This is the eleventh year, I think, that we've been part of our CSA, and the kids all smile wanly when they hear me talk about it. They agree that it's a good thing, in the abstract -- good to know the person who grows your food, good to buy local, good to support sustainable agriculture and small family businesses. And yet they sometimes yearn for a life with a little less chard.
Last night was the first CSA pickup of the year and I had an idea: what if instead of a whiteboard list of veggies glowering at me, I made a loosey-goosey whiteboard menu plan with the kids' input?
And so:
"You do not have to eat any lettuce," I told them. "I'll be in charge of eating the lettuce when I have lunch." They approved of this plan.
"But there's rhubarb," they sighed. "You like rhubarb some of the time," I answered briskly. "Tell me what you want me to do with it, and when you want to eat it."
"Not rhubarb ice cream," said one with a shudder. "Or rhubarb GELATIN," said the other, with a subtle revulsion convulsion. "How about crumble?" I asked, and they agreed that rhubarb crumble would work. I used this recipe, and it was a hit. If I make it again I'll add a spoonful of flour or cornstarch to the apple-rhubarb mixture, which threw off a fair amount of liquid.
Pete volunteered to turn both bags of spinach into palak paneer tonight, and I made a beet-walnut-feta salad to serve alongside.
We have agreed that the cooked-down beet greens will go into a nice cheesy soufflé, and the lambs' quarters will get blended into potato soup and served with fresh bread.
"Onions aren't hard to use up," Pete said, and I agreed.
These are all ideas I would have considered if I hadn't consulted the kids, but I'm hopeful that they will say, "Oh, potato soup with greens; we talked about that," and not "WHY OH WHY are there so many green things on the menu this week?"
I'll let you know how it works out.
LOLOLOL "And yet they sometimes yearn for a life with a little less chard."
We don't have a CSA but I've always been intrigued!
Posted by: Nicole MacPherson | June 02, 2022 at 08:37 AM
I'm jealous you get rhubarb from your CSA! For years and years, we had some rhubarb in our garden that was handed down from my father-in-law, who I think originally got it from his mother in like, 1975. A couple of years ago, sadly, our rhubarb plants finally died and now rhubarb is harder to source. I love rhubarb crumble, and had used a particularly good recipe from Bon Appetit for a long time that also has strawberries and hazelnuts in the topping.
Posted by: Lori | June 03, 2022 at 11:34 AM