A tasty pea vine treat!

This is one that's great for the kiddos! Most kiddos that is. Since mine thinks that anything minty is 'spicy' he didn't take too well to it. But the grownups in our household love it! They are Minty Pea Pops from The Toddler Cafe blog. I was thrilled when I saw these because I have a huge bunch of pea vine to use up that I got at the Minneapolis farmer's market. So instead of peas, I threw in about 1 cup of chopped, steamed pea vine. Then I used fat free cream cheese to make it a bit healthier. I also had to add a little dash of milk to get my blender to mix everything up. I think the mixture was too thick for it. Here's the result! Oh, and if you're in a pinch like I was without any popsicle sticks, just cut up a few drinking straws!


Mmmm... Pea Pops! Who knew?!

Using up the box!

Thursday is time for another box of veggies already! So I have some work to do in order to use up the stuff from our last box! Today I made huge progress by adapting the Autumn Minestrone from my Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special cookbook to what I had left in the fridge. It was delish!! Apologies for not including pictures...I took some and they somehow disappeared into the ether when I transferred them from camera to pc. So here's the City Girl version:

Root Vegetable Minestrone
2 T vegetable oil
1 c chopped spring onions and/or scallions in any combination
3 garlic scapes, minced
2 kohlrabi, diced
3 small potatoes, diced
2 small sweet potatoes, diced
1-2 t fresh oregano
4-6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 t salt
1/4 t ground black pepper
6 c water
1 bunch yukina savoy, chopped (about 3 cups loosely packed)
1 c chopped pea shoots
1 can white beans

Saute onions & garlic scapes in oil for 5 minutes. Add kohlrabi, potatoes, sweet potatoes , oregano, basil, salt, pepper and water. Bring to a boil and cook for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes and kohlrabi are almost done. Add the yukina savoy, pea shoots, and beans and simmer for another 5-7 minutes.

Mmmm....dare I say this might be the best soup I've ever made?

Pea Shoot Bubble and Squeak

It's official! Tonight I made my favorite recipe by far from these CSA goodies! It came from the biggest recipe collection I have ever seen for pea shoots (or pea vines) at www.peashoots.com where you will even find a recipe for a Peatini! Despite the crazy beverage recipes, this city girl decided to use up her pea shoots by making Pea Shoot Bubble and Squeak. I would happily make this every time we get pea shoots in the future, and will probably be making more traditional versions of Bubble and Squeak (without the pea shoots) as well.

Before making the recipe, I thought I had heard of Bubble and Squeak but was curious what the regular non-pea shoot version was like. Turns out Wikipedia has a great entry on it!

"Bubble and squeak (sometimes just called bubble) is a traditional English dish made with the shallow-fried leftover vegetables from a roast dinner. The chief ingredients are potato and cabbage, but carrots, peas, brussels sprouts, and other vegetables can be added. It is traditionally served with cold meat from the Sunday roast, and pickles. Traditionally, the meat was added to the bubble and squeak itself, although nowadays the vegetarian version is more common. The cold chopped vegetables (and cold chopped meat if used) are fried in a pan together with mashed potato until the mixture is well-cooked and brown on the sides."

And there are similar dishes from many other places, such as Colcannon (Ireland) and Pyttipanna (Sweden) to name just a couple. See the Wikipedia entry for more info!

As of now, the only things I have left from my most recent box are my asparagus, radishes, and three green onions. Everything else from my box is used up! I'm planning on grilling later this week and will make grilled asparagus and roasted radishes along with our burgers and that should do it! In case you wanna try the roasted radishes thing here's a few recipes to give you some ideas...

R is for Roasted Radishes
Roasted Radishes with Soy Glaze and Scallions
Roasted Radishes with Radish Greens

I haven't decided which version I'm gonna make, and since I'd really rather roast 'em on the grill in a foil packet anyway, I'll probably read all three and try my own version. I'll let ya know how it goes! I have high hopes that this might be one way this city girl will actually like those buggers!