Farm Box Adventure #4

I was so happy that I didn't get any cabbage last week. I knew that it was too good to be true...

This Week's Bounty

• Tomatoes
• Carrots
• Green beans
• Oranges
• Watermelon
• Cilantro -- already given away so it's not pictured here.
• Lettuce
• ...*sigh*... Cabbage

You gave away cilantro? Aren't you Asian and supposed to love that stuff?

I do like cilantro. Cilantro/Coriander is almost Thailand's national vegetable! We incorporate the roots into marinades and curry bases (yes, back in our country, they sell them WITH roots.). The leaves are used like parsley here, sprinkled onto a dish or used as garnish.

Heck, we even have a saying based on cilantro! When you do something poorly but you make it looks nice and presentable, Thai people call that "sprinkling cilantro on top". (ผักชีโรยหน้า)

Unfortunately, Brandon doesn't like cilantro. Well, not liking is a part of it. He is also one of those people to whom cilantro tastes like soap. Some studies said it's a genetic thing. Some people are sensitive to a certain aromatic chemical of the cilantro. And so on.

I just settled at the fact that he doesn't like it. My next door neighbor was very happy to take it off my hands along with a fistful of green beans.

Before we discuss this box, let's talk about the last one.

Box #3 Report

Box #3 was not too big of a challenge to cook. After all, it didn't have cabbage.

I gave one avocado away to a friend visiting from Colorado who has missed California avocado so much she was going to smuggle some back on their drive home. The other, I made a ghetto guacamole for a snack by mashing it with chopped tomatoes and a pinch each of garlic and onion powder, cayenne pepper, and salt, and a splash of rice wine vinegar because I didn't have any lime on hand.

Tomatoes are also one of the things Brandon doesn't eat. To my delight, actually. All the yumminess is mine! Muwahahahah! :-D I have been cooking up a whole tomatoes with eggs for breakfast on my Meatless Tuesday for a great and filling meal.

Beef and broccoli was also a major success. My dad back in Thailand sat our family's housekeeper down to get her recipe for the beef marinade. He even typed it up for me himself--a feat for someone who actually doesn't know how to type ("That's what my secretary is for!")--so I can make dinner that same night. And boy, was it worth the trouble. While I did take some pictures for you guys, I did not take picture of the finished product. We were hungry. So very, very hungry...

Also as planned, I made Caesar salad, French onion soup, and that cabbage soup with some green beans and carrots in it. And I still have a quarter of frozen cabbage left.

I used the carrots to make carrot cake instead because Brandon was craving some. I bought a few more carrots just in case but I actually didn't need them. I even had extra! I use Tyler Florence's carrot cake recipe for the cake which turns out super moist and NOT overly sweet at all, and the cream cheese frosting from Nigella Lawson's Guinness Chocolate Cake recipe. Should've made double batch of the frosting as my filling was a little bit on the skimpy side. But over all, it was yummy.

Box #4 Meal Ideas

Carrots and tomatoes are never a challenge around here, and lettuce and green beans are not too hard to figure out either. This time around, though, I'm going to introduce Brandon to tuna-less Nicoise salad since I have some lovely brined olives from the farmer's market in the fridge.

Aaaand we're back to the cabbage. I'm starting to feel like the Cabbage Guy in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Instead of losing the cabbages, I keep getting them!

I did buy some pork bangers on sale from Whole Foods today. So I grabbed a couple of potatoes so we can do bangers and mash with a side of sauteed cabbage. So that'll take care of half of one. I can probably throw the other half in the freezer...to join yet another quarter of cabbage...for future soup making enterprise.

I also wonder if  I can make kimchi out of the non-Napa cabbage.  I need to do a little research on that.

Any thoughts on what else I can do with cabbage? Please don't say cabbage roll. I read that recipe to B and he made a face. LOL