Tag Archives: Asian themed veggie pack

Basket Breakdown – 4/14/2012

14 Apr

Today’s distribution was windy, rainy, and cold, something fairly unusual for Arizona!  I was very close to turning on the air conditioning earlier this week, but had to turn my heat back on today.  I’m trying to figure out if it really is mid-April!   But, moving around, filling up baskets was a great way to keep warm and there was a great group of volunteers who still made it all happen despite the weather.

This week, I got the conventional basket for $15, the Asian themed veggie pack for $8.50, and 2 25-lb bags of carrots for $9 each.  Here is how it all looked:

My basket had yellow onions, Romaine lettuce, zucchini, yellow squash, Roma tomatoes, oranges, lemons, bananas, pineapple, pears, Pink Lady apples, and kiwi.

Here are some recipe ideas:

Zucchini: Italian Crescent Zucchini Pie, Easy Cheesy Zucchini Bake (can also use yellow squash), Sausage, Zucchini, and Tomatoes over Rice (can also use yellow squash and the Roma tomatoes in place of the canned tomatoes)

Yellow Squash: Yellow Squash Casserole, Yellow Squash Fritters (can use zucchini instead)

Roma tomatoes: Pizza Sauce, Tomato Sauce, Greek Salsa

Lemons: Lemon Herb Chicken, Kotopoulo Lemonato, Avgolemono Soup

Pears: Pear Cake

Apples: Apple Crisp, Applesauce

Bok Choy, Napa cabbage, celery, yellow onion, garlic, ginger root, green onion, water chestnuts, peas, and basil.

Here are some recipe ideas:

Chinese Napa Cabbage Salad – One of my favorites!  Also uses green onion.

Stir fry to go along with Sesame Chicken, Orange Chicken or Lemon Chicken, using Bok Choy, water chestnuts, peas, onion, and ginger.

Finally, here is one of the 25 lb bags of carrots.  One of these bags is going to my friend for her horses.  The other bag is for me, and I plan on cutting a lot of them for snacks for us, making a Carrot Cake, using them in the stir fry I mentioned above, and in soups/stews, like Slow Cooker Chicken and Noodles and Broccoli Cheddar Cheese Soup.

 

Note: The type and amount of food may vary from another basket because of geographic location and because of variances in how the ends of produce cases are distributed after everything has been distributed evenly.  I also volunteered this week and got 1 extra item for volunteering.

 

This post is participating in a LinkUp Party with Healthy Mom’s Kitchen to share recipes and menu plans using Bountiful Baskets items.

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Basket Breakdown – 3/10/2012

10 Mar

This week I got the conventional basket for $15 and the Asian themed veggie pack for $8.50, so a total of $25 after the $1.50 handling fee.  Here is what I got:

From left, oranges, bananas, altaulfo mangoes, pineapple, apples, Romaine lettuce, cucumbers, asparagus, carrots, sweet peppers, green chiles, green onions, and kale.

In the Asian themed veggie pack, from left, snow peas, Napa cabbage, onions, garlic, ginger root, Bok choy, water chestnuts, celery, green onions, and Thai basil.

I’m working on what I will make this week.  My parents are in town visiting and we have 3 birthdays to celebrate this week, my daughter’s, my mom’s, and mine, so I’m not sure how much cooking at home I will do.  But, I will share what my meal plan is if I make one!

 

Note: The amount of food may vary from another basket because of variances in how the ends of produce cases are distributed after everything has been distributed evenly.

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Lemon Chicken and Vegetables over Rice

1 Feb

Looks a lot like the Orange Chicken from last week doesn’t it?  That’s because that sauce is the same, except for the Orange Chicken uses a can of frozen orange juice concentrate and this Lemon Chicken uses a can of frozen lemonade concentrate.   I did not use the slow cooker to cook the chicken this time, I just cooked it on the stove top in my wok.  This was fantastic, I think I might prefer it a little more than the Orange Chicken, but both are very good.  Tonight, the stir fry veggies were carrots, bok choy, green onion, asparagus, water chestnuts and snow peas, all from Bountiful Baskets from this past weekend.  And I really meant to add in some grated ginger, but I forgot, so maybe next time!

 

Lemon Chicken and Vegetables over Rice
Based on recipes here

What you need:

Lemon Sauce: (I made this twice, once for the chicken, once for the vegetables)
– 3/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed (this is 1/2 can)
– 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
– 1 Tbsp soy sauce
– 1 Tbsp ketchup
– 2 Tbsp brown sugar (use 3 Tbsp sugar if you want it to be sweeter)
– 1/2 tsp sesame oil

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/4 cup flour
Vegetable oil
Vegetables to stir fry (I used carrots, water chestnuts, green onion, bok choy stems and leaves, snow peas, and asparagus)
1 Tbsp cornstarch
Cooked rice

How to make it:

Dredge chicken in flour.  Heat some vegetable oil in a wok, and cook chicken until no longer pink.

Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for the lemon sauce in a bowl.  Pour over chicken in the wok and stir.  Cook on medium heat for 15 – 20 minutes to allow sauce to thicken and chicken to absorb the sauce.

Once sauce has thickened, add veggies that take longer to cook (in my case, the carrots, asparagus, water chestnuts, and bok choy stems), let them cook for a few minutes, then add the veggies that take shorter to cook (in my case, green onions, snow peas and bok choy leaves).

Meanwhile, again, combine all ingredients for the lemon sauce and the 1 Tbsp cornstarch in a bowl.  Once veggies are all tender, pour in the second batch of lemon sauce and stir to coat evenly.  Cook for a few more minutes to allow sauce to thicken.  Serve over the cooked rice.

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Bountiful Baskets – 1/28/2012

28 Jan

I got a lot this week!  I got the conventional basket for $15, the Asian themed veggie pack for $8.50, the case of Pink Lady apples for $22.50, and the 25 lb bag of carrots for $8.50, making my total $56.  I did split the apples and carrots with a friend, who is sharing her honey with me in return (12 lb bucket was $37.50).

Conventional basket had minneolas, yellow onion, apples, blueberries, green peppers, red peppers, tomatoes, green beans, asparagus, cabbage, lettuce, and baby red potatoes.  Not shown is 3 grapefruits, which I gave to a friend because she gave me her cabbage and some peppers.

Asian themed veggie pack had celery, basil, yellow onion, garlic, water chestnuts, green onion, Napa cabbage, eggplant, and snow peas.  Not shown is bok choy, which I gave to my friend for her mom’s pack, since hers was small and not looking real good and I have plenty left from last week’s inherited Asian veggie pack.

One layer of Pink Lady apples.  There is another full layer underneath this, plus another 5 apples.  There are usually 100 apples in the boxes of apples available.  I have half, my friend has the other half.

About half the 25 lb bag of carrots.  These are huge!  My friend has the rest.

 

I don’t have a picture of the honey yet.  It came in a bucket, so my friend is going to get it split into other containers.  Can’t wait!

I am working making room for all this in my fridge and decide what to make with all of it.  Hopefully, later today or tomorrow, I will have my meal plan for the week with this week’s basket.

 

Note: The type and amount of food may vary from another basket because of geographic location and because of variances in how the ends of produce cases are distributed after everything has been distributed evenly.

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Orange Chicken

26 Jan

 

While I was working on my meal plan for this week, I posted on Facebook that I was having trouble deciding what to make.  A friend of mine, CrunchyMetroMom, said she was working on a dish with chicken and orange juice.  Since I am getting a little burned out on making Sesame Chicken, Orange Chicken popped into my mind, like the Orange Chicken at Panda Express.  So, I went in search of recipes online and then ended up doing something in between 2 recipes.  Then, since I got part of my friend’s Asian themed veggie pack, I had vegetables to stir fry to go along with the chicken.  The chicken I did in the slow cooker, but I think next time, I might do it like I do Sesame Chicken, cook the chicken, mix the sauce, then add the chicken and vegetables.  One advantage to using the slow cooker is that the chicken really absorbs the sauce well, but with my slow cooker, it didn’t leave a lot leftover for the vegetables.  I could have added the vegetables to the slow cooker, but I was worried about them being too mushy, but would have saved me some time.  Anyway, I’ll walk you through how I did it, and you can decide if you want to the same, do all in the slow cooker, or all in a wok.  Also, if you would like to add some heat to this, add some crushed red pepper flakes.

 

Orange Chicken and Vegetables over Rice
Based on recipes here and here

What you need:

Orange Sauce: (I made this twice, once for the chicken, once for the vegetables)
– 3/4 cup pulp free frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (this is 1/2 can)
– 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
– 1 Tbsp soy sauce
– 1 Tbsp ketchup
– 3 Tbsp brown sugar
– 1/2 tsp sesame oil

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/4 cup flour
Vegetable oil
Vegetables to stir fry (I used carrots, water chestnuts, green onion, bok choy stems and leaves, and broccoli)
Cooked rice

How to make it:

Dredge chicken in flour.  Heat some vegetable oil in a skillet, and brown chicken just enough to get the flour to stay on the chicken.  Place chicken in slow cooker.

Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for the orange sauce in a bowl.  Pour over chicken in the slow cooker to evenly coat.  Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

Once you are ready to serve, heat some vegetable oil in a wok.  Start with veggies that take longer to cook (in my case, the carrots, broccoli, water chestnuts, and bok choy stems), then add the veggies that take shorter to cook (in my case, green onions and bok choy leaves).

Meanwhile, again, combine all ingredients for the orange sauce in a bowl.  Once veggies are all tender, pour in orange sauce and stir to coat evenly.  Add in the chicken from the slow cooker.  Cook until all heated through.  Serve over the cooked rice.

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More Bountiful Baskets for this week!

23 Jan

 

A friend of mine was feeling overwhelmed with her extra Asian themed veggie pack, so asked if I wanted it and I decided to take it.  She already used some of the items, but still plenty left!  There is bok choy, Napa cabbage, celery, snow peas, green onions, garlic, ginger, and water chestnuts.  I’m think that I will use most of it to have as stir fry veggies with the Orange Chicken I am planning on making  at some point this week.  I will probably also make Chinese Napa Cabbage Salad.

I’ve never actually seen whole water chestnuts before, so thankfully someone on the Bountiful Baskets Facebook page posted this article on how to slice and peel them.  I’m excited to get to work with something new.

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Baked Egg Rolls

16 Oct

A few weeks back, I made egg rolls for the first time.  I had another package of egg roll wrappers still, so I decided I wanted to try baking them instead of frying them.  For the filling, I julienne cut one of the 1 pound bags of carrots I got from Bountiful Baskets this week.  Next, I diced up the stems and leaves of the bok choy, then removed the meat from the bones of the rotisserie chicken.  I put a little vegetable oil in my wok, then added the carrots and the bok choy stems.  I cooked them until they were tender, then added the bok choy leaves and the chicken.  I added in soy sauce, and cooked for a few minutes.  Then, I assembled the egg rolls.

To bake them, I lined a baking sheet with aluminum foil and sprayed it with non-stick cooking spray.  I arranged the egg rolls on the baking sheet, then brushed them with olive oil  I put them in the oven at 400 F for about 15 minutes, when they became golden brown.

They turned out well.  I think I prefer them fried, but have no problem with the baked ones.  After I used up the filling, I still had 4 egg roll wrappers left, so I filled them with shredded mozzarella cheese, and baked them the same way.  They turned out pretty tasty too.

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Pan Fried Daikon Cakes

1 Oct

In my quest to figure out what to do with all the daikon I got, I came across this recipe for Pan Fried Daikon Cakes.  Since I had oil hot for frying my egg rolls the other night, I decided to make these as well.  I left them in a little too long, I was trying to do too much at the same time.  However, they actually turned out pretty tasty, a little hot for my taste buds with the Sriracha sauce, but good enough to make some more to use up the daikon, which I still have a LOT left.

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Egg Rolls!

30 Sep

I have been working all week on a way to use the daikon radish I received in the Asian themed veggie pack that I bought with my Bountiful Baskets this week.  I decided I would try egg rolls, which I love, but have never made.  For the filling, I julienne cut some daikon and some carrots.  Then, I chopped 1 bunch of green onions and some leaves of bok choy.  I had bought a rotisserie chicken at Fry’s since I had a $2 eCoupon, so I removed the chicken from the bones and shredded it.  I added some vegetable oil to my wok, and put the daikon, carrots, and green onion in first.  Once they started to get tender, I added in the bok choy and chicken.  Once the bok choy started to wilt, I grated fresh ginger into the wok and poured in about 2 Tbsp of soy sauce.  It looked like this.

Next comes the egg roll wrappers.  I found mine in the produce section of the grocery store, they may also be in your freezer section.  You take a wrapper and lay it out, then add some filling.  For this size wrapper, it was about 2 Tbsp of filling.

To fold the egg rolls, my previous experience as an employee at Subway wrapping sandwiches in paper came in handy.  It’s also how I roll my stuffed grape leaves (that recipe will be coming hopefully in the next week).  Notice in the picture above how I placed the filling closer to one corner.  The first fold is to bring that corner up over the filling.

Next, you fold over both sides.

Then, you roll it and brush the tip with a little water to make it hold shut.

Then, you deep fry or add about 1/2″ of oil to a pan.  If your oil doesn’t completely cover the rolls, then you need to flip them when one side is golden.

Remove rolls from oil to a baking sheet lined with paper towels.

This made 11 egg rolls.  I still had wrappers in that package, so I made more filling. The second filling was all veggies, bok choy leaves and stems, julienne cut carrots, julienne cut daikon, and chopped yellow onion, then grated ginger and soy sauce.  This made 7 more egg rolls.  They turned out great, both my girls ate 2 each!

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Chinese Napa Cabbage Salad

27 Sep

As soon as I saw the Asian themed veggie pack was available from Bountiful Baskets, I was seriously hoping that Napa cabbage would be included.  I was craving Chinese Napa Cabbage Salad, and once I found out it was in there, I got the rest of the ingredients I needed ready.

What you need:

  • 2 (3 ounce) packages chicken flavored ramen noodles, crushed
  • 1 seasoning packet from the ramen noodles
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted
  • 1 Napa cabbage, shredded
  • 1 bunch green onions, chopped
  • 1 rotisserie chicken, chicken removed from the bone (optional)
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1/8 cup white sugar
How to make it:
Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium-low heat.  Melt butter and add crush noodles.  Cook until golden brown.  Add in toasted sesame seeds and 1 of the seasoning packets from the ramen noodles, stir thoroughly.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.
In a large bowl, add cabbage, green onion, chicken (if using) and the cooled noodle and sesame seed mixture and mix.  Set aside.  Mix together the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl.  Pour this over the cabbage mix and toss.  Serve immediately.

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