CSA: Charleston– Cinco de Mayo and more

This Tuesday we had dinner at the Glass Onion and picked up our latest batch of CSA goodies from Pinckney’s Produce.  We got:

• 1 head curly lettuce
• 1 head other lettuce
• 2 bunches mustard greens
• 2 bunches kale
• 2 bunches collards
• 1 head cauliflower
• 3 small heads broccoli
• radishes
• strawberries
• onions

Wednesday

Wednesday was Cinco de Mayo, and I knew I needed to do something with the lettuces. Before work, I chopped up the curly head and made myself a big salad to take for lunch, including a couple of the radishes along with some shredded carrot, some artichoke hearts, some Greek olives, two boiled eggs, a handful of slivered almonds, and a lemon vinaigrette.

For dinner, I decided to make us a Mexican-flavored feast. At first I thought of making some sort of taco/burrito thing, but using lettuce instead of shells or tortillas. Eventually I decided to just do a taco salad. I picked up some organic, certified-humane, free-range ground turkey (you guys, I really wanted beef, but I can’t often afford beef that fits my food values), and I sauteed it with some of the onions, garlic, cumin, chili powder, fajita seasoning, and half a can of Ro-Tel. While that was going in the skillet, in another skillet, I sauteed some garlic and then added a can of black beans, cumin, and salt. Jon sliced up the other lettuce and gave it a whirl in the salad spinner while I shredded pepper jack cheese. We made a bed of lettuce on our plates, topped it with the turkey and beans, sprinkled some pepper jack cheese on top, and topped the salads with salsa and a dollop of Greek yogurt, which I buy because it’s fat free, and yet way more flavorful than fat free sour cream, and thanks to the live and active cultures, it doesn’t go bad as fast as sour cream.

We ate our yummy salads with strawberry margaritas, made using the recipe I posted last week.  Jon also had a side of guacamole.

Thursday

Thursday I took one bunch of mustard greens and one bunch of collards to a coworker, as there was just no way we could eat 6 bunches of greens.

Still, we ate a big ole mess of greens for dinner, in the form of this Smoky Greens and Beans recipe, which is a tasty way to eat piles of leafy greens, and a good meatless meal.  This recipe also used up the last of our onions.  We ate ours with Quicker No-Knead Bread, baked by Jon (!), smeared with Laughing Cow Cheese.

Friday

Friday we had intended to go to an Art Walk and gallery hop while drinking free wine, but we ended up at Five Guys because I was starving.

Saturday

Saturday night we met up with some friends for dinner at Zia Taqueria. I wanted to see how it measured up to one of my favorite Charleston places, Taco Boy. Zia probably has better tacos. And they have some fun drinks too. I had a Palapa Mas, which was minted lemonade with creme de cassis and tequila blanco.  But I think Taco Boy will always be my favorite because it has a better atmosphere, and it’s the perfect place to go after a day in the sun out on Folly Beach.

Sunday

Sunday we spent the whole day out at Folly drinking mojitos made with mint from our yard. Instead of my usual post-beach taco fix, because we’d had tacos the night before, we came home and I made pan-fried tilapia, braised collards with bacon, and broccoli and cauliflower with lemon, mustard, and chive butter. Everything was very tasty!

Monday

Monday night we were all out of veggies, so we decided to try another restaurant on my list. We went with Quyen/Party Kingdom which I’d heard great things about, and because I’d been wanting to try Vienamese pho ever since seeing it on Anthony Bourdain. Quyen/Party Kingdom is in a strip mall with a grocery store. The front section looks like a typical hip Asian/sushi joint, but in back there’s a play place called Party Kingdom. We tried the Quyen Rock n’ Rolls, which featured chicken and veggies wrapped in sticky rice paper with peanut sauce. For entrees we shared a beef pho, which featured a multi-flavored, delicious broth, and a chicken Pad Thai, which was as good as any I’ve had.  I’d definitely go to Quyen again, and I’d imagine I’d love it if I had kids.  Getting to eat delicious pho while the kiddies play has GOT to be better than choking down pizza at Chuck E Cheese. Note: I had never had Vietnamese food before, so I can’t speak to the authenticity at Quyen. I can say it was yummy!