Our first CSA pickup was tonight. We weren't quite sure whether we'd sign up again, because the kids did not love all the greens and radishes we got last year. (I am still, actually, grimacing at the memory of the huge piles of thick-skinned radishes we got toward the end of the season. I'm fine with the little spring ones, though.) I'm glad we're doing it, though. I love that I can talk to the actual person who grew my actual food about how the season is treating him so far. There's a sense of community at the pickups that is just not there in the produce aisle of the grocery store. I think I may blog more about the CSA veggies this year, since it requires some creativity to prepare them in kid-friendly ways, and some commitment to use them all. Suggestions are most welcome.
This week we have (1) overwintered Jerusalem artichokes. I love Jerusalem artichokes but they're hard to find and usually pricey, so we never have them in the house. I might have one with my breakfast tomorrow. I'm wondering if there are enough to make soup. I'm excited about this.
We also have (2) a bunch of gorgeous beets the size of ping-pong balls. I couldn't decide between the red and the orange -- they were just beautiful. (I confess I am less enthusiastic about the greens. Beet greens have a funny texture, I think -- a little gritty even when they're clean. Know what I mean?)
Also on offer this evening: bunches of (3) sorrel. I've never had sorrel in my kitchen before and I am especially excited to use it. It's delicous raw. If I can scare up some frozen zucchini from the depths of the freezer, I think I'll try a Crescent Dragonwagon recipe that calls for zucchini and sorrel and potatoes and kale, bound with egg and milk and Parmesan. I don't have any kale but I do have a giant bunch of (4) spinach.
Fifth on the list: radishes, vibrantly pink. They might feature in my breakfast tomorrow also. I am more excited about the radishes than about their greens.
Sixth: lovely plump scallions, with greens that were probably knee-high before they were harvested.
Last of all, there's a bag of mixed baby greens. The family advised us to stir-fry them. I am thinking about taking all of the greens and making a batch of Crescent Dragonwagon's gumbo. It's one of the best things to emanate from my kitchen and most of the kids will eat it happily, but the hassle factor is really high. It requires more chopping than I usually do in a week, and the last time I made it I burned my roux twice and then burned myself on the third iteration. I do love to have a vat of gumbo in the freezer, though.
Uncertainty about how best to use my profusion of organic vegetables is probably the very definiton of a first-world problem, huh?
Sorrel + cream - best sauce ever (for fish, and probably chicken would be fantastic. I could just eat it with a spoon.).
Posted by: rachel | May 29, 2013 at 12:34 PM
yeah, and yay. And... we've decided to go the farmer's market route instead of the CSA... more effective for our family. Probably even cost-wise.
Posted by: Lilian | May 30, 2013 at 09:41 PM