july-ness.
July!
It's summer!!! Wooohoooooooo!!!
June was so crazy with the end of school, travel, and unexpected crises galore. July was supposed to be suuuuuuuuper chill. Right?
Well...
Unfortunately my plans for a chill month were destroyed by a worsening series of dental emergencies. Yes, all the horrible things you are imagining. And the price tag to go with it. Plus missed work due to unbelievable pain levels that made it impossible to function. A winning combination all around.
So there was that. Still scrambling to recover (physically and financially, ugh). On the plus side though.....
CSA!!!!!!
My CSA subscription started this month! WOOOOOOH!!!
Ok, so there's a chance I might be inappropriately excited about vegetables. What else is new.
CSA season means the beginning of what I like to call The Great War of The Produce Drawer- the constant battle of me vs the rising tide of produce in my (not even full sized!) refrigerator. Basically it means eating vegetables- as many as I can as fast as I can- for the next six months or so. Not a terrible way to do summer if you ask me! As you can imagine, you're going to be seeing a lot of CSA on this blog for the next few months as I scramble to use all my beautiful produce before it dies in the crisper!
Occasionally I throw beets and zucchinis at my friend Greggy-poo's head. This is a highly effective tactic for disposing of produce. Highly recommend.
Anyway. Let's get to the pics! Favorite shots from Insta in July. Go.
Big Ol' Salad.
A classic strategy for using up vegetables, plus pretty much all I want to eat in summer. Many salads this month have included beans, feta, and a simple basil dressing. Also red pepper flakes: not just for pizza. Nuff said.
Galette!
I finally made my first galette! It was so easy and turned out AMAZING. I was inspired by Yossy Arefi who has been flooding Instagram with gorgeous galettes all summer. When I recieved two pounds of tart cherries in my CSA I knew they were destined for galette-ification. I used a recipe from Yossy's beautiful blog OMG IT WAS SOOOO GOOD. Seriously people. Making a galette is super easy and so rewarding and dosh garn it, you should do it. Do it now! Yossy also has a book out on fruit desserts which I have yet to get my hands on, buut let's just say I'm on the waiting list for a copy from the library. Seriously. #summerofgalettes
Lamburger-Scape
Green on green on green. With dramatic late-nite lighting, of course. I made a big ol' salad (as is my way) and topped it with a lamburger wrapped in a chard leaf. I used the lamburger recipe from Lucky Peach's cookbook 101 Easy Asian Recipes. Have I mentioned these lamburgers before? I'M OBSESSED WITH THEM. They're that good. Honestly worth buying the book just for that recipe. I would make them every week and be so happy. Just spicy enough, perfectly seasoned... ok I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. Get it, make it, eat it.
Beef and Lamb Meatballs with Lemon and Favas!
Ok, so this was the first recipe I've tried from Jerusalem, otherwise known as The Cookbook That Everyone's Obsessed With. Ottolenghi/Tamimi. So far this cookbook is definitely living up to the hype! I spent a lovely Sunday afternoon in the kitchen making this dish and the results were succulent, delicious, and unlike anything I'd tasted before (in part due to a magical home-made spice blend!) Can't wait to try more recipes from this gem!
CSA!
Remember that CSA I mentioned once or twice? Here is just one of the beautiful boxes of joy I received from Oxbow Farm in July. I love vegetables. Cooking them, eating them, taking pictures of them. There's something about fresh produce visually that I find soooo enchanting. Such a rich source of color, texture, shape... Ok. I'm starting to sound like I'm high on drugs. I get that.
This gorgeous salad comes from Bountiful, the beautiful cookbook I bought as a birthday present to myself (cough, one of two if you must know) back in May. It was written by the folks behind the White On Rice blog and is full of recipes inspired by the garden. Yes please! This salad used up a head of Napa cabbage from (that's right, you guessed it) my CSA, win! The chicken in this salad is TO DIE FOR like I could barely stop myself from eating all of it while chopping it up for the salad. I made this for a dinner with my sister, and she liked it so much she asked me to make it again a couple of weeks later! That's how you know it's good. #sisterapproved
Another Salad!
It's pretty! And it has eggs! Did I mention eggs earlier? Eggs are another thing I like to put on salad. I like to make a batch of hard (but not too hard) boiled eggs (srsly like 8mins) and keep them in the refrigerator for all my salad-ing (and snacking) needs. Oh fresh herbs and green onions. Those are things I like to put on salads too. #saladlyfe
Did I Mention Fruit?
Oxbow Farm also offers a fruit share as an add-on to their CSA subscription. I went ahead and bought fruit for the whole season. Best decision ever.
More Fruit!
Imagine a fruit salad with only the good fruit. That's what this is. I made a ginger-infused simple syrup to dress it but the ginger didn't really come through in the final dish. It was still sooooo good though. Sprinkled with plenty of mint. Yumm!
Well I guess that's about it! Expect more, much more, fruits and vegetables coming soon! Possibly to your head as I throw them at you. You never know. These veggies are really piling up.
Love to all you beautiful people.
Zoe Rose
Vegetable Obsessed With A Broken Tooth
.....oh and here are some more pictures of my csa.....
