homemade vegetable stock

This is so easy to do that it's not really a recipe. Since I started getting CSA boxes I have had tons of lovely vegetable scraps and using them up to make vegetable stock feels better than throwing them in the trash (London doesn't compost!)

Here's what I do...

Save veggie/fresh herb scraps in the freezer, chopped up into relatively small pieces to maximize the surface area (I make sure to include lots of onion and garlic, and this batch I had some fresh thyme to add).

Put the veggies in the slow cooker and add enough water just to come up to the top of the veggies and add some salt. Turn it on low and leave it to hang out for a few hours.

Strain out all the veggie bits...done! I'm going to use mine to make enchilada sauce for dinner tonight.

local produce box and cauliflower tabbouleh

I ordered my first produce box from On The Move Organics (London, ON) last week and I so wish I had done it earlier! It's $30 (free delivery) each week, with a one-time $15 deposit for the rubbermaid tote the food is delivered in. The food is almost entirely local, and all organic.

Last week's box contained:

4 cobs of sweet corn, 1 head of purple cauliflower, 1 bunch of parsley, 2 lemon cucumbers, 1 lb. hot house tomatoes, 1 bunch of rainbow beets (1 of which is pictured above), 1 bunch of celery, 1 grapefruit, a mini red watermelon, 2 packham pears.

I think it's pretty great value, and plan to keep up with it next year, especially for those weeks where I sincerely don't have time to make it to the grocery store, such as exam week. I also like that it makes me experiment with new foods. They include a suggested recipe, using many of the ingredients each week, too, like last week's for cauliflower tabbouleh, which I'm including below:

1 head cauliflower, grated or finely chopped (I used my purple one)

1 cup chopped parsley

1/2 cup chopped mint

3 green onions, chopped

1 cup tomatoes, chopped

2 lemon cucumbers, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

dressing:

juice from 1 lemon

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

Mix the chopped veggies, mix the dressing and toss together. I liked it better after it had sat in the fridge overnight, and I also made only a half recipe because that's a lot of tabbouleh, otherwise! I'd also recommend chopping more finely than I did in the photo, and I will do that next time for sure.

Also, the beets came with gorgeous greens attached that I couldn't bear to waste so I went recipe hunting and also made this wicked salad, that I will be making AGAIN for dinner tonight.

roasted beet hummus

This is a recipe from the blog freutcake that I have crept back through my pinterest so many times to look it up that I thought I'd share (link here). Almost too pretty to eat! Beets, cumin, lemon juice and garlic. Yum!

sun-dried tomato basil hummus

Homemade hummus is so fast and easy, and so, so good.

One can makes a pretty whopping batch, so whenever I make hummus I split it in 2 and freeze half of it (hummus freezes really well!), especially since when using fresh herbs and no preservatives, I don't want to leave it hanging around in the fridge for too long...but really, I ate this so fast that there was no danger! Yum!

Ingredients:
1 15 oz can of chick peas
2 tbsp tahini
the juice of one lemon
10 sun-dried tomato halves
about 15 fresh, large basil leaves
1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix with a food processor or immersion blender until smooth, adding water if necessary to thin it out a little bit.

[vegan, gluten-free] pizza

I've been making this pizza pretty much every night for dinner because it's delicious, quick, and nutritious.

Ingredients:

gluten-free tortilla

pesto (I made my own using basil, pine nuts, garlic, & olive oil)

kale

mushrooms

tofu

banana peppers

nutritional yeast

Directions:

1. Spread pesto onto tortilla

2. Put on ingredients (pretty much anything you want)

3. Bake for 5 mins, broil for 5 mins

4. Eat with knife & fork