We are well over a month into the first year of the CSA, and let it be known that, so far, I’m winning. Yes, vegetable eating has become a competitive sport around here. It’s more me vs. the crisper drawers than me vs. Sara (she’s more of a hapless bystander). So far, I’ve eaten my weight in rhubarb, figured out that garlic scapes go with just about everything, and snuck parsnips into every dish I could think of (although I did not repeat the parsnip frosting disaster of ‘03). Last week I actually reached parsnip 0 in the fridge. This hasn’t happened in weeks. This week, I had to buy extra vegetables because I ran out. I am so winning!
Here’s a recipe I came up with to use up all those parsnips. You could mix it up with other root vegetables — carrots would be especially nice in this, I think.
Roasted Parsnip Spread
Good as a sandwich spread or as a dip for veggies or pita
3/4 C red lentils
3 parsnips cut into 1-inch chunks
3 garlic scapes cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tsp dried rosemary
salt
olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
black pepper
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 2. Put red lentils in a small pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil over med-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until lentils are cooked (about 15 minues). Drain and set aside.
3. While lentils are cooking, arrange parsnips and garlic scapes on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with rosemary and a couple pinches of salt. Drizzle with about 1-2 Tbsp olive oil and toss to coat vegetables. Roast in oven until parsnips are tender and slightly browned (about 20-30 minutes). Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
4. In a food processor, combine lentils, roasted vegetables, vinegar (or lemon juice), and salt & pepper to taste. Process until smooth and adjust seasonings to taste.
I am very seldom daunted by food. That said, when Sara picked me up from my volunteer gig a couple weeks ago complaining that her hand hurt from handling the nettles in our CSA box, I was concerned. She was ready to chuck the whole bunch, but I couldn’t let them go. I got out my tongs to handle them and successfully created the sunchoke and nettle soup featured in the Harmony Valley Newsletter (with skim milk instead of cream). Sara looked skeptical when I served up the steaming bowls of green, but I can now say that they do not sting once cooked. Look how benign they are pureed to hell with a side of bread:
Maybe next year I’ll get more adventurous.
I also tried making this sorrel pesto last week. I can only imagine how much better it would have tasted if I could have used pine nuts instead of walnuts. I just can’t justify the cost of pine nuts right now, though.
I have three whole weeks off school before Summer classes start. This is exciting for a lot of reasons, one being that I get to cook more than once a week. I’ve got plans for several nights this week to use up the ingredients of our CSA box.
Here’s what we got:
Spinach
Arugula
Parsnips
Sunchokes
Sorrel
Nettles
Rhubarb
Chives
Red Radish
Hon Tsai Tai
Green Garlic
And here’s the plan:
Soup: nettles, sunchokes, chives, green garlic
Green curry: hon tsai tai, green garlic
Pesto: sorrel, arugula
Veggie burgers: spinach, radishes, chives
Pie: rhubarb
Side dish: parsnips (roasted)
I’ll post recipes throughout the week.
I love having a plan.
Our first CSA box came from Harmony Valley last week, and it was everything I dreamed of. It was all I could do to not sprint the 3 blocks to our pickup location (I definitely would have had Sara not been walking with me). Upon returning home with our bounty, I immediately put some asparagus in the oven to roast for dinner.
Figuring out what to do with the rest was more of a challenge, but I made a master plan for using everything and we’ve done pretty well so far — especially since it’s finals time. There’s a lot to cover, so I’ll have to do these posts in installments. Here’s a recipe I came up with to use up a good portion of our vegetable abundance:
Lemony Lentil & Spring Vegetable Salad
3/4 C French lentils
3/4 C pearl barley
2-3 C parsnips chopped in 1/2-inch pieces
5 sunchokes peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
6 garlic cloves, peeled
6 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 bunch ramp bulbs sliced thin
4 radishes sliced
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 large or 2 medium lemons
salt
black pepper
1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add lentils and barley and boil until tender — but not mushy (about 20-30 minutes). Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.
3. Toss parsnips, sunchokes, and garlic cloves with olive oil, spread on a rimmed baking sheet, and roast in the oven, stirring occasionally (or, not at all if you’re forgetful like me) until partially browned (about 20-30 minutes).
4. In a large bowl, combine cooked lentil mixture and roasted parsnip mixture with ramps, radishes, lemon zest & juice, remaining 4 Tbsp olive oil, and salt & pepper to taste.
Never heard of a sunchoke? Neither have most people. This was the first time I’d cooked with them and I think roasting is the way to go — it seems to bring out their artichokey flavor. They’re hell to peel, though — look at all the nubs:
Time: 45 minutes
It’s Spring in Minneapolis! Actually, it’s been spring-like for quite a while, but I haven’t wanted to mention it lest we get an April snowstorm. I think we’re in the clear to celebrate now, though.
I’m particularly excited for the month of May for two food-related reasons:
1. Beginning May 6, we’ll be getting a weekly box of vegetables from Harmony Valley Farm in Viroqua, WI. This is my first time getting a CSA, and I decided to go big — we should be getting enough vegetables to feed a family of 4 every week (I have food scarcity issues). I’m determined to use them up, so in the coming weeks, you can expect the “Weekly Food” section of this blog to become a chronicle of how we use our vegetables.
2. On May 1, we pick up our compost bin from the Recycling Association of Minnesota. Yay! I’m super excited about this because at least half of our trash is food waste. We’re planning to downsize to the city’s smaller sized trash can. After years of renting, I don’t have tons of experience composting, so leave helpful tips in the comments if you have them.
Spring has also been an interesting time in our new house. It seems like every week, something else sprouts up in our yard — like this cool purple snakeskin flower:
Thanks to the help of Twitter, I’ve been able to identify it as Fritillaria. Thanks, hive mind!
Related: Biking to work, rhubarb in the back yard, and lilacs all over
