunshine Haul
These +30 temps might not have you thinking fall. That’s exactly where my focus starts to go once I get to August.
August has to be hands down the best time of year for vegetables. There is an abundance of fresh produce coming out of the garden.
This week, I am going to help you solve that burning question. What do I do with all of this zucchini?
*Vine ripened tomatoes *Mini greenhouse tunnelShow Stoppers!!!
In the middle of summer the last thing you are probably wanting to think about is September. That is exactly where my mind goes when August hits. I have gaps in the garden spaces where vegetables like onions and kohlrabi used to be. I want to fill those empty spaces with more veggies. Believe it or not yes there are some vegetables that will grow and be ready to harvest by September. Sunday, I planted arugula, dill and cilantro. These will be ready just in time for the last couple IGFresh Hauls.
With vegetables coming out and new ones going in. You might wonder what could possibly be left?
Well only all the good stuff like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, potatoes and garlic just to name a few. August is exciting because the squash start to steal the show. This year I have planted 3 different types. There is the buttercup squash with the bright orange flesh. The perennial favourite spagetthi squash. Tiny pint size sugar pumpkins that are great for sweet or savoury meals.
Ok what is happening with all of this zucchini. Let me tell you a trick I use. For every 2 zucchini that I get I will eat 1 and grate and freeze the other. After I have grated and the zucchini I put it in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out any extra water. I will make sure to measure it out into 1 cup portions. Then individually place the mass of shredded zucchini as neatly as possible on a baking sheet lined with parchment. I will then put the tray in the freezer and wait till completely solid. Once frozen, I will put the blocks of zucchini in zip loch bags and store in the freezer until I want to pull it out for a recipe. Below in the recipe section you will find my favourite recipes for zucchini and also the patty pan squash.
What’s In The Haul
HALF
Zucchini
Potatoes
Cabbage
Shallots
FULL
Zucchini
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Peas
Kale
Potatoes
Shallots
Dill
Week 5 Recipes
Zucchini
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Bread
Mediterranean Zoodles
Zucchini Relish
Zucchini and Shallot Scrapple
Zucchini Storage Tips:
Store zucchini, in a resealable bag in the fridge, with a piece of paper towel inside the bag to wick away any moisture. Zucchini will stay good this way for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.
These little yellow sun looking things.
Zucchini Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
1 1/2 cups flour or gluten free flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola or coconut oil
2/3 cup white sugar or coconut sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup zucchini, grated
1 cup ripe banana, mashed
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Take the shredded zucchini and place it in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze the excess water out. In a large bowl combine all of the dry ingredients, mixing together. In another bowl mix together all the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl and mix well. Dump in the chocolate chips and fold everything together.
In a greased 9 by 13 baking pan, pour the batter in. Tap the baking pan a couple times to release any air bubbles in the batter. Add more chocolate chips to the top before baking. Bake the cake for 50-55 minutes. Allow bread to cool before cutting into it
Mediterranean Zoodles
1 large zucchini
1 cucumber, roughly chopped
8 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup olives
1/2 cup crumbled feta
Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
Juice from 1 lemon
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp oregano
Salt and Pepper
Spirralize the zucchini into noodles and set off to the side. In a bowl mix together all the ingredients for the dressing. Mix the dressing and the raw zoodles and dressing together until evenly coated.
Add the chopped vegetables and feta to the top and enjoy.
Zucchini Relish
4 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup chopped onions
1 1/2 tbsp salt
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp celery seed
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp pepper
In a bowl add the zucchini, onion and salt. Mix everything together and let sit for 1 hour. After the hour is up rinse the zucchini in water and squeeze out all the moisture. In a medium pot over medium heat, add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Add in the zucchini and onion mixture. Bring everything to a boil and then reduce to medium low and simmer everything for 30 minutes.
From here you can pack the relish to can it or you can put in containers and store it in the fridge or freezer.
Zucchini and Shallots Scrapple
2 zucchini, thinly sliced
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1 tbsp salt
3/4 cup of flour or gluten free flour
1/4 cup corn meal
1 egg
Thinly slice the zucchini and shallots. Mix together in a bowl with the salt and let stand for 1 hour.
Once the hour is up squeeze the liquid from the zucchini and onion. (Save the water)
In the bowl of save zucchini water add the flour, corn meal, egg and baking powder. Mix together to form a batter. Add the zucchini and onion to the batter and mix until everything is combined. Pour out onto a oiled baking sheet and baking in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Enjoy.
Cucumber
Crispy Chick Pea and Cucumber Salad
Herb Cucumber and Whipped Feta Salad
Tzatziki
Cucumber Storage Tips:
Storing cucumbers is easy as wrapping them in dry paper towel and placing them in an open plastic bag. Make sure the bag is left open to allow air flow. Cucumbers will store in the fridge like this for a 10 days.
The alternative method is to just store the cucumbers on the counter. They will delicious and crisp like this for 7 days.
Crispy Chick Pea and Cucumber Salad
1 Cucumber
1 shallot, sliced
1 16oz can of chick peas
1 tsp smoked paprika
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup yogurt
1/8 cup tahini
1 tbsp lemon
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp dill
Salt and Pepper
Preheat the oven to 425F. Drain and rinse the can of chick peas. Toss together the chick peas, shallots, olive oil, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
Combine the yogurt, tahini, lemon, honey and dill in a food processor and blend.
On a plate spread out the dressing, then top with the crispy chick peas and shallots.
Cut the cucumber into 1/2 inch pieces and garnish on top of the chick peas.
Herb Cucumber and Whipped Feta Salad
1 large or 2 medium cucumbers
1 bundle of green onions
1 cup of feta cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
Fresh chopped dill
Fresh chopped parsley
Pistachios, toasted
In a food processor add the feta and sour cream, and blend until nearly smooth. Pour out onto a serving tray.
Cut the cucumber into quarter length wise and then roughly chop into 1 inch sized cubes. Lay the cucumbers and chopped green onion on top of the whipped feta.
Garnish the salad with freshly chopped dill, parsley and toasted pistachios. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil, the fresh squeezed lemon, salt and pepper.
Tzatziki
1 cucumber, peeled, de-seeded
1 bundle of green onions, chopped (optional)
1 cup plain greek yogurt
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp fresh or dried Dill
1 tsp salt
Using a cheese grater, grate the cucumber and combine the salt. Let the salt and grated cucumber sit for a couple minutes until the cucumber starts releasing its water. Next place the cucumber in a clean dish towel and squeeze the cucumber pulp, releasing the water from the cucumber. In a separate bowl combine the yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, dill, green onions. Add cucumber to the yogurt and mix well.
Cabbage
Purple Cabbage Salad with Tahini Dressing
Bacon and Onion Fried Cabbage
Cabbage Storage Tips:
Store cabbage in the fridge, whole and uncut. It will stay good in the fridge for up to 1 month. When ready to use just peel off a couple outer leaves.
When freezing cabbage you can cut into 1/4 wedges or shred the cabbage. Blanch the wedge cabbage for 4 minutes and the shredded cabbage for 1 and half minutes. Next strain the cabbage and shock it in ice cold water. Place the cabbage on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze for 3 hours and then place into freezer bags.
Purple Cabbage Salad with Tahini Dressing
Purple cabbage, half head shredded
8 carrots, shredded
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 cucumber cut into match sticks
Tahini Dressing
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup olive oil
Juice from 1 lemon
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Salt and Pepper
Shred the cabbage, carrots, onion and cucumber and mix together in a bowl. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing together and pour over salad.
Bacon and Onion Fried Cabbage
4 strips of bacon
1 onion, diced
2 cups cabbage, diced
1 tbsp vinegar
Salt and Pepper
In a sauté pan over medium high heat, cook the bacon to desired doneness. Once cooked remove the bacon from the pan, but leave all the bacon fat still in the pan. Add in the diced onion and cabbage. Cook the veggies until the cabbage becomes soft. Add in the vinegar, salt and pepper and cook for another minute. Serve.
Peas
Garden Veggie Sauté
Brown Butter Peas with Gnocchi
Pea Storage Tips:
Peas can be stored in a bag in the fridge for a week. Any longer the peas should be frozen.
Freezing peas, put the shelled peas into a pot of boiling water and blanch for 2 minutes. Remove and place the peas into a bowl of ice water. Strain the peas, putting the peas on a clean dish towel on a baking tray and freeze for 1 hour. Next put the peas into a zip lock bag and put into the freezer. They will last up to 6 months.
Garden Veggie Sauté
1 zucchini, diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup peas
6 small carrots, cut into coins
5 small potatoes, cut into quarters
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp fresh herbs
4 tbsp butter
In a large pot cook the potatoes for 4 minutes over medium heat. Then add the carrots that are cut into coins, cook for 3 more minutes. Last add the peas to the pot and cook for another minute. Strain the vegetables. In a large saute pan over medium high heat, heat 3 tbsp butter. Once the butter is hot and sizzling add the chopped onion, zucchini, and garlic. Let it cook for 2 minutes. Next add in the potatoes, carrots and peas, toss together in the hot pan for another 2 minutes. Add in the fresh herbs and season with salt and pepper. Dump into a dish and finish with the left over tbsp of butter.
See Potato section down below for another pea recipe.
Gnocchi
1 cup potatoes, boiled and mashed
2 cups flour
1 egg
Boil and mash the potatoes. In a large bowl add the mashed potatoes, flour and egg, mix together until the dough forms a ball. Divide the dough into 1/4’s and form into a little ball. Take each small ball of dough and roll out into long snakes. On a floured surface cut the snakes into half inch pieces.
In a large pot of lightly salted water cook the gnocchi for 3-5 minutes. Drain and serve with sauce of your choice.
Or try this sauce to go with your gnocchi, you can find most of the ingredients in your IGFresh hauls.
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
6 leaves of sage
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup cooked peas
Salt and Pepper
In a saute pan over medium heat, warm up the olive oil. Once the olive oil is warm add the sage leaves and let them fry for 1 minute. Next add in the chopped garlic and cooked peas. Let everything gently fry for another minute. Add cooked gnocchi to the pan and toss everything together. Add salt and pepper together to taste.
Potatoes
Potato Pan Cakes
Parmesan Roasted Potatoes
Warm Potato Salad
Potato Storage Tips:
Store potatoes in a cool, dry, dark and well ventilated place. Typically in a cardboard box in the pantry or garage. Do not store them in the fridge. The humidity in the fridge will make them sprout over time and the cold air will make the potato convert its starch to sugar. Making the potato sweet.
Potato Pancakes
5-6 medium potatoes, shredded
1 onion, sliced
1 tsp salt
4 sprigs of thyme, stem removed
1 large egg
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/4 cup flour or gluten free flour
Shred the potatoes and add the salt and mix thoroughly, let sit for 10 minutes. Drain off the liquid in the bowl. Squeeze the potatoes removing any extra water from the potatoes. In a bowl combine all the ingredients to the potatoes and mix until everything is incorporated. In a frying pan over medium high heat add 4 tbsp of cooking oil or fat of your choice. Wait till the oil is hot. Form the potato pancakes into little patties and place into the pan to fry for 3 minutes each side. Serve with sour cream and chopped chives.
Parmesan Roasted Potatoes
1 lbs of baby potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup shredded Parmesan
Salt and Pepper
Preheat the oven to 400F. On a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Drizzle 2 tbsp olive oil. Evenly sprinkle the 1 cup of cheese in a circle on top of the oil. Season the top of the cheese with salt and pepper.
Cut potatoes in half length wise. Place potatoes on top of the cheese cut side down.
Cook in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Cheese will melt and start to form a crust.
Warm potato salad
2 lbs of potatoes
4 strips of bacon
1 bundle of green onions
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp Dijon
Salt and Pepper
Roughly chop the potatoes into 1 inch cubes. Par cook the potatoes in boiling water for 4 minutes. Strain the potato’s once cooked. In a sauté pan cook the 4 strips of bacon until crispy. In a bowl combine the oil, lemon juice, mustard, green onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Thoroughly mix together. Roughly chop the bacon. Toss the bacon and warm potatoes in the dressing. Serve.
Kale
Kale Pesto
Kale Pesto and Grilled Peach Pizza
Lemon Garlic Kale
Kale Storage Tips:
Take the washed kale and place in a zip lock bag or air tight container. Put a dry piece of paper towel in the bag or container to wick away any moisture. Kale is pretty resilient and will last in your fridge up to 10 days.
Freezing kale, remove the rib from the kale leaf. Blanch the kale in boiling water for 1 minute. Remove the kale from the water, letting it air dry or dry it off with a dry towel. Place it on a baking sheet and put into the freezer for 2 hours. Once frozen put into a zip lock bag and put it back into the freezer. It will last up to 3 months.
Kale Pesto
8 leaves of kale, roughly chopped
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice from half a lemon
1/4 cup walnuts
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup grated parmasion
Salt and Pepper
In a dry (no oil) sauté pan over hight heat toast the walnuts, until they are becoming brown and aromatic. Dump the walnuts into a bowl. Next in the same pan put the roughly chopped kale with some water and steam the kale. Once the kale is steamed pour off any excess water and put the kale and the rest of the ingredients into a food processor. Blend everything together to form a smooth paste.
Kale Pesto and Grilled Peach Pizza
1 recipe of kale pesto
2 ripe peaches
Prosciutto
Feta or bocconcini
4 flatbreads, store bought pitas
Preheat the BBQ on high. Cut the peaches in half, remove the pit. Cut into 1/8 and grill on the BBQ.
While the peaches cook, preheat a cast iron pan on the BBQ. Remove the peaches. Once the skillet is hot start building the pizzas. Spoon and spread the kale pesto on top of the flatbread. Add the prosciutto, peaches and cheese to the top and place the pizza in the hot cast iron skillet. Close the lid and let it cook for about 5 minutes until the cheese is melted and the flatbread turns golden brown.
Lemon + Garlic Kale
As many Kale leaves as you want
Juice from 1 lemon
3 cloves of crushed garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Roughly chop the kale and add it to a sauté pan to steam with a bit of water. Once the water is evaporated, add in the lemon juice and crushed garlic and let steam until all the liquid is gone. Add the olive oil, salt and pepper.
Tomatoes
Roasted Tomato Aioli
Caprese Salad
Tomato Storage Tips:
Store your tomatoes, upside down (stem side down) on a tray left out on the counter. Ripened tomatoes will store like this for up to 6 days. If they last that long.
Freezing tomatoes has never been simpler, start by coring the tomato. Next place the tomatoes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze for 5 hours. Once frozen solid, remove the tomato from the freezer and put into freezer bags. Put back into the freezer, the tomatoes will last like this for up to a year.
Roasted Tomato Aioli
1 cup cheery tomatoes
1 bulb of garlic
1/2 cup mayo
1 tsp dijon mustard
Basil
Salt and Pepper
Roast tomatoes and a bulb of garlic in the oven at 350 F for a half hour. To a food processor add in the cooked tomato, roasted garlic, dijon mustard, basil, mayo, salt and pepper. Blend until the aioli becomes smooth. Enjoy as a salad dressing or a spread for sandwiches.
Caprese Salad
3 ripe tomatoes of cherry tomatoes
Fresh Mozzarella or bocconcini
Fresh Basil
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Salt and Pepper
In a sauce pan over medium heat, bring the balsamic vinegar to a boil and reduce until the vinegar coats the back of a spoon. Let it cool.
Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella into 1 inch thick slices and lay out in a layering over lapping fashion. Drizzle the balsamic reduction and olive oil over the tomatoes and mozzarella. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and garnish with fresh basil leaves.
Shallots
Charred Shallot Dip
Onion Storage Tips:
Whole onions can be stored in a cool, dry, dark and well ventilated place. This would be a basement, cellar, or garage. Already peeled and cut onions can be stored in the fridge in a air tight container to prevent the onion odour corrupting other foods. They will store in the fridge for 7-10 days.
Green onions can be stored in the fridge in a zip lock bag with a paper towel for up to a week.
Charred Shallot Dip
3 small shallots, cut into rings
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Salt and Pepper
Preheat the BBQ on high. Slice the shallots into rings and toss in oil, salt and pepper. Grill on the BBQ until each side is charred. Place charred onions, garlic, cream cheese and sour cream into a food processor and blend. Add in the spices and blend again. Serve with crusty bread, crackers or veggie sticks.
Dill
Honey Dill Sauce
Dill Storage Tips
Break up herbs into to categories, tender herbs and Harty herbs.
Tender herbs are as follows basil, cilantro, mint, dill, and tarragon. These herbs spoil quickly and should be used 5 days after getting. The best way to store them is in a mason jar or glass of water with the stock sitting in the water. Much like fresh cut flowers.
Harty herbs such as thyme, rosemary, sweet marjoram and sage are much more forgiving. Tie the bundle of herbs into a boutique and store in the fridge for 7-10 days
Honey Dill Dip
1/2 cup mayo
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp dill
Salt and Pepper
In a bowl combine all of the ingredients. Enjoy
