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mangofandangoI have decided to do 100 things I made with my CSA deliveries, and 100 things that make me happy. I will be tagging with "100things", so you can add or remove that tag from your watch list as desired. :)
I will try to pair those things in the same post sometimes, but today I think I will start with just the food one.
So, first, for those not aware: a CSA is "community supported agriculture", wherein you pay a farmer ahead of time for weekly (in our case, anyway) deliveries of whatever produce they choose to send your way. Our CSA includes veggies from one farm, but also local products from a variety of local businesses that partner with this farm...so beyond veggies we get things like bread from Red Hen bakery, cheese from one of the many artisan cheesemakers around here, yogurt from Butterworks Farms, miso from some local miso-making people, and so on. It's cool! I plan our meals around using up all the ingredients we are given to make it as budget-friendly as possible for us. (I am absolutely aware that I am privileged to have access to a CSA, fresh local produce of any kind, or many of the other things I use when I cook and plan meals. I hope to write about food with that in mind, at least to some degree.)
I have a lot of thoughts, about food! But I also just put a lot of effort into planning meals each week, and I hope that writing about what I cook is a reminder to me when I am stuck on what to do with all that stinkin' cabbage, or whatever. Perhaps it will give some of you some inspiration too. Let me know if you have ideas about what would make this more interesting, whether I should obsessively list what we got in the CSA versus what I bought at the store as I am inclined to because I am nerdy, et cetera.
That is mizuna. We got a HUGE pile of it this week in our delivery. Because it was so enormous, I decided to wilt it and serve it as a warm salad, because there was just no way I was storing all of that bulk in the fridge for very long or eating all of it raw in a salad. I am not that huge a fan of salad. :)
These are the things I made, forgive the unattractive photo of the salad:
WIlted mizuno and shrimp with ginger-miso dressing
Parnsip fries: I get so excited about these, I cannot even tell you. I love them.
Wilting the mizuna was hard - there was seriously a lot of it, I had to add it to the pan in batches.
The dressing was just fresh ginger, minced, with tamari, rice vinegar, rice wine, and (local!) apple cider vinegar. I eyeballed it, because that's how I roll. Then I took a spoonful of the miso we got in the CSA a while back and mixed it with warm water, and added it to the dressing. Stirred it up, and viola! Dressing!
Most of the dressing went over the mizuna in a big bowl. I saved a little bit for pouring over the shrimp, which I just cooked very quickly in some sunflower oil, garlic, and ginger. I added a handful of chopped cilantro (also in the CSA delivery this week) and tossed it into the salad.
Meanwhile, I was baking my recent favorite thing: parsnip fries. You just peel and cut the parsnips into thin fry-like shapes, toss them in a little oil on a baking sheet, and add salt. I baked them at 400 degrees for like 10 minutes, took them out and stirred them, and baked them for maybe 10 or 15 minutes more? Basically, when they are the degree of brown that you like in a fry, you are set. They're so good, for real. Parsnips are starchy like potatoes, and slightly sweet, so they carmelize when you bake them...but they still come across as savory. I like them as-is, but they are good with ketchup or sweet-spicy dips of your choice, too.
Bam, a meal! It was quick, even though I destroyed the kitchen. A note: I always destroy the kitchen, because my kitchen is the size of a closet. Luckily, I do the cooking, and Ryan does the cleaning up after! So it works out. :)
I will try to pair those things in the same post sometimes, but today I think I will start with just the food one.
So, first, for those not aware: a CSA is "community supported agriculture", wherein you pay a farmer ahead of time for weekly (in our case, anyway) deliveries of whatever produce they choose to send your way. Our CSA includes veggies from one farm, but also local products from a variety of local businesses that partner with this farm...so beyond veggies we get things like bread from Red Hen bakery, cheese from one of the many artisan cheesemakers around here, yogurt from Butterworks Farms, miso from some local miso-making people, and so on. It's cool! I plan our meals around using up all the ingredients we are given to make it as budget-friendly as possible for us. (I am absolutely aware that I am privileged to have access to a CSA, fresh local produce of any kind, or many of the other things I use when I cook and plan meals. I hope to write about food with that in mind, at least to some degree.)
I have a lot of thoughts, about food! But I also just put a lot of effort into planning meals each week, and I hope that writing about what I cook is a reminder to me when I am stuck on what to do with all that stinkin' cabbage, or whatever. Perhaps it will give some of you some inspiration too. Let me know if you have ideas about what would make this more interesting, whether I should obsessively list what we got in the CSA versus what I bought at the store as I am inclined to because I am nerdy, et cetera.
That is mizuna. We got a HUGE pile of it this week in our delivery. Because it was so enormous, I decided to wilt it and serve it as a warm salad, because there was just no way I was storing all of that bulk in the fridge for very long or eating all of it raw in a salad. I am not that huge a fan of salad. :)
These are the things I made, forgive the unattractive photo of the salad:
WIlted mizuno and shrimp with ginger-miso dressing
Parnsip fries: I get so excited about these, I cannot even tell you. I love them.
Wilting the mizuna was hard - there was seriously a lot of it, I had to add it to the pan in batches.
The dressing was just fresh ginger, minced, with tamari, rice vinegar, rice wine, and (local!) apple cider vinegar. I eyeballed it, because that's how I roll. Then I took a spoonful of the miso we got in the CSA a while back and mixed it with warm water, and added it to the dressing. Stirred it up, and viola! Dressing!
Most of the dressing went over the mizuna in a big bowl. I saved a little bit for pouring over the shrimp, which I just cooked very quickly in some sunflower oil, garlic, and ginger. I added a handful of chopped cilantro (also in the CSA delivery this week) and tossed it into the salad.
Meanwhile, I was baking my recent favorite thing: parsnip fries. You just peel and cut the parsnips into thin fry-like shapes, toss them in a little oil on a baking sheet, and add salt. I baked them at 400 degrees for like 10 minutes, took them out and stirred them, and baked them for maybe 10 or 15 minutes more? Basically, when they are the degree of brown that you like in a fry, you are set. They're so good, for real. Parsnips are starchy like potatoes, and slightly sweet, so they carmelize when you bake them...but they still come across as savory. I like them as-is, but they are good with ketchup or sweet-spicy dips of your choice, too.
Bam, a meal! It was quick, even though I destroyed the kitchen. A note: I always destroy the kitchen, because my kitchen is the size of a closet. Luckily, I do the cooking, and Ryan does the cleaning up after! So it works out. :)
