CSA Week 19

Wow - I ate a lot of veggies in the past week. All that was left of the week 18 share was a few leaves of kale which I used in a stir fry with onions, mushrooms, edamame and carrots last night. I used the last of some roasted garlic hummus to make the ‘sauce.’

This week 19 of the CSA there are a lot of greens again. I’m celebrating and have meals in mind to use it all up before week 20!

Half the dinosaur kale and collards will become ‘chips’ (I project for tomorrow afternoon) and the rest will be used in stir fry.

Romaine lettuce, tender beet leaves, mizzuna and cauliflower are for salad.

Beets will become fruit beety (another project for tomorrow afternoon).

The larger beet leaves and tougher stems will be used in stir fry.

We’re cooking a big pot of chili this week and those green stir fries (kale, arugula, collard) will make a good ‘bed’ for it when I want a light meal.

Fruit Beety

Fruit Beety has become one of my favorite summertime recipes….which is quite surprising since I didn’t think I liked beets at all before I started getting them in my CSA share and looked around for something to do with them. The first recipe I decided to try was derived from my old Laurel’s Kitchen cookbook. I modified it a bit so that it comes out the consistency of homemade applesauce rather than matchsticking the beets…..and used ingredients I had on hand.

I’ve mentioned it several times in previous posts but am providing the more complete recipe today:

Use 3-4 medium sized beets. Cut off stems and leaves leaving the beet root intact. Scrub to clean off dirt. Cook in boiling salted water. I only cook for 10 minutes because I don’t have to have the skins slough off (the beets I’ve gotten so far have been so fresh that the skin is fine once it goes through the food processor. After cooking - pour off water (it will be a pretty color and could be saved to water plants)  - cool beats with cold water and cut off the very top and the root tip. Cut into chunks.

While the beets are cooking - prepare the other ingredients in the food processor.

• 3 organic oranges
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon raspberry vinegar
• Pinch salt

Oranges: The reason I specify 'organic' for this recipe is that the peeling is going into the Beety. Cut the peeling ends off the oranges; cut just enough to get the thicker peel, stem, and pith at the two ends. Cut into slices and removed seeds. Cut into chunks. Place fruit (pulp and peeling attached to it) into the food processor.

The unsweetened coconut is to soak up liquid. If you don’t have any - a tablespoon of chia seeds would work well.

I don’t measure the honey or vinegar - I just add it in.

After adding the beets to the food processor - let it run until the mixture is the consistency of homemade applesauce.

Fruit Beety is excellent alone, with coconut sprinkled on top (as shown above) with yogurt (or ice cream), or as a smoothie ingredient. Just think how beautiful a parfait of Fruit Beety and vanilla (or plain) yogurt would be! 

CSA Week 6

This is the first that my crispers were totally empty by the time I went to pick up this week’s share from the Gorman Produce Farm Community Supported Agriculture. The last items to go were a leek I used with some scrambled eggs for breakfast and a cucumber that I diced to fold into yogurt for lunch.

The two new-to-me veggies this week are Japanese Eggplant and the Sun Jewel Melon. I may need to do some web surfing to decide how I want to eat them. I’m already planning to make Fruit Beety with the beets - probably tomorrow.  I am missing leafy greens so have added them to the list for the grocery store.

CSA Week 3

I did a reasonable job of using up the veggies from week 2 of the Gorman Farms CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) ….although not quite as good as the week 1 share. I ended week 2 with some broccoli and spinach left to eat….and some beet leaves in the freezer. I discovered that the dandelion greens were excellent in salads, kale chips are wonderful snacks, and beets are yummy in Fruit Beety. Here’s the recipe for Fruit Beety:

Combine in a food processor: 3 cooked beets, 3 oranges, 2 tablespoons coconut (unsweetened), 1 teaspoon honey, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange peel, pinch salt, scant teaspoon of raspberry vinegar. Process for a minute or two. Mine was the consistency of a thick applesauce. Adjust honey or vinegar to taste. Chill to blend the flavors. This recipe results in 3 large snack servings (6 servings if with a meal). It is good by itself or with a dollop of plain yogurt!

Lessons learned from week 2: 1) have a salad or stir fry twice a day that uses a significant amount of produce, 2) make kale chips with the whole bunch right away next time they are included in the share (they keep well enough for a few days), and 3) remind my husband to eat at least one salad a day and sneak a leaf or two of something green into his strawberry smoothie.

Now for week 3:

I already have ideas for everything in this share….a lot of excellent meals ahead this next week!

CSA Week 2

My husband and I managed to eat everything from week 1 portion from the CSA except for 2 cups of frozen Romaine lettuce stock in the freezer - averting the disaster of the head of Romaine lettuce freezing in the overfull refrigerator. What did I find the best aspects of the week?

• Garlic scapes - Excellent chopped up to use for scrambled eggs.
• The smell - Somehow the smell of the fresh veggies reminded me of childhood summers when I visited by grandparents. Both sets had large gardens. It took me almost a week to recognize that aside from enjoying the wonderful flavors from the CSA produce (which I had anticipated) - it was the smell that was a pleasant surprise.
• Cilantro - It is probably my favorite fresh herb. I enjoyed all the CSA provided…and cut more from the pots on my deck (that was already beginning to flower…and planted some more seeds in pots whose seedlings did not survive the hail several weeks ago.

I also learned the lesson that I simply making a list of the veggies may not be quite good enough to identify everything. When I went to pick up the week 2 portion yesterday, I took my camera.  The list for the medium share was quite different from last week.

Dandelion greens were somewhat new to me.  The leaves were a lot bigger than the dandelions that normally grow in my yard!  I enjoyed them as an addition to tomato soup last night (along with some broccoli); I put a chopped scallion on top. So I am off to a good start enjoying the week 2 produce.

Salanova baby lettuce was also new to me; it was a small head of tender leaves….it will be gone quickly!

The challenge for me this week is going to be the beets. I can remember my grandmother growing them but I don’t remember every eating them myself!  The CSA does have an exchange table but I am intent on trying the ‘new to me’ veggies! I’ll report on my beet experiences next week. The do have a wonderful color.