A bag of veggies and inspiration

There are a number of services around the globe now that roughly translate to paying a bit of money in exchange for a box of locally grown and/or organic produce, or others of that ilk. For a few years I've been receiving box from Aarstiderne, sometimes just Danish veggies, sometimes a mix of veggies and fruit from far and wide, though all organic. I thought the price was reasonable enough, we'd get a box a week which pretty much saved me from lugging heavy fruits and veg from the store and to the 4th floor, and then we were set for the next week's menu. I then heard of Københavns Fødevarefællesskab which is kind of the same idea, though you collect the bag/box yourself once a week from their fairly central location, it's all organic, and it's all from the island we live on. It happens to be cheaper though. When I brought home my first bag, opened it and spied the choice offerings, I was floored by what I could get for 100 Danish kroner. I can't afford not to buy this weekly bag of produce.



From the top: palm kale, fennel bulbs, red/yellow onions
Middle l-r: beet leaves, orange and purple carrots, tomatoes, beets, seleriac
Bottom: yellow and green squash, spring onions

And can I just add that the carrots were fabulous and the squash amazing! I seriously hadn't tasted squash like that for at least ten years. I'm pretty adept at using veggies like this so a week later, and we've only got onions and seleriac left, which are no biggy since I've got a hankering for some French onion soup soon, and celeriac schnitzels have been on my mind for a while as well.

The other day, we ate dinner that I can only describe as café food. You know, at home sometimes all that gets put on the table is a bit pot of pasta and that's it, but at cafés there's always a few small dishes that make a meal. It's appealing to the eye and the taste buds. So I whipped up my own little trio of dishes, and all proved popular with the lot of us.

First off, a simple chickpea and green bean salad.



I'm not even going to bother writing out a recipe. Steam the beans, boil the chickpeas, chop some red onion, and swirl it all around in a zesty vinaigrette.

Next up, an oven roasted 'salad' with bite sized pieces of beet, fennel bulb and squash.



Chop the aforementioned ingredients into the size you like them. Either wedges, or smaller cubed bits. Add olive oil, salt, thyme and big chunks of feta (I used goat), and bake until the veggies are al dente. Really nice flavors coming together there.

To top of the medley, I made some goat's cheese toasties. I sliced some of my husband's homemade baguette, rubbed it with olive oil, added a nice slice of hard goat's cheese, drizzled more oil on top, sprinkled some thyme, and put it in the oven until the cheese visibly went soft. Took them out, drizzled them with honey, and served them together with the 'salads'.



We ate it all up!