The Diversity of Receiving Bountiful Baskets (bountifulbsket.org)

At last I remembered to order our Bountiful Basket on Monday. It’s been quite some time since we’ve had the joy of getting up early on Saturday morning and picking up our “surprise package” of fruits and vegetables from Sally and Tanya, but finally today it has been received.

And what a package!  Beautiful curly leaf lettuce, celery (whoo hoo as I’d just used the last of ours last night), potatoes, gorgeous crisp red bell peppers, Roma tomatoes (to go with the curly leaf lettuce and some basil  and sorrel from the Farmer's Market), bananas, kiwi, pears, pineapple, mushrooms, oranges, and last but absolutely not least Dragon Fruit!

Neither Roy nor I have tasted Dragon Fruit prior to today. I knew what it was, but Roy was so excited about this “weird” looking fruit, so he got on the computer and looked it up. It is low in sugars and filled with

Vitamin C, phosphorus, fiber, and antioxidants, a powerhouse of goodness for  you. Ours was perfectly ripe per the description on the web site, so we were ready and raring to cut it open and try it.  A cactus fruit, it MAY grow in our zone with some extra care and protection, so he wants to order one. I’m game!  It is so beautiful and exotic looking when whole…a beautiful dark pink/red color with soft light green spikes coming out from the skin in various places. And then you cut it open and WOW.  The outside skin of magenta surrounds a creamy white center exploding with tiny black seeds.  The taste is mild—a bit like a kiwi but not so sweet as a ripe one nor as tart as a not-quite ripe one. Nice consistency…not mushy but not crisp or crunchy either.   Good for you, nutritious, delicious, a treat for the eyes and palette…sounds perfect to me. 

So I got right to work making breakfast, after Roy came to me rubbing his stomach and in Japanese telling me “my stomach is empty”.  First, the potatoes--sauteed lightly in olive oil with a touch of butter, I seasoned them with a pinch of 

 Panch Phoran (aka Bengali 5 Spice if you're looking to purchase, but the recipe is easy and here on the blog), salt, pepper, and turmeric--then cooked them until golden brown. Also added some mushrooms.  Served with two over easy eggs (with a puddle of Chalula hot sauce on them—Roy can’t eat eggs and most other foods without it), along with banana and kiwi slices, a wedge of Dragon Fruit, and a toasted biscuit from dinner last night, it put a big smile on Roy's face when he sat down to eat. It didn't go away after tasting everything either!

    This was a new adventure for us in food, with a fabulous ending (they don’t all come out as good).  I think it's important that everyone at least try all fruits and vegetables at least once.  They're good for you, help control weight, supply not only vitamins and minerals but anti-oxidants and enzymes that you can't get by taking a vitamin pill, and they expand your palette--especially good for children.  I’ll let you know if/when we get ours and keep you informed of how it grows here. Winter will be the test, so you’ll hear more about our Dragon Fruit experiment in the future.

Tapas Night

           There are times when you really don’t want to take on a big meal, and your frig is full of leftovers that you need to incorporate into a meal.  Well, that scenario says “Tapas” to me!  I love the small plate meals that originated in Spain. Pieces of toast were perched on the top of wine glasses to keep out flies and ingenious tavern owners started putting a couple olives, or a piece of salami or cheese on top and that evolved to little plates served with the drinks. In this manner, people can have 1 or 2 bites of this and that, trying each one and rejoicing in the variety of tastes, textures, and spiciness, until feeling utterly satisfied. This is one reason people like buffets…you see the menu and you think you want a burger, but then you see the coconut shrimp, or Chicken Picata, or…but you don’t want to spend the money nor have all the leftovers (because you can't possibly eat 4 different entrees) it would take to purchase 4 different dishes that you seem not to be able to make up your mind and choose just one.  Tapas is perfect.

           Locally we have a wonderful tapas restaurant, El Gato Azul. Great atmosphere, delicious small bite plates, fabulous wait staff (Maurice is a jewel) and a great sangria. But being on a tight budget, that’s a real treat for us to do.  By doing it at home, you have a delightful array of foods to choose from without the guilt of going out.

           To that end, I looked at the leftovers and things we had on hand, and came up with Crab Stuffed Avocados (this did not come out too great…need to rework it as has  great potential), Stuffed Mushrooms, Greek Marinated Garbanzo Beans, Stuffed Celery,  and Spicy Mushrooms.

             So tonight when you're wondering what to do with the this and that's in your refrigerator, set up for a trip to Spain and serve Tapas!!

Stuffed Mushrooms,

 I used some corn chex cereal (gluten free) and crushed it for the bread crumbs, added the chopped stems from the button mushrooms, some garlic and minced onion, thyme, crumbled feta, and small diced salami.  Sauted onions and garlic along with mushroom stems, salami, and thyme, then removed from heat and let cool a minute. Then added the feta and stuffed the mushrooms. Drizzle the top with olive oil and bake until mushrooms are done. Serve warm.

Greek Marinated Garbanzo Beans

Ingredients

15 ounces garbanzo beans, 1 can, drained
or cooked dry garbanzo beans

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 cup Brown Rice Vinegar

1 Tbsp Soy Sauce

1/4 cup red onion, minced

1 clove garlic, pressed

3/4 cup celery, sliced, with leaves

1/4 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

¼ t. chili flakes

Directions

Place olive oil, red onion, garlic, celery and bell pepper into medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer, add vinegar, soy sauce and garbanzo beans, basil oregano and chili flakes. Bring back to a simmer stirring occasionally, turn off heat, cover pan and let sit until room temperature. To store, put into glass jar in refrigerator. To serve, drain marinade off garbanzos and put into bowl with a small spoon. Sprinkle top with fresh parsley flakes.

Spicy Little Mushrooms

1 lb button mushrooms

¼ lb. butter

½ cup Worcestershire sauce

1 T. sugar

1 T garlic powder

1 T. onion powder

2 t. paprika

½ t. cayenne pepper

In a large sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat, add mushrooms. Stir until coasted. Add worchestershire sauce & spices. Mix again, cover & cook for about 15 minutes or until mixture separates.  Serve hot. 

STUFFED CELERY

1 8OZ package cream cheese, room temperature

2 teaspoons honey (I used black walnut honey)

3 Tablespoons chopped walnuts

2 Tablespoons lavender pepper

Put room temperature cream cheese into medium mixing bowl. Drizzle with honey, put int walnuts and mix until completely incorporated. 

Prepare 2-3" pieces of fresh clean celery. Using a small off set spatula, spread cream cheese mixture completely along celery. Sprinkle top of each with a pinch of the lavender pepper. Arrange on serving platter, Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.