While in London, Clint picked up our first shipment of the season from Live Earth Farm produce. Live Earth Farm is a local farm operated by Thomas Broz (aka “Farmer Tom”), his wife Constance, their children David and Elisa,and a crew of helpers. I wanted to start eating local and participate in community-supported agriculture after reading both of Michael Pollan’s books, The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food.
There are several such farms, but this one was recommended to me by Susan O—. Here are the contents of this week’s shipment and some of my thoughts on how I plan to consume them. We are a little challenged this week since I just came back on Friday from a tour of Europe (Brussels, Paris, London) and I will soon be taking off to Ottawa, Canada.
Because of this, I quickly made a plan to toss some of these ingredients into a salad and the rest would be part of a thick vegetable stew which I could store for a longer period of time. Although spring is coming to the San Francisco Bay Area, the evenings are still cool which means curling up with a hearty bowl of soup is still a much desired condition.
Sprouts ‘salad’ mix – sunflower, pea, buckwheat, broccoli and radish (New Natives)
These I plan on using these as the basis of a salad.
Fuji apples
These I will eat raw or slice and bake as part of an apple tart.
Artichokes (Swanton Berry Farm)
I’ll try to steam these and then pair with a nice balsamic vinaigrette.
Red beets (with green tops)
I’m going to roast the beets in the oven for 25 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The greens off the top of the beets will go into the slow cooker.
Carrots
These baby carrots look delicious. I am just going to saute them in a pan with a bit of garlic, salt and olive oil and eat them.
Collard “rapini” (looks/tastes like broccoli raab)
These will be chopped and added to my vegetable stew concoction forming in my slow cooker.
Green garlic (bunched)
Ditto, slow cooker!
Red Russian kale
Ditto, slow cooker!
Leeks (loose)
Some will be used as part of the carrot dish and the others will be added to the slow cooker.
French breakfast radishes
I really don’t know what to do with these yet. A bad experience with radishes while in day care when I was really young has made me fear this vegetable. Perhaps you have some suggestions?
Rutabagas
Chopped and put into the slow cooker. If I had more time this week, I may have considered a hearty beef stew with these but unfortunately time is limited this week.
Strawberries
The are already gone! Consumed with much haste as both Clint and I tried to be fair in our division.
