June 25 - Box #4

Today, three people accompanied me to the CSA pick up place to see how it all works. My friend Marla, her friend Nancy, and my daughter Emily. They watched how I sign my name on the sheet, take the contents out of a box and put it into my cloth bags and then fold the box up in the corner to be used again. It was really fun to watch everyone's faces as I kept pulling unusual green things out of the box - "Look! A Swiss Chard! A cabbage! Some weird green things that look like fans!" (These turned out to be Collard greens). Things just kept coming out of that box like clowns out of a circus car. When I was done, I had:

• Cabbage
• Red Oak Leaf Lettuce
• Beets
• Strawberries! (best I ever tasted!)
• Escarole (I mistook this for some sort of lettuce)
• Collard greens (I didn't know WHAT these were when I saw them)
• Fennel
• Basil
• Swiss Chard

When we were done packing up our vegetables, Marla looked at the haul and then said in her own unique Marla-style - "Wow, you guys must have no trouble pooping." No comment.

We already ate half the strawberries - they are unbelievably good. And I had a salad of the red oak leaf lettuce tonight for dinner. I'd never had it before -- it's probably the most attractive lettuce I've ever seen. It really does look like red oak leaves. And it was easier to wash than some of the other greens have been.

Rhubarb and Kholrabi

Don't get me wrong - I'm not suggesting that you eat them together. I'm just noting that already I have tried two things I never tried before. We ate the rhubarb compote over pancakes last weekend and it was excellent! Much better than I would have imagined.
The kholrabi was actually quite good cut into matchsticks and mixed into a salad. It added a great crunch and a slightly spicy flavor.

June 18 - Our third box

Uh oh... I'm starting to feel panicky. There was about twice the amount of vegetables in this week's box than in last week's. My fridge is absolutely exploding with green leafy things... not all of which I'm familiar with.

I had the pleasure today of actually saying hi to Farmer Matt. Farmer Matt, if you're reading this, I'm the one who asked what that round green lumpy vegetable was. (Note to readers - it was a kohlrabi.) It's really kind of thrilling to see the person who was responsible for growing the round green lumpy vegetable. Perhaps it's because I grew up in Queens (not the most rural of places), but I find the whole idea of farming to be very interesting. I'd love to actually see the farm sometime and see how the vegetables look as they grow. They often are much different than you imagine (ever see brussels sprouts, for example?) And I find that I'm curious about many things, like does the kohlrabi grow undergound or above ground? I don't know. (Guess I'll be visiting Wikipedia after making this posting).

In this weeks box was a ton of exciting things, including:
- Kale (uh oh, I still didn't use my kale from last week)
- Romaine lettuce
- Green curly lettuce (this thing is GIANT - it took up a whole drawer in my fridge)
- Garlic scapes (I LOVE these!!! More in a future posting)
- Strawberries - yay!
- Kohlrabi (never saw it, never ate it, and I'm slightly afraid of it)
- Swiss Chard (this is so beautiful, I almost hate to eat it)
- Sugar Snap Peas (I can't figure out if I'm supposed to eat the pod or just the peas. Anyone know?)
- Baby arugula (I love arugula salads)
- Cilantro (I have a wonderful recipe for Cilantro Pesto)

I went home with two completely filled up shopping bags of wonderful (and interesting) produce! We're really enjoying being part of the CSA so far, and I feel as though we're part of something that's more community oriented. When do you usually get to meet the farmer who grew your kohlrabi?

Rhubarb

I had the first rhubarb of my life today. It's pretty great to be almost 44 and still have the chance to taste a new vegetable (or is it a fruit?) Whatever it is, it's very odd. It looks like pink celery and when cooked into a compote with sugar, tastes sort of like cranberry sauce. I like it! Note to self: cut back on the sugar next time - tarter is better.

Asian Salad

I admit, I'm beginning to feel panic, and we're only two weeks in. My next delivery is coming tomorrow, and I still haven't used my kale or rhubarb! The pressure is mounting...

In an attempt to finish up our red romaine lettuce and green boston lettuce, I made an interesting salad tonight for our dinner.

Asian Salad

- Greens (I used romaine and boston, but you could use any salad green)
- 1 can mandarin orange segments, drained
- 1 can sliced water chestnuts
- 1 or 2 scallions, sliced thinly
- crispy ginger-garlic wonton strips (I think these are made by Fresh Express - available packaged like croutons)
- Paul Newman's low-fat Sesame-Ginger dressing

Place washed greens in a large serving bowl. Top with scallions, oranges, water chestnuts and sprinkle with wonton strips. The Paul Newman dressing goes great with this salad. Aside from the time consuming process of washing the greens, this was very easy to make.

A Class Act - Golden Earthworm

I have to mention this... Last Wednesday when I went to pick up my box the first time, I was surprised to find that it hadn't arrived yet. I came back a few hours later and it STILL hadn't arrived. I spoke to a nice woman who was also waiting who told me that she had been part of the CSA last year and they were never late. While I was debating going home and coming back for a third time, the truck arrived.

Was it a little bit of an inconvenience to have to come back twice. I suppose. But life is like that. People hit traffic. Trucks break down. Things happen. I wasn't going to hold it against them.

So imagine my pleasant surprise when later that day we get a very nice email from the farmers (Matt, James and Maggie) apologizing for the delay and attaching a $10 gift certificate to use at their stand in the farmer's market. Thank you! That was extremely considerate and left me thinking about what a class act they are. Now all I have to do is manage to get myself out of bed early enough to make it to the farmer's market at 8 am one of these Saturdays. :)

Swiss Chard, Garbanzos and Pasta

This week, our delivery included some beautiful deep green swiss chard with colorful yellow stems. I decided to combine it with chick peas (aka Garbanzo beans) in a pasta dish. This dish SHOULD serve 6-8 people. I'm embarassed to admit that the three of us ate almost the entire thing! (Guess I should have made a fresh salad to go with it!) The recipe is below. Note that I didn't measure anything, so I'm just "guesstimating" on some of the amounts.

Swiss Chard, Garbanzos and Pasta

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• olive oil
• lemon juice
• 1 bunch swiss chard, washed and chopped
• 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 pound linguini or any shape pasta
• hot pepper flakes
• salt, pepper, spices

Cook pasta according to directions in a large pot. Meanwhile, heat a large pan (preferably one with a cover) over medium heat. Add olive oil (somewhere around 3 tbsp). Add garlic and as many hot pepper flakes as you are comfortable with (I did about 3 or 4 shakes). Saute the garlic until softened, stirring occasionally. Add the can of garbanzo beans, a few squirts of lemon juice (depending on how lemony you like it) and the chard. Cover the pan and let cook for a bit, stir occasionally. You'll find that after about 5 minutes the chard has shrunk to about a 10th of its original size.

When pasta is cooked, drain it and return it to the large pot. Stir in some olive oil (did I mention that you should always use the BEST quality virgin olive oil - it does make a difference). Add some salt, pepper, and any spices you like (I suggest oregano, marjoram, herbs de provence, etc). I used a Mediterranean salt mix that was excellent.

Stir the chard/garbanzo mix into the pasta and add extra spices, lemon juice and/or olive oil to taste.

I wanted to get a picture of this dish, but we couldn't stop eating long enough to get the camera. Maybe next time!

Cooking Kale

Kale is not something that I've cooked before, so it presents an interesting challenge. I did some research on recipes and found several that sound good. The kale in our box this week is beautiful - deep green, firm leaves with long stems. Here are links to some recipes that may help you figure out to do with your kale this week.

• Top 20 Fresh Kale Recipes from All Recipes
• Roasted Kale (Though I don't feel like turning on my oven when it's hot, this recipe is tempting. I've found that ANY vegetable tastes great roasted.)
• Kale recipes from Epicurious. If you are not familiar with Epicurious, you should take some time to explore the site. It has an incredible warehouse of recipes of all sorts.
• Sauteed Kale
• Seven Kale Recipes from Around the World. This is really neat - especially if you like trying dishes from other countries. Included are kale recipes from China, Austria, and Italy.
• Crispy Kale - wow, this is a new one. A sort of roasted crunchy kale. Sounds great!
• Colcannon - Irish mashed potato and kale recipe.
• Bean Soup with Kale
  

If anyone tries any of these recipes, please comment and let us know how they turned out!

Chard and Cannellini Beans

My daughter Emily reminded me that last year I made a great dish that used Swiss Chard. (She remembered it with great fondness and is hoping that I'll use the new batch of chard that came in the box this week to recreate the dish). Do you have any chard that you don't know how to cook? Try this...

Chard and Cannellini Beans

- 1 large bunch of chard (green or swiss)
- 1 15-oz can of cannellini (white) beans
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic, sliced thinly
- crushed red pepper flakes (from ¼ tsp to ½ tsp - depending on your taste)
- salt and pepper

Wash chard well and trim the very ends of the stalks off. Slice stalks into ½ inch pieces, and chop leaves into large pieces. Boil about a cup of water in a pot. Add chard, cover and cook for about 5 minutes until wilted and reduced to about a tenth the size. Drain. In a skillet, heat the olive oil. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant. Meanwhile, drain and rinse the beans. Add the chard to the garlic and oil and gently sauté for a few minutes. Add the beans, salt and pepper, and cook for a few minutes more, until beans are heated through and flavors are blended. Serve as a topping for pasta or as a side dish.

Makes 4 servings. Per serving - 230 calories, 7 g fat, 8 g fiber.

June 11, Our Second Box

I had to go to the pick up spot twice to get this box because there was some delay in the delivery, but it was worth it. While I was standing outside, waiting for the delivery man to unload the boxes, I started talking to one of the other CSA'ers. So far, I have to say that they are a great crowd. They all seem very nice, intelligent, interested in cooking and in organic produce, and concerned about the environment. That's just an extra plus.

In our box this week is:

• Kale (I've never cooked this before - this should be interesting)
• Rhubarb (ditto)
• Swiss Chard (yum)
• Red Romaine Lettuce (gorgeous!)
• Green Boston Lettuce
• Broccoli (but sadly, the farmers had a problem with the broccoli and lost a lot of the crop, so we just got one little piece. We sort of laughed when we saw it because we couldn't imagine how the three of us would get a taste of it from that little piece. There may be more later in the season).

I was hoping for strawberries, but it seems we may get those next week instead. I already made a giant salad using some of the leftover arugula from last week, the red romaine lettuce and the Boston lettuce, topped with chopped apples and croutons and dressed in the lemon dijon dressing.

Helpful Greens Washing Tip

It's very important to wash greens (especially spinach and arugula) very well or you'll have the unpleasant experience of eating a gritty salad. I've found that the best way to be sure that ALL sand and dirt is off of greens is to do the following:

• Fill a large pot (5 or 6 quart depending on how much greens you are washing) with clean cool water.
• Drop your greens into the water and gently swish them around for a few minutes.
• Lift the greens out of the water and place them (temporarily) in a salad spinner or colander.
• Dump the water in the pot and rinse it to get rid of any remaining dirt.
• Refill pot and repeat procedure.
• After the second dunking, put the greens in a salad spinner, or dry gently in a clean dish towel.

This works very well for me -- I haven't had a sandy salad yet.

First Week - How we used our produce

Aside from a little leftover bunched arugula and a single radish, we finished our box of produce before the next box arrived. How did we eat it?

Salads: We ate many delicious salads. I especially loved the baby arugula which was spicy but tender. I made a homemade Dijon lemon vinaigrette (see recipe below). The soft Boston lettuce was also great as part of a salad. I liked mixing it with the arugula for variety.

Sandwiches: Mark used the entire bunch of Spinach over the course of the week by putting it in his daily soy cheese and "nayonaise" sandwich. (Don't ask.) He was thrilled with the spinach -- it's his favorite green, but he particularly loved the rich, soft, thick leaves on this spinach.

Pizza: We ordered a pizza this week, and I put out a bowl of chopped arugula on the table. We used it as a topping on our pizza and it added an extra zing plus made us feel virtuous for eating extra veggies on our pizza.

Dijon Lemon Vinaigrette Recipe
In a shaker jar, mix about 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1-2 tsp dijon mustard, salt, pepper, dried oregano, two to three shakes of garlic powder, and some dried marjoram (if you have). Shake vigorously. Tastes great on any greens. For a lower calorie version add 1/3 cup lemon juice or some drinking water to the dressing to dilute it a bit. It's very intense and a little goes a long way.

June 4 - Our first box

It was EXTREMELY exciting to pick up the first box of produce! I went to the pickup spot - The Grassroots Environmental Group in Port Washington - and found what looked like 100 medium sized cardboard boxes stacked up in the waiting area. I signed off next to my name on the sheet that was sitting out by the boxes, then took a box off to the side where I opened it and placed the contents into the bags I'd brought. What was in my box?

- A bag of baby arugula
- A red Boston lettuce
- A bunch of the biggest radishes I'd ever seen
- A bag of bunched arugula
- A bunch of spinach: beautiful giant dark green leaves

As soon as I got home, I took out one of the giant radishes, washed it and cut it into slices. I sprinked it with sea salt and took a bite -- delicious! Crunchy, tangy, spicy, but not overpowering or bitter.

What is a CSA?

If you don't know what "CSA" stands for, you're not alone. Even when I'm explaining the concept to people, I sometimes forget what the acronym stands for. CSA, in fact, stands for Community Supported Agriculture. What this means is that you support your local farms by buying a "share" of the produce for a season. By doing this, you are also sharing in the risks that come with farming -- poor weather, bugs, plant disease -- anything that might cut back on the harvest will affect your share of it. If it's a good year on the farm, you'll get more produce. If it's a bad year, you'll get less.

We signed up for the CSA at the Golden Earthworm, which is an organic farm located out east in Long Island. Once a week, for about 26 weeks, we pick up a box of produce at a central location in our town (Port Washington). What will be in the box varies according to what is in season. The farm has several pick up locations across Long Island -- we were fortunate to have a local and convenient pick up spot.

It wasn't easy to decide to join. We had to lay out over $500 for the season, and didn't know what sort of vegetables we'd be getting (or whether I'd be able to master cooking said vegetables). But Mark and I were very interested to try it, and we feel strongly that it's important to support your local farmers, ESPECIALLY organic ones, so we decided to take the plunge. Since Mark and Emily (my daughter) are vegetarians, and I'm mostly vegetarian, having a box of vegetables delivered each week seemed like something that would be beneficial.

Over the last couple of years, I've really come to love cooking and it seems like a great challenge to be confronted with a box of vegetables that I may never have tried before. Sort of like Iron Chef -- here's a box of strange leafy greens... come up with an interesting meal! I welcome the challenge.