The first thing I did with the produce from this first box was stuff my face full of cherries. Purely for the budget, I don’t often fill my grocery cart with more exciting fruits like that so seeing them in the box I dug in! And the strawberries too, of course being so fresh and local they tasted 10 times better than anything from a store.
That night I made parsnip fries. Parsnips were my favorite part of a Sunday roast growing up so I was excited about these. The little green sprig in the box turned out to be marjoram which is similar to oregano. I pulled off some of the leaves and put them on the chopped parsnips with olive oil, black pepper and Himalayan salt then threw them in the over at 400F for about 25 minutes. They were delicious! We munched them dipped in guacamole with some grass fed beef chili.
I didn’t eat all the cherries on the way home from my box pick up so the ones that were left became a breakfast treat of Cherry Pie oatmeal the next morning. I cooked some gluten free rolled oats with vanilla, cinnamon and water then stirred in a spoon of coconut cream at the end then topped it with chopped cherries, a drizzle of maple syrup and another dollop of coconut cream. It was a super happy way to start the day!
I had a few parsnips so the next night we ate them a different way atop a juicy guacamole burger. I ran the parsnip through the spiralizer
There was a lot of stone fruit in the box and I did a few different thing with it. Some went in a breakfast smoothie with bananas and greens, some went in the freezer for future smoothies, some topped smoothie bowls and chia pudding, and some became ice cream. I was so excited to dig out my ice cream maker for the summer! I food prep for a family each week and this week was their wedding anniversary, they asked for a plaeo chocolate cake and ‘a surprise’ to celebrate so I chose nectarine ice cream, yum yum yum. I saved a scoop for us too 🙂
The oh so sweet strawberries went in a few things, smoothies for one. A classic banana strawberry smoothie with a frozen banana, a few strawberries and a cup of almond milk is a wonderfully healthy and delicious treat. Using a frozen banana makes it extra creamy, we love it! I also used them to top oatmeal and chia bowls, and in a big jar of coconut chia seed pudding. I blend one can of coconut milk with 4-5 strawberries, 1/2 tsp vanilla and 5 dates. Then add in 1/4 cup chia seeds and let it sit for a few hours and you have a thick and creamy treat full of goodness for your body.
Having used a lot of yolks for ice cream I was left with a cup of egg whites so I made a fritatta to take on the road with us. It was so good!! I need to plan them into my meals more often – they’re great to use up leftover veggies too which is exactly what I did. On the bottom I put some leftover zoodles, tomato and sprinkled on nutritional yeast. Then I added garlic sautéed kale, fire roasted green bell peppers (I think that’s the best way to prepare the more bitter green ones) and balsamic roasted beets and poured the eggs over the top. I cooked it on the stove top on a low heat for 5 minutes then baked it for 15, dolloped some gauc and mustard on top and took it with me in the car – perfect!!
There you go, that was a snapshot from my first week in produce box heaven!! Check back for next week’s creations 🙂
