For the last few weeks, I have been stripping the bushy green carrot tops off of my carrot bunches, admiring their lush greenery, and then sadly relegating them to the trash pile. After my last two ventures into carrot tops (toasted, garlicky green grass and a rather noxious carrot top tea), I had given up altogether on carrot tops, thinking that perhaps there wasn't anything to be done with them. I started brainstorming ways to build a little compost pile on my rooftop...but...
This week was particularly difficult. The purple carrots were so beautiful and the carrot tops were so abundant. I felt remorse and shame as I sliced off the tops and threw them away.
While I was contemplating the sad fate of my carrot tops, I had a suddent guilt-induced flash of insight. Perhaps carrot tops could be used for medicinal purposes? I shuddered a bit, thinking on the carrot top tea/infusion I had tasted earlier, but I figured it was worth a try.
I found a lot of interesting facts about carrots, the history of carrot cultivation, and its various uses through the ages. Did you know the wild carrot is native to Afghanistan, where it was found in its original purple and purple-white hues? There are yellow and black varietals as well, and researchers have managed to create a particularly sweet varietal of purple carrot with an orange core. I wish I could do that for a living - create new varietals of edible plants. Sighhh... if dreams were pennies, I'd be rich.
I found several reports of carrot top and carrot seed infusions (yeck) and extracts being used for detoxification and as a diuretic. Apparently, poultices made from (wild) carrot mash also work as an external antiseptic.
I also stumbled upon a particularly entertaining 2009 NY Times article by Michael Tortorello.
The Toxic Salad (NYT)
Tortorello is more gifted than I. After cooking up some carrot tops, I believe my description of the experience was something along the lines of "garlicky toasted grass" and "interesting." In Tortorello's words, "The immature carrot greens were cheerfully bitter—say, like a $150 million Powerball winner paying his tax bill. If you can’t quite taste that simile on your tongue, here’s another adjective I could use to describe those carrot greens: toxic."
Yeah, basically. Apparently, carrot tops are mildly toxic, given their high alkaloid content. I might be just spreading internet hearsay along, but hey, I believe it. Those things are vile.
I like to read the readers' comments sections sometimes. You get such an interesting view into the lives of the most annoying netizens floating out there. NYT, WSJ, Huff Post all have very different varieties of lurkers, some more obnoxious than others. But there are also a lot of normal people and I will occasionally discover the odd gem here and there. Especially when I read inoffensive niche articles, like this one. After all, no matter how determined the would-be political commentator, it is difficult to connect leftover vegetable tops with the varying obstacles our country faces from the pernicious effects of greedy, no-good (fill in your politician or minority group of choice here - Romney, Obama, bankers, and politicans as a general group seem to be particularly popular choices these days).
I digress. While I was sifting through comments that had been posted and forgotten several years ago, I discovered quite a few interesting and useful things. I felt like a packrat, successfully scavenging scraps that would prove useful someday, perhaps.
- Rhubarb leaves are toxic.
- Parsnip sap and sunlight are a dangerous combination for your skin. The two together can cause serious blisters and rashes. Yikes!
- A nice reminder that tomato plants are toxic, except the fruit. In fact, all parts of the nightshade plants are usually toxic, with a few exceptions.
- Another nice reminder that the carrot/parsnip family is very dangerous for the unaware forager. Deadly water hemlock is all too tragically mistaken for wild parsnip or wild carrot - even a bite is fatally toxic to children (and adults).
- Rabbits like carrot tops, sometimes. So do goats, apparently.
Of course, this being the comments section, even if it is the comments section of a top notch paper with a fairly respectable readership, it is wise to take all these comments with a healthy grain or two of salt.
But anecdotal evidence is sometimes oh-so-helpful in ways that dry facts simply are not. One woman, after reading the article, exclaimed that in France, carrot tops are sold by the bunch in farmers' markets for making an excellent soup stock. Is this true? Who knows? But oh, how brilliant!
I should have thought of this. The lady casually mentions freezing large bunches of carrot greens for winter soup making purposes and I can't help but smack myself over the head for disposing of my poor carrot greens. I knew there was a good use for them.
I prefer eating my carrots raw, most of the time. Occasionally, I might roast them. But I don't like wasting them in soup, since I find the raw version ever so much tastier than the cooked version. I do like the flavor that they infuse into the broth though. And that, exactly, is what carrot tops are useful for. I can make lovely, carrot flavored soup stock without sacrificing my carrot snacking habit. Why, oh why, didn't I think of this before...?
Well, now I know. And fortunately, carrots are not a summer vegetable, like the tomato or the eggplant, so perhaps we'll be getting a few more bunches in the next few CSA shares. Thinking of carrot tops as herbs, like parsley or dill, makes a world of difference. After all, you wouldn't want to cook a dish of sauteed parsley, but you certainly would throw a handful into a soup pot. (At least, I would.) Prepared and armed with my newfound knowledge, I am ready to tackle these carrot tops again.
Please, don't doubt. I know this will work. After all, third time's the charm!
Afterthought: I think I know why every culture has soup in one form or another. And I know why every culture has it's own version of "buddaejjigae," which is essentially a mashup of anything and everything available to Koreans during the civil war (popular ingredients include ramen noodles, sour kimchi, random veggies, cheese, spam, or pasta). All ingredients are optional and can be used in any order.
Soup is just the most forgiving food to make (and one of the most economical and healthy too!)
Leftover vegetables bits (carrot tops, onion and potato peelings), the aesthetically displeasing, the odds and ends of an animal carcass (bones, gristle, tendons, innards, skin, bits of extra meat and fat), the excess herbs - they all make lovely additions to the soup pot and can be added in any whatever quantity is available. Even the strongest herbs, like cilantro or dill, can be thrown by the handful into soup, where their flavors will soften and commingle with the other ingredients, producing a flavorful but not overwhelming soup base.
Soup! How versatile you are!
This is turning into an ode to soup. I'll stop here.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
CSA Share #16
I can't keep up! But this week's haul looks particularly promising :) I'm very excited to pick it up later today!
CSA Share 16
- 1 eggplant
- 2 bell peppers
- 2 heads garlic
- 1 bunch arugula
- 1 pint salad tomatoes
- 1 bunch assorted braising greens
- 1 bunch green onions
- 1 head romaine lettuce
- 1 bunch purple carrots
- 3/4 lb yellow wax beans
- 1 bunch young celery stalks
CWTC: purple carrots! Actually, it's a tie between the purple carrots and the yellow wax beans. I have a thing for odd-colored vegetables and fruits. I don't know. Nom nom. Did you know carrots were originally purple until the Dutch bred all the purple right out of them? Yeah, me either. Someone should invent a produce trivia section on Jeopardy and Trivial Pursuit and Who Wants to be a Millionnaire,
TAV: Yellow wax beans. I'm going to try very lightly sauteeing them with a squeeze of lemon, a bit of garlic, and a dash of chili pepper flakes. That plus some nice braised greens sounds like a perfect fall weather dish to me!
WTF: Celery tops. What? Apparently, the farm's field team mistook the celery tops for parsley, and harvested them a bit early. Oops.
Oh well! I'm glad they're distributing them, instead of throwing them away. They'll make a wonderful addition to a hearty fall vegetable soup. I've been squirreling away bags of chicken stock for an occasion like this!
I think, with all the work and travel and life happenings that have been going on, that it makes more sense for me to accumulate a pile of post-season topics that I'll return to later. I'll continue to update with the weekly CSA share and interesting tidbits, but I'll save the meatier posts and the recipes for when things settle down a bit. That way, I'll have something to occupy myself with, even during the winter months when there's no fresh produce coming in.
I've been keeping a pretty decent photo log of my CSA adventures on facebook, so hopefully that will help. And I'll try to go back and retroactively post all my lovely pictures in this blog during the post-growing season as well. In the meantime...I will fight off this nasty little stomach bug and the aftereffects of my flu vaccine! Rawr!
It seems frosty weather has begun to nip at our heels. Free Bird Farm reported the first Jack Frost visitations and have wrapped up the summer vegetable patch. No more eggplant, tomatoes, or bell peppers for us. That's okay with me, I think I've eaten more eggplant and bell peppers than I ever thought I could in the past few months. I hope we get potatoes and more garlic!
I've noticed another upside of seasonal eating. Vegetables ripen just when they start to look appealing and appetizing. For example, I wouldn't want a lot of potatoes and heavy collard greens or escarole, winter squash, and chili peppers in the dead middle of a hot and humid summer. Shudder. I'd have to turn my oven on. >.<
Neither would I want light salad greens, tomatoes, and cucumbers when chilly fall evenings start to creep into the Northeast. I want something more substantial, with more depth and smoke and body. But boy, does a refreshing salad sound delicious in the summer! And on a crisp, cool autumn evening, a hearty dish of roasted sweet potatoes, sauteed beans, and sturdy bitter greens cooked with garlic and a bit of fried pork sounds like absolute heaven. Preferably eaten while wrapped up in a warm, cozy sweater or a fleece blanket. See what I mean? Yum yum.
Side note: I WANT A FRUIT SHARE T___T. This week, Maynard Farms is distributing Chardonnay grapes and the last of the summer watermelon. I die.
Apparently, these are very sweet grapes with 24% sugar content, that can be eaten right out of hand. To reiterate, T___________T.
Next year...I am going to sign up for chickens, eggs, and fruit. I can eat the light veggies and eggs during the summer and cook/freeze up the leftovers in soup for winter. The chickens come pre-frozen, so I can just store them away in the freezer until the winter, and then I can make all sorts of lovely dishes. A whole roast chicken on a cold, snowy December night sounds brilliant. I'll have to think about this a little more and check the past few growing seasons to see if this is feasible, but if I'm careful, I may be able to stretch out a full CSA share over a good portion of the year. Hmm...
CSA Share 16
- 1 eggplant
- 2 bell peppers
- 2 heads garlic
- 1 bunch arugula
- 1 pint salad tomatoes
- 1 bunch assorted braising greens
- 1 bunch green onions
- 1 head romaine lettuce
- 1 bunch purple carrots
- 3/4 lb yellow wax beans
- 1 bunch young celery stalks
CWTC: purple carrots! Actually, it's a tie between the purple carrots and the yellow wax beans. I have a thing for odd-colored vegetables and fruits. I don't know. Nom nom. Did you know carrots were originally purple until the Dutch bred all the purple right out of them? Yeah, me either. Someone should invent a produce trivia section on Jeopardy and Trivial Pursuit and Who Wants to be a Millionnaire,
TAV: Yellow wax beans. I'm going to try very lightly sauteeing them with a squeeze of lemon, a bit of garlic, and a dash of chili pepper flakes. That plus some nice braised greens sounds like a perfect fall weather dish to me!
WTF: Celery tops. What? Apparently, the farm's field team mistook the celery tops for parsley, and harvested them a bit early. Oops.
Oh well! I'm glad they're distributing them, instead of throwing them away. They'll make a wonderful addition to a hearty fall vegetable soup. I've been squirreling away bags of chicken stock for an occasion like this!
I think, with all the work and travel and life happenings that have been going on, that it makes more sense for me to accumulate a pile of post-season topics that I'll return to later. I'll continue to update with the weekly CSA share and interesting tidbits, but I'll save the meatier posts and the recipes for when things settle down a bit. That way, I'll have something to occupy myself with, even during the winter months when there's no fresh produce coming in.
I've been keeping a pretty decent photo log of my CSA adventures on facebook, so hopefully that will help. And I'll try to go back and retroactively post all my lovely pictures in this blog during the post-growing season as well. In the meantime...I will fight off this nasty little stomach bug and the aftereffects of my flu vaccine! Rawr!
It seems frosty weather has begun to nip at our heels. Free Bird Farm reported the first Jack Frost visitations and have wrapped up the summer vegetable patch. No more eggplant, tomatoes, or bell peppers for us. That's okay with me, I think I've eaten more eggplant and bell peppers than I ever thought I could in the past few months. I hope we get potatoes and more garlic!
I've noticed another upside of seasonal eating. Vegetables ripen just when they start to look appealing and appetizing. For example, I wouldn't want a lot of potatoes and heavy collard greens or escarole, winter squash, and chili peppers in the dead middle of a hot and humid summer. Shudder. I'd have to turn my oven on. >.<
Neither would I want light salad greens, tomatoes, and cucumbers when chilly fall evenings start to creep into the Northeast. I want something more substantial, with more depth and smoke and body. But boy, does a refreshing salad sound delicious in the summer! And on a crisp, cool autumn evening, a hearty dish of roasted sweet potatoes, sauteed beans, and sturdy bitter greens cooked with garlic and a bit of fried pork sounds like absolute heaven. Preferably eaten while wrapped up in a warm, cozy sweater or a fleece blanket. See what I mean? Yum yum.
Side note: I WANT A FRUIT SHARE T___T. This week, Maynard Farms is distributing Chardonnay grapes and the last of the summer watermelon. I die.
Apparently, these are very sweet grapes with 24% sugar content, that can be eaten right out of hand. To reiterate, T___________T.
Next year...I am going to sign up for chickens, eggs, and fruit. I can eat the light veggies and eggs during the summer and cook/freeze up the leftovers in soup for winter. The chickens come pre-frozen, so I can just store them away in the freezer until the winter, and then I can make all sorts of lovely dishes. A whole roast chicken on a cold, snowy December night sounds brilliant. I'll have to think about this a little more and check the past few growing seasons to see if this is feasible, but if I'm careful, I may be able to stretch out a full CSA share over a good portion of the year. Hmm...
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
CSA Share #15
I just had the best damn apple of my life. Excuse my language. Now I know I haven't been around that long (relatively speaking), but I have eaten more than my fair share of apples in my lifetime. I love apples. Every time I see a new variety, I have to try it. I am very picky about the freshness of my apples, but otherwise, I'm open to trying anything and everything.
This week's fruit share included Macoun apples and as a reward for volunteering at this week's distribution, the coordinator let me poach an apple from the leftover pile. I didn't expect much of it, which made my first delicious bite all the more surprising... Anyways, I'll make a separate post dedicated to the Macoun Apple Experience - yes, it really deserves its own separate post.
In the meantime, this week's share and my sneaky plotting ways to use it up without eating salad all week:
CSA Share 15:
- 1 bunch radishes
- 1 bunch green onions
- 1 bunch dill
- 1 bunch mixed "braising" greens (kale, tatsoi, green and red mustard, hon tsai tsai)
- 2 red bell peppers
- 2 jalapenos
- 2 pounds plum tomatoes
- 2 cucumbers
- 1 head Romaine lettuce
- 1 head red leaf lettuce
CWTC: jalapenos! I've been craving something spicy lately.
TAV: Mixed braising greens. These look incredibly beautiful, with a variety of green and purple stems and gorgeous veining patterns on some of the leaves and bright, tender green leaves poking through. They intrigue me. I have never heard of tatsoi or hon tsai tsai and I have never cooked fresh mustard leaves before. I didn't even know there was a red variety. I love that Free Bird Farm incorporates Asian-style veggies into our shares (e.g. Thai basil, bok choy, hobak). Yay!
WTF: Dill. :( These herbs are killing me. What am I going to do with this much dill?! I still have my cilantro too. FML.
Brainstorm area:
This is me thinking out loud. Welcome to my brain. HA.
I have two lemons in the fridge and some cilantro. The rest of my share has (thankfully, finally) been consumed, with the last sad remnants of the lettuce from last week straggling into my lunch and dinner salads today. No more salads please...
I suppose the lettuce is best in a salad, since I don't have time to grill or cook them this week. I can throw some radishes, cucumbers, and tomatoes together and make a decent lunch and dinner for myself. That leaves the braising greens, bell peppers, jalapenos, green onions, and dill. And radish greens.
The braising greens can become dinner for later in the week. The radish greens can wait in the fridge until next week. The green onions and dill can be mixed into some cream cheese for a nice savory spread.
I can also mix the dill with lemon juice and Greek yogurt for a tasty yogurt dip that I can pile into pita loaves. !!! I am brilliant. I can stuff the pita loaves with yogurt dip, shredded lettuce, cucumber and tomato for a yummy Mediterranean style vegetarian sandwich. I am so genius. That's how I'll use up my leftover veg next week.
The leftover green onions and dill can be tossed into chicken soup for lunch next week. (I still have several Ziploc bags of frozen chicken soup in the freezer, so this is really perfect).
Too bad I don't have potatoes. Then I wouldn't be stuck wondering what to do with all my dill. Ah well, maybe next time.
This week's fruit share included Macoun apples and as a reward for volunteering at this week's distribution, the coordinator let me poach an apple from the leftover pile. I didn't expect much of it, which made my first delicious bite all the more surprising... Anyways, I'll make a separate post dedicated to the Macoun Apple Experience - yes, it really deserves its own separate post.
In the meantime, this week's share and my sneaky plotting ways to use it up without eating salad all week:
CSA Share 15:
- 1 bunch radishes
- 1 bunch green onions
- 1 bunch dill
- 1 bunch mixed "braising" greens (kale, tatsoi, green and red mustard, hon tsai tsai)
- 2 red bell peppers
- 2 jalapenos
- 2 pounds plum tomatoes
- 2 cucumbers
- 1 head Romaine lettuce
- 1 head red leaf lettuce
CWTC: jalapenos! I've been craving something spicy lately.
TAV: Mixed braising greens. These look incredibly beautiful, with a variety of green and purple stems and gorgeous veining patterns on some of the leaves and bright, tender green leaves poking through. They intrigue me. I have never heard of tatsoi or hon tsai tsai and I have never cooked fresh mustard leaves before. I didn't even know there was a red variety. I love that Free Bird Farm incorporates Asian-style veggies into our shares (e.g. Thai basil, bok choy, hobak). Yay!
WTF: Dill. :( These herbs are killing me. What am I going to do with this much dill?! I still have my cilantro too. FML.
Brainstorm area:
This is me thinking out loud. Welcome to my brain. HA.
I have two lemons in the fridge and some cilantro. The rest of my share has (thankfully, finally) been consumed, with the last sad remnants of the lettuce from last week straggling into my lunch and dinner salads today. No more salads please...
I suppose the lettuce is best in a salad, since I don't have time to grill or cook them this week. I can throw some radishes, cucumbers, and tomatoes together and make a decent lunch and dinner for myself. That leaves the braising greens, bell peppers, jalapenos, green onions, and dill. And radish greens.
The braising greens can become dinner for later in the week. The radish greens can wait in the fridge until next week. The green onions and dill can be mixed into some cream cheese for a nice savory spread.
I can also mix the dill with lemon juice and Greek yogurt for a tasty yogurt dip that I can pile into pita loaves. !!! I am brilliant. I can stuff the pita loaves with yogurt dip, shredded lettuce, cucumber and tomato for a yummy Mediterranean style vegetarian sandwich. I am so genius. That's how I'll use up my leftover veg next week.
The leftover green onions and dill can be tossed into chicken soup for lunch next week. (I still have several Ziploc bags of frozen chicken soup in the freezer, so this is really perfect).
Too bad I don't have potatoes. Then I wouldn't be stuck wondering what to do with all my dill. Ah well, maybe next time.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Evolution of the CSA?
Huh. Interesting.
I'm a huge fan of local and sustainable food efforts, which is a big part of why I signed up for a CSA in the first place, but this is taking it to a whole new level. I like.
I can see this "pay someone to garden your plot" idea being especially helpful for restaurants.
Brief excerpt:
In Lincolnshire, another farm has, since January, been taking provenance to extremes online. At i-Grow, Harry Loweth, 26, who farms with his family at Abbey Parks Farm near East Heckington, had the riveting idea of dividing ground into six-metre-square allotments for hands-off vegetable-growers.
From £125 a year, clean-fingered customers choose their vegetables or herbs and Harry will then grow them organically, harvest them and even deliver them to their door.
“It appeals to time-poor city-dwellers with no gardens, to schools who want to teach children where their food comes from, to restaurant chefs who want a reliable supply and to senior gardeners who can’t manage anymore,” he says.
“They’re not a virtual concept, they’re real and so far, we’ve sold 42 plots. You can even arrange to come and visit or you can watch how your crops are performing on the website.”
Source: Food Provenance (Telegraph)
And another (equally as interesting) article with more detail on Harry Loweth's farm + other creative ventures from UK farmers:
The Trend: Click Your Own (FT)
I'm a huge fan of local and sustainable food efforts, which is a big part of why I signed up for a CSA in the first place, but this is taking it to a whole new level. I like.
I can see this "pay someone to garden your plot" idea being especially helpful for restaurants.
Brief excerpt:
In Lincolnshire, another farm has, since January, been taking provenance to extremes online. At i-Grow, Harry Loweth, 26, who farms with his family at Abbey Parks Farm near East Heckington, had the riveting idea of dividing ground into six-metre-square allotments for hands-off vegetable-growers.
From £125 a year, clean-fingered customers choose their vegetables or herbs and Harry will then grow them organically, harvest them and even deliver them to their door.
“It appeals to time-poor city-dwellers with no gardens, to schools who want to teach children where their food comes from, to restaurant chefs who want a reliable supply and to senior gardeners who can’t manage anymore,” he says.
“They’re not a virtual concept, they’re real and so far, we’ve sold 42 plots. You can even arrange to come and visit or you can watch how your crops are performing on the website.”
Source: Food Provenance (Telegraph)
And another (equally as interesting) article with more detail on Harry Loweth's farm + other creative ventures from UK farmers:
The Trend: Click Your Own (FT)
Monday, September 17, 2012
Fresh soybeans and creative uses for CSA vegetables
Remember the soybeans from CSA Share #13?
Well, I cooked them. It was incredibly easy too.
1. Wash soybeans.
2. Place in pot and cover with water.
3. Add salt.
4. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a low boil. Let the soybeans boil for 5-10 minutes.
5. Test a soybean - if they taste nutty and tender, they're done.
6. Drain and salt, if desired.
I found a random soybean that escaped the pot and I was curious what raw soybeans might taste like. I figured I might not get another chance to try, so I went ahead and took a nibble. They tasted like a larger, rawer version of green beans, if that makes sense. Probably won't try that again, but it was interesting!
Alas, I lost my basil from CSA Share #13 to negligence. I kept thinking I'd use it for something and then it grew moldy. Tears.
But I did manage to use up a bunch of my other vegetables for the week!
Exhibit A: Arugula
I managed to toss a bunch of arugula into some late night shin ramen for late nightt post-drinking munchies. Mostly, I'm really really really impressed with my commitment to my vegetables. After all, drunk people normally don't think about vegetables as a first concern. I even washed the arugula before dumping it in my ramen! For the record, it was really delicious and it totally hit the spot. I demolished an entire pot of ramen singlehandedly. Yeah. Uhhhh....next.
Exhibit B: Cilantro + turnip greens
In my efforts to avoid wasting two weeks of herbs in a row, I thought what the hell why not, and tossed several healthy sprigs of cilantro into my sauteed garlic-turnip greens. This was a very flavorful preparation, as I accidentally peeled more garlic than I thought I could use. Eight cloves of garlic in one sitting. I was a little concerned, but it turned out just fine. This was actually not a bad combination at all! But then, I always did have a soft spot for cilantro.
Exhibit C: Basil
I did manage to use up a bit of my basil. I tossed them on top of a fried egg, which added a nice, herby touch. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of anything else to put the basil on before it went moldy, but better luck next time, I suppose.
Well, I cooked them. It was incredibly easy too.
1. Wash soybeans.
2. Place in pot and cover with water.
3. Add salt.
4. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a low boil. Let the soybeans boil for 5-10 minutes.
5. Test a soybean - if they taste nutty and tender, they're done.
6. Drain and salt, if desired.
I found a random soybean that escaped the pot and I was curious what raw soybeans might taste like. I figured I might not get another chance to try, so I went ahead and took a nibble. They tasted like a larger, rawer version of green beans, if that makes sense. Probably won't try that again, but it was interesting!
Alas, I lost my basil from CSA Share #13 to negligence. I kept thinking I'd use it for something and then it grew moldy. Tears.
But I did manage to use up a bunch of my other vegetables for the week!
Exhibit A: Arugula
I managed to toss a bunch of arugula into some late night shin ramen for late nightt post-drinking munchies. Mostly, I'm really really really impressed with my commitment to my vegetables. After all, drunk people normally don't think about vegetables as a first concern. I even washed the arugula before dumping it in my ramen! For the record, it was really delicious and it totally hit the spot. I demolished an entire pot of ramen singlehandedly. Yeah. Uhhhh....next.
Exhibit B: Cilantro + turnip greens
In my efforts to avoid wasting two weeks of herbs in a row, I thought what the hell why not, and tossed several healthy sprigs of cilantro into my sauteed garlic-turnip greens. This was a very flavorful preparation, as I accidentally peeled more garlic than I thought I could use. Eight cloves of garlic in one sitting. I was a little concerned, but it turned out just fine. This was actually not a bad combination at all! But then, I always did have a soft spot for cilantro.
Exhibit C: Basil
I did manage to use up a bit of my basil. I tossed them on top of a fried egg, which added a nice, herby touch. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of anything else to put the basil on before it went moldy, but better luck next time, I suppose.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
CSA's at work + WSJ article!
!!! The WSJ posted an article on CSA's at the workplace!
Workplace CSA's in NYC
Love the article, wish my company would start up an initiative like this. I bet there would be a lot of interest. You know what would be even better? Being able to allocate a certain portion of Seamless dollars or health care benefits towards a share.
I like the whole idea of divvying up shares on the spot. Definitely understand the dilemmas faced by the share-splitters (for example, how exactly do you split a watermelon three ways?)
I split a share with a friend at the moment, but I pick up the share and she picks up her half from me later that evening. The problem is, I'm still at the office when she picks it up, so things like lettuce heads or 1 eggplant or 1 large onion become a bit difficult to split. And I don't exactly feel like carting in a large kitchen knife every Tuesday to my office. I feel like that would draw less than positive attention my way.
In any case, I hope awareness of CSA's continues to grow and I hope companies realize that this is a great, effective, and cheap way to keep workers happy and healthy :)
Workplace CSA's in NYC
Love the article, wish my company would start up an initiative like this. I bet there would be a lot of interest. You know what would be even better? Being able to allocate a certain portion of Seamless dollars or health care benefits towards a share.
I like the whole idea of divvying up shares on the spot. Definitely understand the dilemmas faced by the share-splitters (for example, how exactly do you split a watermelon three ways?)
I split a share with a friend at the moment, but I pick up the share and she picks up her half from me later that evening. The problem is, I'm still at the office when she picks it up, so things like lettuce heads or 1 eggplant or 1 large onion become a bit difficult to split. And I don't exactly feel like carting in a large kitchen knife every Tuesday to my office. I feel like that would draw less than positive attention my way.
In any case, I hope awareness of CSA's continues to grow and I hope companies realize that this is a great, effective, and cheap way to keep workers happy and healthy :)
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
CSA Share #14
Mmm munching on mild and tender White Lady turnips.
Crazy busy at work, but managed to snag my (very green) share. No idea when I'll have time to wash and prep it all, but I made some headway already! Props to me.
CSA Share 14
- 7 oz arugula
- 7 oz baby salad greens
- 3 heads garlic
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 pint salad tomatoes
- 1 large slicing tomato
- 1 bunch carrots
- 1 head oak leaf bib lettuce
- 1 bunch White Lady turnips
CWTC: tomato. This one looks gorgeous, meaty, and is a beautiful deep, rich red. Storing it carefully on the countertop (tomatoes go mealy in the fridge!) and waiting for a good opportunity to slice it up and savor every juicy bite.
TAV: Arugula. I like arugula, but there's only so much salad I can eat in a month. Maybe this week I'll try cooking it up somehow. Recipe exploration time!
WTF: T________T more cilantro?!?! asdlfjkasl;fjkljas.
Also, I have given up on carrot tops. I just tossed them this time around. Couldn't help but feel a very strong twinge of guilt though. :(
Crazy busy at work, but managed to snag my (very green) share. No idea when I'll have time to wash and prep it all, but I made some headway already! Props to me.
CSA Share 14
- 7 oz arugula
- 7 oz baby salad greens
- 3 heads garlic
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 pint salad tomatoes
- 1 large slicing tomato
- 1 bunch carrots
- 1 head oak leaf bib lettuce
- 1 bunch White Lady turnips
CWTC: tomato. This one looks gorgeous, meaty, and is a beautiful deep, rich red. Storing it carefully on the countertop (tomatoes go mealy in the fridge!) and waiting for a good opportunity to slice it up and savor every juicy bite.
TAV: Arugula. I like arugula, but there's only so much salad I can eat in a month. Maybe this week I'll try cooking it up somehow. Recipe exploration time!
WTF: T________T more cilantro?!?! asdlfjkasl;fjkljas.
Also, I have given up on carrot tops. I just tossed them this time around. Couldn't help but feel a very strong twinge of guilt though. :(
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
CSA Share #13 and Radish Greens
Slow on the updates in spite of a long weekend... I have a few posts in reserve and will update accordingly when I get the chance.
In the meantime, this week's share:
- 2 red bell peppers
- giant lovely mess (10oz) of arugula (or rocket, as it's known in the UK)
- 1 bunch spring onions
- 1 bunch Italian basil
- 3/4lb green beans
- 1 bunch radishes
- 1/2lb soybeans!
- 2 large tomatoes
CWTC: soybeans! I don't think I've ever had fresh soybeans before. Only frozen. This should be interesting, and fun.
TAV: Radish greens. Typically something that gets thrown out, but I was determined to make them edible in my quest to reduce food waste.
WTF: Arugula. I love it. But what do I do with this much of it? Maybe I can saute a plate of arugula and top it with a fried egg?
Radish Greens
Wasn't sure what to do with these, as they didn't look very appealing, especially with bug holes eaten through nearly all of them. After washing them very well and chopping them into small pieces, they looked considerably more appetizing.
I chopped up and froze the green portions of the scallions for later use, but I reserved the bulbs for my radish greens. The scallion bulbs were about as big across as a quarter, so they probably were more like onions than scallions at that point.
I sliced two cloves of garlic, the reserved onion bulbs, stray basil leaves, and sauteed them in a pan over medium heat. I added the chopped radish greens fairly quickly. I used a dash of fish sauce, rice vinegar, and a drizzle of sesame oil to finish off the dish, which actually turned out quite nicely. I think it was the seasoning that did it. Sesame oil is a nice counterpoint to root vegetable greens, with the nutty flavor balancing the bitterness of the greens. It's similar to using bacon when cooking turnip greens, but more subtle.
Pretty pleased with myself :)
In the meantime, this week's share:
- 2 red bell peppers
- giant lovely mess (10oz) of arugula (or rocket, as it's known in the UK)
- 1 bunch spring onions
- 1 bunch Italian basil
- 3/4lb green beans
- 1 bunch radishes
- 1/2lb soybeans!
- 2 large tomatoes
CWTC: soybeans! I don't think I've ever had fresh soybeans before. Only frozen. This should be interesting, and fun.
TAV: Radish greens. Typically something that gets thrown out, but I was determined to make them edible in my quest to reduce food waste.
WTF: Arugula. I love it. But what do I do with this much of it? Maybe I can saute a plate of arugula and top it with a fried egg?
Radish Greens
Wasn't sure what to do with these, as they didn't look very appealing, especially with bug holes eaten through nearly all of them. After washing them very well and chopping them into small pieces, they looked considerably more appetizing.
I chopped up and froze the green portions of the scallions for later use, but I reserved the bulbs for my radish greens. The scallion bulbs were about as big across as a quarter, so they probably were more like onions than scallions at that point.
I sliced two cloves of garlic, the reserved onion bulbs, stray basil leaves, and sauteed them in a pan over medium heat. I added the chopped radish greens fairly quickly. I used a dash of fish sauce, rice vinegar, and a drizzle of sesame oil to finish off the dish, which actually turned out quite nicely. I think it was the seasoning that did it. Sesame oil is a nice counterpoint to root vegetable greens, with the nutty flavor balancing the bitterness of the greens. It's similar to using bacon when cooking turnip greens, but more subtle.
Pretty pleased with myself :)
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