CSA Box

Recipe: Southwest Chipotle Dense Bean Salad

Abby H.

Our Yasukochi Family Farms CSA box arrived on Monday, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to incorporate a bunch of the veggies into a dense bean salad.

Last night I was struck by inspiration, and I got to chopping.

This salad came together in less than 15 minutes, and it’s so good. I’ll be having it for lunch for the next few days.

 

Chipotle Dense Bean Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 purple onion, diced and soaked in ice water
  • 2 small cucumbers, chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 large tomato, chopped into bite-sized pieces and deseeded
  • 1 bell pepper (I used green, use whatever you’ve got), diced
  • The corn from 1 ear of corn
  • 1 15 oz. can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup cubed cheddar cheese

Directions:

  1. Chop the veggie ingredients and combine in a mixing bowl.
  2. Add 1/4-1/2 cup of dressing (recipe below), toss salad, and add in cheese cubes.
  3. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Chipotle Dressing:

  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 3 T. Honey or agave syrup
  • 1/2 cup olive oil (or your favorite neutral oil)
  • 2 chipotle peppers (from a can in adobo sauce)
  • 3 T. adobo sauce
  • 2-3 garlic cloves, minced (or the equivalent in jarlic)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. In a blender or food processor, add all of the ingredients and blend until smooth.
  2. Store the unused portion in the fridge for up to a week.

The nice part about this salad is that it easily made vegan by swapping honey for agave syrup, and omitting the cheese or swapping in a vegan cheese substitute.

The salad is naturally Gluten Free and vegetarian.

2025 New Years Sale from Yasukochi Family Farms!

Abby H.


If you are looking to eat healthier this year, and save time, and money, this offer will help with all three!

Yasukochi Family Farms is offering a deal on all of their CSA box sizes through January 4, 2025.

They have deals on subscriptions from 1 month, all the way to 9 months!

To learn more, and see pricing, visit their website here.

We’ve been receiving their boxes for 4 years and it’s an amazing value.

2024 New Years Sale from Yasukochi Family Farms!

Abby H.

If you are looking to eat healthier this year, save time, and money, this offer will help with all three!

Yasukochi Family Farms is offering a deal on all of their CSA box sizes, now through January 4, 2024.

They have deals on subscriptions from 1 month, all the way to 9 months!

To learn more, and see pricing, visit their website here.

We’ve been receiving their boxes for 3 years and it’s an amazing value.

Yasukochi Family Farms Mother’s Day Sale!

Abby H.

Mother’s Day is around the corner and if your mom is like mine, the gift of fresh fruit and veggies (and a bouquet of flowers) is the perfect way to say I love you!

Yasukochi Family Farms has two great options this Mother’s Day:

a 1-month (4 weeks) subscription of regular boxes of farm fresh fruits and veggies with 1 small bouquet of flowers (1st week only) for $108

OR

 A 1-month (4 weeks) subscription of jumbo boxes of farm fresh fruits and veggies with 1 small bouquet of flowers (1st week only) for $130.

The first delivery will occur between 5/8-5/12 (depending on which day your mom’s area receives deliveries). To order or learn more, click here.

Recipe: Creamy Cajun Pasta

Abby H.

Last week, I was looking through the fridge, trying to figure out what to make with the chicken breasts that I had defrosted. None of the usual suspects sounded good, and then I remembered I has seen a video with a recipe for Cream Cajun pasta. I couldn’t find the video again, so I decided to wing it.

It’s super tasty, quick, and easy.

Creamy Cajun Pasta

Ingredients:

  • 2 T. AP Flour
  • 4 T. Cajun/Creole seasoning, divided
  • 2 large chicken breasts, slices in half (or 4 chicken breast tenders)
  • 2T. Olive or grapeseed oil, divided
  • 2T. butter, divided
  • 1 medium onion, chopped (I used a purple onion)
  • 2 bell peppers, chopped
  • 3 celery ribs, diced
  • 2 small zucchini or 1 large zucchini, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 3 large tomatoes diced, or 1 can (about 15oz) diced tomatoes drained
  • 1 1/4 cups chicken stock
  • 1T. corn starch
  • 1/2 block cream cheese
  • 1 cup milk (I used whole milk if you want it extra thick and creamy use heavy cream)
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1 lb. package of your choice of pasta, cooked per package instructions, reserve 1/4 cup cooked pasta water.

Directions:

  1. Mix flour and 2T of the Cajun seasoning in a shallow dish.
  2. Coat chicken breasts in flour/spice mixture.
  3. In a large skillet, heat half the butter and oil. Once the butter is melted, add chicken breasts. Cook for about 5-6 minutes on each side, allowing a light golden crust to form on each side of the breast.
  4. Once chicken breasts are golden brown on each side, remove from pan and set aside.
  5. Add remaining butter and oil.
  6. Saute onions, celery, and bell peppers in oil/butter until the onions are translucent, about 5-10 minutes.
  7. Add in the tomatoes and cook covered for about 5-10 minutes.
  8. While tomatoes are cooking mix stock and cornstarch to create a slurry. This mixture will thicken the sauce.
  9. Once the tomatoes have cooked and broken down, add the stock slurry, milk, and cream cheese. Stir and break down the cream cheese as it melts so there are no lumps. Add in the remaining Cajun Seasoning.
  10. Add back in the chicken breasts, and add in the zucchini, turn the heat down to low, and cook covered for about 5-10 minutes, or until the zucchini is tender.
  11. Mix in the remaining cheese, and taste. Add more Cajun Seasoning as desired. We added black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste (about 1 teaspoon each).
  12. Stir in reserved pasta water, and cooked pasta. Allow the entire dish to cook for about 3-5 minutes.

Serve topped with parmesan cheese if desired. This was an amazing dinner and it was done in less than an hour. I had prepped all the veggies ahead of time. I do about 2 hours worth of meal prep each week, including chopping veggies on Monday afternoons after the CSA box arrives.

Allergy variations:

  • To make this dish gluten-free, use Gluten Free AP flour, and gluten-free pasta.
  • To make this dish dairy free, use dairy-free milk, cream cheese, and parm.
  • This dish is not vegetarian or vegan. 

 

 

 

 

Give the Gift of the Farm with the Yasukochi Family Farms Black Friday Sale!

Abby H.

On Tuesday I posted about practical gifts for busy families. Little did I know that Yasukochi Family Farms was having a sale this weekend!

This is an amazing sale!

This sale is only good today, FRIDAY, 11/25, and ends on Sunday, 11/27! To learn more or order, check out their website.

One month of CSA Boxes your choice of regular box or Jumbo box. and 1 bottle of olive oil. I love this olive oil, it’s the best I’ve tried.

I get a Regular sized box each week, and it’s good for a family of 4 or smaller. A Jumbo-sized Box is perfect for larger families or for families that are vegetarians or vegans.

 

Two Very Practical Gifts for Busy Families!

Abby H.

I was texting with some relatives yesterday, and they had gone through everyone’s Amazon Wishlists and didn’t like anything on the lists. The wishlist didn’t have anything “Exciting”.

So they asked me what I thought these adults with kids would want for the holidays. First of all, If it’s on someone’s wishlist and it’s not super expensive, just buy it. It doesn’t have to be something exciting. It doesn’t matter if the gift giver likes it or thinks it’s “Exciting”, it’s what the recipient wants.

I’m an adult for Pete’s sake. For me, an exciting gift is a nice new set of sheets for my bed or a box of produce on my doorstep.

If you are looking for a gift that will WOW the adults in your life, here are some suggestions:

Meal Plan/Meal Prep: Seriously. Do you know what’s exciting? Not having the decide what to eat every single day of my life. For those of you who live near Dream Dinners, They have many different gifting options. There are locations all over the US, and many locations will ship if you are too far/busy to visit a location.

Another Meal Prep option is What a Crock. They have locations all across the Mid-Atlantic, and they also ship as well.

What I like about What A Crock is that you choose how many portions of each Entree you want. They also have holiday bundles and even gift cards!

 

If your gift recipients live in San Diego County and meal prep isn’t what you are feeling, produce boxes are it! I love Yasukochi Family Farms CSA boxes. We’ve been getting them for about 2 years, and it’s the perfect gift in my opinion. Locally grown fresh fruits and veggies are delivered to the gift recipient’s door each week. You can contact the farm here and find out more about ordering boxes as gifts!

If you aren’t a San Diego, Ca local and are interested in CSA or farm boxes, my recommendation is that you visit your local farmer’s market and ask some of the farmers if they offer one. I am not a fan of some of the farm boxes that are advertised online, as they are not from local farmers.  As the great-granddaughter of a farmer, I fully support local farms.

 

Talk Back: What’s on your Amazon Wishlist?

Recipe: Spicy Szechuan Style Green Beans (a la PF Changs)

Abby H.

In our recent Yasukochi Family Farms CSA box, we received 5 fistfuls (about a pound) of fresh green beans. I cleaned them, put them in a large ziploc bag in the fridge until I could be struck by inspiration.

I was doing the end-of-week veg prep Sunday morning (to make room for the new box arriving Monday), and I came across the green beans. I was watching tik tok last night and saw a video for spicy green beans. I decided to give it a go.

To start, I searched online for a bunch of recipes and Frankestein’d together a recipe using what we had on hand, which wasn’t much. Our fridge died last summer and I still haven’t replaced all of the condiments, in part because of supply chain issues, and also because of freaking inflation.

Spicy Szechuan Style Green Beans

Ingredients

  • 1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed
  • 2 T. your favorite cooking oil (I used grapeseed)
  • 2 T. Diced Garlic (It’s ok to use the stuff in a jar)
  • 1 T. Chili Paste or Sriracha (whatever you have)
  • 2 t. onion powder
  • 1 green onion, white and light green parts only
  • 3 T. Soy sauce (I used low sodium)
  • 1/4 c. water
  • 1 T. rice vinegar (or white- whatever you have)
  • Juice of half an orange

Optional, but tasty

  • Sesame Seeds
  • Red Pepper Flakes

Directions

  1. In a large pan or wok, heat oil.
  2. Cook green beans for 5-8 minutes, or until they start to brown and wilt. If your green beans have been stored in the fridge, it will take longer.
  3. While the beans cook, add the 1 T. garlic, chili paste, onion powder, and green onion to a small bowl and combine.
  4. After the beans have browned and wilted, add the chili/garlic mixture and combine/coat the green beans. Cook for 3-ish minutes on medium until the garlic is fragrant.
  5. Add the remaining liquid ingredients (I poured all of them into a mixing cup and set it aside until this step, but you can pour them directly into the pan/wok), cooking on low until some of the water evaporates. Remove from heat, and add sesame seeds and red pepper flakes (less than 1 tablespoon each).

This is a great side dish for any Asian food. I served it for breakfast -grown ups only- over basmati rice, topped with a jammy egg. It was very filling.

This recipe is vegan/vegetarian. If you are sensitive to gluten, replace your soy with tamari or coconut aminos.

Back To School Sale from Yasukochi Family Farms CSA!

Abby H.

Two things I love: Fresh produce and deals! Thanks to  Yasukochi Family Farms we are able to get both through September 10th.

Now through 9/10/2022 you can score 4 Regular boxes for $108, or 4 Jumbo boxes for $152.

I get a Regular sized box each week, and it’s good for a family of 4 or smaller. A Jumbo-sized Box is perfect for larger families or for families that are vegetarians or vegans.

Here are pictures of a box we received earlier this year.

This is the type of variety that comes in the boxes each week! Each week the box is stuffed full with the freshest. in season fruits and veggies! And don’t forget there are add-ons too! Berries, local honey, olive oil, farm-fresh eggs, and more!

I’m partnering with Yasukochi Family Farms this month to bring you all of the best deals and freshest produce! I’ll be posting pics on my socials as well.

 

Recipe: Hot Honey Ginger Carrots!

Abby H.

This recipe is so easy and so tasty. You probably already have some (if not all) of these ingredients in your kitchen.

We get carrots in our Yasukochi Family Farms CSA box every week, and with a few extras we have hanging around in our fridge, I make these weekly.

Ingredients:

  • 1-2 lbs of carrots
  • 2 T oil of your choice, I used Yasukochi Farms Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 3 Tablespoons Yasukochi Farms Honey
  • Pinch Ground Ginger
  • Pinch Pepper Flakes

Directions:

  1. Place a foil-lined baking sheet in a cold oven. Pre-heat to 425 degrees.
  2. While the oven and pan heat, peel and cut into spears or bite-sized pieces, and toss carrots in oil, salt, and pepper.
  3. Roast carrots in the oven for 20 minutes, stirring mid-way.
  4. Once the carrots are cooked, toss in a bowl with honey, ginger, and pepper flakes, as serve right away.

These carrots are so good. If you don’t want the heat from the pepper flakes, omit them. The honey and ginger plays nicely with the natural sweetness from the carrots.