It’s Week 26 of Dinner Plans and it’s beginning to look a lot like summer!
This weekend my family and I did a pastry tasting at Blooms End in Petaluma. We love making a summertime bucket list for a variety of activities and a “croissant crawl” usually makes the list every time. There are so many wonderful bakeries in Napa and Sonoma County that we’ve made a list of all the ones we want to try. Blooms End is definitely one to the add the list if you’re in the area. We spent the weekend making our list of activities and things to do as we ring in our first full summer in Napa. I cannot wait to see what’s in store for us here this season.
Seasonal Cooking Tip: Preserving Springtime Herbs
When it comes to seasonal cooking, this year I’m sharing a weekly tip here focused on preparing ingredients, preserving foods, and kitchen hacks that help you save time.
This week we’re talking about preserving springtime herbs. With summertime now arriving, it might be time to replenish our preserved herb stash. Here are 3 easy ways to preserve herbs:
- Drying fresh herbs. Considered the simplest method, we can gather herb stems into bunches, secure them with twine, and hang them upside down in a warm, dry, well-ventilated area out of direct sunlight.
- Freezing fresh herbs. You can freeze the leaves whole and store them in airtight containers or puree them to make an herb paste that you can freeze in freezer cubes.
- Herbal Infusions. Think herbed salt, olive oil, or vinegars. Chop fresh herbs and mix in with kosher salt or add sprigs of fresh herbs to a bottle of olive oil or vinegar. Infusing the herbal notes is a great way to enhance flavors in a variety of dishes.
Dinner Plans for Week 26
We are back to the double box pickup and it’s a great one! We’ve got a number of recipes to write up this week and I’m excited to share all the ways we’re savoring our CSA boxes.
This week, the summer squash will be used in breakfast scrambles and a recipe I’m finalizing for enchiladas suizas featuring shredded chicken and caramelized onions. The new potatoes will be make the perfect bed mashed with garlic confit and herbs for braised short ribs. A seasonal quiche served alongside roast carrot soup (another recipe forthcoming) and a one pot dinner featuring braised chicken thighs and apricots help inspire to see all the ways we can cook with our CSA.
Here’s what we received from our CSA share this week:
Riverdog Farm:
- Royal Blenheim Apricots
- Carrots
- Little Gem Lettuce
- Curly Kale
- Summer Squash Mix
- White Onion
Stepping Stone Farm:
- Satina New Potatoes
- Petit Heirloom Courgettes
- Roxy Butterheard Lettuce
- Red Italian Torpedo Onions
- Red Chesnook Garlic
- Assorted Spring Herbs
- Shio Koji Granola from MicrosLife
Our Game Plan for Dinner this Week:
Sunday: Braised Short Ribs with Mashed New Potatoes and Garlic Confit
Monday: Roast Carrot Soup with Seasonal Quiche
Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas Suizas with Sautéed Summer Squash and Caramelized Onions
Wednesday: Fire Roasted Corn Salad with Grilled Flank Steak
Thursday: One Pot Orzo with Braised Chicken Thighs and Herbed Apricots
Friday: Baja Fish Tacos with Jalapeño Cabbage Slaw
Saturday: Pizza with Early Summer Squash, Zucchini Basil Pesto and Burrata
From favorite recipes to new meal ideas using a wide variety of ingredients, cooking delicious food with our CSA definitely gets us out of a dinner rut while reducing food waste. I share meal ideas for our busy weeks with our weekly newsletter. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to be in the know when they’re live. 😉
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