Veggie Box: Mid-March 2015

Last December, V signed us up for a produce box. This is the concept known as CSA or community supported agriculture, where we pay a local farm to supply us with vegetables for a certain amount of time- in our case, a box of fresh veggies every two weeks from mid-March to mid-November of this year. With a CSA subscription, you never quite know what veggies are going to land up in your kitchen. Most people end up discovering some veggies that they've never used before.

Our family has always enjoyed vegetables but I didn't know at the time that come March, we would be eating more produce than ever. Our first delivery came last week- vegetables dropped off in a box packed with ice packs at our back door- and it was as exciting as opening a birthday present.

Being Spring and all, the box was loaded with greens and more greens. We got 9 types of vegetables and here's how I used them.

1. Turnips: Right off the bat, this is a vegetable that I'm not too familiar with- I have eaten it a few times, of course, but don't really remember cooking with it. 

That evening, it was rainy and cool and I was in the mood for something warm and comforting, so I looked up some recipes for mashed turnips. Same concept as mashed potatoes, only turnips have a slightly different texture (they are more watery) and a different taste, and way fewer carbs than potatoes. 

For the mashed turnips, I simply peeled and cubed the turnips, boiled them until fork-tender, then pureed with an immersion blender (a masher did not do the trick- it left them too lumpy), and seasoned with cream and butter, salt and pepper. The result was unexpectedly delicious! 

2. Swiss chard: To go with the mashed turnips, I made a quick Swiss chard egg curry; it also used up a half-cup of coconut milk that I had in the fridge. This combination made for a wonderful supper.

3. Cabbage: With the head of cabbage, I made my favorite simple Marathi kobichi bhaji or stir-fried cabbage- with a tempering of curry leaves and mustard seeds and a seasoning of cumin and coriander powder. 

4. Collard greens: We had a St. Patty's day potluck at work and I need something green to contribute. The big bunch of collard greens was shredded into ribbons, sautéed and made into a creamy collard greens dip. I made the dip in a mini slow cooker and served it with tortilla chips. 

5. Lettuce: The day we got the produce box, I immediately tore the lettuce into bite size pieces, washed and dried it in a salad spinner, and stored it in the fridge nestled in paper towels in a plastic box. For me, that's the way to get delicate salad greens to stay crisp and fresh for a few days. 

We used the lettuce for a big taco salad. I started by making a stir fry of onions, peppers, pinto beans and mock quorn chicken, with tomato puree, oregano, cumin and chili powder. Then we spooned the mixture on a bed of crisp lettuce and topped it with a creamy avocado dressing and a few crushed tortilla chips. 

6. Spinach: The small bunch of spinach got chopped up and added to chana masala. 

7. Sugar snap peas: This is another vegetable that I don't cook with on a regular basis. I sliced the sugar snap peas on the diagonal and used them in a Chinese-style stir fry with tofu and mushrooms. 

8. Mustard greens: I made a Marathi style bhaji with mustard greens and eggplant- this might have been the first time I used eggplant and greens together in this way but it certainly won't be the last! The results were fantastic. Here's a short cut recipe:

• Temper oil with mustard seeds, turmeric, asafetida and curry leaves.
• Add ribbons of mustard greens (washed and stalks trimmed off). 
• Add cubes of eggplant.
• Add salt, cumin coriander powder, your favorite masala (I used koli masala) and crushed peanuts. (The crushed peanuts add wonderful taste, richness and texture and really make this dish come together).
• Add a bit of water, cover and let the veggies steam, stirring occasionally until tender. 
• Add a touch of jaggery.
• Garnish with plenty of cilantro. 

9. Fennel: This was yet another vegetable that's relatively new to me, and to be honest I am not a fan of the fennel taste in a vegetable, although I like fennel seeds in some dishes. But I wanted to use it up. It went into a fridge-cleaning pulao of sorts- I sautéed together sliced onions, sliced fennel, kidney beans and a handful of cooked rice with some spices. It worked and was more than edible- it was quite tasty and used up all the odds and ends in the fridge to produce a quick dinner. 

All in all, this first veggie box was a grand success- in that we managed to eat up every last bit of the vegetables before they wilted away, and I discovered some new-to-me veggies and creative ways to use familiar veggies. Let's see what next week's box brings. I'm betting there will be more greens!