I recently signed up to have a vegetable and fruit box delivered to me from local farms through Washington’s Green Grocer. It doesn’t cost too much more than I usually spend on produce in a given week, and it’s local and organic!
I got my first box yesterday, and it had so many beautiful fruits and veggies including huckleberry potatoes (never even heard of them before–they are pink inside!), purple potatoes, purple top turnips (yikes don’t usually cook with those), and kale.
Having never used turnips before in anything but chicken soup I was skeptical, but they were really flavorful, and in a good way! I peeled them after reading they have a tough and sometimes bitter skin, then roasted the turnips and potatoes simply with olive oil, salt, garlic powder and Aleppo pepper (you could substitute red pepper flakes).
For protein I decided on a stovetop chicken rubbed with a spice mix of smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and mustard seed (gave a great crunchy texture!), and then did a quick braise on the kale in the leftover juices.
All in all delicious, and I’m so glad I decided to do this local farm produce delivery!
Roasted Purple-Top Turnips with Huckleberry & Purple Potatoes
Ingredients:
2 large turnips, peeled and cubed
6 huckleberry potatoes, cubed
6 purple potatoes, cubed
1 Tbsp light olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Aleppo pepper
Directions:
- Place veggies in a roasting pan. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with spices, mixing to coat.
- Roast at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes covered, 20-25 minutes uncovered or until veggies are tender.
Smoked Paprika & Mustard Seed Crusted Chicken w/ Braised Kale
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
6 scallions, chopped (or 1 onion, I just didn’t have any)
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp yellow mustard seeds
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt
3 boneless chicken breasts
3 Tbsp vegetable stock
1 bunch of kale, cleaned
Directions:
- Heat oil in large saute pan and saute scallions and garlic 4-5 minutes.
- Combine paprika, mustard seeds, garlic powder & salt in a bowl. Pat chicken breasts dry, then dip into spice mixture, rubbing and massaging into chicken.
- Add chicken to pan and cook 3-4 minutes on each side or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from pan.
- Remove kale leaves from stalk and tear leaves into bite-sized pieces (discard stalk or save for making soup stock another time). Deglaze pan with soup stock and add kale, turning to coat in juices. Cook 1-2 minutes until tender but still very green.
The cost:
veggies: $9.00 (1/4 of box)
chicken: 6.17
Grand total: $15.17; serves 2 + lunch leftovers 🙂