My first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) pickup was last weekend, I was so amazed by the selection! Tons of greens, greens and more greens!! I vowed to myself that I was NOT going to waste the produce I got from the CSA this year. No matter what, my goal is to find some way to use it. Since I’m a single gal, it takes a little longer for me to go through things, but I’m going to try to find creative ways to use everything! If you missed my previous post on CSA’s, take a look here.

There were several reasons I chose to become a CSA member. One reason was the variety of produce I knew I would be getting. This lets me try new things I know I would never plant in my garden (mostly because of space) or buy at the store. I was right this time! This was our selection this week:

• Spring mix lettuce
• Spring red onions
• Italian wave mustard greens
• Giant red mustard greens
• Butter crunch lettuce
• Strawberries
• French breakfast cherry radishes
• Snow peas
• Rainbow swiss chard

All the goodies from the CSA pickup

First off let me say I have never had Italian wave mustard greens and they were AWESOME! The greens had  a peppery bite to them that I really liked. I had also never had snow peas! I loved these too! I ate them plain just like candy. They were so good and crunchy I didn’t miss my normal potato chips (lol).

Here are some ideas for how to prepare greens if you’ve never prepared them before (like me).

1. Mustard greens make great additions to salads
2. Serve healthy sautéed mustard greens with walnuts and lemon juice (cooked in olive oil)
3. Adding chopped mustard greens to pasta salad gives it a little kick. Try chopped tomatoes, pine nuts, goat cheese, pasta and mustard greens tossed w/ olive oil.
4. Serve cooked mustard greens with beans and rice
5. Main dish salad idea: Mix drained cooked beans with cooked collards and dress with oil and vinegar.
6. Simple Collards: Cook 3 cups (1/2 pound) collard leaves. Dress with 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 teaspoons rice vinegar, and 2 minced garlic cloves.  Season with salt and cayenne or black pepper.  Serve with rice and corn bread.

There are tons of other ways to prepare greens but those are some simple ideas. Here are some more ideas on what to do with csa foods. The Mariquita Farm also provides a great list of recipes here.

One of my favorite methods (and what I will probably end up doing a lot) is to simply steam the produce that is nearing the end of its edible stage to make a puree. This tactic has been used in cookbooks like “The Sneaky Chef”  and I think it will work great for me. The concept is simple, you steam your veggies, puree them in a food processor and freeze in increments that work best for your cooking needs. For me, 1 cup bags work the best. Then you can “sneak” these veggies in when your making your normal food and get all the extra nutrients without really thinking about it. Have extra carrots? Puree them and add to dishes like spaghetti, tacos or spaghetti o’s. Pureed greens go well in meatloaf, meatballs or guacamole. I don’t really want to do this because I need to sneak the vegetables in, I’m doing it b/c I am trying to prevent waste.

On a side note, if you like the idea of “sneaking” vegetables in but don’t have the extra produce, try baby food. At my grocery store a small 4 oz jar of baby food is .45. If you were really concerned about the cost of produce and didn’t want to go to the work of pureeing (it is work) you could add 2 jars of babyfood to whatever meal you are planning and get extra veggies in for under $1. I’ll do a whole separate post on this later, I promise!

Now if there do happen to be leftover veggies, I will use them in my new composter (which will be a another new post soon, I promise!). The composter pictured is tan but mine is black. I’m so excited about this composter and can’t wait until I start getting my compost!

I took some pictures when I was prepping everything and used the stems, ends and bad parts to throw in the composter. I know it looks like I’m just getting a little here and there but in the end it adds up to the strawberry container full of compost!

Radishes cut and ready to go

Spring Red Onions

All this salad!!!

Swiss chard washed and ready for storage

These strawberries were the best I've ever had!

Going to the composter

I’m excited to see what this week brings for my CSA pickup. I feel like I hit the jackpot and can’t believe I get to do this every week!

If you are interested in participating in a CSA in your area, start looking up the details now. Most CSA’s require you to buy in at the beginning of the season, long before you ever think about buying fresh produce. Some CSA’s also have waiting lists so its best to plan ahead and get in early while you can.

Do you participate in a CSA or have comments? I’d love to hear what you have to say about it! Oh and if anyone has any tips on how to wash and dry lettuce, I’d love to hear it! I tried washing, putting the paper towel in with the produce and leaving the bag open in the crisper, but it still doesn’t seem to last long. I can’t seem to get all the water out!

Enjoy your day, summer is finally here!