Bountiful Baskets Produce Co-op

This week, I purchased another produce basket from http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/.  For $16.50, I got:  2 cucumbers, 3 green bell peppers, 3 red bell peppers, 5 roma tomatoes, 4 yellow onions, 7 bananas, a head of iceburg lettuce, a pineapple, 7 nectarines, 3 green apples, 5 asian pears, a bunch of green grapes, and 12 plums.  I got 13 types of produce for $16.50 which divides out to be $1.27 for each type of produce.  What a deal.  I am looking forward to finding some new recipes to help me use up all this great food....especially all of those plums! 

This dish is one of my all-time favorite ways to eat cauliflower.  This recipe has been in my family long before me and I was lucky to have it passed down to me.  The end result is a fresh tasting, light, sauce-less pasta dish that serves as a main course in my home.

Cauliflower Spaghetti

Ingredients

• 1 head of cauliflower, cleaned and cut into florets
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ½ pound spaghetti noodles
• Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place cleaned, florets of cauliflower in medium bowl, add 2 tablespoons of water.  Seal with  plastic wrap and microwave for 6 minutes, or until desired consistency.  Strain and set aside.
2. Prepare pasta according to package directions, strain and set aside.  Reserve ¼ cup of starchy water.
3. Heat olive oil in large frying pan.  Add onion and cook until soft (I like mine on the browner side), add garlic, parsley and salt and pepper to taste.  Add starchy water to deglaze pan and add moisture.
4. Add cauliflower and pasta to onion mixture.  Stir well to combine.  Serve with parmesan cheese on top.

Overall

This is not the first or last time I will make this recipe.  As always, it was mouth-watering.  The more you cook the onions, the sweeter they become so don’t worry if they are a little brown.  If you have fresh parsley, throw it in, it adds depth to the dish.  This is a great, cheap recipe to prepare with very few ingredients.  It serves at least 3 people and makes for a great meal. 

Frugality

The cauliflower cost me about $1.65 through my food co-op (www.bountifulbaskets.org).  The pasta was $1 at Fresh and Easy.  Everything else I had on hand.  This makes a huge dinner with leftovers for $2.65.  This is a dish you really can’t beat.

Look Forward To

I still have a broccoli, a bunch of spinach, and a pound of celery to get creative with.  You should really look forward to what tonight’s leftovers will make tomorrow night….Delectable!

Baked Yams and Dilled Green Beans

I have never cooked with or even tasted a yam.  So when they came in my co-op basket this weekend, I wasn’t sure what to make of them.  Since September is National Honey Month, I thought I would try a recipe that incorporated honey as well.  I used a recipe from www.allrecipes.com and adjusted it according to other people’s comments and recommendations.  This is the recipe I ended up with.

Camotes al Horno (Baked Yams)

Ingredients

• 6 small yams
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 6 teaspoons honey
• 3 teaspoons white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Place yams in a large pot of lightly salted, boiling water and cook for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain.
3. Arrange the yams in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Cut a slit down the middle of each one and dab 1 tablespoon of butter in each.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for an hour, or until golden. Spoon 1 teaspoon honey into each yam, sprinkle each with sugar and serve.

Overall

Since this was my first time working with yams, I thought that overall they turned out pretty good.  They remind me of not-so-sweet sweet potatoes.  They are no doubt firmer than sweet potatoes, which warranted the longer cook time.  The yams were pretty good but the long cook time makes me not want to buy them again.  If I did make them again I think I would try to use brown sugar instead of white for a better flavor combination.  Also when I cut them to put the butter in some of them cut in half and therefore the butter  seeped through to the pan and didn’t cook into the yams as desired.

Frugality

The yams cost me about $1.65 through my food co-op (www.bountifulbaskets.org), the honey, butter and sugar were on hand.  For $1.65 this is a great side dish but for an hour and a half of my time, not really worth it.

This second recipe is one of my favorite ways to prepare fresh green beans.  This is a recipe I adapted from my mother’s cooking. 

Dilled Green Beans

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh, cleaned, trimmed green beans
• 1 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed

Directions

1. Place trimmed green beans in medium sized bowl.  Add about ½ inch of water.  Seal with plastic wrap.  Microwave about 6 minutes, or until desired consistency.
2. Add butter, salt and dill, stir and serve as side dish.

Overall

As always with this recipe, it turned out great.  The dill gives the green beans a very fresh taste.  This is my go-to recipe for green beans and even tastes good on canned green beans if you don’t have fresh available. A delicious, low-cost side dish that could be served along side anything from meat to pasta.  If you don’t have butter on hand olive oil can easily be substituted.

Frugality

The green beans cost me about $1.65 through my food co-op (www.bountifulbaskets.org), the dill, butter and salt were on hand.  This is a cheap but yummy side dish that takes only minutes to prepare.

Look forward to:

I still have a cauliflower, a head of green leaf lettuce, a bunch of spinach and a head of broccoli to cook this week.

Bountiful Baskets Produce Coop

I just got my produce basket from Bountiful Baskets Food Coop (http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/).  The cost is $16.50 and includes fresh produce (50% fruit, 50% vegetables).  My local pickup spot just happens to be a few miles from my home and right next to my favorite dog park, so its more than convenient for me and my chocolate lab to pick up a basket on a Saturday morning.

Today’s fruit included 8 bananas, 2 pounds of green grapes, 5 pears, 4 peaches, 5 plums, and a box of figs.  Today’s vegetables are 1 head of green leaf lettuce, a pound of green beans, 6 yams, a head of cauliflower, and a bunch of spinach.  I got 10 items so I can calculate that each type of produce costs $1.65, what a deal!  I am most excited about the figs (because they’re delicious and I rarely remember to buy them) and the yams (because I have never cooked with them before).

I’ll be on the lookout for new recipes to try out this week using my produce.