While my husband was away for his two-week bicycle adventure, I was left at home to make do with our CSA share. For the past 2 years, we’ve shared our farm share basket with another couple, as one whole share is just too much for a couple. It works out great. But for two weeks, I was going to be the only one eating those organic vegetables. So what’s a girl to do with a gigantic haul of vegetables carried by bike & stuffed into 2 panniers back to her kitchen?
While I did pass a few cukes off to a neighbour and had a bunch of friends over for a “Help Me Eat Up My CSA Haul Luncheon”, I still had a lot on my plate, so to speak. I quickly realized that often by the end of the day I’d be sacked and poking around the vegetable crisper for ideas could result in popcorn for dinner just to make things easy. So one morning, I just decided to put together a bunch of random veggies in a bowl and call it breakfast.
I had some great local corn and fresh dill (not from our CSA) and diced up some green beans, broccoli, mizuna, chard, garlic and red onion. I wanted all the vegetables to cook at similar rates and wanted everything to be about the same size as the corn. I sauteed everything in a bit of olive oil and squeezed lemon over everything when it was almost done. I also had a few remaining drops of heavy cream in the fridge, so that went in as well.
My huge bowl of summer vegetables was tasty. Everything was local and fresh and the corn provided such a great amount of natural sweetness and the dill was the perfect herb here. I called this breakfast, but it would be best as a fantastic side dish – perfect alongside some roasted chicken, a tomato-corn biscuit pie or a black bean burger. And because the taste is reliant on fresh and local, use whatever you’ve got on hand. Zucchini, summer squash or your favorite garden herb would be smart additions. Whatever you’ve got lots of in your garden or CSA share, throw it in!
Elsewhere: Hankering for cake? Try this simple Swedish Visiting Cake recipe over at Poppytalk.
big bowl of summer vegetables
1 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, diced
1/4 lb green beans, cut into 1 inch dice
1/4 head broccoli, diced (stalks included)
large handfuls each of mizuna & chard (remove bottom stems), cut into ribbons and then cut into short bits
2 cobs of corn, kernals removed
1/3 c fresh dill, roughly chopped
juice from 1 lemon
kosher salt & pepper, to taste
2 T heavy cream (optional)In a large skillet, heat olive oil and add onions and garlic and let wilt, about 2 minutes. Add in green beans and broccoli and stir around for about a minute or two. Add in the mizuna and chard and do the same. Add corn along with the lemon juice. Sprinkle in some kosher salt and a good grinding of fresh pepper. Toss, add in the heavy cream (if using) and toss again. Remove from heat and serve.
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Corn may be the new bacon. Why does everything taste better… sweeter…with corn? With all the produce coming in (really, everyone’s garden has been on steroids), this is a satisfying bowl. That dab of heavy cream – surprising and satisfying.
I’m so bleary-eyed in the morning, it’d be hard to employ my knife skills without chopping off a finger. But I bet the ingredients could be prepped the night before, and cooked quickly in the morning? If so, I’m sold…we’re always trying valiantly to get through our week’s worth of veggies, too!
Wow, hands down this “big bowl” takes the cake when it comes to using up what’s in your fridge!
I didn’t get a CSA share this summer because I couldn’t get anyone to go in on it with me. But next summer, I’m definitely doing it. I’ll just start eating the veggies for breakfast. 😛
This sounds delicious!
Looks incredibly tasty and healthy and yes, to me even a splash of cream qualifies as healthy 🙂 I’ve never heard or seen mizuna before, must Google 🙂
Sometimes there’s nothing better than a big bowl of veggies for dinner. But yes, sometimes cake is nice too 🙂
Looks great…I’d love to try tossing some scrambled eggs in there as well.
Claudia, I love corn in most everything! I does add so much to a dish.
Maddie, you could try to prep the night before….or just make this for dinner! No need to be a weirdo like me!
Thanks Jacqui! You do what you gotta do.
Ha, Joanne, sounds like a great plan!
Bijoux, I think the splash of cream is quite nominal, so I wouldn’t worry about it either! Mizuna is a type of mustard green. It’s pretty delicious.
Cake is definitely a good thing for dinner, Sues!
Newlywed, sounds perfect! Or a lightly poached or fried egg on top. Yum!
Wow! That’s a lot of veggies. Looks so delicious!
I let go of my CSA because I wasn’t thrilled with the quality but I do miss the creativity that comes with having one. I don’t miss the “what the hell am I going to do with all this kale” crises however. This is my kind of breakfast! Nice and savory and super healthy.
So true, redmenace. It was.
Dana, last year we weren’t sure we’d continue with our csa because we just kept getting way too many bitter greens. This year has been so amazing! And so was this breakfast 🙂
Given that I prefer savoury things to sweet things I am loving this breakfast you’ve created!
Thanks Ashley, who says we have to eat regular breakfast foods?
I would eat this for breakfast any day.
Bonnie, enjoy 🙂
i made this recipe last night and it was completely satisfying and delicious! i replaced the heavy cream with with greek yogurt since i had that on hand. it was a delicious variation and added a nice zip!