Veg…Whatever Frackin Day it is

Oops, missed Friday so here’s Veg Saturday instead!

We didn’t get through all the CSA veggies last week and now our own garden harvest is kicking in, but I’m determined to keep up. Not a single CSA veggie soul will be sent to the compost pile on my watch! [Edit: I just sent some improperly stored salad mix to the compost pile. And now I feel stupid. Like, alot.]

So here’s what we used from last week:
Carrots, zucchini, kale: pesto soup
Carrots, celery, onion, kale, zucchini: Pasta with lentils (recipe below)
Potatoes: sliced thin, brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with rosemary and baked into “chips” for the kids.
Red onion: grilled. eaten. done.
English cucumber, dill, salad mix: yummy salad with feta
Cherry tomatoes + Raspberries: I saw these for one split second before they were obliterated by my children.

And here’s what we still have on hand:
Arugula + green lettuce from our garden. Piles and Piles. And more coming.
CSA Salad Mix (blaming our own pile of lettuce harvest on this one)
Rainbow chard (planned for tonight’s tofu scramble. Only a little bit wilty, hold on guys!)
Some dill. Although if he has to, Brian is prepared to eat it by the bunch rather than see it go to waste.
Some celery, beginning to glare at us from the crisper drawer.

And HERE’S what we received yesterday (which should’ve been my tip off that it was Friday). Can you say veggie overload? I obviously can’t.
Salad Mix (UGH!!!)
Red Leaf Lettuce (DOUBLE UGH!!!)
Romano Beans
Parsley
Chioggia Beets
Broccoli
Summer Squash Mix
Cherries (already gone)
Gold Raspberries (already double gone)

And if you’re game, a simple recipe that adds a punch of nutrition to pasta night and makes a nice base for veggie additions:

Red Lentil Pasta Sauce
2/3 cup red lentils, uncooked (Lentils rock – high in protein, fiber, B vitamins and iron; no need to soak before cooking and although the red ones have less fiber than green, they cook a lot faster and have a milder taste that melds well with pasta, methinks)
1 stalk chopped celery
1 chopped carrot
½ chopped onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 32oz can diced tomatoes (or fresh if you got em)
1 sprig thyme, rosemary or marjoram (or whatever herb calls to you as you stroll leasurely through your herb garden. Hee!)
2 cups stock

Cook celery, carrot, garlic and onion in olive oil until cooked through (about 8-10 minutes).
Add lentils (be sure to add these before the liquid and stir to coat in oil, otherwise they all clump together when the liquid is added), tomatoes, herbs and stock.
Partially cover and cook until lentils are soft, about 20 minutes.
Salt to taste and pour over whole wheat pasta.

The sauce doesn’t thicken like traditional spaghetti sauce, but the lentils and chunky tomatoes provide texture. Add other veggies depending on their cooking time (zucchini works swimmingly). And grated cheese is a must! Enjoy!