liamsaunt

Rigatoni with fresh tomatoes, eggplant, basil, and ricotta

The final TB12 meal for this week was Chickpea Street Tacos with Piri Piri Sauce and Charred Zucchini White lentils are cooked and mashed with salt, pepper, and cilantro. A piri piri sauce is made with shallot, garlic, fresno chile, lemon, red wine vinegar, smoked paprika and olive oil. The zucchini is sliced into planks and charred. Chickpeas are sautéed with half of the piri piri sauce. Tortillas are warmed and then topped with the lentil puree, zucchini, chickpeas, shredded cabbage, cilantro, and remaining piri piri sauce. Well, I decided I did not want lentils two days in a row, especially after being bored with them the night before. So instead I made a queso fundudo as a substitute. I don't think Tom Brady would approve, but we certainly enjoyed it.

Last night's Purple Carrot TB12 meal was pomegranate mujaddara with carmelized onions and herbed beet salad. The recipe calls for 8 ounces of beets, but the one included win my box as only four ounces. I was annoyed at first but it turned out to be enough for us. Lentils and jasmine rice are cooked in water with vegetable broth, then fluffed and set aside. Onions are sliced and carmelized in coconut spread (I added a little butter). Half are mixed into the lentils and the other half reserved for garnish. Beets are sliced and tossed with mint and parsley leaves and lemon juice. The lentils are plated and topped with the beet salad, pomegranate seeds, pomegranate molasses, and crispy onions. As you might imagine from the ingredient list, this was pretty bland. The beet salad was nice, but the lentils were awfully boring, despite the onions and salt/pepper. I checked my recipe in the Jerusalem cookbook this morning, and his recipe calls for lots of added spices that would have been welcome. By coincidence, I had made salmon to go with this, and made a spiced yogurt sauce to serve with that. I had ultimately set it aside as being too strong for the salmon, but we ended up mixing some it in to the lentils to add flavor. It helped a bit, but I would not make this again. Husband's dish My plate

I had a couple of disappointments in this week's Purple Carrot TB12 box. A plastic container of rotten cilantro in tonight's recipe for Thai style cauliflower with sticky rice. Oddly, the plastic container of cilantro in another menu's bag was perfectly fresh. I'm not bothering to complain this time as I have other cabbage and cilantro in the fridge. So, last night's recipe was Thai-style cauliflower with kaffir lime and sticky rice. You cook the rice (I used my rice cooker), rough chop the cauliflower and roast it at 450 until browned in spots, cool slightly and then chop again into bite size pieces. Meanwhile, chop up mint, cilantro, scallions, ginger, and Thai bird chile and combine in a big bowl. "Not fish" sauce (vegan worcestershire sauce) is combined with coconut sugar and juice of a lime (I swapped in real fish sauce for the worcestershire). You reheat the chopped cauliflower with half of the sauce in a skillet, then plate over the rice with sliced cucumber and romaine lettuce cups and top with chopped peanuts and the extra sauce on the side. You can eat it as a salad or as lettuce cups. I omitted the romaine as I want to use it in something I am making later this week, and added some grilled salmon. The cauliflower was fantastic, with lots of flavor. Overall we liked this a lot.

fish and chips, onion rings, and slaw

caprese bruschetta tuna Florentine-style

took a few days away from the computer. I'm home now, so here are the final photos from the trip. Another breakfast at the Fairway before heading to Coast Guard Beach, where we watched the excitement of a Great White Shark being spotted and tagged offshore. Blueberry pancakes (again!) Caprese omelet Garden benedict (tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms) Dinner at Blackfish, Drinks Bread Had to get the tuna bolognese again... Fried oysters Short ribs Banana pudding A lunch at Mac's Shack. Tuna poke Fish sandwch Fried oysters A dinner at Winslow's Tavern. Veal meatballs Lobster pasta Tuna pasta Ndjuja sausage pasta Chocolate mousse Apple galette And that concluded this visit. Not sure if we will get back to the Cape in August as we found the on-season traffic to be exhausting to deal with, but we are booked for 10 days in October, which will encompass Wellfleet's Oysterfest. Last year there were no oysters at the fest due to a salmonella outbreak. I am hoping for better luck this year. I will leave you with a photo of our final sunset

Even the 4th of July parade in Wellfleet has an undercurrent of food running through it These guys are shucking free oysters for paradegoers. You run up to the float to get one We attempted to go to the Beachcomber today but there was a two hour wait, so we ended up at the Pearl. Drinks Steamers Baked oysters Pesto caprese flatbread burger Fish tacos Fish sandwich Lobster roll 4th of July sunset

Pasta salad Sweetcorn with basil Marinated tomatoes Striped bass There was also porterhouse steak, Snake River Farms hot dogs, and a chili-lime butter for the fish

I finally got around to making the hummus that came in last week's Purple Carrot box. Because I am staying at a vacation house without a food processor, I had to make it in the blender, which necessitated adding more olive oil than the recipe called for. I did not make the amaranth crisps, and they forgot to include the flatbread, so I just served it as a dip with the included vegetables as an appetizer before dinner last night. Everyone enjoyed it.

We visited Provincetown yesterday After a whale watch we had a late lunch/early dinner at Mac's Fish House. Drinks Fluke sushi Striped bass sushi Salmon handroll Fried clams with chili-lime salt Lobster roll More sushi Striped bass with barley, kale, cherries, chanterelles, and butternut squash Jerked striped bass Pea pesto pasta Tuna over panzanella

I spent two hours waiting in line for a beach sticker yesterday morning. Ugh. By the time that torture was complete, there was no parking at any of the beaches. We ended up giving up and bringing the cars back to the house and walking in to town for lunch. Boring but we went back to Winslows to enjoy the lovely shaded patio. Oysters Repeats for the kids of pear apple salad and burrata salad fig pizza scallop roll grilled chicken paillard Pulled pork sandwich salted caramel tart chocolate strega Later I grilled burgers for the kids. Bean burger on left, beef on right. The adults shared a grilled clam pizza. Part of it fell into the grill so no picture. What did not fall in was tasty. we did get to the beach eventually We are booked for a whale watch this afternoon.

More food. We got a little out of control at Chatham Candy Manor... Yesterday we had lunch at Winslows Tavern. It was surprisingly uncrowded. Drinks: Oysters (a few got poached from the plate before I got a picture) Pear apple salad Buratta salad with fennel and apricot Asparagus salad with smoked bluefish Burger with prosciutto and gorgonzola dolce Billtong pizza Crab cake burger Prosciutto-gruyere panino Soft shell crab Chocolate mousse I had originally planned to make clam pizza for dinner, but the market was sold out of littlenecks, so we ended up getting takeout sushi from Mac's Shack. Striped bass crudo Tuna poke Spicy tuna mango dip A special roll with fried cod, tuna, and salmon Big kahuna roll Crabby crunch and spotlight roll This morning we trekked to PB Boulangerie to get some baked goods for the next few days

yesterday brought us back to the Fairway for breakfast. Blueberry pancakes Cannoli-stuffed french toast Lobster fritatta Quinoa bowl with poached eggs We skipped lunch and had an early dinner at Karoo, a South African restaurant in Eastham. Drinks Peanut soup Y Hummus "Monkey" ribs (not monkey: Cod naan Pakoras Peri peri wings Falafel burger Peri peri chicken Salmon cakes Milktarte Halva pudding Later that evening there were lobster rolls And now we are packing up and heading to Wellfleet!

I'm back! I'll be on Cape Cod through next Saturday. My husband and I came out last with our teen niece and nephew, and will be spending two nights in a hotel in Eastham before moving to our rental house in Wellfleet. We will be joined my my sister and my husband's brother tonight, and then my brother is coming tomorrow. We came out on Thursday to try and avoid the famously bad traffic to the Cape on holiday weekends, and that turned out to be a great decision. Door to door was one hour, 45 minutes. At the urging of the teens, we had dinner last night at the Fairway. HUGE portions make this place appealing to the boundless appetites of teens. Not so much to me but oh well... Buffalo chicken egg rolls Mozzarella sticks Cheesy garlic bread (My nephew ate this whole thing himself. He is 6'2" and somehow a complete string bean. ) Niece opted for teriyaki chicken tenders and sweet potato fries Nephew had chicken parmesan (yes he ate the whole thing) Husband and I shared a clams casino pizza. We were not even able to eat half. Our hotel room has a kitchen so the copious leftovers are in the fridge for later tonight...

It's definitely true that meal kits don't work for everyone. I don't have the same amount of time that you say you do, and I find them convenient for weeknight cooking. If I did not work full time and commute, I would probably not be interested in meal kits. Last night's meal was to be a banh mi stuffed avocado over bamboo rice and black beans. I had some Faroe Island salmon from my fish share to use up, so instead opted to make the herby salmon cakes from Andrea Ngyuen's Banh Mi Cookbook, and serve the vegetables and sauce as a sandwich. I saved the beans and rice for another day. The inside: I'm skipping next week's box due to vacation.

I also made the TB12 charred poblano quesadilla last night. I did not take a picture of the ingredients, so am glad SJMitch did. I agree that the orange-peppadew salsa was great. I will definitely make that again. I hacked my ingredients into something different. I saved the pinto beans for another day, and instead added some Cajun-spiced sautéed sand dabs to the filling. I put the spices that were meant for the beans into the vegetable mixture. I also tossed the included tortillas (I was hoping they would be corn but they were not), and used regular flour tortillas from my freezer. Finally, I added sour cream on the side. Tonight's recipe is a banh-mi stuffed avocado on bamboo rice, and I am not using the ingredients the way the recipe calls for tonight either.

I have not. I did not cook this weekend. Saturday we hosted a dinner in a restaurant for my inlaws 50th anniversary, and yesterday we skipped dinner in favor of a U2 concert. If the veggies are still fresh I may make it this evening and serve it with scallops from my fish share.

The card I have calls for the cans of coconut milk. You add it when the card you linked to adds the water to the beets. The photo of the beets cooking is different than the one in your link. The nutritional data is also slightly different. How odd!

@SJMitch, I checked the recipe cards last night, and the cans of coconut milk were meant for the beet curry. Another TB12 meal this week: zucchini boats. The ingredients: Millet is cooked. Zucchini is halved and centers scraped out, then baked. Tomato and shallot are diced. Mint is chopped, peach is peeled, sliced, and placed in a hot bath of boiling water, rice vinegar and salt, then refrigerated. Garlic is sliced and combined with olive oil, mint is chopped. Yogurt is combined with sumac and salt. Okra is sliced and then charred in a hot skillet, then combined with the garlic/olive oil mix, sautéed briefly and then the millet, tomato, shallot and most of the mint are added. Baked zucchini is stuffed with this mixture and then topped with chopped peanuts, mint, pickled peaches, and sumac. Yogurt is served alongside. The dish: I forgot to add the pickled peaches. Oops!

Salad of leftover salmon from last night's dinner, chilled kale sautéed with onions (originally intended for inclusion in a frittata but something was very wrong with the eggs I picked up at the farmers market yesterday), and almonds for crunch

I assume so. I have gotten the coconut cloud powder before but this time received two cans of coconut milk. I have not looked at the receipt cards yet to see what they were meant for. Last night's TB12 ingredients: Brown rice is cooked and then tossed with hemp seeds. Cucumber and avocado are diced. Plantain is peeled and sautéed, then salted. Coconut chips are toasted. A dressing is made from coconut vinegar, guava paste, and sambal. All are plated with butter lettuce, topped with cabbage and macadamia nuts. You can eat it as a salad or as lettuce wraps. I added a piece of Faroe Island salmon from my fish share. Verdict: very tasty, and there's enough left for two lunches.

I have to admit that one of the appealing things about the TB12 boxes is that they are vegan, so I am not as concerned about food safety as I would be if there were meat or fish included. Obviously, temperature can still be an issue with vegan foods, but I think you have a little more wiggle room with kale than you do with beef. When I get home tonight I will take a temperature reading of this week's box and report that back. It does sit on my steps for about 8 hours before I get to it. I did find last week's box eventually. It was delivered to the door of a house on a nearby street that has the same house number as mine. The regular FedEx guy must be on vacation. I just happened to notice the box on their stoop when driving by on Tuesday. Knowing that the family at the other house has been traveling for a few months, and wanting to deal with the box before it completely rotted, I brought it back to my house and opened it up. At that point it had been sitting on their stoop for about 36 hours. The inside temperature of the box was 74 degrees. Given that it had been 92 the day before and was in the high 80s that day I was surprised it was as cool as it was. Of course, the produce was all wilted and had to be thrown away (with the exception of a beet and a mango). I was also able to salvage two cans of coconut milk, a box of Banza pasta, and a bag of brown rice. I'll be checking their stoop for my box when I drive in to my neighborhood this evening :-)

grilled swordfish with a Sicilian-style pasta

monkfish braised with fennel, tomatoes, and white beans from the Zuni Cafe cookbook