Mr. Potato Head...for Real!

Part of my commitment as a virtual farmhand for the Colvins is to put up a recipe each week that showcases the produce we got that week--how to use it, how to eat it, how to store it, etc. This is our last week of the season, though, so I have been a little unconventional. Oh, we're using the produce, that's for sure. We just didn't eat it.

I was signed up this week to speak to my son's second grade class about a hobby of mine, my job, or some other interest. They already know I'm a teacher since I pop into lunch on a regular basis. They already know I read/review children's books since I've been a classroom reader already. What they didn't know before today was anything about my love affair with vegetables and my partnership with the Colvins.

This turned out to be a fantastic way to talk up vegetables, local or otherwise, with a group of kids. I held up specimens, all of which have come at some point during the season, and most of which are recent box finds. The kids could identify most (not the turnip!), had tried most of them (not the radishes!), and had no problems disagreeing on which ones were better. We talked about "not liking them yet" and trying new veggies. And then... we made Mr. Potato Heads with the various veggies! I introduced them to my new friend, Colvin (pictured above on the right), and encouraged them to make their own new friends. It was a great experience, and the kids loved it. They were even more creative than I'd expected, and I caught several of them sampling the extra veggies they were using. Bonus! So, in this last week of our CSA season, buy a handful of bigger potatoes and use your scraps from prepping your veggies to make a few Mr. Potato Heads. It takes remarkably few whole vegetables to make multiple Mr. Potato Heads, and it's a fantastic way to get kids excited about vegetables.

CSA Pick-Up (10/1/14)

Wow! What a way to end our CSA season with the Colvins this year! It's been a great season all around. Thanks for your hard work, Colvin family!

The "haul" includes:

• 1 bunch radishes
• 1 bunch young white turnips
• 1 butternut squash
• 1 bag small heads lettuce
• 1 bag arugula
• mixed tomatoes
• several bell peppers
• several hot peppers
• 1 bag potatoes
• 1 jack-o-lantern pumpkin

CSA Pick-Up (9/24/14)

Second to last CSA pick-up from the Colvins for this year's season! Hard to believe we're almost at the end. Today's box is full of goodies as usual.

What was in the box:

• 1 box tomatillos
• 1 bag potatoes
• 1 bunch small white turnips with tops
• 1 bunch radishes with tops
• 1 bag arugula
• 2 green bell peppers
• a few hot peppers
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 2 small-medium butternut squash

I'm thinking some Salsa Verde is in order with this batch! I also have a butternut squash pasta recipe that calls for a 2 pound squash--one of my squashes this week is exactly 2 pounds! Perfect. I'll post recipes that work, so stay tuned. 

CSA Pick-Up (9/17/14)

The weather is starting to feel like fall hasn't forgotten us! A lovely day here in East Tennessee today, and I brought home a lovely box of goodies. Last week I was cheerfully pointing out that the Colvins haven't snuck any eggplant into my box this year. Sadly, Mrs. Colvin (the farmer's wife) commented that it was due to crop fail. I hate for any crop to fail, but if there's going to be one, I'm glad it's eggplant and not tomatoes or peppers.

But wait! Turns out the eggplant hasn't completely failed. In our shares today, there are two small eggplants.... Now it's YOUR turn, dear readers. Throw some recipes my way--remember, this gal and her husband both hate, loathe, despise, and abominate eggplant. It's going to have to be a good one to convince us otherwise.

Here's what's in the box:

• 1 bag small potatoes--yikes! I still have last week's bag. Time to eat potatoes.
• 2 green bell peppers
• 1 bag okra
• 1 bunch small white turnips with tops
• 1 box tomatillos*
• 1 good-sized butternut squash
• 1 watermelon
• 1 bag assorted hot peppers*

I get cookbooks to review for free periodically, and my latest is a cookbook full of Texan recipes. Yum! And there are some that feature tomatillos and hot peppers. Can't wait to try 'em!

CSA Pick-Up (9/10/14)

I made it to my usual Wednesday pick-up from the Colvins today! The air feels a teensy, tiny bit less hot than last week. I won't go so far as to say it felt cool, mind you. Summer is not giving up the fight easily this year in East Tennessee. However, that teensy, tiny bit is enough to make me think of soup and other fall-ish foods. But our basket is still delivering summer fare! Craziness. Shows how warm it's been. Here's what we brought home:

• watermelon
• 1 bag potatoes
• 1 bag okra
• 1 box tomatoes (red, yellow, AND green!)
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 bag kale
• 1 head garlic
• 1 bag green beans

Dare I hope that we'll make it through an entire CSA season without bringing home eggplant??!! Colvins, are you surreptitiously removing it from my box so I won't complain?? :-)

I've been rather proud of our locavore meals this past week. Sunday, for lunch, we had Colvin arugula and carrots, Colvin potatoes, farmer's market bread, and farmer's market corn. We picked up some local apple cider and apples that afternoon, and last night we had Butternut Squash Soup with Roasted Apple. Tonight's recipe will appear later this week if it's any good, but it involves tomatillos, tomatoes, chilies, onion, and garlic--almost all from our CSA box (I would have used fresh chilies if I'd remembered I had them before I opened a can of chilies...duh). So, stay tuned! And we'll complement our meal with Colvin watermelon for dessert! Yum!

CSA Pick-Up (9/6/14)

Yum!! We got watermelon! Can't wait to try it.... we picked up our box from the Colvins today (Saturday) instead of our usual mid-week pick-up, so we have just a few days to use up this box before the next one. I don't think that will be a problem. Here's what we got:

• watermelon (since we have family in town, this will be gone in just a meal or two)
• okra
• onions
• garlic
• bag of potatoes
• 2 bell peppers
• 1 bunch radishes
• 1 bag arugula
• 1 butternut squash
• 1 box tomatillos! (I've been wondering if these would appear this year)

I'm going to try the Farmer's Wife's pickled okra this week, too. Yum!

Green Tomatoes?!

Gardeners don't waste any of their crop if they can help it. Is it any wonder that Southerners learned how to fry up green tomatoes into delicious-ness? Why waste something that tastes great? By this point in the summer, we've gorged on the red and yellow ones, and now that cooler weather is (perhaps) on the horizon, we're willing to sacrifice some green ones before they ripen.

So, you have some green tomatoes from your garden or a CSA box (like mine from the Colvins!) or even from a local produce stand because you were curious. What can you do with them besides fry them? Glad you asked!

Try one of these recipes--two are for condiments and two are for baked goods. All freeze just fine (bonus!).

Green Tomato Ketchup (tastes almost like BBQ sauce)

Green Tomato Relish (tastes similar to salsa)

Green Tomato Bread (kind of like zucchini bread)

Green Tomato Cake (like an apple spice cake)

CSA Pick-up (8/27/14)

Our last CSA pick-up from the Colvins for the month of August. Wow. Time is flying by. So quickly, in fact, that I woke up this morning realizing that I didn't even post a recipe this past week! Eek!

Not to worry, I have several waiting in the wings, and we got the same vegetables this week--so you can still use them!

Here's what we got today:

• 2 butternut squash
• 1 bag small russet potatoes
• 1 bag white onions (hidden under the okra)
• 1 bag okra
• 2 summer squash
• 1 big green sweet pepper + several smaller hot peppers
• 1 box green tomatoes
• 1 bag arugula (yippee!!)

I've got recipes for okra, the baby russets, and green tomatoes coming, so stay tuned!

CSA Pick-up (8/20/14)

Isaac Colvin greeted me with a smile and a concerned look when I picked up our veggies this week--apparently, I looked pretty stressed last week! So nice to know your farmers and have them care about you :-).

Trying a different approach with the picture this week so you can see what a "box" looks like.

And here's our haul this week:

• 1 box of tomatoes (hidden in the bottom of the box)
• 1 bag miscellaneous hot peppers
• 1 bag onions
• 1 bag green beans
• 1 bag okra
• 2 small spaghetti squash
• 1 bag potatoes
• 1 bag Swiss chard
• 2 bell peppers

Yum! (as of this writing, the green beans and okra have already been scarfed down...)

CSA Weekly Pick-up (8/13/14)

I'm a schoolteacher, and this was our first week of school. Last week was a FULL week of in-service meetings and activities. I'm totally out of touch with the CSA schedule, and we even had to skip our pick-up last week! I have to confess, I needed an "easy" box this week. Thankfully, it IS an easy--and delicious--box. Here's what we took home:

• 1 bunch kale
• 1 bunch carrots with tops
• 1 big green bell pepper
• 1 bag miscellaneous hot peppers
• 1 small box okra
• 1 bag onions
• a few tomatoes--including green
• 2 butternut squash
• 1 bag potatoes

What will we do with this bounty? 

• Butternut Squash Soup (I've been ordered by my children to make this and NOTHING ELSE with the squash! They will concede that Butternut Squash Souffle is also pretty tasty.)
• Kale and Sweet Potato Saute (recipe coming--super yummy!)
• Sauteed Okra (already eaten--just sauté the okra with a bit of salt in a bit of olive oil until soft and browned in parts--my boys and I really like it this way)
• Easy Roasted Potatoes (why mess with what works?)
• Green Tomato Cake or Green Tomato Bread

CSA Week 9 (7/30/14)

Our last summer pick-up... teacher in-service starts NEXT week for us in East Tennessee (at least in my county). And we enjoyed our day immensely complete with another trolley ride through downtown and fun times with friends.

• 1 box assorted tomatoes
• 1 bag onions
• 1 bunch orange carrots with tops
• 1 bag assorted summer squash (1 8-ball zucchini, 1 pattypan squash, and 1 yellow squash)
• 1 head lettuce
• 1 bag assorted hot peppers
• 1 acorn squash
• 1 bag potatoes (not pictured because I gave them to a neighbor on my way home--we still had some from last week!)
• 1 big bag green beans

CSA Week 8 (7/23/14)

I normally post my "haul" the day I receive it, but my day was so busy I didn't have time! My kids were at my mother-in-law's, so like any sane mom, I packed my day with kid-free errands. I was a machine... a machine, I tell you: clothes shopping, school supply shopping, library, post office, Farmer's Market, neighbor's house--all by 3:00 (when my conference call with my book group started)! I showed up at the market 5 minutes after the market officially closes. It's on these kinds of days that I start to wonder, "Is it worth it?" Grabbing a few vegetables when I was at the grocery earlier for milk/eggs/etc. would be easier in many ways. But when you know your farmer, it's more than just a shopping trip. Other vendors were putting their tents down, but Isaac was still set up and smiling! The Lord must have nudged him that I needed a little extra encouragement after my harried day because he threw a few extras into my box. There was 1 bunch of kale lingering that no one had bought, so in the box it went. Extra tomatoes went in the box (while I talked up the yellow tomatoes to a customer who had stopped by) along with some extra lettuce. Thanks for making my day, Isaac (and Colvins)!

So, this picture and list reflect a bit of a different box than most will receive (the cantaloupe just graces mid-week shares). It was a cloudy day, and I was in a hurry--so the picture is less than stellar. But here's the list:

• 1 bag of red-skinned potatoes
• 1 quart box of red and yellow tomatoes (plus some extras)
• 2 summer squash
• 1 bunch Swiss chard (plus some extra kale!)
• 1 head Romaine lettuce (plus an extra)
• 1 bag onions
• 1 big bulb garlic
• 1 small cantaloupe (mid-week shares only)
• 1 bunch white carrots with tops (they're in the back left of the picture)

CSA Week ?? (7/16/14)

I've been the poster child for absent-mindedness this summer.... evidenced in part by the fact that I totally don't care. Hence I have no idea what "week" we're on. And were it not for the fact that my children faithfully remind me that it's market day, well, I'd probably forget to pick up the veggies at all! Not because we don't enjoy them, but because I've been blissfully unaware of the day of the week for most of the summer.

And today, we decided to park farther away and ride our city's very fun free trolley closer to the town square with some friends. All had a blast, and my empty CSA box to trade in for this week's full box is still enjoying its ride. Thankfully, I left the empty box and not the full one (and didn't leave any children, either)! And thankfully, Isaac was nice enough not to hold that against me :-). [Side note: our first year, we picked up our veggies downtown from Adam Colvin. The next two years, we picked them up at a park near our house from Caleb Colvin (the boy in line after Adam). This year, we're picking up our veggies downtown again from Isaac--the next one down. And, for those of you who aren't part of our CSA, I'm pleased to announce that Adam just got engage over July 4th... We feel a teensy bit like part of the family, so Congratulations, Adam!!]

It feels more like early fall than summer today, but our produce is nice and summery (except for those gorgeous greens--how can the Colvins manage those in July?!).

• 1 bag onions
• 1 bag red-skinned potatoes
• 1 bag assorted yellow squash (um, Squash Casserole anyone?!)
• 1 quart box tomatoes
• 1 pint box grape tomatoes (and these have been amazing, folks)
• 1 small bag assorted chili peppers
• 1 head Romaine lettuce*
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 bunch white carrots with tops

CSA Week ?? (7/9/14)

The kids and I persevered through a monsoon to get our veggies this week. Thankfully, the rain lessened once we parked and started walking to the square. Still… another cloudy day picture and, since I have no photo studio, the picture is a bit lacking. The produce isn't, though!

A feast in a box:

• bag hot peppers
• box of lovely yellow and red tomatoes
• box of perfect little red cherry tomatoes
• 1 bag red potatoes
• 1 bag white onions
• 1 head romaine lettuce (which had these two little friends on it)
  
• 1 small head cabbage--really, this is the perfect size cabbage. Have you ever bought a head of cabbage to shred for slaw and watched it multiply like crazy?!
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 cucumber
• 1 bunch carrots with tops! (yes, the tops are edible--they're kind of like parsley)

Mmmmm…. what to fix with these gems? Some possibilities:

• Salsa! 
• Salad!
• Slaw!
• Stir fry! (stir fried cabbage is amazing….)
• Home Fries or potato salad or mashed potatoes or roasted potatoes--oh, the potato possibilities are endless, aren't they? Especially when you have some onions along with them.

Kitchen Sink Recipes

Every chef needs a few "back pocket" recipes he or she can whip out and produce at the last minute. The ones you keep pantry supplies on hand for or the recipes you could make in your sleep (even if it's just boxed noodles and jarred pasta sauce.)

The CSA shareholder and the gardener need "Kitchen Sink" Recipes, too: recipes where you can put everything in but the kitchen sink, vegetable-wise. Val Colvin, the Farmer's Wife, gave a nod to my pizza-making in this vein, and I thought I'd share some of my favorite Kitchen Sink Recipes here. This is my go to list of meal ideas for my CSA basket. While I post one-two recipes each week that are a little "fancier" or more exotic as ideas for folks to use when contemplating their weekly harvest/haul, the ones below are far more regular features for us:

Stir-Fry: always an option with rice or noodles, with or without meat. Basic preparation tips: chop/slice veggies in similar sizes for even cooking. Start longer cooking veggies first (onions, cabbage, broccoli, roots in general (carrots, kohlrabi, etc)). Then do medium cooking veggies (peppers, beans, etc.). End with shortest cooking times (summer squash, peas, etc.). I usually use my Basic Stir Fry as a base and just change up sauces as I feel like it (BiBimBap is a nice variation, and Trader Joe's makes a great Teriyaki sauce--Soyaki--for when I'm in a hurry)

Pizza: YES! We put anything and everything on a pizza crust, with or without tomato sauce. Longer cooking veggies benefit from blanching first (potatoes, etc.) unless they're sliced VERY thin. Super short-cooking veggies benefit from pre-baking the crust slightly (i.e. lettuces). Check out the pizza category in the side bar for some possibilities.

Roasted Veggies: I eat these for any meal of the day. Yum yum yum. As with stir-fries, make sure everything is cut in similar sized pieces. Toss with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Roast for 15-30 minutes or until veggies are done to your liking. Stir every 5-10. If you have a mixture of short and long cooking times, just start the longer ones first and add in the shorter ones halfway through. We roast at 400-425 degrees usually, but it's very flexible--if I have something else in the oven, I'll adjust the temperature accordingly. Favorites for this: potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, kohlrabi, onions, peppers, broccoli florets (add in halfway through), carrots, tomatoes (keep separate if you don't want their juice over everything else), summer squash, green beans, …. Leftovers can be topped with a fried egg for breakfast, folded into a wrap or used in a salad for lunch, or simply reheated and enjoyed anytime of the day. Grilled veggies are a similar option.

Wraps/Quesadillas: Saute some sliced bell peppers, onions, summer squash and throw 'em in your next tortilla. Use leftover roasted veggies, cooked greens, you name it--it can all go in a wrap or quesadilla or burrito.

Veggie Sandwiches: Anything that can be eaten raw goes into these. Sliced or shredded: carrots, bell peppers, kohlrabi, radishes, lettuces, greens, tomatoes, broccoli, summer squash, onions, ….

Salad: (duh) There's more than meets the eye here. Of course, we think of lettuce salads topped with the usual suspects: tomatoes and cucumbers. But don't forget that the Mediterranean, for instance, often eats a salad of tomatoes, bell peppers and cucumbers sans lettuce. And slaw is just cabbage salad. Other root veggies (kohlrabi and turnips, for example) can be shredded and used for slaw just like cabbage. Kale is delicious in a salad. In the Mediterranean, cooked greens are eaten cold with a drizzle of oil and vinegar as a salad. I often just eat a tomato or cucumber sliced with salt and pepper.

Quiche: We've camouflaged put lots of things in a cheesy, custardy egg base…. summer squash, greens, and nearly anything else (we've not tried root vegetables this way).

Ethnic: If you're trying to disguise the taste/texture of a vegetable you're learning to like, strong ethnic flavors can go a long way. We're curry fans, and curry dishes have helped us learn to like mustard greens, cauliflower, and turnips in particular. Salsa camouflages the blander tastes of summer squash, milder cooked greens, and the like--you can sneak them into burritos and enchiladas easily. Lasagna or manicotti is a good vehicle for cooked veggies, too. And, of course, stir fries full of familiar veggies can help hide one or two surprises.

CSA Week 4 (July 2, 2014)

First, let me register shock that is already July. JULY, PEOPLE. That means I have ONE MONTH until school starts. I plan to enjoy it to the fullest….

Next, Isaac told me that the greens I wasn't sure about last week were collards. I was planning to cook them like collards anyway, and this week I have some kohlrabies with tops (THANKS Colvins!), so I'll add those in, too and make a big mess o' greens. Mmmm….

Today we got a basket that I immediately had plans for. In fact, everything but the radishes themselves are already on my mental menu. I plan to post a zucchini recipe this coming week that is delicious and a change of pace even though we didn't get zucchini in our boxes. I'm confident we will get them again at some point and they had some beauties at the booth you can pick up if you want to try it.

Here's today's haul (sorry for the less than stellar picture):

• small head of cauliflower
• 1 bag new potatoes (about a pound)
• 1 bag green beans
• 1 bunch radishes with tops
• 1 bunch kale
• 3 kohlrabies (2 medium purple and 1 large white)
• 1 cucumber
• 2 tomatoes (1 in huge!)
• 4 medium onions

What's on my mental menu? Glad you asked:

• Coconut Curried Vegetables with Chick Peas (subbing in white potato for sweet; this time I can get a picture of the final dish!)
• Kickin' Collards (off site link that I plan to put on the blog this time)
• sliced tomatoes going to a 4th of July cookout
• kohlrabies getting sautéed
• Marinated Cucumbers (these are quite similar to Val Colvin's Refrigerator Pickles)
• kale is mysteriously appearing in our breakfasts these days :-)

CSA Week 3 (6/25/14)

I'm on week 3, but this coming Saturday might be week 4. I've lost track. At any rate, we are delighted with this week's pick-up! We're always eager to get our box of veggies from the Colvins, but some weeks contain more familiar ingredients than others. This is one such week for sure. Here's what we brought home (the picture is inside since it's rainy…):

• radish pods!! (ok, I lied--this is a totally new ingredient, but I can't wait to try them)
• summer squash: 1 zucchini, 1 yellow summer squash, and 1 8-ball zucchini
• broccoli!
• onions
• 2 small heads Romaine lettuce
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 bag green beans
• 3 cucumbers
• 1 random bunch of greens--they look like kind of like kohlrabi greens or maybe collards, but I'm not sure (clearly I was distracted when I picked up the box from Isaac--I'm sure he told me what they were and I've forgotten)

Leftover from last week (too much home improvement going on for me to cook some nights!):

• turnips
• Kohlrabi bulbs
• kale
• green beans

So, looking ahead to potential recipes, I'm thinking of:

• Simple Summer Stew with Herb Butter (this is better when we're really getting corn and tomatoes in, but I can't wait--it's just so good!)
• The P3 
• Flash-Cooked Greens with Lemon Juice
• Kickin' Collard Greens (oh, man, these are GOOD--this is an allrecipes link)
• Green Beans with Tarragon Butter OR
• Roasted Green Beans--
• Coconut Curried Vegetables over rice (uses broccoli and green beans!)

CSA Week 2 (6/18/14)

Another delicious-looking haul from the Colvins today! We had a lovely time downtown picking up our veggies and enjoying a nice (hot!) summer day. Mmmm

Here's what's in our box:

• 1 head romaine lettuce
• 1 small head red butter crunch lettuce
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 large bunch purple topped turnips
• 3 topped kohlrabi (too bad they're topped! The greens are yummy!)
• 1 bunch green onions
• 3 summer squash: 1 yellow, 1 zucchini, and 1 8-ball zucchini
• 1 bag green beans

Looks like a feast waiting to happen! I was out of town for a week, but I have turnips and some greens leftover from the last box that are still good. (I have GREAT storage containers from Tupperware that really do make a difference in how long produce lasts.) I'm not a huge fan of turnips, so I'll have to get creative this week, I guess. We love all the greens, though, and are excited to see summer produce mixed in with the spring!

Drumroll, Please… CSA Week 1 (6/7/14)

YEAH!!!! Our CSA 2014 season officially started today (even though I got a sneak peek a few weeks ago). Mmm…. Before I share what we took home today, let me first explain two things:

1. I'm a virtual farmhand for the Colvins. That means that my family receives a share from them in return for my blog posts/social media activity on their behalf. I did this unofficially for a couple of summers before they offered me an official partnership, and we've very much enjoyed working together! To see our previous years, just click on the CSA label.
2. We've been in and out of town and are doing a new pick-up day/spot this year, so there was some miscommunication about when we would actually pick up our first share. I showed up today (normally, Wednesday will be my day), and my name wasn't on the list (I'm always impressed they can keep up at all with any of our vacation requests since I know they spend most of their time working on the farm and NOT on their computer). Anyway, I got to pick out a share's worth from the stand rather than just pick up a box. I think I got mostly the same stuff anyway, but it was fun to actually pick it out. I realized, though, that it's also quite nice for them to make those decisions on my behalf and me just be pleasantly surprised! There's so much delicious-ness at the booth, it's right hard to decide.

Without further ado, here's today's "haul":

• 2 bunches purple kale
• 1 bunch purple and green kohlrabi (those funny purple root things in the left of the picture)
• 1 bunch small white turnips (by request of the child with me--she likes them mixed in with mashed potatoes; I can guarantee that this type of request is a direct offshoot of doing a CSA for several years)
• 1 bunch mustard greens (also a request by the child)
• 1 bunch green onions
• 2 heads butter crunch lettuce

Bring on the greens, baby! (Don't forget that you can eat turnip and kohlrabi greens--separate your leafy tops from the your roots the day you get your shares and store them separately.)

Introducing Produce and Cooking to Kids

If you're a gardener, CSA shareholder, or avid farmer's market customer, your children have likely had exposure to more types of vegetables than the average American. If that's the case, this series of picture books by April Pulley Sayre will be lots of fun as your children recognize their favorites.

If you're about to venture into the world of a CSA or are contemplating making the farmer's market a regular weekly feature, then check out the books below to show your children what they might encounter. They might be less intimidated by kale, kohlrabi, or radishes if they've just chanted their way through a book on the subject! The books below are great for preschool through early elementary kids.

Rah, Rah, Radishes!: A Vegetable Chant by April Pulley Sayre. Beach Lane, 2011. 
This colorful picture book is exactly what the title says: a singsongy chant about vegetables is accompanied by photographs of the vegetables. Back matter provides a bit more information about the vegetables.

Go, Go, Grapes! A Fruit Chant by April Pulley Sayre. Beach Lane, 2012.
While the photography isn't quite as strong in this companion book, Go, Go, Grapes! is still a great celebration of fruit--and not just your typical apples, bananas, and oranges.

Let's Go Nuts! Seeds We Eat by April Pulley Sayre. Beach Lane, 2013.
This is a great introduction to the many seeds we eat: grains, beans/legumes, nuts. Photographs accompany the rhyming text and showcase seeds from around the world.


What if you have older children who are dying to actually cook? Then you might want to check out this new kids' cookbook:

ChopChop: The Essential Cookbook for Kids and Their Parents. Sally Sampson. Simon & Shuster, 2013.

Based on recipes from the magazine of the same name, ChopChop features very healthy recipes geared towards middle grades kids and up. Recipes are varied, and there are lots of base recipes with multiple variations given. Instructions are very clear--a big plus in a cookbook for kids. My biggest complaint is that the book is a large paperback; as any chef knows, these are hard to actually cook from because they won't stay open! I should note that I didn't actually try the recipes in this cookbook; many of them, though, look very similar to recipes I already know and love in other cookbooks. See if your local library has a copy!

My favorite kids' cookbooks for younger kids are the Pretend Soup and Salad People cookbooks by Molly Katzen.

What are YOUR favorite vegetable-related and healthy cookbooks for kids?

cover images from goodreads