how do you solve a problem like spring greens?

Especially when Able-Bodied Boy is out of town that week....

  
So the 10 heads of Pak Choi was really about 8 small heads of Pak Choi and another 6-8 small heads of Bok Choi. We got two turnips, but no additional bunch of "Asian Green".

So....

I turned the bunches of kale from last week and this week into a yummy veggie lasagna. Sort of a combination of my BLE and the Canadienne's squash/kale idea. The red sauce was sauteed onions & red peppers, then canned tomatoes, chopped mushrooms, roasted squash (diced, oiled, and oven-roasted at 400 for about 90min), tomato paste and spices. The noodles were smeared with a few tablespoons of part-skim ricotta each (with curly-edge noodles, I can't do the spatula smear over an entire layer, so I go noodle by noodle :)). The kale was pan roasted. Completely dry chopped kale tossed with oil in a very hot pan. It wilts slightly, but gets that roasty, almost-burnt wonderful kale smell. Then I added a few tablespoons of water to help it wilt. I did that in a couple of batches. Layer it all together and top with some mozzarella!

After it chilled in the fridge, I removed a third of it (perfect for a bread pan and feeds two!) and the other two thirds will be separated and frozen for future meals. Damn tasty if I say so myself! Next time, I might try adding shredded carrot and zucchini, too.

The Pak Choi and Bok Choi got stir-fried with some chicken, ginger, garlic, cornstarch, and soy sauce.  That yielded about 5 servings (1 for Batman to taste-test for me, and the rest to be divided in two packs for freezing). To serve, cook and fry (with a little oil and soy sauce) either brown rice or rice noodles, add 2 beaten eggs until cooked/scrambled, then add the thawed stir-fry mix until all is heated through. Should make for some simple meals!

I'm starting to learn that greens aren't so scary.

But the three heads of lettuce, and the bags of mizuna and arugula are starting to eyeball me for some attention. Salads, here we come!

What's in your fridge/freezer these days?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

first CSA of the year (don't be jealous!)

Saturday night we got an email... our first CSA pickup would be ready for Tuesday May 1st! WHHHAAAAT? So sooooon?!?! Yay!!

As I mentioned before, we have opted to change over to Adi Farms this year, which is 30 mins from home (or a 90min bike ride - one way). A little out of the way for us, but we're hoping that good produce and convenient hours are worth the trip. If you check out their website, their list of veggies is asian-green heavy, and we've been making the effort to find more recipes using greens lately (like the minestrone soup, our frequent frittatas, and even saag).

Thankfully, our usual Tuesday night plan was cancelled, so that we could both go to the pick-up. Usually, Able-Bodied Boy would be responsible for doing the pick-up after work and before our usual guests, with me as back up as necessary. The pick-up hours are 4p to 8p, which is very convenient to our schedules.

We pulled up to the farm and.... the gate was closed... ?

Luckily, another woman pulled in behind us, parked and walked us through the gate to show us how it's done. Yay! Looks like they have reusable bags that you pick-up and drop-off each week, and a small sheet to write your name to indicate you've picked up. They also have a list of what's in the bag, which I failed to memorize, photograph, or show Able-Bodied Boy. So there was a bit of chaos when we couldn't figure out one of the items, but thanks to google we figured it out :)

So what was in the bag you ask?

5 lbs Oriental Spinach (that's 8 heads) 

6 lbs Pak Choi (that's 10 heads)

1 bag lettuce/spring greens

1 bunch kale

1 bag Mizuna

When I said "don't be jealous", I meant it. This is a LOT of produce for us to figure out. Especially since we have out-of-town guests this week. But they might be recruited to help cook it up :)

The plan? Tentatively, we'll use the Oriental Spinach and the stems of some of the Pak Choi to make soup. The Pak Choi leaves will be blanched and frozen. The mizuna and greens will make a lovely salad. The kale... we'll figure that out later!


When does your CSA start this year? Or if you haven't joined one, why not or are you growing your own goodies this year?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

canning planning

Sheesh, I guess time has gotten away from me...

Not much new on the home front. I've been working on a sewing project that is finally completed and should be posted soon (completely for showing off :) ), with a thousand more sewing projects planned.  Able-Bodied Boy has already been mowing the lawn and planting seedlings. Looks like beans, peppers, swiss chard, carrots, and beets this year.

We have a list on the fridge of things we'd like to make/preserve this year. Many of these involve dozens of pounds of tomatoes, and yet we are not growing any ourselves until at least next year. Looks like the CSA and neighborhood farm stands will suffice. In any case, our list this year includes hot sauce (although we are not growing hot peppers), ketchup, salsas, strawberry-rhubarb preserves, drying mint, pepper jelly (thanks to my SIL's sister), canned tomatoes (if there are any left in the county after we make salsa and ketchup), and salsa zucchina. A tall order, but Able-Bodied Boy has PROMISED to help with canning this year. Especially for those items he is begging me for (most of them).

Over at Two Frog Home, I read a neat little post about her grandmother's cookbook (The Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking, 1953) and the Food Preserver's Creed she found therein. She posted it and I'm hoping she doesn't mind that I share it with you here.

  
How beautiful is this? How amazing that we have all forgotten these simple principles? To feed our family year-round from the bounty that surrounds us? To take joy in the process, learning and developing the skills necessary to provide safe, nutritious foods?

I would love to be able to can/freeze/dry all the foods we would need for the year during the times in which they are in season, but I know I'm not quite ready for that. I think it was an old post from Sharon over at The Chatelaine's Keys (who has a wealth of knowledge!) that prompted me to starting thinking of food preservation for beginners. The suggestion was to take your top few meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and start there...

Dinners... We already freeze homemade lasagnas, although the ingredients therein are not always seasonal. We buy and freeze lamb seasonally. We freeze batches of cilantro pesto, not seasonally. We freeze some veggies. We put together a tomato/zucchini sauce base. We could/should probably do more for seasonal preservation of dinners, like tomato-based sauces, stored/grown root cellar vegetables,

Lunches/snacks/condiments.... We have (or will have) pickles, salsa, fruit spreads, frozen fruits. We freeze soups (some seasonal, some not). We eat a lot of frozen "burgers" (mostly veggie, salmon, or turkey) and most of those are store bought, but could be seasonally put together and frozen. We can make our own bread/rolls, but don't always. We could make our own mayo as needed, but don't (yet).

Breakfast... We now have the option of freezing blended eggs and greens as fritatta ingredients. We are stocked with smoked breakfast meat for a year. We do breads on occasion, including a wonderful English Muffin recipe (and homemade Hollandaise which IMO tasted like heaven - mostly because I made it from scratch perfectly on my first try). I know how to make homemade butter, buttermilk, and fresh cheeses.

I'm sure I'm missing a few ideas and/or pantry items we already have, but you get the idea. Start with what you eat, and see what you can do to do it for yourself. Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life is a wonderful book if you're at all interested in learning what it takes to do it full force (she and her family resolved to only eat what they could produce/obtain locally for one year).

I would love to be there, but I'm not. But what is life if not the striving for better...?


What are you striving for these days?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

2012 csa selection

Well, I talked quite a bit about the CSA we had last year. We shared with Purple Monkey and family, and had a pretty good experience overall with Red Hill Farm. But coming into the 2012 season, we re-evaluated and wanted to look into all of our options.

First, the pros and cons of Red Hill Farm for a second season

PRO: organic (uncertified)
CON: some of their products are less appealing (flowers, handful of berries) or unavailable (our corn share was cancelled)
PRO: offers other farm products, like dairy and meats
CON: quite a bit of Pick-Your-Own in the heat of the summer
PRO: friendly atmosphere, with engaging farmers
CON: 40 minutes from hom (ie I'm solely responsible for weekly pickups and pick-your own)
PRO: 5 minutes from work, so pick-ups could be during lunch
CON: Purple Monkey & family no longer interested in sharing
PRO: offers half-shares if we thought full-shares were too much

Based on these factors, we decided that it was worth looking into other options.

One was Calvert Farm, a Maryland-based farm that distributes a great deal of produce throughout the region. They are based near my former hometown, and will deliver to a location 10 minutes south of work along one of my routes home. So, it would be pre-boxed and waiting for me at a local store. The pick-up time window was fairly narrow, and based on it's proximity to my workplace I would have most of the responsibility for pick-up. Their website didn't mention organic and, after talking to Barnhenge Mama, it was clear they were not organic and do source some of their farm goods from off-site. They do not offer half-shares.

The other was Adi Farms. This farm is located about 30 minutes from our house, out of the way to both home and our workplaces. The pick-up hours, however, are such that either Able-Bodied Boy or I could make the trip out after work, without much issue.  It's certified organic, has a great variety of produce, and does not do pick-your-own. They also (from looking at their updated website) sell organic chicken. They have half-shares, but the "half" means half the growing season, not half the quantity. I spoke with one of the farmers, Joseph, earlier this year, and I liked my impressions from the phone call.


Ultimately, we have decided to go with Adi Farms. The only downsides we can see are the full share and the distance out of our way. But with a long pick-up window that fits perfectly with our schedule and a willingness to get creative with abundant weeks, we agreed it was very feasible. I have also considered making it a partial cycling trip too; at 20 miles there and 20 miles back, I could possibly ride the 40 miles after work, with a backpack/basket of veggies and night gear on the way back. That actually really excites me :)

Are you using a CSA or farm delivery this year? How did you choose yours?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

ack! where does the time go?

Looks like summer is getting away from me... 3 weeks since my last post?!?!

Well, I'll forgive myself if you will. Between the heat and Able-Bodied Boy's relentless traveling and a just-flop-when-I-get-home mentality... well, you understand. Of course, I forget my camera when I go off and do exciting things, but here's a bit of what we've been up to... mostly food, mind you ;)

beet hummus really is bright pink. and pretty damn tasty!

Last week's haul: shallots, beets, tomatoes, zucchini, celery, escarole.... see those beautiful heirlooms? remember that my csa grafted them?

Also, the dozen ears of corn we're starting to get each week. That's a lot of corn!

A blurry shot of my latest frittata... garden swiss chard and basil topped with csa tomato

This week's haul from the CSA: flowers, tomatillos, onions, shallots, hot peppers, swiss chard, and a metric ton of tomatoes

Step One in the great Cleaner Replacement Program... Shower Spray!

Mac just loves exploring everything about our house :)

Is your head spinning just as much this summer?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

csa & foodie updates

So, no photos of the haul from last week or this week. But plenty of other photo goodness (in as much as my photos are "good").

Last week, we got spring greens, escarole, carrots, cucumbers, kale, summer squash, celery, and flowers. I also picked chamomile and epazote.
This week, carrots, cucumber, beets, summer squash, green beans, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and cabbage.

Also, the chickens have upped their production... so we've been eating a lot of fresh, wholesome food :)

Notice how the egg yolks differ greatly in color and size? This particular week, Mac had been staying up late to chase beetles and lightening bugs, while Ginger went to bed early. Funny how the diet can affect the eggs so much, eh?

Homemade Flax Seed Bread, topped with Blueberry Butter, Sauteed Swiss Chard with Sausage spices, and Scrambled Eggs. Sorry, it was too good not to take a bite before photos :)

Stewed Escarole with Feta, topped with Poached Eggs. The only ingredients with unknown source are the olive oil and feta cheese.

The Ladies apparently want onto the deck for a nice dip in the hot tub. Chicken Stew, anyone?

Kale, Tomato, and Garlic Scape Frittata. The only ingredients with unknown source are the butter and mozzarella cheese.

We also managed to avert the first opportunity to buy chemical cleaners since Able-Bodied Boy's support of the Natural Cleaner Replacement Program (which I will start to detail at some point). I gawked at him in the store, but admitted I hadn't looked into any replacements yet. But he agreed to avoid the purchase, and researched that a vinegar-water solution would do the trick. Go Able-Bodied Boy! (I can take no credit, besides being a nag.)


I'm staying in the A/C, cooking up our yummy eats. How are you keeping cool this summer?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


PS. i'm getting really tired of eating eggs. might need to start baking. zucchini bread!!!

friday's haul

In the Bins:
Tokyo Bekana (that really big thing in the middle)
Cucumber (split)
Carrots (split)
Beets
Summer Squash (split)
Collards
Spring Greens
Romaine head (to PPM)
Escarole head (to PPM)
Garlic Scapes (to PPM)
Broccoli Rabe (to PPM)

Pick Your Own:
all manner of herbs and flowers

Still in the Fridge:
Garlic Scapes
Oregano

Plans:
Garden-cilantro pesto with garlic scapes
Salads for the spring greens and cucumbers
Slow-cooked local pork roast with carrots and oregano
Beet Salad (OMG this was amazing last week and must take photos!)
Grilled zucchini (best. veg. ever.)
Scrambled (home-chicken) Eggs with sauteed collards, garden swiss chard, and garlic scapes
Stir-fried tokyo bekana and garlic scapes with quinoa

Any questions? :)

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

Friday's Haul

We switched to Friday's so we could use more of the veggies on the weekend, rather than during hectic weekdays. The farm was happy to have more Friday shareholders, and Purple Pregger Monkey and I agreed that we weren't gone too many weekends over the summer to make it a hassle.

No photos cuz I was a grumpy girl last night and just wanted to get everything washed and put away.

In the Bins:
cabbage (us)
summer squash (split)
radishes or turnips (turnips, to PPM)
red beets (us)
celery (split)
kale (split)
spring greens (us, cuz I cannot get enough salad these days!)
lettuce heads (to PPM)
scallions (to PPM)
cucumber (to PPM)
garlic scapes (us)

Pick your own:
all the herbs from previous weeks (I took more chamomile, but that is all)
lavender
flowers (which I picked for PPM, who was having a bad day)


Taking advice from a wizened CSA pal of mine, I take care with my greens. I bought this AMAZING salad spinner, by Starfrit, to make the whole process easier.

1. Trim and cut the tough greens, like the kale this week, into whatever size you need/want them to be.
2. Dunk them in a large bowl of ice-cold water and leave for 5-10 minutes (or 2, if you're impatient like me, but longer if you really want them to last without getting wilty). Give them a whirl to wash them too.
3. Dump the bowl of water and greens into the salad spinner. Pick up the inner strainer (watch, it'll be very very drippy!), and use your third and fourth hands (or a friend) to dump the outer bowl's water contents back into your original soaking/washing bowl (re-use it!!!)
4. Spin for 5-10 seconds, dump any water, then spin again.
5. Place the greens in a paper towel-lined tupperware and refrigerate. If I can get my hands on some cheap light linen, I think I'll try to do that instead of paper towels. I also believe that the tupperware ought to be somewhat breathable, rather than air-tight.

I also put my celery in a glass of water to keep them hydrated for now. No food coloring :)
The cabbage went in a lettuce tupperware, lined with a damp paper towel.
The chamomile and garlic scapes went in the container with the leftover thyme from last week.
The salad greens got spun dry (they were pretty soaking wet, but even still one pound of them was a full grocery bag!) and put into lined containers.

Any tips on keeping produce fresh? Summer squash? Anything I've gone over and done wrong?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

a weekend of awesome eats

I stored the Tuesday haul very carefully, so that we could enjoy most of the produce over the weekend when Able-Bodied Boy was actually home. I also purchased some strawberries and rhubarb from Linvilla Orchards. And then there's that first egg of ours... So we've been feasting!



Saturday Lunch: Tuna Wraps
Tuna, mixed with CSA radishes, CSA oregano, curry power, lemon juice, mayo, salt and pepper, then wrapped in a CSA red lettuce leaf and a CSA collard leaf.











Sunday Brunch: Collard Frittata
CSA collards briefly sauteed in butter, then tossed with CSA scallions, CSA oregano, feta cheese, and black pepper, then tossed with miscellaneous egg whites, yolks and whole eggs (a mix of local farm and store eggs). Cooked covered over low heat until the sides were firm, then under the broiler on low until the top was mostly set. Then the lone chicken egg was cracked on top and sent back under the broiler on high until the egg was mostly cooked and the frittata was browned.

Sunday Brunch: Chamomile Tea

I got a handful of fresh chamomile, but had no clue how to actually make the tea, short of drying it (which I didn't want to take the time to do). So I took off the feathery "leaves" and flower heads, put them in a tea bag, and set it in some hot water. YUM!











Stem Pickles
Got stems? Make fridge pickles! Heat 2 cups sugar and 1 cup vinegar until sugar is dissolved; add 3 heaping tablespoons of sriracha sauce and a 1/2 teaspoon of celery seed; cool; pour over stems into a jar; place in fridge for 2 weeks.
Technically, I haven't eaten any yet cuz the oldest ones are still only 1.5 weeks old.... but they look fantastic!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam

an annual must-make!

Whatcha got cookin'?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

tuesday's haul

On the big white board today...

garlic scapes (went with purple pregger monkey)
summer squash (went with purple pregger monkey)
green onion
lettuce
spring greens
beets (went with purple pregger monkey)
radishes
arugula
bok choi
collards

pick your own:
one flower: sunflower, snapdragon, or *mumblemumbleotherflower*
herbs: mints, garlic chives, basil, parsley, thyme, chamomile, sage, oregano


I haven't made anything with any of it yet... any favorite recipes?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

tuesday's haul

The first CSA pickup. And boy, was I unprepared.

Most CSA's I had seen pre-packaged all the loose greens for you.

Not ours. Cuz I didn't pay attention.

So my one huge canvas bag ended up being a layered mess of spinach and spring greens and arugula interspersed with the whole/bundled goods. As such, I did not pick much of the PYO because I was worried it would get lost in the bag. I also didn't take photos of the haul cuz quite frankly, I had "a day" and was nearly in tears separating everything out of the bag at home. You try telling 3+ lbs of leaves to not co-mingle!!

first haul:
   spinach (2lbs)
   spring greens (1lb)
   arugula (~1/4 lb)
   bok choi (1 head)
   scallions (1 bunch)
   radishes (1 bunch)
   white beets (1 bunch)
   kale (28 stalks)
   butter lettuce (1 head)
pick your own:
   garlic chives
   thyme
   marjoram
   chamomile
   sage
   basil
   parsley

First meal:
Spinach (sauteed in oil, honey, garlic, smoked paprika, aleppo pepper, and balsamic vinegar)
with fish sticks (don't ask)







Second meal:
(cooked/shared with with our CSA buddy, Purple Pregger Monkey)


Bok Choi (blanched, with stir-fried garlic, hot peppers, & CSA scallions, with coconut lime dressing)

Lettuce Wraps (filled with chicken thighs, mushrooms, CSA scallions, and other asian ingredients)



The only bad thing about the CSA, that I can come up with so far, is that I have absolutely NO motivation to do my own gardening again, ever :) With such selection, grown by experts, and keeping me out of the heat...

Why didn't I do this sooner!?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl


  

csa anticipation!!!

On Saturday, Able-Bodied Boy and I attended the orientation picnic for our new CSA. What a wonderful place :) They had plants for sale, extra farm purchases available (we will get 10 weeks of 1 dozen ears of organic corn!), the staff milling about to meet everyone, a farm tour/orientation, and general merriment going on. We managed to get it all done before the rain really got going, and left excited for our first pick-up in a few weeks.

The barn, a farmer, and her fussy baby.

The children's garden; there will be sand
on the black tarp and lots of edible plants!

The set-up is great. You go into the big barn, with your bags from home, and look up at the big board. Collect what you're entitled to, leave anything you don't want in the extras bin, and take what you want from what others have discarded. Then you can look at the U-Pick side of the board to find out what/how much you can take from the acre of berries, cherry tomatoes, herbs, etc.



I was really impressed with the operation, considering I had never really seen anything of that scale before, even if it was only on about 4 acres. Truly amazing what they do!

The most-impressive thing I saw was the hoop-house filled with grafted tomato plants. They grew sturdy, disease-resistant tomato plants and weaker heirloom tomatoes. Then, they painstakingly grafted the heirlooms onto the sturdy stock. Which means a better yield of heirloom tomatoes, woot!

We're sharing our full share with another couple and their toddler, not being sure that either of us could handle a full share on our own. With that, we can mix and match what we get each week, and maybe even do food preservation projects together.


Have you ever joined an CSA? What has your experience been?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl