Thursday, June 26, 2014

Menu Plan and Snow Pea Chopped Salad

At last, summer has really, truly arrived - here in DC, the days are muggy and  the nights are thundery.

We brought in summer last weekend with a potluck barbecue with some of our best friends up in Baltimore.  After looking at our produce box on Wednesday, I'd planned to do a sauteed snowpea and carrot medley (we got SO MANY SNOWPEAS!), but I wasn't thrilled with taking a warm dish so far away and not at all sure how it'd taste cold.

But, Saturday morning found me gamely snipping the ends off the snow peas, absently snacking on them as I went.  After about the 10th delicious crisp snowpea, it dawned on me that these things did not need cooking, at all.

And so, I pulled out a few more veggies and turned my dish into a chopped salad.  This was put together based entirely on what I found in the fridge, but of course I was mentally doing all sorts of variations I'd do if I'd actually planned it - so those suggestions are included, as well.

Summer Snowpea Chopped Salad

2 cups snowpeas, ends snipped, chopped into 1/2" inch pieces
1-2 zucchinis, chopped
2 carrots, peeled, chopped
1-2 cucumbers, chopped
1 container grape tomatoes

1/3 cup vinaigrette or Italian dressing

Mix in a bowl with a lid, add  vinaigrette.  Put on lid, and shake to mix.

Additions: add feta cheese cubes, sliced or whole olives, orange or tangerine sections (chopped), fresh herbs, lettuce, corn, fresh mushroom slices etc.  The key is to keep it fast and use what you have on hand.

We kept back a bit for the next day, and it was delicious chilled and marinated overnight. Everything stayed crisp and bright.  Definitely, a keeper!

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My menu planning this week is pretty simple.  First priority - the produce box!  At last, we got more than just greens (although there are still plenty of those):


Two varieties of lettuce, some kale, more beets and beet greens, some yellow squash, peaches (yay!), raspberries (yay!), a cucumber and some fresh basil.

Those raspberries were so fresh and ripe, they were eaten for breakfast this morning - no way would they keep long enough to actually use them in something.

Because our produce is delivered on Wednesdays, I do my meal planning from Thursday - Wednesday. Here's my plan for the week (June 26 - July 2):

Thursday, July 26
Butter-Sauteed  Veggie Blend with Basil
(snow peas, zucchini, summer squash, celery)


Friday, July 27



Saturday, July 28
Greens
Cole Slaw

Sunday, July 29
Leftovers

(make soup today for the next week's lunches)

Monday, July 30
Quiche with Greens and Cheese
Roasted Roots Medley

Tuesday, July 1
Trivia Night 
(eat out or order out if canceled)

Wednesday
Use up produce in a one pot meal or casserole. 
(to be determined when I sort out what needs to be used up)


That's it - trying to keep things simple.  Lunches are leftovers, soup made for that purpose, or cold items - salads, tuna, cottage cheese, etc.  Our breakfasts are still iffy - eaten when we have something readily at hand or if there is time to cook, and often skipped.




Shared with:
~ Creative Ways Link Party, Fabulously Frugal Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Home & Garden Thursday, Home Sweet Home, HomeAcre Hop, It's a Party, Moonlight & Mason Jars, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Share Your Cup Thursday, Thrifty Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Time Travel Thursday.
~ Anything Goes, BFF Open House Party, City of Posts, Fabulous Finds, Feathered Nest Friday, Fight Back Friday, Flaunt It Friday, Foodie Friday, Freedom Friday, Friday Favorites, Fridays Unfolded, Frugal Friday, Gluten-Free Fridays, Handmade Hangout, Kitchen Fun & Crafty Friday, Let's Get Real Friday, LHITS DIY Linky, Old Fashioned Friday, Party BunchPin Junkie Pin Party, Pinworthy Projects PartyRattlebridge Farms Foodie Friday, Shabbilicious Friday, Show and Tell Friday, Unprocessed Friday, Weekend Re-Treat, Weekend Social Party.
~ Link Party Palooza, My Favorite Things SaturdayNo-Rules Weekend, Say G'Day Saturday, Serenity SaturdayShow & Tell Saturday, Showstopper Saturday, Simple Saturdays, Simply Natural Saturdays, Super Saturday, Weekend Potluck, Weekend Wind-Down
~ Creative CollectionDIY InspiredDIY Sunday Showcase, Happiness is Homemade, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, Share Your Creativity, Silver Pennies Sunday, Submarine Sunday, Sunday Funday, Think Pink.
~ A Round Tuit, Amaze Me Monday, Busy Monday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Creative Collection Link Party, Craftastic Monday, Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop, Homestead Barn Hop, Inspiration Monday, Inspire Me MondayMad Skills Party, Making Your Home Sing Monday, Masterpiece Monday, Melt In Your Mouth Monday, Menu Plan Monday, Mix It Up Monday, Monday Funday, Mostly Homemade Mondays, Motivation Monday,  Much Ado About Monday, Natural Living MondayReal Food Recipe Round Up, Recipe Sharing Monday, Sweet Sharing Monday, Thank Goodness It's Monday.
~ Awesome Things Tuesday, Backyard Farming Connection, Brag About It, Create - Link - Inspire, Do Tell Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Good Tips Tuesday, Handmade Tuesdays, Healthy Tuesday, Hearth & Soul Hop, Hip Homeschool HopJuly Garden Party, One Project at a Time, The Scoop, Share It Link Party, Share Your Stuff TuesdayShow & Share, Take-a-Look Tuesday, Tasty TuesdaysTickle My Tastebuds Tuesdays, Time to Sparkle, TOO Cute Tuesday, Totally Talented Tuesdays, Treasure Box Tuesday, Tuesdays at Our Home, Tutorial Tuesday, Two Cup Tuesday, You're Gonna Love It Tuesday.
~ Cast Party Wednesday, Centerpiece Wednesday, Fluster's Creative Muster, Fresh Foods Wednesday, From Dream to Reality, Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Happy Summer Link UpHit Me With Your Best Shot, Homemaking Link Up, Inspiration Board: Creative Party, Inspiration Exchange, Lovely Ladies Linky, Made By Me, Make - Bake - Create, Party on  the Porch, Penny Pinching Party, Pretty Wednesday, Real Foods Wednesday, Show + Tell, Summer Family Fun Series, Wake Up Wednesdays, Wednesday Round Up, Wednesday Whatsits, Wellness Wednesday, What We Accomplished, What's Cooking Wednesday, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Whimsy Wednesday, Wicked Awesome Wednesday, Wonderful Wednesday, Wonderfully Creative Wednesdays, Work It Wednesday, Works For Me Wednesday, Wow Us Wednesdays, Your Whims Wednesday.                                                                                              

17 comments:

  1. Hi Lynda! I'm stopping over from Let's Get Real today. Your meal plan sounds delicious. I would love for you to cook for me. I really like your chopped salad recipe. Don't you love how fresh ingredients can taste really delicious without a lot of fussing? My family likes their veggies pretty plain. That makes things easy for me. I need to get some snow peas to try your salad this week.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! Yes, being able to make quick work of a lot of fresh veggies is just about my favorite part of summer!

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  2. This chopped salad sounds amazing! I've never eaten zucchini raw before. I just picked up several zucchini and some summer squash from the market. I'll have to give this a try!

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    1. I actually like it better raw - it's got a nice texture, and sometimes cooked zucchini is a bit mushy for my taste.

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  3. Thanks for coming and linking up at #The Weekend Social. Please be sure to come back next week starting Thursdays at 9PM EST on Kitchen Dreaming.com ! I hope to see you there! Pinned
    Dina@KitchenDreaming.com

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  4. Who doesn't love a summer salad? Thanks for the share at the #WWDParty!

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  5. Yummy!! Thanks for linking up at My Favorite Things Saturday!!

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  6. Hi Lynda,
    I am coming to your house, every thing looks so good! Hope you are having a great week and thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

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  7. What a great use of so many seasonal vegetables. Thanks for sharing your salad with us on foodie friday.

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  8. I'm harvesting my Mangetout (snowpeas) right now so I may make this very soon #TastyTuesdays

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  9. Great salad to use a lot of our wonderful and fresh garden veggies. Pinning. Thanks so much for sharing it with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  10. Just found your blog from the Wake up Wednesday link up party and I'm super excited to be following you via Bloglovin now! :)

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  11. Sunshine on a plate, summery, feel good food! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays

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  12. Yum! Thank you for sharing this post at City of Creative Dream's City of Links on Friday! I appreciate you taking the time to party with me. Hope to see you again this week :)

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  13. Snow Peas are a huge favorite in our home. I can't wait to try this! Thanks for sharing on Sunday FUNday!

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  14. Delicious and healthy salad, thanks for sharing with Hearth and Soul blog hop.

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