2017 CSA Week 2

Hello fellow CSA members!

I hope you enjoyed your first week's share. If you liked last week, you're sure to like this week. I was surprised by the variety so early in the season when I got the email from Ford. Here's what is coming your way:

Produce	Storage	Longevity
strawberries	unwashed, in fridge	2-5 days
radishes	unwashed, in fridge, can remove greens	up to 1 week
lettuce	unwashed, in fridge	1 week
bok choy	unwashed, in fridge	1 week
tatsoi	unwashed, in fridge	1 week
kale	Washed and thoroughly dried or unwashed, sealed in a container in fridge	1 week

Please note, the strawberries this week will be from the same farm as last week and are high quality but not USDA certified organic. It is disappointing when crops don't turn out how we hoped but this was an effort to give CSA members some strawberries we've grown to expect and love in our first shares. We're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

For your planning purposes Ford also wanted me to let you know that we will be seeing more and more greens each week until about mid-June when tomatoes and squash will be thrown in the mix. So prepare for tons of beautiful leaves in your shares in the coming weeks!

And so I must confess now: I'm not very good at eating a lot of greens. I told myself I was going to come clean with you all but I didn't think it would happen this early in the season. Many weeks there are more greens in my share than my taste buds care for. I love a good salad. Really I do. Really. I can eat and enjoy some of it, but many a kale leaf has wilted in my fridge. When I get some of our more green-heavy shares it feels daunting to me, the only actual leaf-eater in my house, to find a way to enjoy them all before my week runs out. (This is why I appreciate sweet potatoes, y'all. They give a girl some time.)

I couldn't believe how good the
lettuce still looked.

This year my game plan for greens includes a lot of green smoothies. I first tried them last year and truly love them. My favorite way to eat greens. I wrote a general recipe and some tips on the blog last year. I said it then and will say it again: No one could have been more reluctant to put handfuls of fresh greens into a blender and then drink them, but I did and it was delicious.

When I saw the list for all the greens this week I knew I'd be making some green smoothies. I actually started craving one. I decided to make a fruit smoothie for breakfast this morning. Except the morning got away from me and by the time I started making my breakfast it was after 11 am. I was lamenting not having my share yet. I had hoped to make a few salads with the lettuce, but life got in the way and it was still in my fridge. I had read that some people put actual lettuce in their green smoothies (not spinach or kale). I didn't like the idea but I wanted to add some more nutrition for what had become my brunch smoothie, so I made it a green smoothie with two small heads of the CSA lettuce and a heaping scoop of peanut butter. (Sounds gross, but try it. Seriously.) It was SO good! Lettuce. In a smoothie. And bonus: My one year old - who hates lettuce leaves - agreed with me!


And here's my second confession: All this hate talk about greens, but I adore bok choy. I thought about what word to use and I do believe adore is most appropriate. (Whatever that says about me.) I think it is beautiful and I love the crunchiness of the stalk paired with the leaves. It is good in salad. Good in stir-fry. Good in a green smoothie. Over the winter I found a bok choy recipe on the back of a bag of egg noodles and was saving it for the next time I would get bok choy in the CSA. So, here it is:

Egg White Pasta with Roasted Turkey and Bok Choy

Serves 4-6

12 oz extra wide egg noodles
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp Asian chili sauce (or sriracha)
12 oz. turkey fillets (I bet you could use chicken)
Salt and black pepper
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp garlic, chopped
1 lb baby bok choy, thinly sliced on the bias
3/4 cup green onions, sliced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine hoisin sauce, soy sauce and sriracha.

Season turkey with salt and pepper. Heat a large oven-proof frying pan over high [heat]. Add vegetable oil and sear turkey for about 1 minute a side, until browned. Remove from heat and coat top and sides of turkey with 1 Tbsp of sauce mixture. Place in oven and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, until the internal temperature is 165 degrees. Transfer to a cutting board and let stand for 5 minutes, then thinly slice.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving about 1/2 cup pasta cooking water.

Scrape any black bits out of frying pan, add sesame oil and garlic and sauté on medium for 1 minute. Add bok choy and cook for 2 minutes, until wilted. Add pasta and remaining sauce and toss to coat, loosening with pasta cooking water as needed. Add roasted turkey and green onions and serve.

Refrigerate any leftovers.

Enjoy your beautiful, nutritious, delicious share this week! And I always love hearing from fellow members. amyrosekarr@gmail.com

I leave you with a picture of tonight's dinner because it was delicious and thanks in large part to Sustainable Harvest Farm. We grilled out some T-bones from the winter meat share and roasted some sweet and white potatoes with summer squash and zucchini. I can't believe I get to eat like this.