Tag Archives: locavore

Adventures in CSA: New-trition

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Three weeks into the CSA, I’m starting to see a few patterns or trends emerging. And let me just preface this by saying: it’s not like we never ate fresh fruits or vegetables in our house. It’s just that we have relied more on convenience items (i.e. frozen vegetables) than we’d have liked, and we haven’t always kept up with the fresh fruit (either in terms of buying it or using it all before it spoiled). We are the recently (new) proud owners of a tumbling composter, so at least the rinds, excess, etc. isn’t going to waste anymore – BUT that doesn’t change the fact that the CSA has pushed more fresh produce into our house in three weeks than we’d had in months.

So, what are the trends?

First off, I miss cooking. Before we had kids, I used to like cooking. DH and I would trade off – one of us would cook and the other would do dishes – and we would prepare meals that were weeknight friendly but not necessarily kid-friendly. The CSA has forced me to do more actual cooking (time spent hanging out near the stove) because I’m creating more from scratch than grabbing a box, bag or can. Why grab a can of diced tomatoes when I can just dice a fresh one? Why heat fries from the freezer when I can make my own from the potatoes that are on the butcher block? There’s no way that I would’ve considered spending 1-1/2hrs making an Acorn Squash Risotto unless someone brought me an acorn squash and practically dared me not to let it go to waste.

Second, our preparation over the years has helped a lot. We serve veggies with every meal at home (except breakfast, where fruit is offered), so the kids are used to having produce on their plate and being expected to gobble down at least a “no-thank-you” helping. For people coming cold off the starting block, trying to bring a CSA into a house where fruit and veggies weren’t really integrated into the standard offering, this would probably be a lot tougher.

Third, my creativity is coming up in notches. Of course, some of that is due to my fantastic girlfriends with food-related blogs (like Local Kitchen, Daily Cynema, My Kinda Rain and My Gems of Parenting). When I see some of what these amazing ladies are making, then I get inspired to branch out and see what I can do. Now, armed with a purpose (gotta use those fruits and veggies before the next box comes!), I’ve been able to try out recipes I otherwise hesitated on and I’ve created a few of my own to suit my own needs.

Now, if we put aside the cost factor and we just go on the overall health factor, I’d like to think that this has gotten us to eat somewhat healthier. Sure, risotto isn’t exactly low-fat, low-cal, and I’ll grant you that glazed carrots aren’t exactly the height of eating lightly…but they’re really good. I grew up in a foodie household that worshipped at the altar of Julia Child, and Saturday nights were the nights when we’d bust out the serious cooking. Even the simple meals had flair – my favorite (still) being filet mignon with my dad’s cognac-mushroom cream sauce, with potatoes, veggies and a fresh baguette. Really, if you haven’t tried a meal like that, I just HIGHLY recommend it. Hedonistic? Oh sure. But it’s REALLY, really good. OK, so maybe not everything is healthier, but we are eating fresher foods. And, since the next step up from the frozen veggies is the fresh kind, I’m thinking this is a move in the right direction.

And then we come to the $64,000 question: is it sustainable for busy, working parents? I’m not entirely sure. I know that some friends have adults-only houses, so their flexibility on menu contents and timing is far greater than ours. I know that some friends with adults and kids manage because one parent is in stay-at-home mode. I also know some others that just somehow make it work, probably because they prioritize it higher than we have in the past. We’ve valued routine (getting the kids their dinner on time so bath & bed can be timely) over everything else, often to the detriment of menu creativity, exercise routines, etc.

But, even if it’s not sustainable in its present form past the 8-week run of the CSA, I don’t think it’s impossible. I think what this will have done is open our horizons enough that we won’t just easily fall back into the same mode. More fresh veggies and fruits will come into the house, regardless, and we’ll try to be more creative than we were in the past. As the kids get older, that gets easier too – their palates start to mature somewhat and they’re more willing to try new foods.

We will have to see. This is what I’m thinking mid-way through the week 3 box, where we’ve already used much of what we got and we’re feeling pretty good about what we’ve made (except for the eggplant, which just hasn’t yet really “gotten” me, prompting Daily Cynema to PM me a recipe that she’s sure will make me a convert). Hopefully the remaining five weeks of the CSA will be as fantastic as the first three and prompt me to find a way to get into a winter share (assuming that one isn’t just done through the office again) so that we can keep this going all year long!

Acorn Squash Risotto

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Week 3’s CSA brought us an acorn squash, and though I’ve never made anything with one before, the idea of a risotto just seemed right. And so it was.

I haven’t made a risotto in an age. Most days, if I want some form of rice with cheese, I’m reaching for a box of Rice-a-Roni. Let’s face it, risotto takes TIME and a lot of watching. And, as the parent of two small children, it’s often hard to be able to stay in the kitchen for that long without someone needing *something* from me. During the work-week, it’s impossible, so I never would have attempted this for anything other than a weekend. But, it worked. Oh my, was I happy with the results.

The sweet flavor of the squash was subtle and unassuming, and the cheese was in small enough quantity to lend a little more stickiness to the rice without giving it too much weight. I cooked this in my Le Creuset round dutch oven; the enamel cast iron makes for easy clean-up, and the size of the pot gave me room to spare. When DH plugged this into his calorie tracker, the entire batch came out to about 1800 calories – meaning that 4 meal-servings would be about 450 calories each, and 6 side-servings would be about 300 calories each. Not bad at all!

Fair warning: the majority of the prep time is lost in trying to peel the dang squash. Also, if you’re not sure what to do with the seeds, I suggest that you separate them from the strings, then toss them in a small bowl with 1 Tb olive oil and 1/4 tsp salt. Then, roast them in a single layer on the tray in your toaster oven (or on a cookie sheet in your full-sized oven) at 300F for about 35-40 mins. YUM.

 

Acorn Squash Risotto

Acorn Squash-rrific!

 

Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Serves: 4 if using as a main dish; 6-8 if serving as a side dish

Ingredients
1 acorn squash, peeled and cubed (~1/4-1/3″)
1 yellow onion, minced
14-1/2oz can low sodium chicken broth (1/2cup reserved)
4 Tb butter (1 Tb reserved)
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups water
1/4 cup grated parmesan
Make it Happen

1. Over medium heat, add 3 Tb butter to a large pot. Let the butter melt, then add the onion and stir to coat.
2. Cook the onion until softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Add 1/2 cup reserved broth to the pot and the squash, stir to combine and then bring to a simmer. Cover and reduce heat to low; leave covered for about 10 minutes, so the squash can cook and soften.
4. When you cover the pot, pour the remaining broth and the water into a saucepan. Heat on medium heat.
5. Once the 10 minutes is up, remove the cover and add the rice to the pot. Stir to combine. Let this sit for 30-60 seconds (just enough to heat the rice), then add the wine and stir to combine.
6. Add 1/2 cup of the heated broth/water mixture from the saucepan to the pot every few minutes, increasing the heat on the pot to medium-low or medium, to bring it back to a very gentle simmer. (I found that a ladle-ful for us is about 1/2 cup, so it made it easy for transfers.)
7. Stir the mixture in the pot frequently, to make sure that A) the rice isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pot, and B) the liquid is cooking off properly.
8. Keep the rice gently simmering in this fashion, adding 1/2 cup of the broth/water mixture every few minutes and cooking that off, for about 20-25 minutes. Continue to stir frequently throughout cooking.
9. When the rice is firm but not crunchy, then it’s ready to be removed from the heat. Add the 1 Tb of reserved butter to the rice, stirring well to combine.
10. Next, add the grated parmesan to the pot, stirring to combine just prior to serving.

Adventures in CSA (week 3): The price gap narrows…barely

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Last week, the price difference (the savings by going with the CSA) was driven primarily by the Asian Pears – which only now appear to have ripened! This week, the more pedestrian items in the box kept the savings down to a minimum BUT I have to note a couple of caveats: 1) My grocery store doesn’t carry rainbow carrots or Italian eggplant, so in both cases I had to price out the nearest equivalent, and 2) in both of those cases, I’m sure that the nearest equivalent was cheaper than the actual item would have been in the store.

Here’s how it came out:

Week 3 CSA

Weight
(lb)

Grocery Store Unit Price
(per lb)

 Grocery Store Total Item Cost
Tomatoes 1.12 $2.79 $3.12
Eggplant 0.83 $1.59 $1.32
Italian Eggplant** 0.68 $1.59 $1.08
Radishes* 1.00 $0.99 $0.99
Green Peppers 0.71 $1.59 $1.13
White Onion 1.19 $0.99 $1.18
Macintosh Apples 0.79 $1.59 $1.25
Rainbow Carrots** 1.05 $1.59 $1.66
Cucumbers* 3.00 $0.89 $2.67
Acorn Squash 1.75 $1.79 $3.13
Corn* 3.00 $0.60 $1.80
White Potatoes 1.01 $0.99 $1.00
Grocery Store Total Cost $20.33
Week 3 Savings (Deficit) $0.33
Program-to-Date Savings (Deficit) $10.61
Notes:
* Items are priced by the unit or bunch; I checked for rough equivalency (and they were close enough).
** Exact matches weren’t available. Closest equivalent was priced, but these prices are likely to be lower than actual if the exact item was in-store.

So, there is still a (very) modest savings by going the CSA route versus the grocery store. Furthermore, the variety of the items in the box outmatched the grocery store. That was probably what surprised me the most – that I got two items my grocery store didn’t even have. I had considered going to the nearest Whole Foods to see if they had the Italian eggplant or the rainbow carrots, but I decided against it; if the idea is to compare the CSA against where I shop normally, then the only fair comparison is against my regular grocery store. Feel free to put your own store to the test and see how they do…