Weekly menu

This week's Bountiful Baskets were interesting.  We got winter vegetables like leeks and beets, plus some weird black radishes that I've never seen before.  I'm going to save the radishes and put them into a potato salad next week.  We got lots of great stuff, but the winter veggies had me stumped for a while, especially since it's going to be pretty warm here this week.  I didn't want to make a soup or stew or something.  Thankfully, I found Monday's recipe that sounds like a nice warmer weather dish.  

Curtis and I are going to be driving home from our fingerprinting appointment at dinnertime on Monday, so I planned something easy for the kids to make while their grandparents are watching them.  Curtis will be cooking both Thursday and Friday (he usually cooks on Thursdays) since Zoe and I will be at a college tour on the other side of the state.  The pizza will be easy to throw together after the piano recital (which I'm going to miss - boo hoo!) and will use up any remaining veggies that didn't get used during the week.  All of the produce you see on the menu is from Bountiful Baskets with the exception of today's berries and the carrots and sugar snap peas for Thursday and Friday's lunches.  Usually I don't have fill in with anything, but this week's baskets were pretty light on things that work well as school lunch options.  I didn't think anyone would want to eat a baggie full of leeks or black radishes.  ;o)

Sunday's recipe is one of our family's favorites.  We eat very little honey, but I do make an exception for this one once in a while.  We also eat it made with agave nectar.


Honey Curried Crock Pot Chickpeas

2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2/3 cup honey
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons butter (I use Earth Balance)
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
2 1/2 teaspoons curry powder (we like it hot)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

Cook on low for 4-6 hours, or on high for 2-3 hours.  Serve over steamed Basmati rice.

Beet and lemon vinaigrette quinoa - I'll be using leeks in place of the scallions in this recipe, just because I need to use them up!  I'll also be adding walnuts, because I think this recipe screams walnuts.  It will also use up our beets and lemons.
Pesto risotto with roasted zucchini  - In this one I'll be using the rest of our Thai basil from last week to make some cheese-less pesto, and I'll also finish up our zucchini and summer squash from last week.  I have tons of pine nuts from Costco, so this will be a good way to use a bunch of them up.  I'll also be adding diced Roma tomatoes (also from last week) which I need to use up.
Vegan Zombie burgers - These are one of my husband's specialities, and he departs a little from the actual recipe.  They're always amazing. The sweet potatoes are from this week's organic basket.