Carolina Gold Rice
We cooked this heirloom rice from our Member’s Pack according to the recipe from http://www.ansonmills.com.
You cook it and then dry it in the over for 10 minutes stirring halfway through.
It was really good, but I wish I had served it by itself instead of underneath a saucy stir-fry. I think we would have appreciated the flavor and texture more.
Fried rice
In other rice news, we made fried rice from the leftover Carolina Gold plus some Basmati along with…
- 4 eggs,
- chopped chard leaves plus a teaspoon of chopped basil,
- chopped onion, radish, and chard stems, and
- cabbage.
Turned out great! Nothing beats fried rice for getting all your veggies in and for making your co-workers jealous at lunch!
The leftover basil leaves were a new twist. I didn’t have much, so I wasn’t expecting the basil flavor to show up. But it was there: subtle but definite – and a nice change from plain old fried rice. It lightened up the soy sauce taste just a little.
Arugula beet salad
We finished up the arugula with a couple of nice salads. Mine had arugula, beets, radishes, bleu cheese and strawberry vinaigrette.
Chris’ salad had cucumbers and cherry tomatoes, too.
The sweetness of the beets and strawberries and the creaminess of the cheese went well with that fresh arugula bite. However, the bigger the arugula the harder the bite. So we’ve learned to break the biggest ones into tiny pieces or use them in a cooked recipe instead.
Green beans two ways
1. With our arugula salads, we had sautéed green beans with garlic and tomatoes. (And spaghetti and garlic bread.)
2. Tonight, I cooked up some green beans for Chris to eat for lunch tomorrow. He likes them Southern-style:
- Step 1: put a drizzle of oil and green beans in boiling, salted water
- Step 2: forget and leave them on the stove for nearly an hour
Perfect!
What’s left
We’ve still got some green beans to sauté or cook to death. I’ll go ahead and wash and trim them, so they’ll be ready to cook either way. The sauteed recipe only takes a few minutes: blanch for 3, then saute for another 2 or 3. Makes for a good last minute vegetable.
And we’ve got some roasted beets left in the fridge. I’m going to wait and see what we get tomorrow. If we get more arugula, we’re making more arugula-beet-bleu cheese salads!
thoughtful consumption 
Beautiful salad! Last week’s beets were especially pretty and tasty!
I’m considering joining the CSA. What type of package do you get? I’m wondering if my family of 3 (2 adults, one preschooller who hates veggies, despite great effort by Mom!) can get by with the smaller package. Also, do you get the Gourmet upgrade?
Right now, I get the small (“Dinner for 2”) package plus the gourmet upgrade, a half dozen eggs, and a half dozen mini muffins. It works for my family of two adults and an 18-year old who’s with us about a third of the time. I usually get through it all within a week or two. Otherwise I cook and freeze stuff.
I definitely like the gourmet upgrade, and I don’t think the smaller package by itself would be enough food for us. Plus it’s fun to get early crops or more exotic items. I also like the flexibility of buying from the online store. I get something extra at least every other week.
And it’s pretty easy to change things around. You set your profile online, and the subscriptions are only 4 weeks long. So you can change after 4 weeks or email the organizers to see if they can change your subscription sooner than that. I’d start small and then see how it goes.
I’m a picky eater myself. The CSA produce helps me eat better because 1) the vegetables actually taste good and 2) I’ve met some of the people who grow them. Both things mean I eat more fruits and vegetables now than I ever have before. Maybe you can take the kiddo to a farm on a visiting day to see how it all happens. That might get him or her more interested in the idea of veggies. The ritual of getting an opening a box full of food every week might catch a kid’s imagination, too. I have to admit I still find it just a little exciting to get my box every week.
That’s exactly what I was thinking. Better eating for me, exposure to new foods for my little one. And hopefully a trip to a farm. From the pictures of your CSA reports, I think the same options will work for us. I used the online store this week. Looking forward to the eggs. Think I’ll join the CSA after payday!
Thanks for your blog!