Green Is Me

[maggiedr]

Yesterday we received our 3rd box of vegetables from a local farm, as part of the CSA program. We received the biggest head of leaf lettuce I've ever seen, an equally huge batch of green onions, some kale, chard, tiny bit of spinach, fresh peas in the pod, a red cabbage, radishes, and 2 kohlrabi. I'm still behind on consuming kohlrabi, so those got

Comments

[justinhowe]

Scallion Pancakes rule!!!

And Pantless Johnny / the Slow Train wound up changing his name again ;)

[maggiedr]

I am slow on the uptake. I never even noticed.

[edenvelocityzro]

Good for you for eating local! Wish we had something like this in our area...

[maggiedr]

You might try a google search of CSA listings in your area. Are there any food coops in your town? You can check with them too.

[zhai]

Very awesome. (And good to see you posting again! Hello, pot, I am kettle...) I should look around here to see what farm delivery we can get. The idea was just catching on when I was living in upstate NY, but now that I think about it they've been doing farm delivery in SF for a long time

[maggiedr]

I have the Kingsolver book, along with OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA which is also excellent. I haven't finished either book but plan to go back to them.

Thanks for the hot recipe tips too. Can't wait to try the soup!

[ellen_denham]

Glad you're enjoying the CSA. It can be a challenge to come up with stuff to cook, though, can't it? I haven't gotten any kohlrabi yet this year, but I did enjoy it last year. It worked best, as I recall, in a stir fry or fried rice, but I think we may have boiled chunks of it for a bit first, then added to the stir fry and cooked until a bit brown around the edges. We missed our CSA box this week because we were out of town and our plans to have someone else get it for us fell through at the last minute.

So far we've had garlic scapes (who knew that the greens from garlic were so yummy--like green onions, only garlic!), lettuces, kale, cabbage, cherry tomatoes, shitake and maitake mushrooms, fresh mint, and bok choy. I love bok choy either cut up raw in a salad or in a stir-fry.

[maggiedr]

I know other people getting green garlic but so far not for us. I love garlic chives (which I'm growing in a pot) so I'd love the greens. Fried rice is a good idea, too. I've found by grating/shredding kohlrabi, it goes into anything unnoticed by family members.

I'm also growing fresh mint in a pot, along with basil, thyme, sage, lemon balm, chives and lemon basil.

[hildebabble]

This is the first I've heard of CSA. It sounds pretty stinkin' cool. We try to do right by produce, but food prep time is usually shunned in favor of something else and we don't do much more beyond throwing it into a stirfry or a salad.

[maggiedr]

Yeah, I wouldn't have signed on if I were still working a full-time job outside the house. Although I've learned there are CSA farms in our area who sell half-shares, which I might look into doing next year if I find a lot goes to waste this summer. Another option would be to find another friend or two to share it with.

I'm pretty much the same about stir-fry (saute) or salad, especially in the summer months. Although I've learned one good and very easy method of non-leafy vegetables is to drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven. I assume grilling would be an equally easy option, same method.

[hildebabble]

Oooh, oven roasting. I usually pan sear. Bet it would work in the toaster oven too, to keep the house from heating up.

Yeah I think if we had more mouths to feed, it would be something to consider. I'd do a co-op with friends but none of them seem to like vegetables. ;)