It’s CSA Tuesday!!

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

It’s CSA Tuesday!!

That’s right! Today is the day that I pick my veggie share up from the CSA (community supported agriculture).  I really do get excited each and every Tuesday.  I guess I’m a little geeky when it comes to my veggies.  I just got back and I have my score soaking in fresh water (it’s sooooo dirty).

So, today’s share is as follows:

2 small heads red leaf lettuce

1 purple eggplant (I will add this to the other 2 I have and make a vegan eggplant parm)

1 green cabbage

1 bunch spinach (will gleefully add this to tonight’s dinner)

1 delicata squash (one of my faves)

1 bunch salad turnips (we don’t like these…I give them to the woman who runs the CSA)

2 heirloom tomatoes

2 lbs. regular tomatoes

1 bunch cilantro

3 lbs. red potatoes

2 heads garlic

2 bell peppers

1 head kale

Extra – habanero peppers (I love this pepper in my green juice)

I am definitely adding that spinach to our dinner tonight of smoky butternut squash and black beans. It’s going to be epic!  I was hoping that we would get spinach.  The spinach from the CSA is so much more flavorful than store bought.

Community Supported Agriculture

Sunday, September 20, 2014

I have to say…I am loving my CSA. For those of you that are not familiar with a CSA, it stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  Basically, what happens is this.  Before the growing season even begins, I buy a full share in an organic farm.  That’s right…organic.  So, let’s understand what this means.  From around the beginning of June through Thanksgiving, I get a share of veggies (and sometimes a melon…yum) that is organic and local…just the way I like to eat!  From there, I shop for ingredients to make meals from the organic, local vegetables that I have received that week.

This week I received 2 types of green beans, napa cabbage, red potatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, spinach, arugula, leeks, salad turnips, spaghetti squash.

Now, lately, we have been receiving lots and lots of green beans. Fine with me.  Nothing I love more that a good veggie stew.  Sometimes I add beans, sometimes I add seitan (I’ll talk about seitan in another post).  Either way, it’s always good and uses a lot of ingredients that I get from the CSA….garlic, onion, potatoes, green beans…then I add organic frozen items that I always keep on hand, like corn and peas.  Be sure to always buy organic corn.  Corn is almost always GMO (genetically modified organism) and not something I wish to consume.  Today’s veggie stew went like this:

2 onions (I already had them caramelized and frozen from a previous CSA score)

1 clove garlic, minced (CSA)

1.5 lbs. mix of green beans and another type of bean (CSA)

2 carrots (store bought)

1 lbs. red potatoes (CSA)

1 qt. veggie broth (Brad’s Organic)

1 can pinto beans (you can use any beans, this is what I had on hand)

2 Chinese eggplant (CSA)

As you can see, I try to use up what I can from the CSA share.

I also made a tofu frittata that went something like this.

2 leeks, chopped and washed well

1 orange bell pepper, diced

½ bunch kale (left over from kale we got at the farmer’s market…it was a huge head of kale)

1 bunch spinach (CSA)

And then the makings of a tofu frittata a la Happy Herbivore:

Silken tofu

Nooch (nutritional yeast)

Corn starch

Spices and seasonings

This is one of our favorite meal and I won’t lie to you…if you are interested in eating a low fat, plant based diet…or are just looking for some healthy recipes to add to your repertoire, you should pick up Happy Herbivore and Everyday Happy Herbivore. Lindsay Shay Nixon is a genius as far as low fat veggie goes.  You can get her books here – http://happyherbivore.com/