Greetings!
Happy weekend to you. :biggrin: Anyone doing anything fun this weekend?
After work tonight, I set out for a quick run before I started to think about dinner. I was a bit shocked to find that my legs felt like BRICKS on this run! The only workout I did post-race was the bike ride Tuesday and the rest were rest days, so I thought I would be fine today, but man were my legs t-i-r-e-d. When I got back from this 2 mile run my whole body felt stiff. I guess my body must still be remembering what I did to it on Sunday…needless to say I did lots of stretching when I got home!
I got a newsletter today from Plan B Organic farm regarding the CSA share for this week.
This Week’s Summer Shares Feature:
- Asparagus – The Peter’s Family Farm, Vienna Ontario
- Tomatoes – Gideon Stoll & Family, Aylmer Ontario – hothouse grown
- Cucumbers – Gideon Stoll & Family, Aylmer Ontario – hothouse grown
- Leaf Lettuce – Plan B – grown in unheated polyhouse
- Baby Salad Mix – Plan B
- Spinach "red veined" – Plan B
- Shiitake Mushrooms – Weth Farms, Goderich Ontario
- Apples – Tansy Farm – Flesherton Ontario
It actually was a type of spinach in that bag on the left- ‘red veined’ spinach…who knew!?
Why hello there new and interesting GREEN in my life.
I was actually excited to cook dinner tonight…and that is very rare after a long day in the bakery!
Shiitake Mushrooms…
I now believe there is something very magical about eating from local farms. It makes the cooking (and eating) process so much more enjoyable.
Dancing in the olive oil…
Apparently red-veined spinach is good in mixed green salads, but I wanted to cook with it instead.
The taste is quite similar to regular baby spinach, although perhaps more bitter when cooked. I couldn’t find much info on it on the Internet. I’m sure the proper way to cook this spinach is to remove the stems, but I was very short on time, so I just went with it.
Thank you Mr. Peters!
Eric told me that the proper way to get rid of the ends of asparagus is to break it with your hand. The asparagus will naturally break at the weak/soft part and all of the tough end will be removed.
Of course, he wasn’t home when I was cooking so I cut it with a knife. :biggrin:
“When preparing to cook asparagus, break the spear at the tender point (by bending the spear it will break naturally at its most tender spot). Its amazing to discover that almost all the spears in a bunch will generally break at about the same point, and that when standing the bunch up, all will be almost equal in height.” [source]
I sautéed the Shiitake Mushrooms and spinach in a skillet with 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 clove minced garlic, and lots of coarse sea salt.
For the asparagus, it was very similar. I preheated the oven to 425F. After rinsing and removing the ends, I poured about 1-2 tsp of extra virgin olive oil and a couple pinches of sea salt and mixed it with my hands. Into the oven they went for about 20 minutes or so.
Oh, I also squeezed a small amount of lemon over top.
Coming out…
It was getting HOT UP IN HERE so I made some cold icy lemonade…
The juice of 2 lemons, a pitcher of water, organic cane sugar (to taste), and ice.
I cooked a big batch of quinoa for some healthy grains.
Instead of cooking it in plain ‘ol water, I cooked it in vegetable broth and it turned out magnificent! It had so much flavour. I dissolved 1 vegetable bouillon cube in boiling water and then stirred well before pouring the quinoa into the pot. Amazing.
Before I knew it, Eric was home for the weekend and dinner was ready! I cracked open one of these for both of us:
Dinner was served!
I cannot begin to even describe how good the roasted asparagus tasted. It was sheer perfection! Sea salt is key when roasting vegetables.
The spinach & mushroom sauté was also lovely over a bed of quinoa.
I shared an Adore Glo Bar with Eric for dessert.
Let’s just say the weekend has kicked off on the right foot!
Plans tonight include a walk and having some friends over for a movie. I can’t wait to relax…this has been one of the craziest weeks in the bakery.
See you tomorrow AM…I will be telling you about some race plans for the summer and showing you my next graph. Oh yes. Ange’s Comic Tour 2010 continues.
Have a lovely evening!
Eeeee my tri is tomorrow and I’m SUPER DUPER nervous so I decided to come here for some motivation. Thanks for the good wishes!! I will let you know how it goes :D
This food looks so lovely and fresh!
The red-veined spinach looks to me like beetroot greens – the leaves that grow above the ground with beetroot. It is very popular where I live and is often found in salad mixes at the local supermarket. My mum also grows beetroot and we harvest the leaves while the root is still growing.
Or it could be something entirely different!
OMG. LOVE your blog!!
I live in Toronto too, except I’m in Ottawa for the summer, but GOD i love my city.
Are you eating at Fresh in one of your 2009 pictures. I recognize the bright green wall colour, and you look like you’re eating one of their epic bowls!
Going to be reading this daily now, thanks!
-amy
i’ve been making a TON of lemonade too. the shiitake mushrooms on top of the quinoa look divine!!
Pretty veggie pictures. We belong to a local CSA farm in my town. We love supporting the farm and the produce is wonderful.
Guess what? I haven’t ran much since but you inspired me to go on two runs this week. :-) I was surprised to find I enjoyed myself.
Wow, your dinner looks glorious! I literally want to lick the computer screen!
Yummyyy…your dinner looks like perfection :)
I am loving the Adore bars…seriously. They are my fave! I shared with a lady at work..she loves em too :)
Did you think your CSA asparagus was especially good? I have decided that the asparagus we receive through our CSA is the best asparagus I’ve ever had. It’s incredibly tender and milder than store-bought.
Interesting! I’ve never seen that type of spinach. I was one of the ones who said it was chard. I learned something today. :)
That whole dinner looks perfect – so fresh but also so filling! I think I’m going to do a roasted asparagus with lemon – thanks for the idea!
For the first time in several months, I have absolutely NOTHING on my schedule for the weekend and I wouldn’t have it any other way – my brain and my soul need a mind-numbing, nothing-going-on, do-what-I-want-when-I-want-to break!
This might sound shocking – but I’ve never roasted vegetables! My mom used to do it all the time growing up, but since I moved out (5 years ago!) I’ve never made them myself. Perhaps its time?
those veggies look delicious…yum:)
The CSA share sounds like a great way to try out new produce! I’ve never even heard of red veined spinach before.
Looks so good!
So jealous of the fresh produce, it looks so delicious!!!
I did bakery work for a looooong tie. It’s very tiring! KILLS your hands and feet!
Lovely dood…looks like a lovely evening! Isn’t asparagus just the best?
I want that Glo bar.
I never buy shiitake mushrooms because of the price, but they look gorgeous along with the spinach and quinoa. I bet they were really satisfying.
And I, for one, greatly anticipate the next stop in your Comic Tour 2010 :)
Yummyyyyyy roasted asparagus is amazing. And so are shiitake mushrooms. And spinach. Gosh, I love everything in your dinner, except for the quinoa because I’ve never tried it before… cooking grains in broth seems like an excellent idea! :)
Wei-Wei
That Adore Glo bar looks amazing – s’mores are so good! Your dinner looks so nutritious. I agree that it’s always better to cook with local produce, especially from a veggie box, as you feel like you are helping out the farmers and producers who’ve supplied them. I hope you have a great weekend relaxing with your friends.
Mmm…your dinner looks so delicious! I’m a vegetarian who enjoys eating lots of vegan meals, so I really appreciate your healthy, tasty, and satisfying meal ideas.
I love everything in this post, your green asparaguses look so pretty and delicious!