veggie triage

Late night at work
+ vegetables from last week on the verge of rotting that I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT (eek)
+ a new share
+ gone for the weekend
= stress

I was a super ninja and triaged the shit out of my fridge and cursed myself for forgetting about the basil and frisee hidden in the back that I forgot about. See, when frisee starts to go bad, it goes bad at the very tips and it goes bad unevenly. At least, mine did. So when I was picking out all the slimy leaves, I literally had to pick through each little tendril and pluck off the slimy bits to salvage what was left. Sure, I could have thrown it out, but I'm stubborn like that (though I do feel a little scared to eat it now after having gotten all up close and personal with the rotting tips). Besides, I felt vaguely guilty about tossing my kale salad and squash from last week. So I plucked. And plucked. And plucked some more.

Same thing with the basil, except basil starts to go bad where the leaves meet the stem, which means plucking each leaf off before stripping out the slimy part. Sigh. Fortunately, the parsley was in good shape. There were no other orphaned leftovers from last week's share to handle and I promised myself to be better about handling my CSA shares going forward.

I have to say, neglectfulness aside, I'm really impressed with myself. In under two hours, I managed to handle everything. In fact, I'm so impressed, I'm going to write down my triaging thought process so I can marvel at my ability to think on my feet later.

- Cabbage and napa cabbage: these keep forever ish. Take two seconds and store those suckers in fridge.
- Onion and fresh garlic: semi-long lived creatures. I lopped off their pretty green tops, rinsed those and tossed them in my "odds and ends" soup bag in the freezer. Tossed the bulbs in the fridge. Done. (Pro-tip: fresh garlic can be stored in the fridge for a week. Cured/dry garlic should NOT be stored in the fridge or in a plastic container, as it will sprout or mold. Store those outside in a dark location, like a paper bag or covered, ventilated basket.)
- Green beans and wax beans: Rinsed, admired their prettiness for a few moments, and stored them in ziploc bags as snack food. No prep, no cook, just rinse and store.
- Cucumbers: Washed, peeled, and sliced them into snackable sticks. No cooking (notice a trend?)
- Frisee and parsley: I debated cooking these together, but was too lazy after all that plucking, so I just googled "parsley frisee" and discovered that the internet says you can eat these together as a salad. Boom, done. I also chopped up a bit of parsley to sprinkle on some leftover hummus. I've discovered that I rather like the taste of fresh parsley on hummus and pasta. Those flecks of green are so surprising when you come across them, unlike their dried counterparts, which bear an uncanny resemblance to green paper.
- Basil and zucchini: arguably the most time consuming part of my evening. I basically followed the recipe for marinated zucchini, but spent a lot of time picking out the edible parts of the basil :/ I left the zucchini to marinate in a ziploc baggie and I made the basil-garlic-lemon dressing in advance. I'll give it a taste tomorrow and see how that went. My fingers are crossed. For once, I'm actually really excited to eat zucchini.

And that's it! My share(s) are packed into bags or containers or are safely in storage, and I am ready to face the rest of my week. Oh, I also got another chicken. I now have three chickens in my freezer and I'm running out of room. I should butcher one or roast one early next week so I have something to feed my brother when he gets here. That boy will eat you out of house and home. One time, I had to go to the grocery store twice IN ONE DAY to feed him. When you live in a five floor walkup, this is no laughing matter.

TL;DR: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, avoid cooking like the plague, and google has all the answers.

Side note: I feel like this is a weird thing to admit, but I really like the way zucchini feels when you cut it up with a super sharp knife. It's really soft, almost buttery, in texture and it looks so clean and fresh. And it's so much less messy than chopping up, say, a chicken.

CSA 2013 Partial Share #7

CSA 2013 Partial Share #7
- 12 oz yellow wax beans
- 1 bulb fresh garlic
- 1 Walla Walla onion
- 2 golden or green zucchini
- 2 cucumbers
- 1 petit green cabbage
- 1 Napa cabbage
- 11 oz green beans

 Winner: This is tough. Just kidding. Obvious winner of the week is the humble yellow wax bean. I won't even pretend to understand my fascination with these, but it borders on the obsessively unhealthy. I just like the idea of waxy vegetables. Waxy beans, waxy potatoes, waxy eggplants. It's kind of like my obsession with stems. I should note that wax beans are not waxy in texture. No one really knows why they're called wax beans (or butter beans, which is equally as cute). Speculative theories point to the yellow color of the beans as a possible explanation, but I personally find that solution too easy. I will ruminate over this quandary while I ruminate on some wax beans. (Sorry not sorry. Couldn't help it. When do you ever get to use the same word in different ways in the same sentence? If you have a brain like mine, the answer is "not often." Indulge me.)
Challenge: Zucchini. Sorry I just...not a fan...I like looking at them? I will try to be creative. Also a little concerned about the sheer volume of cabbage. Too bad none of these are very freezable, except perhaps the green beans. I must say though...I'm thankful for the break from the flood of lettuce and turnip/radish/beet greens. :)

CSA 2013 Partial Share #6

CSA 2013 Partial Share #6
- 8 oz green beans
- 4.5 oz baby salad greens
- 1 bunch Japanese turnips
- 1 head frissee
- 1 bunch spring onions
- 1 bunch basil
- 1 bunch parsley
- 2 patty pan squash

Winner: green beens (yes, beens. It looks cuter like that.) Why? Because they are tasty and most importantly, they require little to no prep. Rinse and eat. Boom.
Challenge: Basil and parsley. I wish I had a food processor so I could make pesto T_T I did manage to use up half the parsley in some delicious buttered pasta. Apparently, even my drunk self knows that using up perishable things in the fridge is a Key Priority. I'm proud, but I'm not sure I should be.

I'm starting to wonder how long I can keep cooked veg in the fridge without making myself sick. I've been eating the maneul jjong jangachi in small quantities and so far, so good! But I have definitely been testing the limits with some of my other creations. I sauteed patty pan squash with basil and spring onions and a hefty dose of lemon and dried lavender. It was delicious. I left it in the fridge for about a week and got scared though, so I threw half of it out :/ Ditto for some massaged kale salad :/ :/

I have a bit of frissee, the herbs, and some spring onions left. I'm simultaneously excited and nervous about tomorrow's share. meep.

CSA Share #19

Days flying by. Is it just me, or is there tons of great music out there all of a sudden? Taylor Swift, Tristan Prettyman, Zedd, Christina Aguilera...

It seems the flood of great music has been accompanied by an equally overwhelming flood of lettuce. I have four different heads of lettuce, one head of frissee, a lovely mess of arugula, and bunches of swiss chard waiting in my fridge for me. #deathbylettuce

CSA Share #19
- 6.5 oz arugula
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1 bunch opal basil
- 3 leeks
- 5 medium potatoes (2lbs)
- 3/4lb purple string beans
- 1 bunch swiss chard
- 1 head frisee
- 1 head romaine lettuce
- 1 head green leaf lettuce
- 1 head red leaf lettuce

CWTC: potatoes!!! :) potatooooooooes :D
TAV: purple string beans, because they are purple
WTF: lettuce. I am adorable and cute and lovable, but I am not a rabbit. This is a veritable flood of green leafy things. I don't know how to handle this. I was so stressed by all the green that I ate half a chicken yesterday, just to reassure myself that I am not a cow or other ruminant. The farm apologizes for the cubed lettuce, which is the result of a packing mistake that was only realized after the truck was packed.

 I am very excited to get potatoes, but sadly, it seems potatoes struggled this year with the heat and drought. 90% of the crop was lost at Free Bird Farms :/ This is the only planned potato week. And there was a frost this week, so the farm lost "the best bean crop" they had all season. I do love green beans, so this is pretty tragic.

We have broccoli and cauliflower to look forward to in the coming weeks. (bleh, broccoli, but yay, cauliflower!) Just a few weeks left now...can't believe the growing season is almost over. Then again, every time I step outside, the frosty air nips at my cheeks and reminds me that it's nearly winter. Scary.

Oh, I also found a new friend in my string beans last night. An skinny little earthworm about an inch long. Not quite sure what to do with him, I herded him into a cup with some decomposing lettuce and let him chill for a while as I sorted my vegetables. I couldn't just kill it, like I had with the caterpillar and grub I discovered earlier this season. I've always had a soft spot for earthworms, given how beneficial they are in the garden and on the end of a fishing line. No fish to catch, so I decided to let this little guy live to see another day. Besides, I'd already gone to the trouble of fishing him out of my veggies and making him a little home. I'd feel like a terrible person if I disposed of him now.

My burst of compassion and humanity translated into a trek down five flights of stairs to a patch of moist dirt, where I gently shook him out and make sure he burrowed away safely under his lettuce scrap. Since I had to take five flights of stairs down, this meant I needed to climb back up five flights of stairs to get home, which, by the way, is no small feat for an out of shape person like yours truly. At 3am.

I have done my gym and civic duty for the day (week?)

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 :)

CSA Share #11

The drought is really hitting Free Bird Farm pretty hard...

...but the tomato, I am pleased to say, is alive and well!

This week's share:
- 1 bunch basil
- 3/4 lb green beans
- 4 large tomatoes
- 3 lbs salad tomatoes
- 3 red bell peppers

CWTC: all of it? If I had to pick one, I'd probably pick the large tomatoes. They look like they'd be amazing on a piece of foccacia with basil and olive oil drizzled on top.
TAV: bell peppers. These are ordinary peppers, but I think I'll experiment with charring them over my open gas stove to see if I can get the equivalent of a roasted bell pepper.
WTF: none! I like it all :D

I'm really excited about the green beans too. They're such a treat when they're as fresh as they are in my CSA share.

Free Bird Farm purposely put a bunch of basil with the bumper tomato crop this week in the hopes that some of us would get proactive and make some tomato sauce. If you recall, we've been getting a LOT of garlic and onions in the last few CSA shares, so this really is a great suggestion on their part. I could even make a batch of spicy tomato sauce with the jalapenos! Yum.

I need a break from all the partying, so I think I might devote my weekend to tomato sauce and soup making escapades. Both tomato sauce and soup freeze well in ziploc bags and they'll be welcome additions to my winter meals when CSA shares become a distant, wispy memory. I'm already excited. I really need to get some ground pepper though. Tomato sauce without ground pepper just seems wrong. It's like wearing sneakers without socks. >.<

CSA Share #7

Alright, I've resigned myself to perpetual busyness. I'll be moving to a new apartment this week and I'll need to figure out a new routine for bringing my produce home. Seems like I'm not the only one staying busy though - our farm has their hands full trying to combat the record drought and heat.

A few posts back, I touched on last year's season and how the heavy rainfall (and Hurricane Irene) wiped out a lot of farms and CSAs. The idea of rain being a bad thing for crops honestly didn't really cross my mind until I read last year's Free Bird Farm blog posts. However, droughts and excessive heat are nothing new to me (yay Arizona). When our CSA sends out the farmer's updates on how weather is affecting what's ending up in our share boxes, I definitely empathize.

On a related note, corn fields in particular seem to be getting hit pretty hard. From what I remember in my plant genetics lab research days from high school, corn is quite heat-hardy but needs a lot of water. Not only does this mean no sweet corn for me :( but it means less corn for everyone. Including animals. So...we can probably expect higher corn, beef, pork, and chicken prices next year. Ah well. Good thing I don't eat much meat these days anyways. :)

This week's share was pretty good (no more broccoli yay!):
- another bunch of beets
- parsley
- 3/4 lb green beans
- 3 medium red onions
- 1 bunch carrots
- 1 Italian eggplant
- 1 red cabbage

Extras (not included in the original distribution list but available at pickup):
- 2 patty pan squash
- 1 yellow zucchini

Alrighty then. This week's roundup:
CWTC: GREEN BEANS! I love green beans. I rarely manage to cook them - I end up eating them way too fast. I don't even really need dressing or dip for these, as long as they're fresh. Just wash, snap off the tips, and voila. Snacks.
WTF: parsley...
TAV: Eggplant. I love eggplant in Chinese food, but I've never really eaten it on my own. I have no idea how to cook it. Everyone loves to hate on eggplant for some reason, but I'm determined to make this work. Just watch me!

Side note: I love how much purple there is in this share! The onions, cabbage, eggplant, and even the beets are all various lovely shades of red-purple to deep purple-black. Pretty!

Side note of shame: I still have a lot of leftover produce from last week. I'm falling behind...help! I still have the romaine lettuce, zucchini and squash, chard, broccoli (for the last two weeks, actually), and garlic scapes from a while back. I think I should invite my friends over for a housewarming party. Little will they know it's really just a cover for using up all my extra produce. I feel like it's not a good sign when you start viewing your friends as broccoli vegetable disposals.