There is Always More to Say About Vegetables

First week of CSAing is complete! I pick up our second box of produce tomorrow. So far so good.

All I have left to use up are a few leaves of spinach, half a rutabaga, some grapefruit, and the collard greens (which I’m using in this dish tonight to go along with some pizza). Okay, actually that suddenly seems like quite a bit to finish off.

I used the rainbow chard (is there a prettier food?) to make this terrific polenta dish from Perry’s Plate (one of my favorite food blogs these days) and the bok choy in some potstickers (I am in love with potstickers these days because i can make a large batch and then freeze them and pull out a few for a quick lunch any time I want). I used the carrots to make carrot puree which, despite sounding like baby food, is one of our favorite dishes of all time.

And, of course, we’ve had a lot of salad this week.

A couple of things I really love about Johnson’s Backyard Garden is that each Monday they post a list of what will be in that week’s box. On Tuesday, they photograph the box and label each item (helpful for those of us who have never actually seen a rutabaga (or know how to spell it, thank you Spell Check)) and then link to a list of recipes that use that particular item. It’s really lovely to be able to meal plan before I pick up my box.

As a total menu-planning nerd, I enjoy the puzzle of planning out our meals around a list of vegetables. I’m already looking forward to tomorrow’s box and another week of eating.

I cannot quite believe that this is me, waxing on about vegetables. Wasn’t I the one ardently defending my liberal use of boxed cake mixes just a few years ago?  Now I’m off to go make my own cheese (if by “make my own cheese” you mean “lay on the couch and read”).

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16 Comments

  1. I am so envious that your CSA is diligent about posting the contents of the box! Ours said they would, and then, even by Wednesday, our pick-up day, there was nary a word. That was supremely unhelpful for our menu-planning.

    I'll miss the CSA produce this summer, though. It was the best we ever had, but the arrangement was untenable.

  2. We love CSAing! Rough start into it last season, but we've got a new farm this year and can't wait for our first pick up (in June).

  3. I'm so jealous, I've heard about these (Tara participates in something similar). Wish we had one locally.

  4. I have a friends whose kids call farting "making cheese". As you can imagine, I laughed heartily when I read that last little bit. Have fun making cheese!

  5. Haha, I loved the end part. Josh came home from school a few weeks ago ready to make his own cheese (not for any other reason than "wouldn't that be cool?") but we'll see.

  6. Please feel free to keep posting recipes you make with the CSA! Since I'm getting the same veggies, I could use the ideas. 😀

    Owen made carrots and rutabaga with honey one night (delicious), and we have had a lot of salad, too. We made a pasta with the chard — Owen really liked it, I didn't. (I say "we," but I am super fortunate that I do zero cooking — it's all Owen. I clean.)

  7. I love CSAs! Ours doesn't start until mid-May 🙁 (I'm not used to living in a frozen wasteland anymore!)

    Glad you loved that greens and polenta recipe. We made that several times and loved it. I agree… I think rainbow chard is probably the most beautiful vegetable ever!

  8. I was passed out with the flu when you first wrote about your switch to CSAs, so this is just a belated: yay! Go you! Every little bit helps, and if everyone did what you were doing, it would be a huge change in our food economy.

  9. Abe and I are still keeping up the potsticker party tradition. Although we are not as determined to make massive quantities at one time and freeze them for our 12-mo food supply. We found out that we can get potstickers from the Chinese grocer for roughly $0.10 a piece, minus the intensive labor. They taste almost as good.

    We could get them even cheaper if we bought the brand with all Chinese language packaging, but we're pretty sure they've never seen the light of the FDA. We bought them once and have been afraid of them ever since.

  10. I think you should post more vegetable recipies! I've been on a health kick and I'm always looking for new things to try, especially when they come with a friend's recommendation!

  11. Ok, I vote I send you the list of my vegetables, and you make the menu. Sounds good. I may have wasted a fennel bulb all because costco didn't have halibut. Not my fault at all!

  12. The chard and greens – yum! Thanks for linking the carrot recipe. Normally, I'm not a big fan of cooked carrots, but they might be good with sour cream.

  13. Yum! I do Bountiful Baskets here. Not every week, but it sounds like a similar concept.

    We love rutabagas in our house. We peel them and throw them into a crockpot with roast or veggies (or both!). My husband thinks they taste like the perfect combo between maybe a potato and a carrot.

    Sheesh. Speaking of getting a little excited about a vegetable… 🙂

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