Sometimes recipes online don’t work as well as advertised.  I won’t describe those.  But lately, I have had very good luck trying other’s recipes to use up my CSA vegetables.

First, I tried Kirsten’s Beef and Bok Choy pie from Farm Fresh Feasts.  Originally, I was going to make Sheperd’s Pie, but I needed to use lots of bok choy, and this hid it in a way I hoped the kid’s wouldn’t whine about too much.

Pie Filling before bok choy

The filling was colorful and flavorful.

My pie crust was not attractive.  I have regular pie crust problems.  I think that is why I like the walnut pie crust so much.  But I am working on that….

The kids absolutely LOVED it! Kirsten said this is one of her family’s favorites and I have to agree.

We will definitely be making this again.

Thank you for sharing Kirsten!  🙂

The other recipe we really enjoyed was Patrick’s General Tso’s Chicken from Foodie Friday on Brown Paper Tickets.  I don’t think I have ever tried General Tso’s Chicken, not in a Chinese restaurant even, not even in China.  But it sounded yummy and I had most of the right ingredients…

Crazy looking greens.

I substituted cooking greens for the broccoli, but with great results.

Breading the chicken bits with cornstarch before deep frying made a colossal mess in the kitchen.  I fried the chicken bits in a cast iron dutch oven in only about 1 inch of  hot shortening and turned them with tongs.

Again, the meal was colorful and a little spicy.  The family loved it the first night, and as leftovers – even though the chicken wasn’t as crispy after being re-heated.

This recipe also had the advantage of allowing me to pull out the wok I have had since my college days. 🙂

And I have now successfully used all my greens and my peppers.

Thank you Patrick.  This is a new favorite as well.