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Help: CSA veggies to utilize


GLC1968

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I thought that perhaps this thread could be a catch all for anyone looking for Whole30 ways to creatively use up extra veggies from a CSA box. It's getting to be that time of year for people in the northern hemisphere.

Tonight we pick up our week 3 share and I still have radishes and turnips from the first two weeks that I need to use (and parsley). I don't like radishes raw, so hopefully someone has an idea for cooking them?

For the turnips, I'm going to go with Johnny M's fritter recipe/technique that I found in a forum search. Maybe I'll throw some of the parsley in them too.

I had great luck doing a psuedo stir-fry of purple sprouting broccoli though!

Anyone else have some unused or confusing CSA items to use up? If so, post here and maybe others can help!

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Great idea. I'm in MN, so won't be getting my CSA until mid June. I can't wait, though. It's a fun challenge to use everything. This thread will help.

For the radishes, try roasting them with olive oil, s&p. They're great that way.

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What a great thread idea!

I am with you pjena on when my CSA starts. I hope our lovely weather doesn't delay it.

My biggest challenge has never been coming up with how to prepare items, but how to prepare them quickly enough before they spoil!

Anyone have a great way to prep and store items, like leafy greens, that won't be used for a few days?

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Here is a cooked radish recipe that I LOVE LOVE. It's called Glazed Radishes. Very common dish in France. So...because this is W30 forum, I won't add the ingredient that would make it "glazed". Get my hint? Doesn't take much of the nasty stuff and the last 3 times, I have left it out. It's really not a whole lot different. :)

Glazed Radishes Chateau du Fey

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound/500 g radishes (smallish oblong kind)
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper

  • A knob of ghee

Cut larger radishes in half. You can leave them whole if they are small. Mine were pretty large, so I actually quartered them. They were so pretty.

Directions

Put the radishes in a saute pan just large enough to hold them. Add enough water just to cover, and season with salt and pepper. Boil until tender, by which time the water should be nearly gone. Add the ghee. Cook for a minute or two until the ghee melts and the radishes become glazed.

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Leafy greens last a super long time if you do this. Wash. Dry the leaves. A little moisture is okay. The best thing is to store them in a closed plastic container that you have put damp paper towels below and also on top of the greens. I have also put them in plastic bags wrapped in the damp towels, but it doesn't work quite as well. In the container, they last up to 2 weeks.

Also, my mom reminded me about those "green bags" that you can buy at BB&B. I'm sure you can get them many other places too. Like these:

http://www.amazon.com/Debbie-Meyer-Green-Bags-Pack/dp/B0011TMP3Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367446468&sr=8-1&keywords=green+vegetable+bags

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OMG - my salad spinner is getting a workout the past two weeks! Most of our veggies have been greens of some sort or another. I love having so much fresh stuff though.

Those green bags work really well! And they can be reused over and over again, too.

Prior to Whole30, I had a hard time getting through everything in a week, but now, not so much! I was even out of town for 4 days last week and we still managed to get through most of it. Of course, it's still early in the season here, so we don't exactly have bumper crops yet!

Thanks for the roasted and glazed radish ideas. I might have to try both as I think we'll get more radishes tonight, too!

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Great idea. I'm in MN, so won't be getting my CSA until mid June. I can't wait, though. It's a fun challenge to use everything. This thread will help.

For the radishes, try roasting them with olive oil, s&p. They're great that way.

Does roasting radishes make them more mild? I got some beautiful ones weeks ago and surprisingly they still look good but I've never like them raw either.

This thread is an amazing idea!

Anyone have a great chard recipe? I find it a little bitter just sauteed.

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Another good way to store greens - wash, spin, tear into chunks, stuff in mason jars. They keep about a week that way and are perfect for pouring straight into a bowl for salad. I used to make 5 jars salads every Sunday to take to work with me each week. I might have to start doing that again soon.

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Roasting or cooking radishes in any way makes them nice and sweet. I just melted some tallow, poured it over a bunch of radishes with salt and pepper. I roasted them for ten minutes at 450 degrees. Lovely, browned on the edges and sweet.

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yep, roasting radishes makes them sweet and delicous!

kb - where do you get your CSA? Mine is La Finca from near Duluth (meaning we start even later than most!)

I usually take my greens out of the plastic, wrap them in paper towels and put them back in the plastic. I don't wash them until I'm going to use them.

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Roasting or cooking radishes in any way makes them nice and sweet. I just melted some tallow, poured it over a bunch of radishes with salt and pepper. I roasted them for ten minutes at 450 degrees. Lovely, browned on the edges and sweet.

Sold...I'm taking those lovelies home tonight and roasting them to go with my chicken tomorrow. I still have a celeriac root to roast but I've not had enough time to tackle the chopping it up project yet.

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I don't have a proper CSA but I do a local farm delivery box. I was getting a small mixed fruit/veggie box and running out of veggies and having lots of fruit left over. So today I decided to just change my weekly order to a veggie only box, add a small every other week fruit box, and add a standing order of cauliflower, kale, and avocados. Already getting a standing order of sweet potatoes. Hope this helps me have more veggies for the week and less fruit for the trash.

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Lol. And I am headed across the street to my favorite produce market and buying some greens to fill two qt flip top mason jars. I bought them to flavor my kombucha brew but they are too big and drain my CB kombucha vessel.

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Does roasting radishes make them more mild? I got some beautiful ones weeks ago and surprisingly they still look good but I've never like them raw either.

This thread is an amazing idea!

Anyone have a great chard recipe? I find it a little bitter just sauteed.

I have lightly steamed rainbow chard and used it to make a wrap with roast beef, mayo, carrot shreds and avocado. MMMMM!

http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/6657-swiss-chard-wrap/

yep, roasting radishes makes them sweet and delicous!

kb - where do you get your CSA? Mine is La Finca from near Duluth (meaning we start even later than most!)

I usually take my greens out of the plastic, wrap them in paper towels and put them back in the plastic. I don't wash them until I'm going to use them.

I wish I could remember the name of the farm! It is out of Wisconsin and I am very lucky that they deliver to my work. I went in half with a coworker. She gets all the broccoli and I get all the kale. Seemed like a perfect trader to me!

Ok, I am SO getting those green bags!

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I made Nomnom's green chicken marinade tonight. Silly me...I bought a big 4oz box of basil at Albertson's and then promptly bought another at Trader Joes (we'll pretend I got it in a CSA box). I am making a massaged kale salad tonight, so I think I'll use the end of one box in that, but any ideas how to save the rest of my basil? I could do what I did with my extra cilantro and freeze it in ice cube trays with water. It worked awesome for the cilantro..except I keep forgetting to use it. :o So, any other ideas? I could make another big batch of the green marinade tomorrow and freeze the whole lot.

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Anyone have a great chard recipe? I find it a little bitter just sauteed.

I use this one, just sub ghee for butter and I use fresh garlic, not paste. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pan-fried-swiss-chard/detail.aspx

The stems are more bitter than the leaves, so people new to chard often trim the stems off at first. I did in the beginning, then added some stems back a little at a time. Now I love the taste, and besides, with bacon, garlic, and lemon, how could you go wrong?

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I made Nomnom's green chicken marinade tonight. Silly me...I bought a big 4oz box of basil at Albertson's and then promptly bought another at Trader Joes (we'll pretend I got it in a CSA box). I am making a massaged kale salad tonight, so I think I'll use the end of one box in that, but any ideas how to save the rest of my basil? I could do what I did with my extra cilantro and freeze it in ice cube trays with water. It worked awesome for the cilantro..except I keep forgetting to use it. :o So, any other ideas? I could make another big batch of the green marinade tomorrow and freeze the whole lot.

I froze chicken in the marinade, worked well.

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I made Nomnom's green chicken marinade tonight. Silly me...I bought a big 4oz box of basil at Albertson's and then promptly bought another at Trader Joes (we'll pretend I got it in a CSA box). I am making a massaged kale salad tonight, so I think I'll use the end of one box in that, but any ideas how to save the rest of my basil? I could do what I did with my extra cilantro and freeze it in ice cube trays with water. It worked awesome for the cilantro..except I keep forgetting to use it. :o So, any other ideas? I could make another big batch of the green marinade tomorrow and freeze the whole lot.

If you take the basil and trim the ends and put them in mason jars (like fresh flowers), it'll keep for a week or more in the fridge (assuming it was fresh when you got it). But yes, you can freeze it into ice cubes - you can also mince it into smaller ice chips to make pesto at a later date (or so I've heard - I've never tried it).

We got more kale, Chinese broccoli, chard, arugula, spinach and lettuces last night - plus chives, the cutest little turnips and bok choy. Unfortunately, after biking to pick it up and then doing some much needed laundry, I didn't have time to pre-cook anything last night. Is it wrong that I can't wait to get home form work today so that I can prep and cook veggies?! :blink:

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My parents used to make a salad with radishes in it (it uses only a little of them, but still). Your choice of greens (it was lettuce and spinach for us) with orange segments (if you don't know how to get them out properly, youtube "how to cut orange segments" - it's magic) and shredded radish. For a dressing we used red wine vinaigrette (red wine vinegar, minced onion or garlic, olive oil) with a little of the orange juice mixed in.

Delish.

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I made Nomnom's green chicken marinade tonight. Silly me...I bought a big 4oz box of basil at Albertson's and then promptly bought another at Trader Joes (we'll pretend I got it in a CSA box). I am making a massaged kale salad tonight, so I think I'll use the end of one box in that, but any ideas how to save the rest of my basil? I could do what I did with my extra cilantro and freeze it in ice cube trays with water. It worked awesome for the cilantro..except I keep forgetting to use it. :o So, any other ideas? I could make another big batch of the green marinade tomorrow and freeze the whole lot.

Pesto? Which freezes well in ice cube trays.

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I use this one, just sub ghee for butter and I use fresh garlic, not paste. http://allrecipes.co...ard/detail.aspx

The stems are more bitter than the leaves, so people new to chard often trim the stems off at first. I did in the beginning, then added some stems back a little at a time. Now I love the taste, and besides, with bacon, garlic, and lemon, how could you go wrong?

Pinned that one. I ended up steaming the chard and wrapping it around my spiced lamb meatballs with a little fig compote in each (recipe for meatballs/compote from Practical Paleo).

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Sold...I'm taking those lovelies home tonight and roasting them to go with my chicken tomorrow. I still have a celeriac root to roast but I've not had enough time to tackle the chopping it up project yet.

Made these finally yesterday and they were delicious. I used coconut oil and garlic salt. Very tasty!

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