2016 CSA Week 3

Hello fellow CSA members!

Are you staying warm? These unseasonable cold snaps are sometimes a nuisance or minor inconvenience for most of us, but they can cause a lot of extra work for our farmers. Ford and one of his employees, Shawn, were out late last night making sure our tomatoes would be protected from potential frost. Bless their hearts! (I'm a southern girl, so I can say that.) SHF tomatoes are some of the world's best (in my opinion) and I am thankful for their hard work in getting them to my kitchen. (Did you know they also grow greenhouse tomatoes? I was able to enjoy them with my winter share last year!)

Enough about what we'll get in the coming weeks. What about what is in THIS share? It's another good one! I buy bagged salads a lot, so I am excited to get our first bag of mixed salad greens of this season.

Produce	Storage	Longevity
strawberries	unwashed, in fridge	2-5 days
carrots	unwashed, in fridge	2 weeks
lettuce	unwashed, in fridge	1 week
salad mix (kale, tatsoi, greens)	in fridge	1 week

Here is a link from a previous blog post with some information about tatsoi.

Here is a recipe for strawberry relish with herb crusted chicken (and it also uses fresh oregano) that I found last week but never actually tried. Maybe you will get a chance to!

CSA member Samantha Otte shared this recipe (a hit with two young picky eaters!) with me this morning for bean-less chili that uses some of last week's sweet potatoes. The recipe allows for your choice of a range of meat or meat-substitute options. It would be a good choice during these cooler evenings!

Have a great week and remember I love to hear from fellow CSA members with tips, tricks, recipes, successes, questions and concerns!

2016 CSA Week 2: In the Kitchen

Hello fellow CSA members!
Did you love seeing this week's beautiful share in your fridge?!?! Our friend/house sitter/dog sitter had ours already stored away for us when we returned home and I couldn't help but smile when I opened the refrigerator. (Your wait is ALMOST over Saturday pick-up members!)

I had no idea what I was going to do with those herbs... Until another CSA member sent me an email with a recipe and the description that it "sounds really weird" but everyone at a meeting loved them. I'm up for eating anything and clicked the link. Apricot, Cornmeal and Sage Cookies. Hmmm. THEN I saw the first ingredient. A whole stick of butter. I was sold. And nervous.

I'm not a very good cookie baker. Years ago, after many failed attempts I decided to stick with store-bought cookie batter and eating other people's cookies. Actually, when I learned I was pregnant last year I began a several month mission to master a homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe just so Matthias wouldn't be ashamed of his mom's cookies. I was a little afraid I'd try this recipe and somehow the cookies would turn out burnt or hard or brittle or something not good. That somehow I would ruin another perfectly good cookie recipe and then have to share about it with all of you.

Maybe all that prenatal practice paid off, or maybe these cookies are just that easy AND delicious. But, seriously, these things are SO good! I whipped them up in just a few minutes. And they turned out wonderfully! Make them as soon as you can and heap on thanks to Corbin-area CSA member Jodie Hoskins for introducing them to our lives. She said they would be good for a brunch. That's true. Or any time of day. (Just call any cookie a breakfast pastry and you can start eating it as soon as you get out of bed!) I am sure I will be making these over and over and over again.

Jodie also shared with me this wonderful link about constructing a salad (with your lettuce and carrots), along with a great orange basil dressing recipe. I really love recipes that leave a lot of room for creativity and substitutions, just giving a foundation to work from. I feel like this one does just that, leaving a lot of room for veggies, nuts and extras of your choice to add in.

I had thought I would just dry the herbs this week but after finding such a spectacular use for the sage, I couldn't leave the oregano out. So, I chopped it up and added it to a chicken dish. This recipe doesn't usually have fresh oregano, but it sure fit in nicely. You could add the oregano to many dishes or even salads.

If you're interested in the recipe I used, it originally came from my friend, Tifany, though several of my friends use it. And I'm not sure I ever had a written copy.

Tomato Pesto Chicken

Boneless skinless chicken breasts
Spaghetti or tomato sauce of your choice
Pesto
Cream Cheese

Put one layer of chicken flat in a casserole dish. Place a dollop of cream cheese on each piece of chicken. Spread pesto on each piece of cream cheese. Pour tomato sauce on top. (I like to use a lot of sauce to dip -- sop -- bread in.) Bake in 350 degree oven 45-50 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

I understand that can only loosely be called a recipe, so please ask any questions you may have.

This might be a good time for me to say that you all are just wonderful! I began this week thinking I would dry the herbs, but instead I found the inspiration to use them fresh. But drying them is still a GREAT option! I also planned to do some internet research on drying herbs to share with all of you but another CSA member, Arden Turner, helped me out by volunteering her simple and effective drying technique: Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Spread herbs out in a single layer and cover with parchment paper.  Set it on top of your refrigerator (or top of your kitchen cabinet) and then in a week or so you will have dried herbs. Scrape them off the stem and store in an air tight jar (like a small mason jar or jelly jar). Arden says the taste of freshly dried herbs in recipes is so much better than the store bought version. I have only used fresh dried herbs a couple times, but I agree!

Fresh food is wonderful. But preserved food is wonderful too. Sometimes we preserve food because we want to have some later. Sometimes we preserve it because we just don't have time to use it fresh. Illness, overtime and even impromptu dinner invitations can't be planned for and sometimes our week and our meal plan goes out the window. Many times it is easy to dry herbs or freeze fruits and veggies with just a few added minutes in the kitchen. (Those strawberries freeze wonderfully!) But sometimes time just gets away from us.

I want to say this early in the season. Sometimes life happens and your food spoils before you're able to eat it, or figure out how to prepare it or even spend the extra time to freeze it, dry it or preserve it in some way. My advice? Don't beat yourself up. Cut yourself some slack and try again next week. Or the next week. You are already making great strides in supporting local agriculture and putting fresh, healthy options in your kitchen. If your dream diet for your family isn't fully realized, you still deserve major bonus points for making an effort.

As always I welcome all comments, feedback, tips and tricks at amyrosekarr@gmail.com.

Have a great weekend!

2016 CSA Week 2

Greetings from Washington DC, fellow CSA members!
Our little family is making the most of a work meeting my husband has and will be doing a little exploring (and eating!) in our nation's capital for a couple of days. I am excited for the fresh veggies (and strawberries!) that will be awaiting our arrival home AND am happy to tell all of you about all the goodies in this week's share. SPOILER ALERT: If you've never eaten Sustainable Harvest Farm carrots, your wait is over:

More carrots?!?

Produce	Storage	Longevity
strawberries	unwashed, in fridge	2-5 days
cornmeal (yellow variety)	sealed in bag or container, in fridge	weeks
carrots	unwashed, in fridge	2 weeks
lettuce	unwashed, in fridge	1 week
sweet potatoes	in a dark, cool spot	1-2 weeks
fresh herbs (sage and oregano)	wrapped in paper towel, in fridge	3-4 days

As soon as Ford told me about all the things in this week's basket my mind started racing for all the things I could make. Local, farm fresh carrots are such a treat to me and these carrots are some of the best. We got a bunch in one of our winter CSA shares and I loved them. So much so that I pureed them into baby food and made them Matthias' first "solid" food! Maybe I'll share some with him this time. Maybe not. My mom was mentioning carrot cake yesterday, so I would love to find the time and energy to do that this week. Homemade cakes can be hard! If I don't get around to it, one of you should and tell me how it turns out! Or send me a piece.

Sometimes I try to see how many CSA ingredients I can use in one meal and any time I get carrots and sweet potatoes, I think of stew. For some reason African Peanut Stew popped in my head (which doesn't usually include carrots, but it sure could). A stew with peanut butter? Sounds crazy, right? We had it for the first time when our adventurous missionary friends made it for dinner one night. Even my super-picky husband liked it! (I haven't confirmed this, but I'm guessing he would give it a FOUR broccoli stalk rating.) If you've never tried it, make it a point to do so soon (sweet potatoes keep, so no big rush). I can see some kiddos willing to at least give it a go because it has peanut butter in it. As far as homemade dinners go, it isn't that hard or time-consuming. This is my go-to recipe, though I substitute tomato sauce for stewed tomatoes and sometimes add in chicken. It can kick off a cultural study at your house! Of course, you can just pop sweet potatoes in the oven whole or in fries and they make a delicious side (or meal).

If you haven't had Sustainable Harvest Farm lettuce yet, I'm excited for you! I like to use it for taco salad or to "dress" sandwiches and burgers. I had no idea we'd be enjoying it already this season... it just makes me more impatient for tomatoes to go with it!

Finally, I was so excited to see we're getting oregano and sage! I love fresh herbs. In theory. A lot of times they end up spoiling before I use them. So I think this week I'll be looking for ways to use them and/or save them. I'll let you know how it turns out.

As always, I welcome your tips, tricks, recipes and feedback.


Happy eating!

2016 CSA Week 1: In the Kitchen

Hello fellow CSA members!
Are you enjoying your share this week?!? I sure hope so. I always love the first week... heavy on strawberries and excitement at another opportunity to eat healthier in our house.

I spent a while considering asparagus recipes and -- stick with me -- I was inspired by this VEGAN recipe (I'll tell you upfront that I substituted the meat substitute with actual meat... but more on that later):

Beefy Asparagus Stir-Fry
from Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, page 172
serves 4. total time: 30 min. active time: 30 min.

For the sauce:
1/2 cup vegetable broth, chilled
2 teaspoons organic cornstarch
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons sriracha (for your preference of spiciness)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons agave nectar
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Thai basil or regular basil

For everything else:
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 pound seitan, cut into thin strips
Several pinches of freshly ground black pepper
1 cup thinly sliced shallots
8 ounces asparagus
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup toasted cashews
1 cup bean sprouts

For serving:
Cooked jasmine rice
Extra fresh mint and/or basil

Prepare the Sauce:
You can do this while everything else is cooking or do it beforehand. Mix together the broth and cornstarch until well dissolved. Add the soy sauce, sriracha, lime juice and agave and mix well, then mix in the mint and basil. Set aside.

Prepare everything else:
Preheat a large, heavy pan over medium-high heat and add 2 teaspoons of the sesame oil. Saute the seitan in the oil, along with a few pinches of black pepper, until seared on both sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Saute the shallots in the pan with 2 more teaspoons of the oil and a pinch of salt until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the asparagus and 1 more teaspoon of the oil. Toss often for about 3 minutes, or until they are bright green. You want them to have some snap to them, so be careful not to overcook (although if you do, no biggie, just remember for next time).

Push the veggies to the side, and add the ginger and garlic to a clear spot. Drizzle the remaining 1 teaspoon oil into the pan and toss for about 15 seconds, just until fragrant, and then toss it together with the veggies.

Add the seitan back to the pan. Now add the sauce and turn up the heat to bring it to a boil. It should thicken and reduce in about 3 minutes. Once thick, add the cashews and bean sprouts and toss to coat. Serve immediately over rice, topped with fresh herbs if desired.

---

Doesn't that sound absolutely delicious?!? I thought so. But there's not a huge seitan selection in London. (I bought seitan once and it ruined in the back of my fridge before I used it. I actually would like to taste it someday.) AND while that sounds delicious, it also sounds like a lot of work. So here's what I did:

My apologies if raw meat grosses you
out, but I just thought this was a beautiful
steak.

I retrieved a Sustainable Harvest Farm beef flank steak (thanks to the winter meat share) from my freezer, let it thaw and sliced it in thin strips. Since flank steak can sometimes be a tougher cut of meat, I marinated it in (store-bought, bottled) teriyaki sauce for a few hours. I chopped/cut/sliced (pick your word) the asparagus, as well as some zucchini and carrots. I sautéed the veggies (carrots first, then added in asparagus, and finally zucchini) in oil, ginger and garlic. Then I put those aside and added the meat to the skillet. After the meat was seared I added the veggies back in and tossed in some teriyaki sauce. All while my handy-dandy rice cooker (seriously, if you don't have a rice cooker with a slow-cook function, make that investment as quickly as you possibly can) took care of the jasmine rice for me.

 

My disclaimer: Isa may have cooked hers in 30 minutes, but it took me a solid hour start to finish. Also, I understand what I made could barely even be called loosely inspired by hers but I hadn't even thought of it until I saw the recipe in her book.

Not a lot of points for presentation,
but this was the final product.

The results: I LOVED it. I really enjoy Asian-inspired food, so I was pumped for this. I had no idea how Johnie would react. We decided he would rate my kitchen experiments this season by broccoli stalks since that is a vegetable he actually likes, one stalk (I never want to eat this again) to five stalks (I genuinely love this vegetable now). He gave this dish a three broccoli stalk rating. Didn't hate it, didn't love it, wouldn't mind eating it again. That's success in my book.

A couple closing notes: Stir fries are generally an easy way to use some of the veggies in your share - throw in the ones you like (or maybe one or two you don't like), along with your meat or meat-substitute of choice, and a complicated or easy seasoning/glaze. This dish could have taken on many different flavors.

If you try Isa's actual recipe, I'd love to know how it turned out for you. And I'd love to know how you used your share this week! Comment below, or send me an email (amyrosekarr@gmail.com).