Fresh Summer Vegetables
There are a number of "community supported agriculture" (or CSA) farms around where I live, and these local farmers, some organic some not, do subscriptions for summer veggie boxes. They often distribute in multiple locations throughout the city.
One such company who distributes for a number of local vegetable farms has pick-up locations on campus, and one in the common lobby of a few of the research buildings, which is uber-convenient for me. A second advantage is that this company allows you to make one-time orders instead of requiring a whole-summer weekly subscription, which is a little too much commitment (and money) for me at this point.
So I decided to try out the one-time orders periodically throughout the summer to sample some local produce as the crops change. I got the "basic" sized box, which is portioned for 2-3 people.
I was supposed to pick up my box last Thursday, but a clerical mistake on the part of the company left me with no veggie box prepared for me, and only my whole wheat pastry flour (which was awesome cheap) came. I notified the company of my non-vegetable status, and they apologized and said it would come on the next pick-up time, a week later.
And finally a week later came, and I got my veggies yesterday:
I have no idea what to do with radishes. I ate one raw with some butter-flavor spread to try it, and the butter cut the peppery numbing finish that I got with the first non-buttered bites I took. Otherwise it tastes very reminiscent of daikon, so I was pretty okay with the taste. I wasn't sure how to cook it, and instead of selecting from a couple of different ideas that I've seen to try to cook them, I decided to pickle them all. I sliced them, soaked them in salt water for a bit, rinsed them, and then soaked them in a mixture of seasoned rice vinegar, a splash of soy sauce, a bit of ground pepper, and a splash of sesame oil. It smelled kind of weird, so I am not sure how this will turn out, haha. Michael hates daikon, and so would be expected to not like radishes, so they're all mine (muahahahaha).
I stir-fried the beet greens to eat, and unfortunately, Michael can't eat most greens because some mineral commonly found in them (we haven't really figured out which yet) makes his gums crack and bleed if he eats too much of them, so generally it's up to me to eat them.
He can eat lettuce, though, so he ate a small salad and also put some in a burger for dinner last night.
But the cutest things were these strawberries:
Aren't they precious? I was expecting them to be very sweet and intense since these are local and everyone's been raving about how little wild strawberries taste a billion times better than mutant large California strawberries from Costco. They were a little more intense, but more tart than I was expecting. Still, a good addition to a little ice cream last night, and cereal this morning.
Later summer bodes for more squash, corn, and beans, which I think is more in line with what we eat normally, so I am looking forward to sampling more produce later in the summer and early fall.
One such company who distributes for a number of local vegetable farms has pick-up locations on campus, and one in the common lobby of a few of the research buildings, which is uber-convenient for me. A second advantage is that this company allows you to make one-time orders instead of requiring a whole-summer weekly subscription, which is a little too much commitment (and money) for me at this point.
So I decided to try out the one-time orders periodically throughout the summer to sample some local produce as the crops change. I got the "basic" sized box, which is portioned for 2-3 people.
I was supposed to pick up my box last Thursday, but a clerical mistake on the part of the company left me with no veggie box prepared for me, and only my whole wheat pastry flour (which was awesome cheap) came. I notified the company of my non-vegetable status, and they apologized and said it would come on the next pick-up time, a week later.
And finally a week later came, and I got my veggies yesterday:
This is what I received in my box:
Lettuce (2)
Beet Greens
Garlic Scapes
Strawberries
Basil
Green Onions
Swiss Chard
Radishes
Beet Greens
Garlic Scapes
Strawberries
Basil
Green Onions
Swiss Chard
Radishes
I have no idea what to do with radishes. I ate one raw with some butter-flavor spread to try it, and the butter cut the peppery numbing finish that I got with the first non-buttered bites I took. Otherwise it tastes very reminiscent of daikon, so I was pretty okay with the taste. I wasn't sure how to cook it, and instead of selecting from a couple of different ideas that I've seen to try to cook them, I decided to pickle them all. I sliced them, soaked them in salt water for a bit, rinsed them, and then soaked them in a mixture of seasoned rice vinegar, a splash of soy sauce, a bit of ground pepper, and a splash of sesame oil. It smelled kind of weird, so I am not sure how this will turn out, haha. Michael hates daikon, and so would be expected to not like radishes, so they're all mine (muahahahaha).
I stir-fried the beet greens to eat, and unfortunately, Michael can't eat most greens because some mineral commonly found in them (we haven't really figured out which yet) makes his gums crack and bleed if he eats too much of them, so generally it's up to me to eat them.
He can eat lettuce, though, so he ate a small salad and also put some in a burger for dinner last night.
But the cutest things were these strawberries:
Aren't they precious? I was expecting them to be very sweet and intense since these are local and everyone's been raving about how little wild strawberries taste a billion times better than mutant large California strawberries from Costco. They were a little more intense, but more tart than I was expecting. Still, a good addition to a little ice cream last night, and cereal this morning.
Later summer bodes for more squash, corn, and beans, which I think is more in line with what we eat normally, so I am looking forward to sampling more produce later in the summer and early fall.
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