Week 4. I've decided I hate arugula

Snow Peas or Roma Beans

Squash

Lettuce

Arugula

Scallions

Cabbage

Cucumbers

Farmers choice item

You can really only eat so much arugula before you decide that you never need to touch it again. No picture this time (well, it's five days old in my fridge now but I don't think that's very photogenic), but I tried a potato arugula salad for a Southern potluck dinner. Verdict? Not bad. A nice way to use up the arugula. I may have undercooked the potatoes. Maybe.

This past Thursday was my birthday so I asked our good friend to pick up our share for us, in the which it promptly went into our refrigerator and sat until tonight, Wednesday, where I took the night off, refused to go to church to clean out the Primary closet, refused to watch the DVR-ed awesome USA Slovenia World Cup match, and proceeded to cook and cook and cook from approximately 6:30 to 9:30 pm.

First, I took everything out of the fridge:

Then, I panicked. WHAT DO YOU DO WITH ALL THIS CRAP????????? I mean, er, GREENS??????????

First, I took the squash, sliced it up, and braised it in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. I had done this last week, not knowing what else to do with it, and it turned out to be SURPRISINGLY delicious. I really think it's only surprisingly delicious with organic fresh squash though, cause I know for a fact I grew up with my mom making it the same way and usually it just turned out slimy, mushy, yucky, and smelly.

However, that only got rid of two small tiny little green things. I still had heads of leafy greens, and this time I really wanted my meat. None of this vegetarian business. So not knowing what exactly I was doing, I made a pot of rice. Always a good bet. Then I pawed through my freezer and examined my various baggies of ice-encrusted animal products. Ground meat... pork? Beef? I had no idea. I figured it would go well with something, so I defrosted it (don't ask me how, I'm pretty sure I cross-contaminated my entire kitchen). I had some random tofu. I had cabbage. I still didn't know where I was going. I pulled out sesame oil, chili bean paste, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, hot sauce, hoisin sauce... and suddenly inspiration struck!

Polish stuffed cabbage!!

Okay so it wasn't Asian, and it still only used up one head of cabbage. But it was pretty tasty, I must admit, and given I already had everything out, surprisingly easy and fast to make. I used a can of tomato sauce mixed with some Worchestire (?), lemon juice, and honey.

Finally, I just took everything else, threw it in a stir fry (including the leftover stuffed cabbage filling), and cooked it down. Oh chili bean paste, how you are my savior. I think it was pretty much just my infamous spicy tofu, with some bok choy thrown in, but it got rid of everything else. And it also kind of looked like puke so I didn't take a picture. :)

Stuffed Cabbage

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup uncooked white rice
• 8 cabbage leaves
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Bring a large, wide saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add cabbage leaves and cook for 2 to 4 minutes or until softened; drain.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, 1 cup cooked rice, onion, egg, salt and pepper, along with 2 tablespoons of tomato soup. Mix thoroughly.
4. Divide the beef mixture evenly among the cabbage leaves. Roll and secure them with toothpicks or string.
5. In a large skillet over medium heat, place the cabbage rolls and pour the remaining tomato soup over the top. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring and basting with the liquid often.