So, I joined a CSA. That's not a political group - well, not directly anyway. It stands for Community-Sourced Agriculture. The idea (if you're unfamiliar with it) is to get produce from local farms and growers, as well as (sometimes) other locally-produced foodstuffs. You generally pay a fee (usually $20-40 a week) and get a Box of Stuff.
This week's Box of Stuff has: apples (6, and they're really sweet), lemons (2), pears (7, bartlett type I think), arugula, collard greens, 3 "sticks" of lemongrass, a couple largish onions, a handfull of russet-type potatoes, a bunch of rosemary, what I think is a huge rutabaga, a couple of turnips, and an acorn squash.
I also got a dozen eggs and some uncured bacon added to it.
I have no idea what to do with most of this. Well, not really true - most of it is pretty typical. Things like the collard greens and arugula I'll probably put into a salad, and if nothing else potatoes make good hashed browns.
It's the turnips, rutabaga, and acorn squash I'll have to get creative with. But that's part of the point: I tend to be slightly unadventurous when it comes to day-to-day meals, so the idea was to end up with random things I probably would never have bought on my own to see what they're like. And I need to eat better in general, so the apples and pears are definitely great snack-type items (I had one this morning, with my breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast).
We'll see how this works out longer-term, but I think it's a fun way to change up the diet a little.
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4 comments:
Hi there, Austin
There are companies over here offering similar services, to get UK-grown produce reasonably directly to consumers. They're not necessarily "local" in British terms, but nothing in the box is likely to have travelled more than a couple of hundred miles.
Best of luck with the interesting vegetables - I think all of them are susceptible to boiling or roasting, one way or another, but there's probably something more interesting to do with them. I'm surprised how many of them I didn't recognise by name. It turns out that rutabaga and arugula are known over here as swede and rocket respectively, as far as I can tell, while collard greens and acorn squash just don't appear at all.
Take care
Mark
bake the squash.. roast the taters n onions with the lemon grass and rosemary in olive oil.. dont know about turnips n such.. but that rest sounds mighty tasty.. try and get some heirloom tomaters.. they actly have flavor...
So, I tackled the squash first. Baked it with maple syrup and brown sugar (this recipe) and oh-my-dog-it's-yummy.
I'm eating it right now as a kind of late afternoon/early dinner snack. Well, half, anyway; gonna see how well the other half refrigerates. Need to know these things since I'm cooking for one.
Mark: you still planning on coming out this summer?
Hi there, Austin
Yes, the plans are unchanged, though I have yet to book anything except the time off work. I'll be in touch if anything changes, or to confirm details, as appropriate.
Glad to hear the squash recipe worked (though I would probably go for anything with maple syrup and brown sugar on it!). You may well be able to do the turnips and rutabaga/swede in the same way as Anonymous suggests for the potatoes. My mother roasts parsnips (a similar root vegetable) with an olive oil and honey coating, and they turn out very tasty.
Take care
Mark
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