Bountiful Basket Ideas

[Marci0393]

I order an organic produce basket every other week from Bountiful Baskets*.

I picked up my basket Saturday. It contained oranges, apples, kiwi, blueberries, carrots, leaf lettuce, swiss chard, bok choy, red bell peppers, garlic, onion, avocado and a turnip.

I am trying to meal plan to use it all. Any suggestions on the Bok Choy and Swiss Chard? I have a chuck roast I need to cook tonight as well. Also, not a big fan of plain blueberries so I usually hide them in smoothies, muffins or oatmeal, all of which are off limits. Any suggestions for those? or anything else on the list? Not sure what the deal is with the 1 turnip? What are you supposed to do with 1 turnip?

*BB is a non-member, volunteer run food co-op that is in about 20 states, mostly in the west and south. It is AWESOME! You can check it out here: http://bountifulbaskets.org/

[CAK911]

I like blueberries on salads.

This stir fry is something we make a lot, that is easily modified to be 100% compliant (just sub out the soy sauce, I think): http://everydaypaleo.com/ginger-beef-stir-fry/ That will take care of the bok choy.

I'd probably just slice the turnip up and make turnip fries.

[Tom Denham]

My signature meal is stir-fried onion, greens such as bok choy or swiss chard, with some pulled roast beef. Here is a sample recipe... http://www.wholelifeeating.com/2012/10/slow-cooker-brisket-with-kale-chard-onions-and-dried-cranberries/

You can cut a turnip into small cubes and stir-fry it in ghee or coconut oil. I sometimes mix turnip or beets in with my greens.

[dragonfly7]

Marci, about how much food do you usually receive in your Bountiful Basket? I am contemplating joining it or a local CSA. The CSA delivers 15 lbs of food every other Wednesday for $30 (and will also bring pastured meat if I order it), while Bountiful Baskets is every other Saturday for $15-$25 depending on if I want it to be organic or not.

[Marci0393]

CAk and Tom - Stirfry is a good idea. That may be dinner tonight.

Dragonfly - You get a little more with the conventional basket than with the organic usually, but it is well worth the cost IMO. This week I got 4ea of the oranges and apples, 2 kiwi, a small clamshell of blueberries (like you get at the store), about a dozen small carrots with the tops still on, 1 head of leaf lettuce, 1 bunch of swiss chard, 2 bok choy, 5 red bell peppers, 2 onion, 1 head of garlic, 1 avocado and 1 turnip. I would say this week was on the lighter side. Most weeks you get a little more, I would say between 10 and 15 lbs.

One benefit of BB over a CSA is that you only do it the weeks you want. There are 2 distribution sites near me, one is an A week and one is B, so I can get a basket every week if I want. I like that if I am out of town or got a bunch of great stuff at the farmers market I can skip a week or two. You aren't committed like you are with most CSA's.

The upside of the CSA is that it's all local and you can get meat. I am thinking about a csa too, but there are things that I get regularly in my BB, like bananas and avocado, that I wouldn't get with the csa. I may do both.

You don't have to be a member or purchace more than one week in advance with BB, so I would just try it out if I were you.