It’s that time of the week again; CSA Tuesday!
Today we got golden beets, potatoes, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cilantro and celery.
Brussels sprouts, still on the stalk!
Fresh cauliflower.
Golden beets.
Cilantro.
It’s been so busy, that it may have to wait until Sunday to get cooked and eaten. We still have leftovers from last week’s haul!
photos: Spencer Jones
Today is CSA Tuesday, and our selection is a bit Thanksgiving- esque in nature.
We got sweet potatoes, white potatoes, onions, thyme, turnips and several bunches of kale. We also got more radishes, to add to the 2 bunches that we didn’t eat last week.
Turnips look like big radishes, but have a much different flavor!
Potatoes and onions in various shades of reds and browns. Perhaps I will roast them with the turnips and some herbs for a comforting winter dish.
Fresh herbs never seem to last very long, so I think I will try this trick I posted a while ago, for frozen herb butter:
http://indigo-jones.com/2012/07/18/herbal-essence/
I will to roast the radishes, for an another interesting side dish, as previously posted last summer:
http://indigo-jones.com/2012/07/02/unrecipe-of-the-week-47/
I’m off to saute some kale for dinner…that should pretty much take care of this week’s inventory!
All of us in New York are hunkering down and waiting for Hurricane Sandy to have her way with us. Sunday was spent preparing lots of leftover ingredients into edible dishes.
The leeks, celery and potatoes became a delicious potato leek soup; rich and creamy, without the added calories of cream.
The pumpkins were roasted and pureed. A pumpkin tart was quickly assembled, using what I had in the house. The traditional evaporated milk was hastily replaced by coconut milk, with no adverse reactions to the texture or flavor.
The leftover roasted pumpkin puree will become pumpkin gnocchi tomorrow night, assuming I can see to cook it!
There is still a giant cabbage awaiting it’s fate. I think the carrots and celery can get slivered in with the cabbage and tossed with an avocado dressing,assuming we have electricity for the blender. I guess sooner or later, they will be soft enough to blend by hand!
The flashlights have batteries, the bathtubs are filled with emergency water, and the candles and matches are laid out on the dining table.
We are as ready as we can be for Sandy’s wrath.
We hope all of our east coast readers weather the storm safely.
We will continue to post as long as we have the internet connection to do so.
Leave a comment to share your hurricane stories here…
It’s CSA Tuesday, and I am a little unexcited about today’s selection.
There is a head of lettuce, some potatoes, 2 types of squash and a pumpkin.
There is an herb that looks like mint and smells lemony. I think its lemon balm.
I will try that tonight with some sautéed seafood and see how it goes.
The pumpkin will hopefully yield a small pie, something B has been requesting since last Thanksgiving.
Any ideas for the squash?
I just got my first CSA package and I am so excited!
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and each Tuesday between now and mid December, I will pick up a selection of produce, which comes from a local farm.
Today’s bounty was pretty straightforward:
6 potatoes
6 onions
4 ears of corn
1 head of lettuce
2 pounds of plum tomatoes
16 heirloom cherry tomatoes
1 bunch of lemongrass
Hmmm. Lemongrass. There is the challenge I have been hoping for!
When I signed up for this program last spring, my goals were to support a local farm, always have fresh produce on hand, and to expand my horizons by having to experiment with a vegetable or fruit I was not used to using.
I am going to spend a little quality time with my Asian-fusion cookbooks, and will share my recipe(s) using lemongrass with you shortly.
We have written here about the “Dirty Dozen,” a list of produce that has the highest levels of pesticides and contamination. It is recommended that these foods be organic wherever possible.
There is another list called the “Clean 15”, which have the lowest pesticide load, and can be enjoyed in the conventional varieties.
These are:
Onions
Sweet corn
Pineapples
Avocado
Sweet peas
Mangoes
Eggplant
Cantaloupe
Kiwi
Watermelon
Sweet potatoes
Grapefruit
Mushrooms
Asparagus
Other foods, such as broccoli, cabbage and tomatoes have more recently tested cleaner as well, due to less pest threats, and therefore less spraying.
Many of these fruits and vegetables have a protective outer layer that gets peeled or removed before eating. This helps eliminate the toxins, which are largely on the outside of the food.
The current list of the most harmful foods tested positive for at least 47 different chemicals, and as many as 67. Buying organic insures that the fruit and vegetables are not treated with harmful pesticides.
Foods that should be organic:
Celery
Strawberries
Peaches
Apples
Blueberries
Nectarines
Sweet bell peppers
Spinach, kale and collard greens
Cherries
Potatoes
Grapes
Lettuce
This lists were compiled by the Environmental Working Group, which is an organization made up of scientists, researchers and policymakers. The data used was supplied by the United States Department of Agriculture’s tests for pesticide residue on fresh produce.
photos: Glasshouse Images
This time of the year, our thoughts turn to latkes, those fried potato pancakes that signal the celebration of Hannukah. They are a bit messy,as is anything that involves a pan with hot oil, but they are delicious! We love to challenge the status quo, and try different ingredients to shake it up. Here is a traditional potato latke recipe, and some variations to try:
Potato Latkes
Peel and grate 6 medium potatoes, and drain them in a colander, pressing to release as much liquid as possible. ( use a food processor if you have one!)
Finely chop a small onion and add it to the potatoes. Mix in 1/4 cup flour, a pinch of baking powder, a generous sprinkling of salt and some pepper to taste. Mix in 2 large eggs. You can do this by hand, for a more rustic texture, or put back into the food processor or blender for a smoother texture.
Heat about 1/8″ or more vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Drop a large tablespoonful of batter into the pan, and flatten it with the spoon. Fry on both sides until brown and crispy.
Drain on paper towels and keep warm in the oven until all the pancakes are ready.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream (or lowfat yoghurt) and apple sauce. Enjoy!
Mix it up: try substituting sweet potatoes, or zucchini for the pototoes in this recipe, for a yummy and less traditional version. I would recommend hand mixing these to maintain a more interesting texture.
TIP: You can make these an hour or 2 in advance and reheat them on a wire rack in the oven and they will maintain their crispness! Place the wire racks on top of a cookie sheet to catch the excess oil that might drip off.
Photo: Glasshouse Images
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