So I made some delicious BLTs this week with the lettuce and tomatoes we got. I really enjoyed them, but now I wish I tried this Bacon, Lettuce and Plum recipe that appeared in the NY Times on Wednesday. Maybe this week . . .
This week, feel the love with our first featured COUPLE, Darren and Dara.
Who are you?
I am Darren, who are you? I am Dara (yes, we have similar names).
What do you do?
Darren: I’m still clinging to ‘recent graduate’ as a title; I got my BA in Metropolitan Studies at NYU. I’ve got a job in the city, but my life in Brooklyn is what matters; I’m the Outreach Coordinator on the PLGCSA Board. I also serve on the Board of Directors for PLG Neighborhood Association (PLGNA). Recently, I started tutoring Hasidic people in Williamsburg as a freelance gig.
Dara: I’m about to begin work on my PhD in Sociology of the Body at the University of Kent in England. Until then, I will continue working at NYU School of Law, helping law students get jobs.
Where do you live?
We live on Sterling Street between Bedford and Washington in a beautiful apartment owned by members Carlos and Clare.
Where did you grow up?
Darren: I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, yes in the actual shrinking city.
Dara: I grew up in South Florida with strong ties to Philadelphia.
How long have you been a member?
Since the beginning! Darren moved to PLG the year it started and it just sort of happened. We were students at NYU and we got subsidized because we were legitimately broke; it was amazing to be able to benefit in that way, which is a big reason Darren is happy to serve on the Board and give back.
When you do your pickup where are you coming from?
Darren: Actually, Dara has done 99% of the picking up this year; she comes from work in the city. But she is moving to England in September, so I’ll have to pull it together! Read the rest of this entry »
Well, it’s been a gluttonous couple of weeks. After vacation, I am trying to eat healthier and spend less. It’s time to stat making more meals at home. Luckily I have a full pantry and lots of good produce from the CSA every week. I was really happy about the fruit share this week. I live for those donut peaches. But they didn’t last long. My kids and I basically sat at the dining room table eating donut peaches and apricots. I was thrilled that they loved the fruit so much. My husband is lucky that I managed to save a couple for him. It wasn’t easy. For dinner we made veggie kebobs on the grill. I put potato, zucchini, garlic, pepper and red onion (not CSA) on a wooden skewer brushed with some oil and I also mixed some eggplant with oil and salt and pepper and parsley and grilled it. It was a super satisfying cheap healthy meal. The next night I decided to tackle the beans. I’m not that into beans. I think I may have been forced to eat them as a child. When I saw them at pick-up, I wasn’t too happy, but I am trying to use everything so I found this recipe which used the beans and the parsley (see below). Very quick and easy. I served that over a Trader Joe’s grains mix and added lots of salt and pepper. It was really good. I may be changing my tune about beans. Read the rest of this entry »
We did some cookin’ last week. Grillin’, choppin’, bakin’.
Both my neighbor, Angela (who splits a share with us) and I made strawberry shortcake. It is true—the strawberries we got were so sweet I did not add any sugar to the strawberry topping. There is nothing more simple than a biscuit that is made of flour, baking powder, milk, butter and sugar. Read the rest of this entry »
Aside from the usual salads, we didn’t do anything super spectacular with our share.
I think, the thing I love most with kale is sausages. This is a classic recipe (also sausages with broccoli rabe) that has been written up numerous times on various blogs, including this vegetarian recipe. One good twist to this dinner staple that my husband did was to add a can of whole italian plum tomatoes to the mix. Just squeeze the tomatoes with your (clean) hands to roughly crush them up. Read the rest of this entry »
This week, we welcome member Nicole Fabri to the “What I Did With My Share.” Read more to find out how she feeds her family with her CSA.
What joy that our CSA has finally started and we are getting fantastic fresh and nutritious vegetables every week! I have personally been delighted to see my little boy (2 yrs) munching on mustard greens and asking for more “salatt”. What follows is a few fun creations from our kitchen that might give you some interesting ideas.
One of the first things I made with all that lovely fresh mint and peppermint was a cool summer drink. Read the rest of this entry »
I realized this week how abrupt my transition from “winter food” to “summer food” has been. It’s not that we haven’t eaten any fresh vegetables during the winter months, but that much of it has been mostly savory, sauteed and/or cooked. Even the fresh stuff doesn’t seem memorable.
This past week we received 10 ounces of salad greens. “Ten ounces!” You say. “That’s hardly a pound.” Well, let me tell you, 10 ounces is like 3 big salads each for two. So, we went from sauteed kale and raabs to eating salad three times in one week. From warm and soft to pungent and textured. I actually have to do some chewing!
I’m not sure I was mentally (or digestively :P) prepared for that! Read the rest of this entry »
Uh, well, we were a little flaky with our veggie share last week. I don’t know what we ate, but it wasn’t a whole lot of vegetables. My husband made a saute mix of chicken livers/gizzards from a BoBo Chicken with some kale, cremini mushrooms that came out kind of weird so I’m not even going to go any further other than I ate it.
So, on a way more delicious note, PLGCSA Member and Board Member Pavani Thagirisa sent me this recipe (modified) of what she did with her share. She is an excellent cook and so this is probably guaranteed to be tasty!