WHAT I’M DOING WITH THE SHARE PRODUCE

My personal CSA “box” challenge for this week:

OREGANO: with such a bounty of oregano, I am going to freeze half of it and and dehydrate the other half.  To freeze, fill ice cube tray wells 2/3 full with herbs, pour in extra virgin olive oil to cover, freeze over night, then remove to freezer bags and store in the freezer.
SPINACH:  A salad, of course, a soup, and a smoothie
KALE: Ah! I do love kale. There isn’t really that much, so I will probably make massaged marinated kale, and throw in some of kohlrabi leaves for good measure.
SUGAR SNAP PEAS : I’ll just have these for a snack. They are already in my bag to go to work today.
 KOHLRABI: I’m going to make kohlrabi ravioli with jalapeno smoked cheeze – I’ll just slice the kohlrabi on the mandoline, add a dab of the cheeze, fold over, and pop in my mouth.
GARLIC SCAPES: I’ll finely chop some and add them to the kale, then make a little garlic scape pesto with some of them, to eat over zucchini “pasta”.
RHUBARB: I know I’ll be making a strawberry/rhubarb smoothie or two, and I will likely halve the strawberry/rhubarb pie recipe

MORE RECIPES FOR PRODUCE IN THIS SHARE

RHUBARB
RAW STRAWBERRY RHUBARB SMOOTHIE
RAW STRAWBERRY RHUBARB SMOOTHIE #2
SIMPLE RHUBARB SMOOTHIE (Rhubarb Smoothie #3)
RAW RHUBARB COMPOTE
RAW VEGAN STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE

KOHLRABI
You can simply chop up kohlrabi and add it to any salad you are making, or you can thinly slice it on a mandolin and use two slices to make a ravioli with nut cheeze (it will stick together), or you can use one of these recipes
FERMENTED RAW JALAPENO-GARLIC DILL KOHLRABI
KOHLRABI APPLE SLAW
KOHLRABI BEET CARROT SALAD
QUICK AND EASY RAW KOHLRABI PICKLES
KOHLRABI RAWVIOLI WITH PINE NUT CHEEZ
KOHLRABI CHOPPED SALAD
WHAT TO DO WITH KOHLRABI LEAVES

KALE
You can just tear kale leaves and use them in a salad, either alone, or with other greens, or you can try out some of these recipes . One of my favorite recipes is marinated kale mixed with wakame seaweed (or a seaweed mix), and other basic salad ingredients (onion, bell pepper, sprouts, garlic, etc) with sesame oil and apple cider vinegar dressing.
KALE CHIPS – TWO KINDS
THAI GREEN CURRY KALE CHIPS
CASHEW KALE CHEEZE ON TOMATO SLICES
SESAME KALE AND WALNUT/KALE PESTO
WHAT TO DO WITH GREENS (KALE/COLLARDS/SPINACH/TURNIP GREENS/BEET GREENS/KOHRABI GREENS, ETC)

SPINACH
CASHEW SPINACH CHEEZE ON TOMATOES
RAW TOMATO SPINACH SOUP

GARLIC SCAPES
GARLIC SCAPE PESTO

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BACK HOME & BACK IN THE KITCHEN

POST #846
I’m home at last! The hurricane was coming in, my family valiantly worked to get me out of the Outer Banks, into Virginia Beach, onto a bus to Newport News, VA, and then I had a 10 hr. train odyssey back to New York City (Luckily, I had an arsenal of books and magazines, and…the train had electrical outlets and wi-fi, so I didn’t get a wink of sleep on the all-day train!)

After a long night’s recuperative sleep, I woke up bright and early this morning, did some work around the house, ran around the neighborhood scoring batteries and flashlights and some kale (I figure 2 lbs of kale will make enough kale chips that I can live through any power outage). Everyone’s hurricane-crazed here (insane lines with people in stores talking to total strangers (me) while standing in interminable lines that kept seeming to get longer or else not moving at all, or else both.

This evening, I opened the last jar of kohlrabi/garlic/jalapeno pickles and the last jar of cabbage/jalapeno sauerkraut.

I’d been unhappy about the first jar of kohlrabi, but, after a week, the second jar turned out fine (we ate them up at the beach last week!), and I had left the third jar to see what would happen if they went 3 or 4 weeks. Opening the jar today, I was faced with some busy fizzing, and, when I tried the pickles, I was glad to know that longer works very well. These pickles are even better.

The sauerkraut was a very happy experience! The first jar did nothing for me, but this jar (at 3-4 weeks) turned out very tasty. Yumm!

Right now, I have a jar of lentil sprouts working, and jar of sunflower seed sprouts. Tomorrow morning, after I make up the kale chips and stow them in the dehydrator, I think I will make some sunflower seed crackers from a recipe in Rose Calabro’s book, Living in the Raw … haven’t had those for a while (hopefully, we won’t lose power, and I’ll be able to get them dehydrated for 12 hrs).

BRINGING FOOD TO MOM FOR A CHANGE

POST #845
I made it down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina with almost everything I had left with (I ended up sleeping through almost the entire trip and only ate a few of the crackers I had with me). Even the kale chips made it.
So, yesterday afternoon, after we had gotten settled and were recouping from the long drive, just sitting around talking over a glass of wine, I dragged out the fermented kohlrabi, the fermented carrot sticks, and the kale chips. At first, my parents were wary, yet my Mom, being a good Mom, was willing to try the kohlrabi and carrots. Then she wanted more. Then she wanted my Dad to try them. Then he wanted more. Then I showed her the kale chips, she tried them, and she wanted more. I always take “voluntary wanting more” as a good sign. My little pride sign lit up (it’s always nice when your Mom thinks you have done something well). Today, when my Dad and I got back from church, I found that Mom had made salads and chopped liberal amounts of the kohlrabi and carrots into the salad. Ding!Ding!Ding! Mom always makes a good salad, but, with the fermented vegetables, and a dose of the fermented salsa as a dressing.. the salad was a super-hit, even with me (remember me? the raw vegan who doesn’t like salads?)

GRAND RE-OPENING! I learn longer can be better

POST #840
I put up some kohlrabi/garlic/dill/jalapeno pickles on October 5.  4 days later, I opened the smallest jar, but left the other two jars to ferment a bit longer.

To tell the truth, I didn’t much care for the 4-day pickles. They were not very spicy at all.  I am very very glad that I left the other 2 jars for a while longer.  

Last night, I opened one of the jars and tasted the pickles. … and tasted some more…. and some more… dang! Those things were super ultra really very wonderfully gooooood!  I put some in a baggy to take to take to a woman at work who has been bringing me herbs from her garden.  She tracked me down later to rave about the pickles.  It turned out that she had shared her pickles with someone else (a person I don’t know) who also tracked me down and raved about them.   Okay. I get it. Some things are better if you wait longer.  

I’m taking the remaining jar on vacation with me to see how my Mom likes them (I think my Dad will like them, unless he has mysteriously gone off spicy)  I’m also going to pack up a bunch of these pickles for snacks on my train trip Down South (only problem is that they are “very aromatic” — well, that might not be a problem… people might smell them and not want to sit next to me on the train.)

I still do like 3-day sauerkraut, though, so I’ll open the sauerkraut I put up on Sunday night tomorrow, and pack it with me, too.

ANOTHER GRAND OPENING – the Fermented Carrots & Kohlrabi

POST #835
I’ve opened the jar of cultured dill/garlic/jalapeno/ginger carrots and one of the jars of dill/garlic/jalapeno kohlrabi.  Both unexpected tastes, but both good.  I took them both back to work with me this evening and shared them around – got good reviews on both of them!  Yea!

I’m leaving the other two jars of kohlrabi for a little longer to see what will happen.

Meanwhile, I’ll be working my way through these delicious cultured vegetables for a few days. Yumm!

10/04/12 CSA SHARE: What they say we will get and what I am thinking of doing with it

POST #862
Here is what they say we will get:
Escarole
Mesclun Lettuce Mix with Baby Arugula
Baby Bok Choi
Japanese Salad Turnips
Green Boston Lettuce
Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes
Toscano Kale
Kohlrabi

So! We’re back to leaves again! Just means that I have to get to the share distribution early early early, so I can trade some of those leaves for maybe more kale, more bok choi or more turnips, and maybe more kohlrabi.

I’ll make cultured kohlrabi with whatever kohlrabi I get (probably “dill pickle” style). When it’s in the jar, I’ll tell you the recipe.

The kale will likely go to kale chips. I haven’t had any in a while. I won’t buy them commercially-made — too pricey.

6/28/12 CSA SHARE DISTRIBUTION #5

 POST #758

Here is what we got and what I came home with:

Zucchini – 4 pcs
Cipollini Onions – 1 bun
Fennel -OR- Kohlrabi – 1 bun…We got broccoli instead, I traded for more kale
Baby Spinach – 1 bag
Radicchio – 1 hd
Swiss Chard – 1 bun………………I traded for more kale
Toscano Kale – 1 bun
Red Boston Lettuce – 1 hd…..…We got a HUGE bunch of escarole instead

I traded the broccoli because it was mostly yellow, and I don’t care for broccoli that much anyway.

I kept the radicchio because I have never eaten radicchio, and I can’t know if I don’t like it until I try it.  Wish me luck.

I was going to trade the onions for something, but they are so nice and big – I have some store-bought onions, which will last for a while, but these nice fat onions will be good in salads for the next week, I think.

I just made it through last week’s escarole (gasp!), and now I’m saddled with more.  Oh well. Wraps worked last week, I can deal with a salad or two, and then, of course, there are (yuck) green smoothies.  (I was just checking my skin today to see if I have turned green from all the green smoothies occasioned by the farms insidious desire for me to consume green leaves.)

I will be up by Fairway market tomorrow afternoon, so I will stop in there and pick up some cabbage (I’m out of sauerkraut), tomatoes, mushrooms (I want to make a cashew/jalapeno/mushroom cheeze filling for kohlrabi ravioli with the kohlrabi I still have left), and some more lentils to sprout (I really do love lentil sprouts)

BTW, last week, I bought this bag of sprouting grass for the cats from the supermarket, and it turned out to be wheat mixed with vermiculite.  I opened the bag wrong, so I ended up putting a paper towel in my old Kitchen Garden sprouter.  I have never seen wheat sprout that fast!  It grew to be short grass (standing up and everything) in 2 days.  I watered it twice a day for about 5 days, then set it out for the cats, who would have nothing to do with it – oh well, I guess they are not into healthy food.  Meanwhile, I saw it was so easy, I am thinking about growing wheat grass for me (mind you, I am still in the thinking stage. I could probably put a window box inside the kitchen window – our only window that gets sun).

It’s really hot here, but, I’m happy to say that my last living fan (2 died over the winter) is cooling my room off nicely.  Yea!

6/28/12 CSA SHARE: What they say we will get

POST #757

This is what they say we will get:

Zucchini – several pcs
Cipollini Onions – 1 bun
Fennel -OR- Kohlrabi – 1 bun
Baby Spinach – 1 bag
Radicchio – 1 hd
Swiss Chard – 1 bun
Toscano Kale – 1 bun
Red Boston Lettuce – 1 hd

I’m looking forward to some zucchini pasta and kale chips.

LAST SHARE OF THE SEASON! What they said, what I got, what I took home, and what I’m going to do with it

Here is the reality of our last share, and how I made out

WHAT THEY SAID	WHAT I GOT/WHAT I TRADED FOR
Potatoes – 2 lbs	Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes– 5 lbs	Sweet Potatoes
Carrots – 3 lbs	Carrots
Red Kale – 1 bun	Kale
Rutabaga – 1-2 pcs	Rutabaga
Watermelon Radish – 1-3 pcs	Red Radishes/Watermelon Radishes
Cilantro – 1/8 lb	NONE!!! A nice member gave me hers
Kohlrabi – 1 pc	Kohlrabi
Butternut Squash – 1 pc	Bok Choi/ Cilantro
Broccoli – 1-2 pc	Broccoli/ Sweet Potatoes

I was slow!  Some guy went into the share box and took out about 8 rutabagas! How is that possible? Did he trade his entire box for rutabagas?
(or is it that they only watch when I pick things out of the box, to make
sure that I put a share portion in for the share portion I take out)   Oh well! Maybe he knows somebody.

I was hoping to score some extra kale, but it was not to
be.  I’ll have money for food in 2 weeks, and I’ll get some then, if they have it in the cheap market (actually, it is probably better – I’ve found that kale is not very good for me right now – I hope that will change, because I do love my kale).   This kind of kale is not very good for kale chips – it is not very “solid”… how can I say… the leaves are fingery.  It will chop well, but it is not large enough to make kale chips.

My kohlrabi is a nice size – I will make ravioli with it.  Come to think of it, those watermelon radishes might make nice ravioli, as well.

I did keep the potatoes because Mrs. Murphy, next door, seems to enjoy them (I tried to give her a mess of sweet potatoes, but she would have none of it, yet, when I offer her potatoes, she waxes ecstatic – she’s 83 – she can blow me off is she wants to – I drop by and offer her parts of my share, and she tells me what she’ll take.  Too bad we did not have a lot of potatoes this year.  She doesn’t much care for greens, which is what we mostly get).

I am really excited about the more sweet potatoes, since my
Thanksgiving sweet potato recipe turned out so well, and, yet, gave me a couple
of new ideas to try (and, fortunately, I have most of the ingredients in-house,
so I won’t have to spend much to do the new ideas)  I am also going to experiment with
some “few ingredient” recipes with them, since I have so many.

12/2/10 CSA SHARE: this is the last one for the year

This is the last share of the season. Boo hoo!  On top of that, it looks like I won’t be able to afford to pay for the winter share before the cut-off date (paying for the airline ticket home for Christmas wiped out my last paycheck’s discretionary funds, and rent will wipe out my next paycheck — oh well. I will have to get used to shopping for food again)

This is what they say we will get:

Potatoes – 2 lbs
Sweet Potatoes – 5 lbs
Carrots – 3 lbs
Red Kale – 1 bunch
Rutabaga – 1-2 pieces
Watermelon Radish – 1-3 pieces
Cilantro – 1/8 lb bag
Kohlrabi – 1 piece
Butternut Squash – 1 piece
Broccoli – 1-2 pieces

This share is good because many of these vegetables will store for a while.
My Thanksgiving sweet potatoes came out so well that I will be happy to have more sweet potatoes to do up that way(I did the “Amazing Sweet Potatoes” recipe in my holiday recipes). I think I want to add walnuts the next time.
Kale Chips? probably
Kohlrabi makes good ravioli, as do larger radishes (will have to wait and see what the radishes look like.
Rutabaga works up nicely with my beet recipe
Squash and an apple and some spices… yummy soup. Put some cilantro on it.
I’ll trade off the broccoli if I can (I’ve just come to learn that broccoli is not all that good for me — that explains why I have been steadfastly avoiding my former favorite vegetable this year — I had been wondering about why I *just didn’t want broccoli*!)