winter CSA, week 1

[cellio]

We joined a CSA for the first time, finally enticed by a pickup location at my workplace. The first pickup was today.

• 1 head hydroponic lettuce
• 1 bunch Chinese cabbage
• about a dozen small carrots (about 6" long)
• 1 spaghetti squash
• 3 shallots
• 3.5 largish fingerling sweet potatoes (I assume the .5 was an accident and somebody else has the other half)
• 1 black Spanish radish (the manifest said "radishes"; Wikipedia said they're bigger than red radishes; this one weighs about half a pound)
• 7 Empire apples
• half gallon apple cider (not from the same farm as the apples)
• 2 pounds unbleached bread flour
• 5oz Bewitched cheese: "Enjoy this exclusive one time only cheese from Hidden Hills Dairy, available only to Winter CSA members! This cheese is a mix between their Buttercup and an Alpine Cheese. Great for snacking, making the perfect grilled cheese sandwich, or as an addition to mac and cheese! If enjoying as a snack, let it come to room temperature first."

For some of the flour I'm going to follow their suggestion of Japanese milk rolls, assuming I can find dry milk. (! That shouldn't be hard, but it wasn't to be found anywhere in our usual grocery store!) I don't know yet how I'll use the black radish; maybe sauteed with shallots and cabbage (and thinly-sliced carrot?), or maybe roasted with carrots and sweet potatoes (and shallots?). I'll do something savory with the squash. There might be apple cobbler in my future, but apples are good for eating raw too. By default the lettuce becomes salad, but I welcome other suggestions (for any of this).

Comments

[hudebnik]

That looks like a good haul. At least, if it were ours, we would know what to do with almost all of it. We haven't joined a CSA yet ourselves because shalmestere is worried about getting a bunch of stuff that either she doesn't like or is incompatible with a low-carb diet. But maybe I'll look into it again. I think there's a CSA that unloads at my workplace ($employer has several thousand employees among three adjacent buildings, so it makes logistical sense).

[cellio]

We haven't joined one before in part because it seems likely we'd get more greens than we could use. I've long been eyeing *winter* CSAs for that reason (I blame magid), so when our landlord announced that they were hosting a pickup site, it seemed perfect.

Your company's Pittsburgh office is a pickup site, but only for employees. I assume it's a building-security issue, but I'm guessing.

[magid]

I'll take that blame :-)

(Clearly, I'm slow in catching up....)

[cahwyguy]

One suggestion, from our use of a CSA. Save all your peelings: tops, bottoms, skins, trimmings, etc. Put them in the freezer. Periodically, use them to make vegetable stock (we just used 4 gallon bags of trimmings, and made 13+ quarts of stock). You can then use that for so many other things, and nothing is going to waste.

[cellio]

Thanks for the tip! (Is the assumption that local produce isn't loaded with pesticides and other chemicals, or that even if it is that stuff washes off?)

[cahwyguy]

Usually, CSA boxes are organic, but we wash it off anyway.

[goljerp]

Apples: if you find them building up enough, home-made applesauce is easy, tasty, and a good way to use 'em. (Not that I'm averse to apple cobbler...)

[(Anonymous)]

Any kashrut issues with the cheese? It looks like the kind that requires animal rennet.