our fallback options for cooking seasonally

My entire life, any vegetable or fruit I wanted was pretty much available year-round. So when I first started seasonal eating, the limitation seemed staggering. The first year with a CSA was overwhelming and I had to throw away more produce that I'd like to admit. But I think our problem was that we were trying to find new recipes the featured each vegetable we were bringing home. Towards the end of that first year, we figured out certain standby meals that we could basically throw in whatever vegetables we had on hand. Here's a list of those meals.

1. Stir-fries

We have a fabulous wok that was given to us as a wedding present. We cut up whatever vegetables we want to use, stir-fry them with a little bit of oil, then add cream of mushroom soup (we like Amy's because it is very tasty) and whatever spices we're in the mood for. We serve it over rice or noodles and sometimes add crunchy noodles on top (not local, but we use very little so it is low on my priority list for figuring out a more local option).

2. Curries

We actually don't make curries very often, but they also can handle a lot of miscellaneous vegetables so I always mean to include them on the weekly list. A savory curry is made similarly to stir-fry, but instead of cream of mushroom soup you might add tomato paste. A sweeter curry uses coconut milk (again, not local, but we're doing what we can). Typically served with rice or flatbread.

3. Egg dishes

I'm very particular about how my eggs are cooked, so we usually either scramble eggs with several chopped vegetables or bake them in the oven at 200 degrees to make a sort of omelet (the mixture should be no thicker than one inch, so whatever size pan makes that possible for the amount you are cooking. The thinner the egg mixture, the quicker it will take...for us, four eggs will take an hour with this method). Some people might like stovetop omelettes, or other ways of preparing eggs that I'm unaware of. If you eat grocery store eggs, you will be amazed at the difference when you try farm fresh eggs! The color of the yolk is reddish orange, they smell better, and taste incredible.

4. Macaroni and Cheese

Not the most nutritious thing we eat, but it is tasty. I typically make macaroni and cheese (from a box...this is one of my priorities for finding a good quick recipe for) then add fresh vegetables. Grated carrots and beets, zucchini, tomatoes, and broccoli are some of my favorites.

5. Pizza

Again, not the most nutritious thing we eat, but completely delicious! We make the dough from scratch using flour from a local farmer. If it were as easy as macaroni and cheese from a box, I bet we would not eat anything besides pizza. We'll put pretty much anything on a pizza. A squash pizza is particularly delicious with smoked cheddar cheese. We recently tried radishes on pizza and it was incredible - this is from someone who does not like radishes. Baking them mellowed them out but they still had a bit of spice to them. This week I have some turnips that I'll put on pizza.