The Suburban Herbivore

And in share #6 of 20, the summer produce begins! Today we received yellow squash, zucchini, parsley, and… basil. I’ve been excitedly awaiting the arrival of basil. I love to use it in Thai dishes, as well as, of course, pesto. Once the tomatoes start, the easiest thing ever to make is a caprese salad. (More on that later.)

We also received beets, strawberries, broccoli, and a giant head of cauliflower. I think I’m going to need to bust out a roasted vegetables dish to go through the remaining beets and turnips. Or maybe we can grill them. Hmmm.

This was another banner week. Nearly all of the produce so far has just been exceptional. And, thankfully, we have a week off from lettuce, as I still have an entire bunch left from last time. We received several new items: yellow, orange, and purple carrots, as well as sugar snap peas. And, of course, broccoli, kale, cabbage, onions, turnips, boc choi, and the best batch of strawberries yet.

I already have plans for the broccoli, in the form of a tofu stir-fry. But I think I’m going to need to cook up another mess of greens this weekend. And probably some beet risotto. And maybe I can make some soup somewhere in there, too.

The produce is beautiful this week! We received swiss chard, spinach, lettuce, beets, broccoli, cabbage, and some lovely strawberries. This year, we are getting a full share and splitting it with friends, so fortunately, they took the cabbage and I am not on the hook for figuring out what to do with it. Generally, a half share is suggested to be a good amount for one to two people, and I’d say that’s right on. I think I’d have to quit my job if I was going to cook everything in a full share myself.

But I feel like things have not been going well here. I still have a entire head of lettuce and all the spinach (one pound) from last week. Plus the beets, radishes, and turnips, but I’m not as concerned about those. Perhaps if I eat salad for lunch and supper today, that will make a sufficient dent in the lettuce, and I might try steaming and freezing the spinach. At least last week’s spinach…

This week we received turnips, spinach, lettuce, onions, beets, radishes, and strawberries. The strawberries were perfect, much better-looking than the previous batches and equally as delicious. I’ve been anticipating the arrival of the beets, positive that this year I will come up with something different to do with them. I stumbled on a great recipe for beet risotto that, though it is kind of a violent fluorescent pink, is pretty tasty. But I’d like to come up with a new recipe. Any ideas?

We got several things today that I think of as difficult to use: kohlrabi (pictured), radishes, and bok choi. I’m really more of a summer vegetable person. But I’ll come up with something. I have a pretty good recipe somewhere for sesame radishes. Other goodies received: strawberries, kale, green lettuce, and green garlic. We will need to eat the strawberries soon - they mold very quickly. Shouldn’t be a problem…

For supper last night, I made asparagus and mushroom risotto and baked italian tofu, served with a green salad. I’ve started using the red-leaf lettuce from Wednesday, and also used up the asparagus. For dessert, I made a crumb-topped strawberry pie with the berries I got that day. Everything turned out really well! But I am concerned that I’m not going through the greens fast enough…

The first share of the year! Here’s what we got: asparagus, strawberries, red-leaf lettuce, green lettuce, bok choi, tatsoi, green garlic, and turnips. The share was supposed to also have kale, but I think maybe we got extra lettuce instead. Tatsoi is a new one for me. It’s an Asian green that is pretty similar to kale, so I will probably use it in the same way. The bok choi and turnips will be the most difficult to use - I’m not that fond of either.