This week’s box included: sweet peppers, hot peppers, potatoes, radishes with tops, cucumber, mustard greens, garlic, eggplants, Napa cabbage (or bok choy).
Vegetable lottery again this week! Do you ever peek in the boxes to see if everything is exactly the same? I admit, I haven’t been, but since learning that this week our Asian-vegetable-of-the-week (no, we don’t really have an Asian-vegetable-of-the-week) could have been bok choi, could have been a Napa cabbage …. next week just may find me opening a few boxes to decide what tickles my fancy that week.
Our box – totally chosen at random – had a Napa cabbage. I was pleased to see it since I’ve been craving cabbage. I’m going to make pikliz, which keeps a good while and is delicious on everything. Not really a fermented vegetable, but I treat it like some people do kimchi or sauerkraut and try to eat a little of it several times a day.
And there were apples which was a total surprise. I understand the farm sourced these from Tennessee. Thank you, Charlotte and Wes!
Mustard greens, more potatoes, a cucumber, radishes, and lots of peppers rounded out the box. What am I forgetting?
Lately I’ve been in need of crunchy snacks to keep me company at my desk during long work days. I decided to prepare an old favorite – peppers stuffed with cream cheese mashed with chopped black olives. I core the peppers, mix up the cream cheese, and use a spoon (or a piping bag if I can find one) and stuff all the peppers on hand. Refrigerated in a covered container they keep well for up to 5 days and when I need a snack, they’re ready. That’s the kind of make-ahead prep I need for crazy busy days.
But oh, yes, there was that sweet potato – rivaling in size the watermelons of summer. Huge! What to do with it? In our house, the answer is, divide it up. I cut mine into thirds. One third went into sweet potato burritos (recipe below). One third will get cubed and roasted with sweet spices for another dinner, and the last third is going into this African Chickpea Soup because cooler temperatures are coming, right?
Sweet Potato Burritos – adapted from Alexandracooks.com
For the sweet potato filling:
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 to 4 tablespoons neutral oil such as olive, grapeseed or canola
4 cups grated peeled sweet potato
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 to 2 teaspoons ground cumin
generous pinch of cayenne
salt and ground black pepper to taste
a cup or more of finely minced cilantro
fresh lime juice to taste
For assembly:
6 burrito-sized tortillas
sweet potato filling
1.5 cups cooked black beans
Boston lettuce or other
grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack to taste
sour cream to taste
fresh lime to taste/p>
Make the sweet potato filling: In a large sauté pan set over medium heat, sauté the onions and garlic in 3 tablespoons of the oil until the onions are translucent. Add the grated sweet potatoes, chili powder, cumin and cayenne and cook, covered — covering is important to prevent sticking — for about 8-10 minutes, stirring every few minutes to ensure it’s not sticking or burning. When the sweet potato is tender, add salt and pepper to taste and remove the filling from the heat. Stir in the cilantro. Squeeze 1/2 a lime over the sweet potatoes, mix, taste, and adjust with more lime and salt to taste until it tastes nicely seasoned.
Assemble the burritos. Gather all of your ingredients. I like to warm up my beans in a small skillet, and if my sweet potato filling has been refrigerated, I like to warm that up, too. I also like to quickly warm up my tortillas (30 seconds) in a large, dry skillet.