So many goodies these last few weeks...
Week #2
Lettuce - 1 head
Arugula - 1/4#
Radishes - 1 bunch
Lettuce Mix - 1/4#
Beet Greens - 1 bunch
Lacinato Kale - 1 bunch
Week #3
Strawberries - 1 pint
Green Onions - 1 bunch
Spicy Greens Mix - 1/4#
Spinach - 1/2#
Garlic - 1 bunch
Turnips - 1 bunch
Dill - 1 bunch
Week #4
Strawberries - 1 pint
Sugar Snap Peas - 2/3#
Lettuce - 1 head
Escarole - 1 head
Bok Choy - 1 bunch
Swiss Chard - 1 bunch
Radishes were yummy with a little help from Rachel Ray (Braised Radishes). These are a wonderful change from sliced over salads, though I enjoy them as such, too.
Turnips...what comes to mind. Well for me it was Y-U-C-K. Not really sure why, I had never had them before, but I had a negative predisposition to them. Well I was wrong. What a refreshing root veggie! Crisp, juicy - kind of like a very mellow radish. Rod used to eat them out of the ground, peeled fresh, with salt. This was how I ate them all week. I also chopped some over my salads for that lovely crunch.
We pick up the box of veggies at the farm on Wednesdays because it makes for a perfect visit to Grandma's. Grandma is 80 this year. She is great. Easy to talk with and always relating those great old anecdotes and stories. I mentioned cooking beet greens and with a sideways glance she cooly states, "Well we always just threw them away!" Oh good, Grandma makes me feel like I am eating weeds. Well they were good. I found a recipe for a Beet Green Gratin and if it weren't for Grandma Cymp stopping by to relieve me from mommy duties I would never have gotten it made. Really more of a mushroom dish then beet. The beets by themselves were earthy (like beets) with sweeter stems. That flavor got lost in the dish so next time I would like to maybe just saute them or try them raw (perhaps in a salad?).
Speaking of salads...oh.my.goodness. I have been eating my weight in salads. Now that's a lot of salad! This seems to be where the disconnect with nature seems so apparent. Weather is warming up and the greens are sprouting everywhere. Of course I should be eating salads! Time to lighten up. Even as I type...I am eating salad. Salads with cheddar, tomatoes and Blue Ribbon ranch. Salads with almonds, cranberries and homemade vinaigrette. Salads with feta, cherries and pepperoncinis. And lettuce wraps. Lettuce with sauteed shrimp and green garlic. Lettuce with chicken salad. Lettuce with curried chicken salad. Liek I said, time to lighten up.
Finally to the strawberries. Oh my the strawberries...so, so, good. The first pint I got, didn't make it back into Burlington. Really it was Mark, who works at the farm, it was his fault. He realized that the strawberries were missing from my box so he picked them for me. So let's think about this...fresh picked, warm, strawberries...sitting on the front seat next to me...oh they didn't stand a chance.
4.28.2010
A very good place to start
I am a new mom and semi-new wife. Lately I have consumed myself with all of the information out there regarding our food. Fast Food Nation, SuperSize Me, The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food, Food Inc., The Wal-Mart Effect and so many more. It all just made sense to me. We are consuming so much garbage these days and for what? To save a buck? It has taken some time but I am on a mission to change the way I eat and think about food. Luckily for my husband (though he probably doesn't see it as such) he is along for the ride. Now is the time before my bad habits are passed on to my kids. I grew up in a home with a large family and some of my fondest memories include everyone at the dinner table. Mom making homemade anything. Sharing dish duty, okay not so fond of that one, but you see where I am going. I want my kids to have that, too.
It was time to put up or shut up...this is what brought me to my weekly challenge. Every week I will be getting a box of veggies from a local farm. With my share of our tax refund, I decided to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). I bought a half-share because I didn't want to go overboard as I usually do. This year I will see how much I can use and try to expand my recipe database to use them. Maybe a full share next year so I have leftovers to freeze, can or otherwise save for later. My farm is in Liberty (on my father-in-law's old property in fact!) and has been busy planting and preparing veggies just for me, or so I like to think. I would like to journal this challenge to help keep me honest. No need in throwing away any home grown goodies because I never got around to using them. I am excited for the challenge of trying new things and for the road I am trying to stay on which leads to eating more 'whole' foods grown locally. More food from people in overalls and less from those in labcoats, eh?
Happy Reading!
It was time to put up or shut up...this is what brought me to my weekly challenge. Every week I will be getting a box of veggies from a local farm. With my share of our tax refund, I decided to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). I bought a half-share because I didn't want to go overboard as I usually do. This year I will see how much I can use and try to expand my recipe database to use them. Maybe a full share next year so I have leftovers to freeze, can or otherwise save for later. My farm is in Liberty (on my father-in-law's old property in fact!) and has been busy planting and preparing veggies just for me, or so I like to think. I would like to journal this challenge to help keep me honest. No need in throwing away any home grown goodies because I never got around to using them. I am excited for the challenge of trying new things and for the road I am trying to stay on which leads to eating more 'whole' foods grown locally. More food from people in overalls and less from those in labcoats, eh?
Happy Reading!
The first box of Goodies...CSA #1
I knew I would only be able to commit to the CSA if I had my husband's help with the pick ups. Frankly, I didn't want to request every wednesday off just to pick up my veggies at the farm. I chose the farm as my pick-up site vs the farmer's markets because I could tie in a visit with Grandma Frances each week and she cannot get enough of her first great-grandson. Naturally when my schedule came out I was working all day on wednesday so Rodney got to make the lucky first trip.
So here is the beginning, my first box and what came of it.
Turnips - 1 bunch - $2.75
Lettuce - 1 head - $2.50
Bok Choy - 1 head - $2.00
Spinach - 1/2 pound - $3.00
Radishes - 1 bunch - $2.75
Cilantro - 1 bunch - $1.50
Garlic - 1 bunch - $2.00
TOTAL - $16.50
"Bok Choy? What the eff is Bok Choy?!?" Oh my dear husband. He doesn't quite share my sense of culinary adventure. Turns out, bok choy is pretty good. It is in the GREENS family. The stem and leaves are edible. We used it in stir fry. I broke the leaves with their stems from the base, chopped up the stem in half moons and rough chopped the leaves quite large (1 inch thick maybe?). Garlic, ginger and lemongrass paste were sauteed then I added my veggies - carrots, snow peas, red pepper strips and the bok choy stems. I like to throw the veggies in at the same time so the crispness varies. When everything started lookign good, I added the bok leaves to wilt down along with oyster & hoisin sauces and the shrimp & water chesnuts. Next time I would sear off the shrimp in the first step and take it our to cook the veggies then add it back. All in all the bok choy was a nice addition. Teh stems keep their crunch for a while. When raw, the stems were reminiscent of a non-bitter celery or mild radish but cooked they were pretty mellow. The leaves wilted nicely but not too much (like spinach tends to do). The stems even stood up to being reheated the next day. We ate our over brown rice & topped with slivered almonds - Yum!
Taking it easy on the beginning of this culinary escapade, I hit the easy button for most of the spinach. Green garlic is produced when they thin out the garlic plants. It looks like a green onion (same concept) with more of a bulb at the end. I treated it the same. I sliced the entire stem until I got to the loose parts where the green leaves are not so tight together. I prefer to slice versus chopping it to death because I like nice big flavor bites. So I sauteed the green garlic in some olive oil, added the rinsed spinach to wilt and topped with a parmesan cheese blend that needed to be used up. I like when the parmesan gets brown and crunchy in the hot pan. A pretty easy lunch with pitas chips and hummus.
Of course with all of this greenage we also made a nice salad (actually 'we' is not 'me' but mom who fixed it up while I was at work - thanks mom!) with the lettuce leaves, sliced green garlic, torn spinach leaves and some other veggies like broccoli & celery hiding out in the crisper drawer.
I made Tyler Florence's Black Bean soup with the cilantro (though I tried to burn it while starting this blog) which is currently simmering on the stove.
Haven't gotten to the radishes or turnips, yet. Not so worried about the former, as I have an excellent braised radish recipe. The latter intimidates me a bit, so it should be interesting. I planned on roasting them alongside carrots for dinner last night, but after running around all day I didn't have time to get them ready PLUS feed my little man. I guess they will be on the menu this week.
All in all, the first box was good! I look forward to seeing what veggie surprises will be in my box this week....
So here is the beginning, my first box and what came of it.
Turnips - 1 bunch - $2.75
Lettuce - 1 head - $2.50
Bok Choy - 1 head - $2.00
Spinach - 1/2 pound - $3.00
Radishes - 1 bunch - $2.75
Cilantro - 1 bunch - $1.50
Garlic - 1 bunch - $2.00
TOTAL - $16.50
"Bok Choy? What the eff is Bok Choy?!?" Oh my dear husband. He doesn't quite share my sense of culinary adventure. Turns out, bok choy is pretty good. It is in the GREENS family. The stem and leaves are edible. We used it in stir fry. I broke the leaves with their stems from the base, chopped up the stem in half moons and rough chopped the leaves quite large (1 inch thick maybe?). Garlic, ginger and lemongrass paste were sauteed then I added my veggies - carrots, snow peas, red pepper strips and the bok choy stems. I like to throw the veggies in at the same time so the crispness varies. When everything started lookign good, I added the bok leaves to wilt down along with oyster & hoisin sauces and the shrimp & water chesnuts. Next time I would sear off the shrimp in the first step and take it our to cook the veggies then add it back. All in all the bok choy was a nice addition. Teh stems keep their crunch for a while. When raw, the stems were reminiscent of a non-bitter celery or mild radish but cooked they were pretty mellow. The leaves wilted nicely but not too much (like spinach tends to do). The stems even stood up to being reheated the next day. We ate our over brown rice & topped with slivered almonds - Yum!
Taking it easy on the beginning of this culinary escapade, I hit the easy button for most of the spinach. Green garlic is produced when they thin out the garlic plants. It looks like a green onion (same concept) with more of a bulb at the end. I treated it the same. I sliced the entire stem until I got to the loose parts where the green leaves are not so tight together. I prefer to slice versus chopping it to death because I like nice big flavor bites. So I sauteed the green garlic in some olive oil, added the rinsed spinach to wilt and topped with a parmesan cheese blend that needed to be used up. I like when the parmesan gets brown and crunchy in the hot pan. A pretty easy lunch with pitas chips and hummus.
Of course with all of this greenage we also made a nice salad (actually 'we' is not 'me' but mom who fixed it up while I was at work - thanks mom!) with the lettuce leaves, sliced green garlic, torn spinach leaves and some other veggies like broccoli & celery hiding out in the crisper drawer.
I made Tyler Florence's Black Bean soup with the cilantro (though I tried to burn it while starting this blog) which is currently simmering on the stove.
Haven't gotten to the radishes or turnips, yet. Not so worried about the former, as I have an excellent braised radish recipe. The latter intimidates me a bit, so it should be interesting. I planned on roasting them alongside carrots for dinner last night, but after running around all day I didn't have time to get them ready PLUS feed my little man. I guess they will be on the menu this week.
All in all, the first box was good! I look forward to seeing what veggie surprises will be in my box this week....
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