From June-December 2016, we had a weekly farm share that provided our family with a slew of fresh and local vegetables, meats, dairy products, and other goods. I’m doing a series of posts documenting how we used the food. You can read more about the share and our first month of meals here. And you can read all subsequent posts here.

Oh man, I admit that I’m overwhelmed by the state of the US government right now and the population of Americans supporting them. I want to acknowledge that we are not OK with the sh*t going down right now. We believe in a country and world that’s so much better than what we’re reading about in the news, and we’re doing our best to lead by example.

As a result of the hostility that we’re observing, I’m feeling a deep need to hibernate and create a sense of peace, calm, and compassion at home (do you know how hard that is with two crazy little guys?!). Anyway, something that’s helping is taking the time to prepare nourishing dinners. So, to help me (and maybe you?) do that, I wanted to pick up on my farmshare dinner series.

… now that I’ve successfully created the most dismal post introduction ever, on with the food!

These dinners are from back in October, and as you’ll see, the pictures are getting worse and worse. It’s so hard to photograph dinner on dark winter evenings.

blah. (Cheer the f’ up, am I right?)

Meal Planning – Month 4

The table below lists the variety of foods that we’ve received for the past month. I don’t know the exact quantity of vegetables we receive each week (it’s a large grocery bag filled with veggies, and I would say it’s about 20+ lbs), definitely enough to feed our family for the week. During the month of September, the vegetables have been some combination of those on the list below. In the protein category, we receive about 3-5 lbs of meat each week, made up of a combination of the items on the list. The tofu and tempeh each arrive once per month. Under the dairy & misc. category, we receive the yogurt & cheeses each week, we receive 1 lb of coffee once per month, and approximately two canned goods each week. While in season, we receive fresh fruit and some variety of fresh herbs.

veggies	proteins	dairy & misc.	fruit & herbs
cucumbers	stewing chickens	herbed goat cheese	pears
potatoes	hot German sausage	camembert	apples
carrots	Italian sausage	yogurt	basil
cabbage	bacon	coffee	parsley
eggplant	ground beef	fruit jam	dill
onions	tofu	pickles	sage
zucchini	tempeh		thyme
variety of squash	eggs		rosemary
mushrooms			lemongrass
beets			edible flowers
chard, kale, bok choy
pumpkins
kohlrabi
peppers
broccoli
leeks
radishes

Above each photograph, I list the farm share ingredients used for the dish and, where available, I’ve linked to the recipes. Where necessary, I also include some notes about that day’s meal.

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chicken sandwiches with burnt eggplant & pomegranate spread : lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, parsley

I make some variation of this sandwich fairly often – it’s sliced chicken thighs with a variety of seasonal veggies, and a spread or dressing, all wrapped in warmed naan. For the spread on these sandwiches, we made the burnt eggplant with pomegranate from Jerusalem. It’s considered a salad to be served as part of a meze platter, but decided to add it as a spread to these sandwiches, and it was amazing!

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shrimp tacos & jalapeno poppers : carrots, kohlrabi, cilantro, jalapeno

Jalapenos must grow well in Colorado, because every fall we get a bunch in our share and see them at the markets. I love poppers, but had never made them until this year, and guys, it was so easy! Give it a shot this Sunday and heat up your Super Bowl party.

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mushroom & pea soba noodles, chard, and poached fish : mushrooms, green onions, bell pepper, kale

This is another dish that I make fairly regularly. It’s inspired by the poached cod with shiitake recipe from the Wagamama cookbook (why isn’t there a CO location yet? why!). I poach tilapia or cod with a variety of fresh veggies (mushrooms, bell pepper, leeks or onions), and I vary the sauce to my taste on any given day.

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pumpkin pasta : butternut squash, onions, mushrooms, kale

We found these cute pumpkin pasta shapes from TJs and had to turn them into a squash and pasta dish.

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gratin : potatoes, kale, spinach, beet greens, dill, parsley, leeks, sausage, goat cheese

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gratin v2 : pumpkin, potatoes, kale, parsley, sage, leeks, onion, sausage, goat cheese, yellow squash

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shrimp coconut curry : green onions, carrot, green pepper, butternut squash, lemongrass

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salmon, corn, and mashed kohlrabi : corn, kohlrabi

Mashed kohlrabi! Where have you been my whole life?

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cauliflower salad : cauliflower, parsley

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grilled chicken thighs with peach BBQ sauce, yellow lentils with carrot & potatoes, rice : peaches, onions, carrots, potatoes

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teriyaki tempeh with braised cabbage and fried rice : tempeh, cabbage, onions, carrots, bell pepper

The teriyaki tempeh is a repeat recipe from month 2. It’s really delicious.

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beef stew : beef, potatoes, carrots, onion, ketchup

This is a little trick from our mom – add ketchup to your beef stew, if it’s homemade, even better.

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sausage & eggs~

tuna ramen with mushrooms, chard, and giardiniera (scroll down) : mushrooms, chard, broccoli, carrots, bell pepper, onion

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quiche! : tomatoes, spinach, leeks

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homemade pizza : mushrooms, onion, bell peppers, variety of cheeses

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Ack, going back through that month of delicious and nourishing food was cathartic. What are you cooking this week?

Don’t forget that one way to get to know another culture is to cook and eat their food. Now’s the time to expand your horizons.