Family Gluten Free

Now that we are in the heart of fresh summer produce, you may have encountered one of the following challenges:

1. You have a CSA and are getting bored with preparing your abundance of vegetables the same way!
2. You go to the farmer’s market and want to try new recipes for your favorite veggies, but don’t have any ideas!
3. You are still learning how to prepare fresh produce and are looking for easy, quick, and delicious recipes!

Well, look no further; here are 3 unique ways to prepare some of August’s best vegetables – zucchini, beets, and green beans.

I have been in your shoes. I’ve had a fridge full of zucchini from my CSA with nowhere to turn. My kids already caught on that their favorite brownies, muffins, and banana bread, now have a familiar green speckling. Nice try! I have thought that beets taste like dirt and have been clueless how to use them. I have groaned at steaming another pot of green beans that are chewy and tough.

These are my recent favorite ways to use zucchini, beets and green beans this summer:

1. Zucchini Noodles (also called “Zoodles”)
2. Beets in Balsamic Vinegar (a quick an easy alternative to pickling)
3. Roasted Green Beans

Zucchini Noodles or “Zoodles”

Vegetable noodles are all the rage these days, especially with the popularity of the Paleo diet. Being gluten-free, I was quick to jump on the veggie noodle train. Of course, there are some great gluten-free pasta options on the market (check out my review of Jovial Pasta), but vegetable noodles offer some very appealing advantages. First, who can argue with getting more veggies in your diet? Second, they are super quick to prepare. Finally, no more bloated, full belly after a heaping bowl of pasta. I can eat a giant bowl of zucchini noodles without feeling sluggish and feel energized and ready to go.

So, how are they prepared? Unfortunately, you will need a special tool. You can use a julienne peeler, but it is much easier to invest in a spiralizer. I bought mine on Amazon for $13 and it works great. All you do is press the zucchini into the spiralizer and turn it as the “zoodles” flow out.

Spiralizer

After spiralizing, spread the “zoodles” on a layer of paper towels, add a layer of paper towels on top, and blot. This allows some of the moisture from the zucchini to be absorbed, leaving the zucchini noodles firmer and more noodle-like. I let them sit like this for about 20 minutes before cooking.

Zoodles on a Paper Towel

To cook, heat up a tablespoon of coconut oil in a nonstick pan. Add the “zoodles” and stir-fry for a few minutes, just to soften and add a little bit of sea salt to bring out the flavor. Add to a plate and they are done. I use whatever sauce I would normally use for pasta.

Zoodles and Sauce

Beets in Balsamic Vinegar

Yes, I agree, beets taste like dirt, but, if you add the right flavors, they are delicious. I especially like pickled beets. The vinegar adds a fantastic contrast to the beets natural sweetness. I can eat them as is or as a topping on a salad. However, I don’t have time to pickle beets, so I have found this quick and easy alternative – just marinate them!

Cooking beets is super easy, but a little time consuming. Make sure they are clean and boil them in a large pot of water until they are softened and easily pierced with a fork. This may take a while depending on the size of your beets. Drain the water and allow the beets to cool. Once cool, gently slide off the skins with your fingers revealing the smooth edible part underneath.

Marinated Beets

To marinate them, chop the beats into bite size pieces and add to a bowl. Add enough balsamic vinegar so they are partially submerged and refrigerate. Give them a stir 3-4 times over the next day. After one day, they are ready to eat. I have had them in the refrigerator for a week and they have held up very well.

Roasted Green Beans

Nothing says summer more than a heaping bag full of fresh green beans. I love them even raw. However, I used to prepare them by steaming them and adding a little butter. They were fine, but I felt that they lost their flavor and were sometimes a little tough. Then, I discovered roasted green beans! They are so easy to prepare and delicious. Roasting green beans brings out their natural sweetness and makes them super tender.

Green Beans Ready to Roast

Prepare the green beans by chopping off the inedible ends and cutting them in half. Layer them on a baking sheet, so they don’t overlap. Add a little olive oil and sea salt to coat and roast at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until they just start to brown. Then enjoy! I love them as a side dish, snack or on top of a salad.

Roasted Green Beans

I hope this gave you a few ideas to use up your summer bounty. My thinking is, anyone who doesn’t love vegetables, hasn’t had them cooked right. Here’s to being creative in the kitchen!

This is my first post dedicated to eating locally, specifically what I use from my CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) pickups and visits to local farmer’s markets and farm stands. This is my 5^th year participating in a CSA. When I started, I was a new stay-at-home mom, trying to involve myself in my community. My first year of pickups involved a squirmy infant in a Baby Bjorn as I tried to fill my bags with my week’s share. Now, I have two boys to wrangle, who are sometimes helpful, while I quickly gather my share!

When I was a kid, my family grew our own garden of vegetables every summer. So, I already knew what “fresh” tastes like. Nothing compares to a fresh-picked tomato – nothing. The taste of a fresh tomato versus one from the grocery store is night and day. Why is this? Think about what happens to that grocery store tomato. It is probably picked somewhere far, far away and probably before it’s ripe. Then, it gets on a truck and drives all the way to your local grocery store, where it’s loaded onto shelves and hangs out until somebody buys it. How long does this all take? By the time it gets to your table, the nutrients inside have started breaking down, effecting taste and nutrition. Getting your hands on a freshly picked tomato enlightens your taste buds and offers your body its full nutrition potential.

I didn’t know what to expect from my CSA initially, but my weekly share of fruits and vegetables were beyond what I could imagined. Everything was delicious, fresh, amazing and I was exposed to a variety of knew vegetables. The problem was, how to use everything each week. I admit, the first year was tough and I threw away and gave away more than I should. However, each year, I got better and better at using each weeks share. Now, that my family is focused on eating whole, unprocessed foods, it’s even easier. Each week we hit the farm (a lesson on its own about food for my kids), see what we get to take home and imagine the possibilities. I can honestly say, participating in a CSA has been one of the best experiences of my life.

In addition to my CSA, I visit my local farmer’s markets and farm stands to fill the gaps. You will find that each has something amazing and unique to offer.

This year I am participating in a CSA at Mehaffey Farm. This was our first week and, so far, it is fantastic. We got radishes, carrots, Sugar Ann peas, strawberries, spinach, mesclun greens, and garlic scapes. On the way home, my little guy had the strawberries and my older son had the peas, and they were both chomping away. This post is about garlic scapes, both because I love them, and also because they were one of the first items from my early experiences with my CSA that was completely foreign to me. I hope it gets scapes on your dinner table.

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Garlic Scapes

Garlic scapes are amazing. Every June, I look forward to these funky tendrils showing up in my CSA pickup and at my local farmer’s markets. I never even knew what they were or that they existed prior to starting a CSA. However, now that I am familiar with them, they are a welcome late spring treat. I wish I could have them all year round, but unfortunately, they only make their appearance for a few weeks at the beginning of the season, and then they are gone, leaving me longing for their return…

Ok, so what are these curly green stalky things? Garlic scapes are the stems of unopened flower buds from certain varieties of garlic. Farmers trim the scapes before the flower blooms in order to force the plant to focus its attention on the garlic bulb. It’s a win-win, scapes now and better garlic later! They have a very mild garlicky, oniony flavor that mellows out when it’s cooked, much like garlic or onion would. I also love them because, once cooked, they become chewy little morsels of deliciousness. They are great for kids because they are mild and kids typically have a hard time with a more intense garlic flavor. I have actually witnessed my 2 year old fishing out the scape pieces from his pasta to eat first.

A quick Google search will provide you with a variety of uses for scapes. I like to use them on the fly, as I would onion or garlic (which I use in pretty much everything). I leave the scapes in a cup of water on the kitchen counter, like fresh cut flowers and grab a few at a time to use as needed. I use them in everything from stir-fries, rice/pasta dishes, soup, and sauces. I like to chop them into small ¼ inch pieces and cook as I would onion or garlic.

Chopped Scapes

Yesterday, I added them to ground beef to make Mexican rice bowls (inspired by Chipotle’s version). I simply chopped some shallot, red bell pepper and scapes, sautéed them in avocado oil until they started to turn translucent, and added ground beef and spices. Avocado oil is great because it can handle the high heat and it has a neutral flavor.

Taco Beef with Scapes

Next time you see garlic scapes in your CSA haul or at the Farmer’s market, grab them before they are gone. They are a wonderful addition to any savory meal.