CSA -- Week 1

Lettuce, three other kinds of greens, radishes, egg plant, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, cheese, spaghetti squash, and turnips filled our first CSA garden basket. It's going to be a challenge to eat it all and to make it all edible this week. I figure we'll have to have one green and one root or squash each day. I know I can make most of them palatable with nuts, bacon, EVOO, herbs, or balsamic vinegar and either stir frying or roasting the veggies. Will the kids eat it? Stay tuned.

The point of all this is to reduce the cost of transportation in the production of the food we eat. We can get all of our veggies, meat, eggs, dairy, and most of the grains locally, but there are some things I'm not willing to give up: bananas, nuts, boxed cereal, EVOO, balsamic vinegar, and good wine.

Tonight we'll have roast pork, some kind of greens tossed with pine nuts, EVOO and balsamic vinegar, tossed salad, and sweet potatoes. Leftover pork will form the basis of stir fry with more green veggies tomorrow. We'll also have fritatas, cheese dishes and other meatless meals at some point during the week. I try to use as little salt as possible, but other than that, I'm throwing dietary caution to the wind until I get the hang of using up the veggies. I'm hoping that it will turn out to be some kind of self-regulating phenomenon.

Washing and storing the produce is one of the biggest chores. If I can get it all done on Saturday, I'll be set for the rest of the week.