The Glory of Spring Produce!

It's CSA season - my favorite time of the year! 

For the next 25 Saturdays, I'll be picking up a bushel basket of fresh produce from my favorite organic farmer. I've been a CSA member for over a decade. For many years, I worked for a local CSA on Tuesday afternoons, giving out the boxes to members, identifying unfamiliar produce, and giving them tips on storage and usage.


I am seriously passionate about cooking with fresh produce! Not only does it taste amazing, it's incredibly nutritious! It's also very inexpensive when you plan your menus around produce instead of meat. So, whether you already enjoy cooking with fruits and veggies, or you want to trim your grocery budget, stick with me! I'll show you how to do both!

I like to have fun with my seasonal goodness by showing you, my readers, how you can plan an entire week's menu around just $25 worth of produce.


So, let's get cooking!

What if your family doesn't want to try new food? 

I can't say this stridently enough: Do NOT be afraid of produce that is unfamiliar to you or your family! When I first joined a CSA I had four sons - ranging in age from 13-1. I purposely set out to expose them to new flavors, colors, and textures of food. We treated it like an adventure! My sons are now 22-11 and have learned to love many interesting foods! 

Do they like everything? Of course not! But, insisting they eat (and love) every vegetable on planet earth is not the point. I wanted them to be free to explore, to taste new dishes, to be free from fear. HINT! If you want my stance on kids and food read, "Seven Tips For Getting Kids to Eat Healthy Food." 

Ten years ago, I didn't know the difference between kale and arugula! To tell which one I was holding, I had to take a little bite. Then, I knew immediately! - the sharp, earthy taste of arugula is unmistakable! As the variety in my box grows throughout the season, I'll walk you through each fruit and veggie and give you ideas for storage and use. 

Lettuce!

Spring is seriously the season of greens! Everywhere you turn, there is something more in a verdant shade of green. 

This week I got three glorious heads of different kinds of lettuces. 

So, what do you do with lettuce, besides making a salad? A lot! 

• Use leaves for gluten free lettuce cups. I have made this firecracker filling in the past and it has amazing flavor. It would pair perfectly with the crisp taste and texture of the lettuce cups. 

• Use large lettuce leaves to create a unique burrito. Once again, we are looking at a gluten free alternative to a traditional flour tortilla. This recipe has a definite Mexican vibe, pairing the smooth goodness of fresh avocado with corn, tomato, and jalapeno with lime juice.   

• Lettuce soup. No kidding! Some lettuces (like romaine) have a lot of flavor and texture in the ribs. It is actually rockin' in soup! It's actually pretty simple to make too! This recipe gives you vegan and non-vegan instructions. 

Radishes

I love the tart taste of radishes and eat them whole and raw. But, if you are not a raw radish fan, take heart.

Last year I tried roasted radishes for the first time. Oh my! The flavor sweetens, mellows out, and is absolutely amazing! Here's a recipe to give it a try. 

DON'T THROW OUT THE LEAVES!

This is where I tell you (not for the last time this season) that you should never throw away the tops of radishes. The tops of most root vegetables are edible, with just a few exceptions, such as potato leaves. 

Radish leaves are, indeed, edible. Some of them can be kind of "fuzzy". I cook them down, seasoned with onion, garlic, and a splash of soy sauce or a good balsamic vinegar. You can also throw them in vegetable soup. 

Baby Kale

I love kale! I have been known to steam it for breakfast. I'm not kidding! If you have never tried kale or are not a fan, then I can tell you that baby (or young) kale is very tender and has a milder flavor than the mature version. 

I throw it into salads with other greens all the time. But, it is also delicious cooked. Allrecipes offers this recipe for baby kale sauteed with pinenuts, onion, garlic, and raisins. The sweetness of the raisins would be the perfect foil to the stronger flavor of the garlic and onions. 

Asparagus

I like to eat young asparagus raw. If you've never tried it, is is actually amazing. However, my second favorite way has to be asparagus almondine.   This side dish goes together in about 15 minutes and tastes delicious. I skip the butter, instead sauteeing the asparagus in just a little bit of water. You'll never miss the extra calories and fat of the butter with the addition of herbs and garlic. Don't leave the asparagus on the heat too long or it will quickly become mushy. I tell my boys that the spears turn bright green, they are done. Add a generous splash of fresh lemon over the top before serving.

Spinach 

This is yet another spring green that I encourage you to eat raw. Here's a novel recipe idea: sushi. This blogger suggests baby spinach as one of the fillings. 

If you've never made sushi, it is easy and fun to make - especially if you have kids to help you. When he was about 10 years old, my sous chef son learned to make sushi in a special week long 4H nutrition class. 

He's actually been begging to make sushi for a few months now. If you want to give sushi a go, you'll need a couple of speciality items. Nori: we just bought some nori from the local Chinese market last week for about $2.50. Nori is sheets of roasted seaweed. Don't worry. It doesn't taste weird. It tastes a little nutty, but also fishy. That's why vegans love it! We can use it, without adding meat to our diet. It is also a terrific plant-based source of iodine. 

It helps to have a sushi mat - they are very inexpensive to buy. This one is available from Amazon for the price of a fancy cup of coffee and free shipping. But, if you don't have a mat, you can use a kitchen towel to help roll the sushi up tightly.  (That's an affiliate link for the sushi mat. If you purchase through the link, I will receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. ) 

Green Garlic and Green Onions

How do you tell the difference?

If you give green onions only a cursory glance, it can be difficult to tell the difference between them. They look an awful lot alike. Before I give you recipe ideas, let me begin by giving you some helpful hints and explanations of each plant. 

• Green garlic tops are flat. Green onion tops are rounded.
• Green garlic is actually immature garlic - before the bulbs are formed.
• Green onions are also called spring onions, salad onions, and scallions.
• The end of green garlic is not generally quite as bulbous as that of green onion.
• Both green garlic and green onions are edible in their entirety - including the green tops. 
• Both green onion and green garlic freeze well for future use. I recommend FLASH FREEZING in a single layer. Here are step-by-step freezing instructions.

Green Onion Recipe

 

Eat them raw.  When growing up, every major family holiday dinner featured a glass jar filled with green onions being passed around the table. This jar was quickly followed by the salt shaker. Everyone was free to take an onion, place a small pile of salt on their plate, and then dip the bulb of the onion into the salt before eating it. I still love raw green onions, but leave the salt alone  

These fried green onion pancakes hail from Taiwan, look both delicious and easy to make. 

Green Garlic Recipe

Roasted green garlic. Anytime you roast garlic is brings out the natural sweetness and mellows that sharp flavor into something divine! I love roasted garlic. Spread it on toast or add it to homemade hummus. 

Fresh peas with lettuce and green garlic.  This springtime masterpiece uses both the lettuce and green garlic from this week's CSA box. 

Want more CSA box recipes and ideas?

If you click on the "CSA" link in the labels column - on right hand side of the blog, you can see all the posts on the multitude of fruits and vegetables that I received last year. There are a LOT of photos and recipe ideas. 

Tell me what you think!

 If you make any of this week's recipes, I'd love to see photos and get your feedback on how they tasted.  Remember, eating fresh and eating healthy can be very fun and very inexpensive! Until next week, enjoy experimenting with spring vegetables.

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Do all to the glory of God, 

Hope