It’s Week 31 of Dinner Plans and we love sharing our weekly meal plans to cook easy and healthy meals using peak summer produce!
We picked up our CSA delivery this week and it's filled to the brim with so much good stuff. Donut peaches are in season now! These will be great for snacks and breakfast bowls. With more radishes, zucchini, and broccoli in our box we are looking to get creative with using it all up!
Seasonal Cooking Tips: Freezer Batch Pestos and Compotes
Summer produce has me doing two things:
- Enjoy the peak produce right away!
- Preserve it for future months/days.
I'll pit cherries and freeze them whole for future jams or compotes. I also will have a fresh bowl on hand to enjoy through the week. Basil will get used in fresh salads while also freezing cubes of pesto (without the cheese) for future winter months when we crave summertime basil for a pasta with pesto. Here are a few recipes I've leaned on when it comes to preserving summer's best during this time of year:
- This cherry compote is my absolute favorite for wintertime slow cooked oats or topped on french toast.
- Pickling cucumbers or red onions is a fun weekend project that uses all the marketmore cucumbers and red onions we get in our produce box. Use on sandwiches or in your favorite breakfast taco.
- Pestos like this Spinach-Arugula Pesto or my Basil & Mint Pesto (this is available for purchase on Foody as part of my Taste of Summer CSA Recipe Collection) are great options to batch prep ahead and freeze in silicone ice cube trays to have for future months.
See Part I and Part II of my Pantry Essentials Series for more tips and recommendations for keeping a well stocked pantry no matter what size pantry you have.
DINNER PLANS FOR THE WEEK
Checking the list on Sage Mountain Farm’s website for what we’re getting in our boxes this week helps me to shop our pantry, fridge, and freezer in order to plan a variety of delicious recipes on Sunday. With these relatively easy dinners in mind, I then make our grocery list of ingredients to pick up either at the farmer's market or our local grocery store.
Here is our game plan for dinner this week:
Sunday: Broccoli Salad with Sundried Tomatoes and Marcella Beans
Monday: Summertime Tartines with Radish, Cucumber, and Smoked Salmon
Tuesday: Tacos Gobernador from Chef Rick Martinez (one of my favorite recipes)
Wednesday: Zucchini & Basil Pesto Chicken with Roast Carrots
Thursday: Beef Donburi with Shiso Garlic Soy Sauce from Just One Cookbook (my friend, Dessa, from @fromherfarm gave me a bunch of shiso leaves so I'm going to try this!)
Friday: Caramelized Onion & Leek Tart in Puff Pastry
Saturday: Pizza with Tomatoes and Zucchini with Whipped Ricotta
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. 😉
Cheers to a nourishing week. ❤️
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