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I really like my CSA box, but now that the months are getting colder, the selection is getting less and less diverse. Sure, eating seasonally sounds really good when you’re getting a variety of peppers, eggplants, strawberries, and other stuff, but when you realize it’s going to be all kale all the time for a few months it suddenly doesn’t sound so hot.
Last week I received chard, tat soi, kale, and arugula. The greens are beautiful, but the prospect of figuring out new and interesting ways to cook a box full of them every week makes me want to say F seasonal eating, I’ll buy whatever I want at the supermarket. But I’m sticking with the box through the less glamorous growing season and trying not to be a jaded little brat by remembering to be grateful I have access to any local produce throughout the winter months.
Martha Rose Shulman’s excellent book on vegetable cookery, Mediterranean Harvest, has helped me stay inspired. She has great recipes for greens, like a potato and greens galette, and a classic Spanish tortilla which I hid some kale in. I also made her roasted cauliflower with chermoula, an easy and fast prep for the often bland vegetable.
Google Books has most of the book available online if you want to check it out. Hopefully, by the end of the winter I’ll be like Popeye.
CSA = Community Supported Agriculture. You sign up with a farm (check localharvest.com) and buy a "share." In return, you get a box (weekly or biweekly) of the bountiful harvest. It's good stuff - you get to support a local farmer and the cost is really not too much different than the regular grocery store. It does force you to be creative (I tried kale chips last week, and although they are...+READ
CSA = Community Supported Agriculture. You sign up with a farm (check localharvest.com) and buy a "share." In return, you get a box (weekly or biweekly) of the bountiful harvest. It's good stuff - you get to support a local farmer and the cost is really not too much different than the regular grocery store. It does force you to be creative (I tried kale chips last week, and although they are crunchy, no way will my kids mistake them for potato chips).-COLLAPSE
Can you tell me what a CSA box is.
I don't think eating locally is supposed to be akin to martyrdom. No one is going to think you're a bad person if you supplement your winter stuff with other things for variety.
So true, biscuitbaker! I just got my 2nd to the last box from the CSA (I'm in MN) - roots (beets, parsnips, potatoes (sweet and gold), turnips,carrots, radishes (black and beauty heart), squash, celeriac, horseradish and cabbage. I'm a little tired of roasting. Now, if I lived in, say, the southern climes, it might be a little more fun (and varied) to eat locally.... (and I'm trying not to be a...+READ
So true, biscuitbaker! I just got my 2nd to the last box from the CSA (I'm in MN) - roots (beets, parsnips, potatoes (sweet and gold), turnips,carrots, radishes (black and beauty heart), squash, celeriac, horseradish and cabbage. I'm a little tired of roasting. Now, if I lived in, say, the southern climes, it might be a little more fun (and varied) to eat locally.... (and I'm trying not to be a jaded brat, too!) Now excuse me as I have to shake my parsnips!-COLLAPSE
Hey, it's no coincidence that the leaders of the 'seasonal eating' movement, like Alice Waters, are from California which has a year round growing season and a range of growing climates similar to an eastern range from New Jersey to Florida.