It is Wednesday and I am growing a little anxious about the amount of vegetables still lurking in the fridge.
We had some how gotten through the amazing array last week. I mean really, they look like a lot cause they're leafy. Today I took seven leaves of chard, which took a half on one shoe box. Holding the end of the stem with one hand, I placed my fingers at the base of the leaf and simply "slipped" it off the stem. I then chopped them in the blender. The leaves shrunk down to one and a half cup. One of the biggest vegetable haters in the house agreed wholeheartedly to toss them into her chili. Her head knows, but her mouth is still trying to catch up.
Chili s a lovely place to hide vegetables. You can go as far as cooking up all sorts of vegetables and blending them into the tomato sauce. For those of you who have vegetable detectors in your household, make sure the ratio of tomato sauce is high enough to still be red. Throw a beet in if concerned and it will pretty much balance out anything green.
The other reason hiding vegetables works well in chili, and spaghetti, is because of the high spice content: garlic, chili pepper, oregano, basil, etc. Most CSA's have u-pick herb gardens. Just note that those vegetable detectors may also be "I spy a leafy piece of something" type folks. Chop those herbs into minuscule pieces. This also releases the natural oils and lends more of the flavor to the dish.
Last night those of us who love vegetable were happy to cook the small summer squash in the iron skillet with olive oil and garlic. I then had a little pasta with my sauce and vegetables. This meal of course is another perfect place for a green salad, as is frozen pizza night. Somehow hoping the "prepared" pizza and organic vegetables will balance each other out, I put out a salad or plate of veggies first. I am still working on dips or dressing to replace the Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (what seems like a necessary evil to get down raw veggies for some people.) Newman's Own Ranch past the taste test for my son, but my other son's girlfriend remains unmoved.
Making these changes sometimes mean choosing between being right or being happy.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
The Bok Choy Didn't Make It
I opened the bin on Friday morning, thinking of tossing bright, green leaves in the skillet with a pat of butter and a minuscule bit of minced garlic. What I found was yellowed leaves seeming to hide themselves under one another. I was pretty sure at this point the vitamins had escaped. I'm not sure to where, but they no longer resided in the bok choy.
I could be wrong. I'll check into this, but on this afternoon I realized the kohlrabi had gone soft and I had enough salad greens, still going strong in the bin. But would they last for an entire second week?
My family were sitting around the table munching on their weekly delight, frozen pizza. I sat myself at the table with a pen and paper. "All right. It is time to make the weekly menu. However, this week you each get a green to incorporate into your meal. I paid a good amount of money for the share and I am not tossing it into the garbage every week because we don't eat it."
There was a general groan around the table. I suggested they just say what they wanted to make for their night and we could brainstorm on way to include the greens. (The first few weeks of the share is heavy on the greens. I am sure there is some natural explanation about how, coming out of the winter, we need all this chlorophyll. Something akin to there are a lot of orange vegetables in the winter).
The final menu consisted of the following:
Spinach Frittata with bok choy on the side- The Napa cabbage was mistaken as bok choy, but still tasted delightful tossed with oil and garlic. Many folks are particular about greens. The preparer, brave soul using two greens in his meal, used a covert method of blending the spinach up with the spices and poured it over the top. This formed a delicious crust which I saw the vegetable haters eating up, then going back for seconds.
Burritos with Savory Chard- Most chose not to add the chard. Next time this cook will try to employ some technique as above.
Stuffed Shells with spinach (there was a lot of spinach)- It was difficult to protect the extra made for lunches from all present.
Hamburgers and Tabbouleh- I had picked a lot of cilantro the first week. This was still fresh and perky.
Another meal was planned that did not happen. I used the remainder of the greens in salads, on sandwiches, or quesadilla for lunch. For breakfast I tossed a handful in a skillet and added them to a "scramble" of eggs and potatoes.
The end of the week came and the greens were gone...
...well, the "edible" portions were gone. I considered the smashed down compost in the extra shoe box that sat on the counter top and all the watermelon rind, banana peels and more that had not fit.
I looked out into the living space at my family with a dazed look on my face, "We're gonna' need a bigger compost."
I could be wrong. I'll check into this, but on this afternoon I realized the kohlrabi had gone soft and I had enough salad greens, still going strong in the bin. But would they last for an entire second week?
My family were sitting around the table munching on their weekly delight, frozen pizza. I sat myself at the table with a pen and paper. "All right. It is time to make the weekly menu. However, this week you each get a green to incorporate into your meal. I paid a good amount of money for the share and I am not tossing it into the garbage every week because we don't eat it."
There was a general groan around the table. I suggested they just say what they wanted to make for their night and we could brainstorm on way to include the greens. (The first few weeks of the share is heavy on the greens. I am sure there is some natural explanation about how, coming out of the winter, we need all this chlorophyll. Something akin to there are a lot of orange vegetables in the winter).
The final menu consisted of the following:
Spinach Frittata with bok choy on the side- The Napa cabbage was mistaken as bok choy, but still tasted delightful tossed with oil and garlic. Many folks are particular about greens. The preparer, brave soul using two greens in his meal, used a covert method of blending the spinach up with the spices and poured it over the top. This formed a delicious crust which I saw the vegetable haters eating up, then going back for seconds.
Burritos with Savory Chard- Most chose not to add the chard. Next time this cook will try to employ some technique as above.
Stuffed Shells with spinach (there was a lot of spinach)- It was difficult to protect the extra made for lunches from all present.
Hamburgers and Tabbouleh- I had picked a lot of cilantro the first week. This was still fresh and perky.
Another meal was planned that did not happen. I used the remainder of the greens in salads, on sandwiches, or quesadilla for lunch. For breakfast I tossed a handful in a skillet and added them to a "scramble" of eggs and potatoes.
The end of the week came and the greens were gone...
...well, the "edible" portions were gone. I considered the smashed down compost in the extra shoe box that sat on the counter top and all the watermelon rind, banana peels and more that had not fit.
I looked out into the living space at my family with a dazed look on my face, "We're gonna' need a bigger compost."
Friday, June 14, 2013
The Strawberries Were Easy...
...but then there was the greens: baby bok choy, salad, tatsoi and baby spinach . And that was only the "small" greens, there was another choice of "larger" greens: spinach, chard (with its bright red and yellow stalks), and kale (both Dinosaur and Red Russian). And to round it off, there was purple kohlrabi, left over from the winter share, and green kohlrabi fresh from the field.
I took the large bag of vegetables home with me and began to prepare them for storage for the week.
When I started with Simple Gifts for my first CSA share I had a difficult time keeping my vegetables fresh for the week. I am still working on a few and hope to work those out this time around. However, back then when I expressed my frustration with my greens turning brown, or my broccoli going limp a friend suggested shoe boxes.
Yes, shoe boxes. The plastic ones that those folks who organize all things would buy to give each pair of shoes a place to live in the closet. So, I have about five or six shoe boxes in my fridge.
I purchased mine at Target for about five dollars a piece. And they have paid for themselves several times in the amount of fresh, organic vegetables they have saved from the compost bin.
My "plan" is to have time as soon as I get back from the farm to take another half hour and store the vegetables away in the bins...their are times where I rush home, take the old boxes in and shove the whole Simple Gifts bag into the fridge.
When I do get to it (and it is important to get to within a day) I place a few paper towels or a cloth napkin at the bottom of the shoe boxes. I then fill one with the salad greens. I have already mixed them up into the salad bag at the farm with the baby spinach and tatsoi. I put the baby bok choy on top and place these in a separate shoebox. Generally in this box there is enough room for me to gently push them over and put the larger spinach leaves in also. I continue until all the greens have a place. Then I put the harder vegetables: kohlrabi, broccoli, radishes, etc., in another shoebox. I have found that if I do not take off the tops of the carrots, beets, turnips, etc., that the vegetables will go soft. I then stack them up and place them in the fridge.
There is an interesting side effect to this method. Because the shoe boxes fill up refrigerator shelves, I end up placing cheeses, breads, eggs, meats, and other types of food in the crisper at the bottom. Hidden away from view, these foods, the ones I try to use as enhancements to a meal, are not consumed quickly. When a family member opens the fridge they see through the plastic shoe boxes at apples, nuts, vegetables and either decide, "Awesome! Look at all this great food to eat," or "Ugh! There is nothing to eat." We are working on solutions to the last exclamation, however, they are at least not eating the higher fat foods hidden away in that bottom drawer--out of sight, out of mind.
I took the large bag of vegetables home with me and began to prepare them for storage for the week.
When I started with Simple Gifts for my first CSA share I had a difficult time keeping my vegetables fresh for the week. I am still working on a few and hope to work those out this time around. However, back then when I expressed my frustration with my greens turning brown, or my broccoli going limp a friend suggested shoe boxes.
Yes, shoe boxes. The plastic ones that those folks who organize all things would buy to give each pair of shoes a place to live in the closet. So, I have about five or six shoe boxes in my fridge.
I purchased mine at Target for about five dollars a piece. And they have paid for themselves several times in the amount of fresh, organic vegetables they have saved from the compost bin.
My "plan" is to have time as soon as I get back from the farm to take another half hour and store the vegetables away in the bins...their are times where I rush home, take the old boxes in and shove the whole Simple Gifts bag into the fridge.
When I do get to it (and it is important to get to within a day) I place a few paper towels or a cloth napkin at the bottom of the shoe boxes. I then fill one with the salad greens. I have already mixed them up into the salad bag at the farm with the baby spinach and tatsoi. I put the baby bok choy on top and place these in a separate shoebox. Generally in this box there is enough room for me to gently push them over and put the larger spinach leaves in also. I continue until all the greens have a place. Then I put the harder vegetables: kohlrabi, broccoli, radishes, etc., in another shoebox. I have found that if I do not take off the tops of the carrots, beets, turnips, etc., that the vegetables will go soft. I then stack them up and place them in the fridge.
There is an interesting side effect to this method. Because the shoe boxes fill up refrigerator shelves, I end up placing cheeses, breads, eggs, meats, and other types of food in the crisper at the bottom. Hidden away from view, these foods, the ones I try to use as enhancements to a meal, are not consumed quickly. When a family member opens the fridge they see through the plastic shoe boxes at apples, nuts, vegetables and either decide, "Awesome! Look at all this great food to eat," or "Ugh! There is nothing to eat." We are working on solutions to the last exclamation, however, they are at least not eating the higher fat foods hidden away in that bottom drawer--out of sight, out of mind.
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