thoughtful consumption

The overview

Here’s a photo of  my third CSA delivery of 2011. (You can also take a look at the first and second.) Not pictured are the eggs and Jack cheese because I forgot recollect them from the fridge.

• garlic
• celery
• strawberries
• green onions
• Bordeaux spinach
• dried oyster mushrooms
• butternut squash
• apples
• lettuce
• three-grain pancake mix
• green cabbage
• honey
• bread

The breakdown

Lettuce start with the easy stuff.

We’ve got another meal of spinach from the last delivery left in the salad spinner. As soon as that’s gone, I’ll wash and spin these for quick salads.

Green onions are terrific to have around.

Last year, I got a bunch and was worried that they would get slimy before I could use them. Didn’t happen. I kept them in a bag in the crisper and used every bit of them over a couple of weeks. Here’s hoping these will work out the same. They’re wonderful in pretty much everything: salads, stir-fries, soups, etc.

While we’re on aromatics, here’s the garlic and celery.

I really appreciate the garlic because I was down to two cloves. For some reason, garlic in the kitchen is like cash in a savings account – I feel so much better when I know it’s there. Same thing with butter.

Celery can be celery sticks for snacking, but celery is also great to cook with. Pretty much any recipe that calls for onions can benefit from some celery, too. And don’t forget the leaves. Chop and cook them with onions or just add them to a salad. Celery should last a good long time, although the leaves will go first. If your celery sticks get limp, just store in them in water in the fridge overnight and they’ll perk back up.

Bordeaux spinach is always a welcome treat and makes a great salad.

If it’s a cold night, try this: sauté a green onion, garlic, and celery leaves in a little olive oil. After they start smelling really good, add any oil-based salad dressing (eg., not ranch), turn off the heat, but leave the pan on the burner. You’ll have a tasty, hot dressing for your spinach, which will wilt nicely.

Here’s another trick that came from my love of salad greens and my fear of long stems. One time, I was eating arugula in a salad and got a stem stuck down my throat while the leaf was still in my mouth. It was not a pretty dining moment. Since then, I’ve always been careful to break off the longer stems of greens before serving salad. I used to scrap the stems, but now I dice them and add them to the other toppings or toss them in the dressing. Works great and no choking!

I really like this green cabbage. I find it very friendly and unintimidating.

Know why? Because it’s tiny.

Green cabbage is a wonderfully useful, delicious, and patient vegetable. But when there are only  two of you, it’s hard to look at one of the large ones without a little bit of dread. It’s just a lot of cabbage to get through. This one, however, is just enough for a meal or two – more treat than long-term chore.

I bet you noticed the strawberries.

My favorite thing to do with strawberries is wash them, slice them in half, and put them in the freezer on a cookie sheet for a few hours. After they freeze individually, you can put them in a container and they won’t clump together. Frozen strawberry halves are one of the best things out there! I’ll write more about these strawberries soon.

Look at all the pretty-colored eggs!

Chris pointed out that you wouldn’t even have to dye these for Easter. Fresh, local eggs are worth the effort and the money. There’s nothing like cracking an egg and being greeted by a proud, neon-orange yolk that just seems happy to see you. (Okay, so the really amazing thing is the difference in taste. But the yolks still make me smile. And sometimes wave back a little hello.)

Honey, pancake mix, and bread are always welcome.

We haven’t had this variety of Magnolia bread yet. We’ll freeze half of it right away to be safe.

Cheese is one of the reasons I wake up in the morning. Dried mushrooms aren’t bad either.

I’m considering just cubing the cheese and snacking on it out of the fridge. It’ll last a couple of hours that way. Jack cheese is also a good melting cheese if your cheese makes it until supper. Maybe I can reserve enough to make grilled cheese sandwiches/paninis with the bread.

When I first saw dried mushrooms, I was underwhelmed. Not anymore. They are incredibly useful and easy to use – a real asset in the pantry. I’ll write more about them real soon.

I’m missing close-ups of the butternut squash and the apples. But you know what butternut squash and apples look like, right? We’ll either bake the butternut squash whole like this. Or peel, cube, and roast them. The apples will star in random breakfasts, lunches, and afternoon snacks. Yum!