What's coming up in the first few weeks of your CSA Box?
From High Ground: Radishes, Salad, Spinach (?), cilantro, and in
April: great Strawberries!
From Mariquita Farm: 3 colors of Carrots, Fennel, Leeks, Collard
Greens, 2-3 colors of Beets, Gold Chard, Spigarello (Italian cooking green),
Rapini, Gold Turnips, Green Garlic
So, as a shareholder/box recipient, what am I thinking? How do I process this information and get ready to receive and make use of the food? The following list happens fast -- mere seconds -- but gives you an idea of what goes through my mind each week when I receive the list of food.
- What is all this stuff? The first thing I did was scan the list and decide if I knew each of the items. Spigarello and gold turnips were definitely new ... not sure if we've had rapini, but I know I've heard of it.
- Do we like this stuff? As recognition takes place, or not, I'm also considering our appreciation for the item.
Love: Strawberries, beets, and green garlic.
Like: Spinach, carrots, fennel, leeks, collard greens, and chard.
Not Sure: Spigarello, rapini
Ambivalent: Radishes, lettuce, cilantro.
Don't Like: none! - What is it? If I don't know a fruit or vegetable, I look it up. Rapini, it turns out, is another name for broccoli rabe -- we've had it, we like it. Spigarello is also related to broccoli, only leafier and more concentrated. Sounds similar to rapini. Add both to the 'like' category.
- What are we going to do with it? Initial ideas include:
- Strawberries - eat as is or clean and freeze for smoothies.
- Beets - roast, toss with vinegar and salt.
- Green Garlic - risotto!
- Spinach - toss in with virtually anything that needs an extra dose of veggies.
- Carrots - eat as is.
- Fennel - fennel veloute (roux based "creamy" soup).
- Leeks - add to fennel soup.
- Collard Greens - braise.
- Chard - braise or toss in with anything that needs an extra dose of veggies.
- Spigarello - saute.
- Rapini - saute with brown butter and balsamic vinegar.
- Radishes - no idea yet...
- Lettuce - salad if we have to...
- Cilantro - cilantro chutney to freeze for future use.
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I just subscribed to your feed. I have been providing recipes to coordinate with the harvest at my csa where it all started, in the Hudson Valley. 20 minutes from the Berkshires, I joined 10 years ago and didn't know what to do with (what IS it?) things like kohlrabi, celeriac, or mustard greens. So in solving my problem, I found a new calling. The members love it, and I have been adapting Julia's recipes from their e-letter for mnay years too. Good luck and keep cooking & writing about it.
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