CSA Week 1: In the box!

Clockwise from top left: onions, arugula, garlic, radishes, beets,
lettuce, pac choi.

So you've waited all spring for the first mystery box of vegetables to arrive--and now it is time! In the box for this week:

• Spring onions: Bigger than green onions but not grown-ups yet. Use like green onions (tops) or like any onion. These are yellow and mild.
• Baby garlic: This one is a treat! Don't try to store it for the long term (that garlic is coming later). Intense flavor is great in guacamole, soups, salad dressings, or anywhere you like garlic.
• Red globe radishes: OK, radishes are a standard spring crop--but other than slicing them in a salad what can you do with them? Try radish top soup or braised radishes for a start.
• Arugula! We love spring arugula for its peppery taste; of course you can mix it with lettuce for a salad, but it is also great with...
• Beets: There are more beets to come, and the first of the season are smaller than what will come later. Use the tops like swiss chard. Our favorite way to eat beets is roasted (wrap them in foil, 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, peel after roasting) with goat cheese and arugula (goat cheese not included!)
• Lettuce: This is black seeded Simpson, a loose leaf lettuce that makes a killer salad. 
• Pak choi: This mini-choi (also spelled bok choi) is great raw in salads, in stir-fries, or ust lightly sauteed (tablespoon of your favorite oil, teaspoon chopped garlic, add pak choi and sautee just until wilted, add a pinch of salt and pepper and a splash of balsamic vinegar.)

Don't forget to share your favorite recipes with us and your fellow members on our page on the Facebook. 

In future weeks, look for more lettuce, beets, and arugula, storage garlic, kale, cucumbers, kohlrabi, and more! We'll post each week's box contents here along with some suggestions for cooking and serving.

Two last things: 

1) Wash! Our produce is grown without herbicides or pesticides and we wash it all before it gets to you, but there is likely residual dirt. Now, some people like a little dirt, but if you don't want that extra gritty flavor we advise washing everything before eating.

2) Bugs! One reason to wash again is to eliminate any lingering critters. You may notice holes in the leaves (of the pak choi and beets in particular). See above: no pesticides. That means that the little bugs get to nibble some, too. 

Enjoy the veggies--more to come next week!