Dinner Plans: Week 5

It’s Week 5 of Dinner Plans and we are turning our attention to our home garden. It's pruning season! With the peach, fig, and Asian pear tree we have in the backyard, I'm tending to them this week in the hopes for a fruitful harvest come summer.

I've never pruned trees before and I'm still troubleshooting the sad citrus plant I have, but a new garden means new opportunities to learn and stretch my skills in the gardening arena a bit more. And that is surely gratifying.

Seasonal Cooking Tip: Preserving Herbs in Winter

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 winter herbs. 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 the Week

It's a single CSA pickup with Riverdog Farm this week. We've got more cauliflower, broccoli, greens, citrus, and a fennel bulb that will be perfect for salmon.

I'm working to write up recipes as quickly as I can as I know these are going to be ones we'll turn to time and again throughout the season.

Our Game Plan for Dinner this Week:

Sunday: Slow Roasted Salmon with Fennel and Orange

Monday: Braised Daikon Radish with Rice and Gochujang Beef

Tuesday: Grilled Mariposa Steak with Broccoli Slaw

Wednesday: Pasta with Dandelion Pesto using the Spinach & Arugula Pesto with Crumbled Italian Sausage

Thursday: Stir Fry Ground Beef & Broccoli Bowl

Friday: Chipotle Marinated Cauliflower

Saturday: Pizza with Fior di Latte, Dandelion Greens, and Crispy Pancetta

From favorite recipes to new things with a wide variety of ingredients, cooking delicious food with our CSA definitely gets us out of a dinner rut and reduce 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. 😉