spring CSA, week 6

I think I’m going to call this the year of the bean sprout. I remember one summer we had green beans from the CSA almost every week, until I was sick of beans and out of bean puns (has-bean, bean there done that, etc). Finally a friend suggested just blanching and freezing them whenever they showed up. It restored my sanity, not having to eat green beans all the time.

This year, it’s bean sprouts, week after week. Good thing we’re in the middle of a good bout of stir-fry weather. When it’s hot outside, no one wants to stand over a hot stove, simmering something for hours. Let’s get the pan hot, cook something quick, and retreat back to where it’s cool.

Week 6 of the spring CSA: bean sprouts, Brussels sprouts, a head of garlic, beets, beautiful red radishes, collard greens, mixed greens, grapefruit, rainbow carrots, eggs, and bread (Great Harvest parmesan sourdough).

spring CSA, week 6

Actually I’ve never cooked collards before, but I’m told they’re very similar to kale. Maybe I’ll make colcannon (thanks to AnnieRie, I now know that you can make colcannon with more than just kale and scallions). Or maybe I’ll go leafing (hah!) through the Lee Bros cookbook, considering they’re Southerners and collards are a Southern staple.

I’m noticing that i somehow managed to face the two orange carrots of the rainbow carrot bunch face up in the group photo. Luckily I took a picture of the carrots arranged at the farm:

rainbow carrot assortment

Aren’t they beautiful?

I was reading an article recently – I don’t remember where – that lamented the fact that when we go shopping, we have an entire aisle of cereals to choose from, but head to the produce section and we get to choose between three types of apples, and if you want cauliflower or carrots, you get whatever the store happens to have. I was an adult before I knew that carrots came in jewel-toned colors, or that you could even grow purple or orange cauliflower. When I go to the farmer’s markets in the fall and see all the different kinds of winter squash, in all shapes and colors and textures, I’m like a kid in a candy store. If we filled a store with many different kinds of fruits and vegetables, how wonderful would that be? How many more people would fall in love with food?

(Impractical, I know, both for shipping and storage. But it makes me sad that most people can probably name fifteen different cereals but less than five types of apples.)