CSA Challenge is back this week and I had some incredible options thanks to our Jones Valley Teaching Farm farmers. As I was meal prepping for the week, I was reminded of a few things:

  1. Did we ever realize the mental load planning and prepping and implementing family menus for everyone to enjoy would actually have on us as a species? I mean, I know that consuming food is a basic survival skill, but calculating macros, protein, carbs, turmeric knobs, and non-toxic storage containers seems to be next level given the many, many, many complications of our industrialized food system.
  2. When you have access to local, safe, and fresh vegetables and fruit, you don’t have to do as much to the actual product. And everyone should have access to this, for the record.
  3. Even when you have NO idea what to do with some of the vegetables you receive (hello, Italian frying peppers), it’s kind of fun to explore the Internets to find new recipes to try.
  4. How thankful I am to have access to vegetables that are free to our community because these grocery prices are NO joke.
  5. Did I mention how hard it is to feel inspired week after week after week after week after week to make food people in your home actually want/enjoy/need? Just checking.

So this post is dedicated to all of you meal planners out there who need inspiration today. It is also dedicated to all of the farmers that continue to provide food for us and to those of you who are on the front lines fighting for fresh, affordable, safe, and healthy food is available to everyone in our community.

Roasted Vegetables

I decided to do what I know works with great tasting veggies: You roast ’em. Throw them on a sheet pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast anywhere from 400-425 degrees until they are soft and have a nice char on them. The veggies I roasted today came from Jones Valley Teaching Farm’s downtown and Woodlawn High School farms:

Butternut Squash (you can read about our farmers’ squash journey here). The plan is to add it to farro with some gorgonzola cheese and microgreens this week. I’m grateful for our farmers at the teaching farm at Woodlawn High School for growing these!

Kale: I chopped the kale, tossed them in olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted them for 8-10 minutes in the oven. I plan to crumble the kale chips on top of many things this week (including the potato soup I made that is posted below).

Snacking Sweet Peppers: I tossed them in olive oil, salt, and pepper and then roasted them at 425 for 20 minutes? I also added some onions and whole garlic cloves for fun. Once they were done, I added some farro (cooked in salted water on the stove while the peppers were cooking), juice of one lemon, Bottega olive oil, and a teaspoon or two of balsamic vinegar.

See what I mean? The veggies are good on their own, so all you need is a little olive oil, salt, and pepper to bring out those natural flavors and eat on their own or in salads, grain bowls, or as side dishes.

Potato and Leek Soup

I am super proud of this soup because I made it all on my own with some inspiration from a few recipes I found online. I decided to close the computer and just go for it and I’m so glad I did. I didn’t keep up with any of the measurements (forgive me), so I’ll just broadly tell you what I did and encourage you to go forth and do what you want! Be bold. Make that soup!

First, I chopped up two leeks (Leek tip: Slice the white and light green parts and let them soak in some water to get the dirt off. Then just rinse them and pat them dry). I chopped up half an onion and two stalks of celery. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 tablespoon of butter to a dutch oven / pot and then add all of the chopped veggies. I let them cook for 8 minutes or so until they were tender and added 4 cloves of grated garlic and 2 (or so) teaspoons of fresh thyme. I let that cook for a couple of minutes. Then I added diced potatoes ( maybe…5 or so small potatoes). I used russets and peeled them (they were left over from the baked potato bar I cooked last week). I added 4 tsps of roasted chicken better than bouillon and about 5 cups of water. Then I threw in a couple of bay leaves. Added some salt (I have no idea how much because I added it as I sauteed the vegetables to build the base, so let’s say… 2 tsps? Go with your heart (and blood pressure levels) here. I also added some pepper (1 tsp? 2? I don’t know). I brought all of this up to a boil and then let simmer on low heat for 30 minutes until the potatoes were tender. Then I fished out the bay leaves and discarded them. I tasted the broth to see if it needed anything (it didn’t, but yours might given these crazy directions) and then I added all of it to my blender. I blended on low until the mixture was smooth and then I added it back to the pot. Finally, I added a cup of half and half. Once in the bowl, I added some crumbled bacon (I cooked it in the oven) and some of those kale chips. I also drizzled it with some chili crunch. This turned out so delicious. I am so proud!

Italian Frying Peppers

One of the vegetables I received in my CSA I had never heard of: Italian Frying Peppers. After a quick search, I found that the best way to cook them is to fry them in some oil (duh) and then top them with some salt. I also learned (thank you, Internets) that they happen to be absolutely delicious on an egg sandwich. Well, the Internet was NOT lying. Check out THIS breakfast sandwich I created: Toasted sourdough with fontina cheese slices, a layer of peppers, an egg, and some basil on top! Y’all. It was dreamy and I pretended I was in Italy and all was right in the world this morning.

I had quite a few of the frying peppers left over, so I decided to make some egg bites for the week(inspired by the sandwich that morning). I blended up 8 or 9 eggs, a cup of Good Culture cottage cheese, a few basil leaves, 1/4 cup (okay, probably 1/2) of grated romano cheese, salt, and pepper. I greased muffin pans and added a tablespoon or so of the previously fried peppers to the bottom of each tin and poured the egg mixture on top. I baked them in the oven at 350 for 20 or so minutes. So good!

I try to cook enough to last us all week so that we don’t have to purchase many meals. It also helps me keep track of portions and calories. Cooking is therapy for me, so it also provides a space for me to create in silence. I don’t listen to books or music when I cook. I like to just chop and think.

Here’s to what will be a very busy and pressure-filled week for me (our annual fundraiser is Friday), but I’ve created a foundation of support through this incredible food — which is ultimately what sustains all of us. And if you have made it THIS far (wow), I’m including a few quotes that have gotten me through this last week. I hope they are helpful to you!

If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this
is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happens better than all the riches
or power in the world. It could be anything,
but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the
case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.
-Mary Oliver

“Your life and my life flow into each other as wave flows into wave, and unless there is peace and joy and freedom for you, there can be no real peace or joy or freedom for me. To see reality-not as we expect it to be but as it is-is to see that unless we live for each other and in and through each other, we do not really live very satisfactorily; that there can really be life only where there really is, in just this sense, love.”― Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat

“It is often in the cradle of friendship — a word not to be used carelessly — that our creative energies are strengthened and renewed. Through its tendrils, we find community — a place where our own creative work is reflected and refracted through that of others to cast a shimmering radiance of mutual magnification that borders on magic.” – Maria Popova