Thursday, June 13, 2013

CSA Week 1: New experiences

CSA time has finally arrived! Tuesday night was the first delivery, and I got together with my share partner Chris to cook some of our veggies (well, I cooked, anyway).  Lots of experimentation is involved - I'm not a tremendously experienced cook, and several of the items were new to my kitchen.

This week's share included:
  • Joi Choi
  • Lettuce
  • Radishes
  • Red Russian Kale
  • Arugula
  • Scallions
  • Broccolini
  • and a little Basil plant

Lettuce soup might be the best recipe find of the week.  I strongly dislike lettuce, and typically avoid it.  It appeared in the share, though, so I looked for some way to cook up my least favorite green.  The soup turned out quite tasty: light, herby, and very summery overall.  Not fabulous as leftovers, because the bits of lettuce & garlic are a little tough after reheating in the microwave.  It's also best warm, but not hot.

I also made baked chicken and sauteed Swiss chard with mushrooms to round off dinner.  Leftovers abounded.

The joi choi and the radishes will be cooked this weekend once I've eaten tonight's remainders.   Joi choi is a new veggie to me -  it's kind of like bok choi's big brother from what I can tell.  My CSA newsletter highlighted it as the 'mystery veg' of the week, and I'll be making the gingery garlic stir fry recipe they included.  I haven't decided what I'm doing with the radishes yet.

Boiled kale and assorted leftovers went home with Chris, and he took the broccolini and half the scallions as well.  The basil will be an addition to my burgeoning window garden.

Cooking all that was definitely an adventure.  I don't think I've ever made that many dishes (4 including the kale) in one night.  It was an enjoyable challenge though, even if it did take longer than I thought it would.  I had a lot of fun searching out recipes that were within my skill-set but went beyond boiling or steaming or sauteing.  I knew the CSA would be good for getting more vegetables into my diet, but I think it's also going to be good for my widening my cooking experience. 

1 comment:

  1. Isn't soup amazing? It seems like *anything* would make good soup . . . but I hadn't ever thought of lettuce.

    Alas, around here, the lettuce disappears quickly no matter how much we get. I should rename my kids "Voracious" and "Ravenous".

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