thoughtful consumption

Here’s what arrived this week from Farmers’ Fresh:

Carrots and cabbage

Asian turnips and pretty radishes

So I now have a root cellar (aka a plastic bag in my crisper)

These roots will last a few weeks like this. The cabbage will, too. A head of cabbage is a wonderful thing to have in a fridge. You can just slice off what you want to cook for a meal, sauté it fast in some garlic and butter. Fresh, local cabbage is really tasty like that. (Especially if you get some Hickory Farms sausage as a gift and serve it on the side.)

Kale is another great winter veggie here in Georgia.

If these kale leaves look a little flat and sad, it’s because I already stemmed them. In the next couple of days, I’ll chop the leaves roughly and sauté them with raisins and pine nuts. The stems are in a bag with broccoli and Bordeaux spinach stems from last week. If the mood or opportunity strikes, I’ll make a stir-fry with these. If not, they’ll get an early start on their future as compost.

Same goes with the radish greens. Radish greens are not as yummy as, say, Tuscan kale or Komatsuna greens. But they’re edible. So I’ve reserved them in a separate bag for a possible later sautéing.

We also got apples and blueberries frozen from this summer.

The blueberries make wonderful pancakes and muffins. Or just add them to some yogurt or cereal.

Behold the yummy lettuce – all washed and spun.

We’ll have some nice salads with carrots and radishes. I’m glad it’s warmed up a little. When it’s super-cold, a big tossed salad isn’t quite the treat it seems on more temperate days. I want soup or something toasted with cheese.

Here are some herbs: Syrian oregano, lemon thyme, and cilantro

I think the Syrian oregano has more of a peppery taste than regular oregano. All of these herbs are stuck in a glass of water in the fridge and covered with a plastic bag  – along with some Italian parsley from last week. I’ll make some noodle soup with beef stock and the cilantro some time this week. I’m not sure what will happen with the oregano and thyme, but if they’re anything like the parsley, I’ll have a week or so to decide.

Eggs, granola, and popping corn

The popcorn is lots of fun. Just put it in a paper bag and microwave it for about 90 seconds. Popcorn makes a great nighttime treat when you’re just about sick of sweet stuff. Load up on the butter and salt to make it treatier.

Or make caramel corn.