At some point toward the beginning of my foray into plant based eating, I discovered a farm that does organic vegetable-basket deliveries. Excitedly, I decided to subscribe and I began receiving the box every week. I so looked forward to filling out my form every Friday and opening the door to my fresh bounty each Wednesday morning. Eventually, I decided that getting the box every week was too expensive for me and I stopped the subscription. A few weeks ago, upon finishing Dr. Greger's How Not to Die, I thought to restart my subscription, opting for every other week, more or less.
There are many things that I like about this subscription service. First of all, I love the idea of supporting a small local farm. Secondly, all the vegetables that come are not only organic but are strictly seasonal, meaning you won't find anything that has spent hours of travel making its way to my door. Since ending my subscription last time, my dietary needs have changed. I am now very sensitive to nightshade vegetables, meaning that the core of the baskets (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers) are not useful to me. Thankfully, the site gives you the option to swap out things you don't want for like vegetables and I asked that they put that request into my file so they know. This means that most of my box is usually root vegetables and greens.
This week's box came with two bunches of collards, one bunch of spinach, some cucumbers, some peppers (they added to everyone's boxes-- I don't know what to do with them!), fresh fava beans, beets, carrots, fennel, a couple of turnips, lots of onions, and lettuce.
Generally, my approach to how to use the contents of the box is to use the vegetables in their plain, cooked state and not try to incorporate them into dishes. (Although this time, I realize I could have used the spinach for an upcoming recipe!) The first thing I did when I got home from work was get to work on the fava beans. I shelled them, boiled and blanched them and then peeled of the waxy coating. I enjoyed the favas as my mid-morning snack today. Next, I proceeded to peel and chop the beets and turnips. I cooked them very simply in the pressure cooker and enjoy them has a side dish every day with my lunch. The most labor intensive task is washing all of the collards, beet greens and spinach. After I wash them all, I steam them in the pressure cooker and then freeze them in one cup portions to get my daily servings of greens. The onions get put away for regular use. The cucumbers and carrots will be good for dips and the fennel and lettuce... Gotta find a good use for them. And the peppers? Any takers?
If any of you readers are local to me, you can read more about this service at havivian.co.il.
