A Surfeit of Salad

Okay, this week is Mission De-Green.  Our produce drawers are overflowing.  We get a weekly delivery of organic vegetables and I am behind on using them.  I told Elwood P. that they would all be eaten by Monday of next week.  I'm beginning to think I need to have a vegetable party, though.  Would you come to a vegetable party?

Tonight I am roasting a chicken and serving it with slow-cooked zucchini (farewell, three big supermarket zucchini and one plum tomato), roasted orange beets, a little salad of bok choy, red pepper, cucumber, and carrot in an Asian-y dressing, and braised lettuce.  Cooked lettuce sounds pretty odd to me, too, but it is the first of three --three! -- heads of lettuce to be eaten in six days.  We are none of us huge green salad lovers, and desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Still to be dealt with:

• one bunch of beet greens
• two more heads of lettuce
• a bunch of leftover sweet potato, probably destined for muffins
• a giant cabbage
• more bok choy (this bunch of bok choy regenerates when I'm not looking, I think, because I have made about five different dishes with it and there's still more)
• five tomatoes
• a forlorn green pepper half and a perkier red pepper half
• and the leftovers from tonight's veggie extravaganza

There are also carrots and celery and onions and potatoes, but those I'm not worried about using.

This is such a spoiled American post, isn't it?  Help, I have too many beautiful organic vegetables!  Just ignore me if it sounds too much like "Let them eat ratatouille."  But if you have any good ways to finish off a self-regenerating bunch of bok choy, I'd love to hear them.

Comments

[Sarah]

I"m no real help with the bok choy. The beet greens are calling to be made into your Kid-Friendly Greens with garlic and chickpea pasta recipe. Also, I would roast the tomatoes and turn them into tomato soup with rosemary and balsamic vinegar. With maybe some wild rice or lentils. Maybe.

Anyway, I wish I had an organic vegetable co-op. Sounds like a deal to me, at least for the winter. During the summer my parents have a huge organic garden that over-runs me with vegetables.

[mary]

This will sound stupid, but will your lizard eat the bok choy? My BIL's bearded dragon LOVED bok choy, so maybe your boys' little friend would enjoy it as well?

[Tracy]

I would feed the greens to (my) rabbit, the bok choy to (dh's) turtle and make fajitas with the leftover peppers. Or maybe sofrito for some Cuban recipe with those, because it doesn't matter what color they are for that. 1/2 plus 1/2 = 1. Unless they are bok choy - where 1/2 plus 1/2 = self-perpetuating bok choy?

seriously, I'm no help with the bok choy because I do not think I even know what it is. I am still trying to figure out what leeks look like - I even asked the produce guy, but he was new and didn't know.

[Sarabeth]

You need to check out . I rely on it for different recipes for veggies.

[Sarabeth]

I'm a doof--The site is called A Veggie Venture. The link is right, though. It's late. Why am I awake?

[bearing]

Stir-fry the bok choy: Mince up some garlic, ginger, and green onions, throw into the wok with coconut or peanut oil till fragrant, then add the chopped up bok choy. Saute 5 minutes or so, then add a cup of chicken broth and several tablespoons of good soy sauce. Cook till liquid evaporates.

I fail to see how anyone ever has too much bok choy.

You can do the same thing with the cabbage, incidentally, but personally I'd make coleslaw, or perhaps stuffed cabbage rolls, or maybe Fried Cabbage And Noodles: brown ground beef and onion, don't pour off the grease, add chopped cabbage, saute till cabbage is tender, toss with wide egg noodles, eat with plenty of salt, pepper, and ketchup.

Sweet potatoes can be made into a pie with some success. As for the lettuce, maybe you could make low-carb sandwich wraps, or taco salads or something. Even non-salad-loving people like taco salad, right?