How perfect that I planned my imperfect produce delivery to arrive on the same day we drove back from LA. Yesssss. If you still haven’t tried imperfect produce, you should totally give it a shot! Here’s $10 off for your first box. I barely notice imperfections in the produce and it arrives looking perfectly fresh without any plastic or wrapping. I love it. I haven’t been using it quite as much with our weekly CSA from the student farm on campus, but there’s still a time and place (especially because you can pick and choose what you want and order more than just produce).
Not having to go to the grocery store immediately after being trapped in the car for EIGHT long hours, but STILL having the means to make a big ‘ol salad for dinner that very night??? PRICELESS.
I had lettuce. I had Caesar dressing. I had pecorino romano. And I had chicken breasts (in the freezer).
We unpacked the car and started laundry and by the time the chicken was cooked, things were feeling pretty organized.
GUESS WHAT I BROUGHT HOME!?!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Heaven. That’s what!!
You didn’t think I’d leave Disneyland without bringing back one of those ridiculous creations from Marceline’s Confectionary did you? It’s still a vacation day if you woke up in a different bed. <– I just made that a rule.
The next night we had another salad. This time with greens, roasted sweet potatoes, parsley, sunflower seeds, pecorino romano/parmesan, and a lemon tahini dressing.
Followed by dessert.
And still no visit to the store! Sometimes I love a good grocery challenge.
In this case, I used all the remaining lettuce to make a Mediterranean inspired rice bowl.
The base of the dish was brown rice tossed with olive oil and sun dried tomatoes (and a lot of the seasoned oil from the tomato jar). Then I tossed in greens, and topped it with pistachios, pecorino romano/parm and more sun dried tomatoes. Yum!
Final dinner to share was inspired by nothing more than this guy.
Amazing what one head of cabbage can turn into with a little help from some buddies. Or, in this case, every single one of his buddies I could get my hands on.
This time I went in the Asian direction, starting with an almond butter, tamari, maple syrup, miso, and ginger dressing. I massaged it into the cabbage earlier in the day so that it would wilt down a lot by dinner – which it did.
I also added red bell peppers, watermelon radish, green onions, cilantro, edamame, sunflower seeds, and almonds.
Plus I mixed in some quinoa.
I left some of the cilantro and green onions off the kids version, and it was a big hit.
As in zero leftovers.
Which was fine since Kyle was leaving town for the week anyway.
Now that I’ve shared some dinners, here are a few lunches…
Smoked salmon, roasted pecans, and avo on top of kale massaged in balsamic vinaigrette.
This combo of kale, balsamic vinaigrette, avo, candied walnuts and strawberries was a great one. It didn’t hold me over too long though, so I ended up eating two pounds of carrots and another few handfuls of candied walnuts that afternoon.
Back to smoked salmon, but this time on a raw green spirulina “crust”.
I went through a brief phase with these crusts two summers ago, but haven’t had one in quite some time.
I liked it just as much as I remembered!
With this cream cheese.
Voila!
My body must have been in the mood for protein because I hardly ever have meat for lunch, but these next two days featured chicken. First in a Thai salad with kale, peanuts, avo, and cilantro (carrots on the side). And second in a chicken salad with celery, golden raisins, and mayo.
This time I used plantain chips and carrots instead of crackers.
They are sooooo addictive. I stopped myself JUST shy of finishing the entire bag.
And now that most of my imperfect produce delivery is gone, it’s good that my first CSA of the quarter has been washed and sealed up and ready for me to tackle. 🙂
I admire your dedication to meal prep. I prep myself although I ‘m not sure I do as much as you. On the other hand I only have one kid that doesn’t love salads. With all that chopping How often do you sharpen your knifes? How do you do it? Manually, electric sharpener, Professionally?
Mine are not very good quality but become SO dull so quick!
THAT is a good question and one that I don’t have a good answer to…basically I never do it. I own an electric sharpener but have only used it once. It scares me! I should probably do it though. I definitely have one knife that I use more than any others and it’s probably not nearly as sharp as it should be. That said, I do have really nice knives (wusthof) which may help??
Oh man, all of those dinner salads sound amazing! I still have a cabbage from the great 2lbs for $1 sale situation, and am totally making that asian slaw situation like tomorrow.
And!!!! There’s an east coast equivalent to Imperfect produce! It’s called Misfit and my first box arrives early next week :)) very very excited about it because it’s been super difficult to participate in a csa (pick up times and location logistics) and then the ones that deliver don’t deliver to my neighborhood- anyways, I’m looking forward to it!
That Kite Hill cream cheese is totally Next Level- maybe a good thing it’s expensive enough I don’t buy it often, rarely can I make it last more than 48hrs 🙂
WOOHOOOO for the misfit trial!
Cracking up at the cabbage spree…totally something I’d do!
We love Misfits Market!! 😍😁👍