Week 1 Market Menu: Greens!

Breakfast Ideas:

Steel-Cut Oats or Whole Oats

 
No matter the weather, I can always eat steel-cut oats for breakfast. You can cook them the night before and then reheat in the morning, set up in the crock pot overnight, or just cook them in the morning (if you have an hour or so). Alton Brown’s recipe is deliciously rich (containing butter, milk, and buttermilk!). Bob’s Red Mill version is simply oats and water. I like a ratio of 1:3 or 1:4,  1/2 c. oats, 1 1/2 c. water, and 1/2 c. milk (added at the end, so that it doesn’t boil for too long). Very recently, I’ve started adding peanut butter — the fresh-ground kind, which you can grind yourself at Green Top. Optional additions include maple syrup or honey, nuts and/or dried fruit, or preserves. (If you have any fruit left in your freezer from last season, this is a good time to get it out and make some quick refrigerator preserves!).  Note: if your oats are whole, rather than cut, you can cook them in that form, too. To release a bit of the starch and make the finished oatmeal more creamy, just pulse them in the food processor a few times.
1/2 c. dry oats will serve 2, with each serving containing 152 calories, 6.6g protein, 26g carbs, 2.7g fat (oats-only).
Pantry Check / Shopping List: steel-cut or whole oats, milk (optional), optional additions.

Lunch Ideas:

Kale Salad with Wheat Berries and Tofu

I really like this Mighty Grain Salad recipe from The First Mess (via Happyolks) as a base for grain salads. It’s flexible enough to make with what you have on hand, but delicious made exactly as written, too.

This week, I’m planning to use winter wheat berries for the grain in the recipe.  If you haven’t eaten wheat berries before, you’re in for a treat! They’re nutty and chewy and a little sweet, and available straight from local farmers at the market. Wheat berries can take up to an hour to cook, but they can be cooked in advance and frozen; just make sure to drain them well before freezing.  I’ll use carrots and broccoli for the veg, plus chickpeas, curly kale, parsley, sunflower seeds, and cubed firm tofu, with lemon juice for the acid and just a touch of olive oil. If you wanted to add more protein to your meal, add your favorite meat on the side; roasted or baked chicken breast would be delicious with this.

Tip: if you have a food processor, try shredding the carrots with the grater attachment, then switching to the chopping blade. Pulse a few times, until crumbly.  Dump the carrots into a large bowl, and add rough-chopped broccoli into the processor bowl.  Pulse a few times, until the texture is similar. The image at the right is a simplified version of this food-processor salad, using only carrots and broccoli with lemon juice (hemp hearts optional). It’s super tasty, and keeps incredibly well through the week. 

Pantry Check / Shopping List: winter wheat berries, carrots, broccoli, chickpeas, kale, parsley, sunflower seeds, firm tofu.

Carrot salad w/ harissa & feta & mint

This dish is one of my favorites from Smitten Kitchen, and a great alternative to green salads when you have vegetarians to feed. It’s absolutely amazing when made with locally-grown carrots!! And it’s good with or without the harissa — a spicy, garlic-y paste/spice mix. You can make your own, substitute it with another garlic-y chili paste, or just leave it out altogether — the salad will still be delicious!
Pantry Check / Shopping list: carrots, caraway seeds (optional), cumin seeds, paprika, harissa (optional), sugar, lemon, flat leaf parsley, fresh mint, feta cheese. 

HB Eggs / Egg Salad Sandwiches with Radish Salad

I’ve been eyeing this Radish and Herb Salad with Meyer Lemon Dressing for a while, and it’s the first thing I want to make now that we’ve finally arrived at radish season! I love the combination of rich egg salad with the dry bite of a good radish. You could add some sliced radishes to your sandwich and not bother with the salad at all, if you want to keep it simple. The meyer lemon is lovely, but I think regular lemons are just fine in this recipe. You could also use orange juice.
Pantry Check / Shopping list: fresh crusty bread, white wine vinegar, celery, eggs, whole-grain dijon, mayonnaise, shallots, lemon, parsley, radishes, fennel, capers.

Kale Salad with Sweet Potato and Black Beans

This hearty “salad” comes from Cookie and Kate. I say “salad” because it’s nothing like a traditional green salad with dressing; it’s greens and grains, roots and beans, and the dressing is tailor-made for it (and easy to make!) All the ingredients are things I tend to have in my pantry, or can easily substitute or omit. It’s great when made with kale, but you can use spinach or another green if you prefer. The quinoa is quick to cook, but you could use rice or another grain here, too. I’ve often made this with homemade hummus instead of the avocado sauce (since buying avocados in the midwest is a bit like playing roulette). The cumin-paprika-coriander and cilantro-lime are deliciously compatible flavors, so I don’t usually mess around with those too much, but otherwise feel free to experiment!!
Pantry Check / Shopping List: quinoa, kale, lime, sweet potatoes, cumin, paprika, avocado, jalapeno, cilantro, coriander, black beans, feta cheese, pepitas (green pumpkin seeds).

Dinner Ideas:

Using a base recipe for the frittata (we’re a fan of base recipes here!), I’m going to use fresh kale, chives and potatoes, and some fresh goat cheese if I can find it this week! Add some meat, if you like; fresh pork sausage would be delicious. If you’ve never made a frittata before, never fear! The Epicurious recipe linked above is easy to follow and gives you a blank slate for all sorts of add-ins.

Pantry Check / Shopping List: chives, spinach or kale, eggs, potatoes, milk, sausage (optional), goat cheese (chevre).

Polenta with Greens

Polenta is cornmeal which has been boiled, giving it the creamy texture of hot cereal. It may be served hot as a porridge, or cooled and sliced and then fried.  This recipe from Food.com uses it in its porridge form, adds swiss chard and a topping with dried fruits and nuts, as well as cheese. I plan to make it exactly as written, as it’s simple and quick! Note that you can use the same type of greens as in the salad above, if you want to get double-duty out of them.
Pantry Check / Shopping List: Swiss chard, crushed red pepper flakes, golden raisins, yellow cornmeal, milk, grated parmesan cheese, pine nuts.

Bow Tie Pasta w/ Arugula Gremolata

I love this recipe from Mollie Katzen of the Moosewood restaurant and cookbooks. A gremolata is a chopped-herb topping usually consisting of lemon, garlic, and parsley. This version uses arugula instead, and it’s a delicious way to get the peppery flavor of young arugula. I’ve come to think of this recipe as soon as I see arugula in the spring, it’s so simple and tasty. Best of all, it works as a hot dish or as a cold salad making for excellent leftovers!
Pantry Check / Shopping List: bow-tie pasta, gorgonzola cheese, golden raisins (regular raisins are fine), cherry tomatoes (I omit until we get local tomatoes!), walnuts, arugula, lemon zest.

Bonus:

Creamy Asparagus Soup

Dessert: