Category: Food

Senposai (or Cabbage) Roll Enchiladas

July 24, 2017

Since joining a CSA, I have been loving all of the veggies! However, for two weeks I received a veggie that I have never used or heard of before. It is called senposai. Upon Googling it, I found it was a member of the cabbage family. I love cabbage, so I was excited to try it. The first week, I made a “dump” stir-fry and put it in there (delish!). This week, I got creative and made enchiladas! Yum!

FYI: This recipe is vegetarian, but you can add chicken or beef, if you wish.

Senposai (or Cabbage) Roll Enchiladas

10 stalks of senposai or 1 small cabbage head

2 cups of brown rice

1 can of black beans

1 packet of enchilada sauce

1/2 of a yellow onion

1 bell pepper or 2 banana peppers

pinch of salt and pepper

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp red pepper chili flakes

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

  1. Cut senposai into large strips. If using cabbage, remove and discard outer layers and peel off leaves inner leaves and set aside for use.
  2. In large pot, bring water with senposai or cabbage in it to boil to soften leaves. Drain water when the leaves are soft.
  3. While boiling the leaves, prepare 2 cups of rice. Set aside when complete.
  4. Drain and rise black beans. Set aside.
  5. Prepare enchilada sauce as directed on package. Set aside when complete.
  6. Dice onion and peppers. Set aside..
  7. In separate bowl, add cooked rice, black beans, enchilada sauce, salt, pepper, chili powder, onion, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Mix well.
  8. Prepare rolls by taking a leaf and dropping a spoonful of the rice mixture in the middle of it. Roll the leaf and place in greased cooking dish. Continue until all of the mixture is gone.
  9. Top rolls with your preference of cheese.
  10. Bake for 25 minutes at 350°.

Enjoy! 🙂

Why You Should Join A CSA

July 11, 2017

I love buying local. Decades ago, my town was booming. Now… not so much. However, there is hope on the horizon with a few new businesses popping up! That being said, I try to support local businesses and encourage other to do the same, so we can keep getting rid of these empty storefronts.

I also love buying local produce, which is why I was super excited to hear about the local CSA with Who Cooks For You Farm. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.

What is a CSA? For a CSA, you “subscribe” to a local producer who offers the services. For a specified amount of weeks, you pick-up a weekly box of fresh, seasonal produce at a drop-off location. It is like Christmas to me! The farm that we have our membership with sends us a weekly email to tell us what is in our box. I anticipate that email every Thursday (our pick-up day).

We have bought into the larger box option with about 35 servings. Currently, we get the usual summers stuff (i.e. cucumbers, squash, lettuce), but we also have been able to try new items (i.e. senposai). If you like trying new things, this is obviously great. However, if you are a picky eater, time to expand your horizon!

So, why should you join a CSA?

  • You are able to support a local farmer
  • You receive fresh produce every week
  • You get to learn where you produce is coming from
  • You can often visit the farms and see their operations
  • You have the opportunity to try new items that you typically would not buy
  • You end up eating healthier since your fridge is full of veggies

Go see if there is a CSA available near you! 🙂

 

“The Good Stuff” Juice

June 26, 2017

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Andre and I have started juicing regularly. We do not use it as a meal replacement, but as a snack for mid-morning or mid-afternoon.

I will be honest… I was terrified at the thought of drinking beets. Gross!! All I could think of was my restaurant days when we had pickled beets on the buffet. They smelled so awful. Good news: They are much better fresh!

So, where do I buy my produce? I have a garden at home, but right now, it is only producing kale and lettuce. The rest is coming along nicely and will be pumping out tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, zucchini and peppers soon. I am a Farmer’s Market fanatic!! I get as much produce there as possible. Although, that is dependent on the time of the year. November to March= no markets in Western PA. 😦 Living in a small, rural town, store choices are limited. During off-season for gardens and to fill the gap in my garden/market availability, I go to Aldi first then Walmart as my last resort.

Tips:

  • Always wash your produce well.
  • Stir juice before drinking. I always put it in a shaker bottle so I can keep it mixed while I drink.
  • Play around with what you add. I usually mix it up with adding cucumbers, kiwis, or carrots occasionally. You can essentially add any fruit or veggie you prefer.
  • In the recipe below, I know that a “bunch” is not a measurement, but you need a lot of kale and parsley to produce juice. Add a little at a time, and keep an eye on it. I would say 8-10 full stems each for parsley and kale, but it depends on your preference.
  • You will need a juicer for this recipe. We have a Hamilton Beach.

“The Good Stuff” Juice

  • 4 celery stalks
  • 2 beets with leaves
  • 1/2 to full thumb-size node of ginger
  • Bunch of kale
  • Bunch of parsley
  • 1 lemon
  • 3 apples
  • 2 oranges
  • Coconut water or aloe water

I juice all the ingredients together, except the coconut or aloe water. I add that last once the fruit/veggie juice is in the pitcher.

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Drink Up!

Kohlrabi and Sweet Potato Hash

June 18, 2017

It is Farmer’s Market season! 🙂 There is nothing better than fresh, local produce. Last week, I hit up the Farmer’s Market for my usual early summer favorites (strawberries, broccoli, beets) and made a goal to pick up 1 new item that I typically don’t buy. This time, I picked kohlrabi.

Of course, I bought it then realized that I had no idea how to prepare it. So, over to Pinterest I went to search for recipes. Honestly though, how did we survive without Pinterest?! After some searching, I was inspired by this Sweet Potato and Kohlrabi Fritters recipe by Jessica in the Kitchen.

Like with all recipes, we all do our own little tweaking to fit our tastes. Below is my preparation. Note: I love fritters, but I cannot ever make the stick together, so I went ahead and just put it all on the pan at once and cook it up that way. You do you.

Kohlrabi and Sweet Potato Hash

Serving size: 4

Ingredients:

3 sweet potatoes

4 small kohlrabi

1 tbsp parsley fakes

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 egg

1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs (or whichever kind you prefer or none)

2 tbsp coconut oil (or preferred oil)

  1. Preheat oven to 450°.
  2. Poke holes in sweet potatoes and bake in oven for 20-30 minutes or until soft. Let cool then peel off skin.
  3. While sweet potatoes are cooking, cut kohlrabi in half, peel off outer layer (like an onion), and thinly slice.
  4. Place all ingredients (minus the coconut oil) in a food processor and pulse. Mixture should still be slightly chunky. (See photo above.)
  5. Heat coconut oil in a skillet over high heat.
  6. Either make the mixture into fritters or place it all on the skillet at once.
  7. Cook until golden brown, which is about 5 minutes per side.*Careful, there is a thin line between golden brown and burnt.
  8. Remove from skillet and place on paper towel to remove excess oil.

Enjoy! 🙂