Basket numéro 3

Well ladies and gentlemen, basket number 3 has arrived. What does a basket look like? Well, it basically looks like my cooler stuffed with veg.

Oddly enough, I feel like this week we didn't get a lot of vegetables compared to the last two deliveries. Trust me, I am NOT complaining. This is challenging enough as is. So what did we get today, and what the heck are we going to do with it? One thing I didn't get (and am eternally grateful for) is broccoli!

Here is what I did get:

Tomatoes (shocking but true) - for the third basket in a row!

Potatoes

Fennel

Fresh basil

Eggplant (I think)

Radishes (again, we think - it's the long red thing next to the possible eggplant)

4 corn on the cobs (I think this might be the last time we get some)

Pearl onions

3 garlic cloves

Yellow carrots

Some kind of sprout (that is apparently good on sandwiches - according to the hubby)

Patty pans (aka panty pants)

Summer squash

Green beans

Lettuce 

and... Rhubarb

As an aside, we had our first packing casualty. Nothing major, so far everything shows up in pristine condition - except this little guy:

Anyways, so what is the plan for all this you ask? Well here we go. This weekend I plan on making the following:


Banana bread (what else do you do with brown bananas???)
Fennel, Squash & apple soup
Rhubarb cobbler
Tomato, basil pasta sauce (need to buy big jars to preserve in)
Meatloaf (plan on putting veg in there somewhere)
Caprese Salada


So, as I mentioned in the last post, I am trying to not spend more money in order to use up what I have. I still had not used up the squash from the last basket and so I figured it was time. Step one? Cut a whole in the box... But that's a whole other show. I really had no idea what to do with the Fennel. Maybe some of you use it more frequently (hell, I never use it so any use would be more frequent than me) than I do, but I had no idea what to do with it. I wanted to make this squash soup, I had fennel... I used google. I found a whole bunch of recipes for squash/fennel soup (who would have guessed), but I really just didn't have the energy for anything complicated. So in the end I went with basics. I used the normal equation for making any potage: 60% veg + 40% onions, cover with broth. 

Now I wanted some kind of flavour so I added apples (I saw that in a recipe at one point during my search) and had to flavour somehow. I was inspired by the apples so I added salt (for flavour), cinnamon for the apples and turmeric for a little umph! Bring this concoction to a boil and simmer for... well, till the veg is mushy. Pure, et voila! It's pretty good. I will finish it off with cream when I serve it!

So that's all I managed to produce today. I sorted my veg, washed it put it away and made a soup. I also started with the rhubarb cobbler. I am pretty excited for it. I will add strawberries to the recipe (I have some I need to use up). 

I have an abundance of potatoes right now. We really aren't eating them. Any suggestions, aside from the usual? They are pretty and deserve a good end.

Also, looking for a suggestion for the eggplant (not ratatouille - or maybe ratatouille). 

Results:

• Two meals of soup

Used up:

• All the squash from the last 2 baskets
• Fennel (which I feel is a huge accomplishment)

Lessons learned:

I just might be too tired to have learned anything. I am starting to notice that as exciting as this basket is, I don't like that they just give you enough of something so that you have to come up with a solution, but not enough to make a recipe out of. Take the tiny amount of rhubarb they sent me, or the beets from the last time. 


Tomorrow I will be making the cobbler, meatloaf, tomato-basil sauce and banana bread (hopefully). Let's see how that works out.