Adapting to a Produce Co-op

Belonging to a produce co-op can give you a different perspective on how to cook produce. See my last blog on how the Purple Dragon Co-op works. Shares that come in from local farms are a seasonal assortment of the freshest produce available but they are chosen by the Co-Op as a whole and you may get things that you would not normally buy for yourself in a supermarket. As a result, you learn to be flexible and creative in your cooking. So as I looked at the share we got last week from Purple Dragon Co-op, I started to think about what kinds of dishes I would make with my bounty.  This is what we received:

Empire apples, parsnips, russet potatoes, broccoli, carrots, celery, kale, romaine lettuce, navel oranges, roma tomatoes, a pineapple and bananas.

This week, I’ve been enjoying a quick sauté of a few kale leaves with a roma tomato for lunch. With the celery and carrots I plan to make a shepard’s pie and a lentil soup. I may even throw in a bit of parsnip and potato into the lentil soup. I’ll top the shepard’s pie with mashed potatoes made with the russet potatoes. I’ll save the leafy parts of the celery to use when I make chicken stock. I’ll also cut up some of the carrots and celery to eat raw as an afterschool snack for myself and my children. I can also envision a hearty vegetable bean soup (think minestrone) with white beans, potatoes, carrots, celery, parsnips. The parsnips will add a nice sweetness to the soup.

What else can you do with parsnips other than soups? They are quite tasty roasted. I’ve cut them into sticks, like French fries, tossed them with a little oil and roasted them at 400F for about 30 minutes. The roasting really brings out the sweetness. Parsnips can also be mashed in combination with potatoes. Again the parsnips impart a nice sweetness to the potatoes.

Now all that’s left is the broccoli, romaine lettuce and the fruit.  The broccoli that we get from Purple Dragon is so flavorful and juicy that a simple sauté or steaming will do. It doesn’t need anything fancy.  With the romaine lettuce, I typically make a nice big salad for lunch but this week I’ve opted to have the kale-tomato sauté at lunch time instead so I’ll serve salad at dinner. A few sliced roma tomatoes and shredded carrots would go nicely on top of the lettuce. I’ll finish it with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The fragrant fruit from every share gets consumed in my household without a problem, so I never have to think about what to do with the fruit. However, if I did, I think I would make a cinnamony apple crisp with apples, or a fruit salad using a mixture of apples, bananas, oranges and some of the pineapple. The fruit would also be a nice addition to greek yogurt or cereal for a fulfilling breakfast. Pineapple and some coconut milk would make a delicious virgin pina colada smoothie. To use the oranges, a nice composed salad comes to mind, with the crunchy romaine lettuce as a base, topped with orange segments, some toasted nuts (walnuts or slivered almonds), goat cheese and a nice citrusy dressing.

Hmmm...all these ideas are making me hungry. Time to go cook!

Recipe for kale-tomato sauté

3 kale leaves, stems removed, and sliced finely

1 roma tomato, coarsely chopped 

Olive oil, about ½ tablespoon

Water or broth, about 2 tablespoons

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in frying pan. Add chopped tomato and sliced kale leaves. Saute about 1 minute then add water or broth. Cover to steam for about 3 minutes or until desired doneness. Add more broth or water as necessary. Season with salt and pepper to taste.