Fall abundance

Two things really hit me as I sat to write this morning. Each week, Derek emails me with the expected harvest for the week. He titles the email with what pick up week it is. I was startled by the fact that it is already week 22 - it seems like such a short time ago that it was week 1! The other thing that jumped out at me is the incredible variety of veggies that are available to us at this time of year. We are fortunate to live in a climate that supports the many diverse crops it does and even luckier that we have amazing farmers that care as much a D&D and their farm staff about growing such nourishing food for us!

For ideas on how to use this variety, search this site - I still do and even if I don't select a specific recipe, I get ideas for using the veggies.

A couple notes about cabbage. First, it keeps very well when stored in a plastic bag or container in the fridge meaning that you don't need to use it within the first couple of days of picking up your share.

Cabbage is of course delicious in slaws - my family and friends love my Asian Slaw recipe. Cabbage is also delicious when cooked - check out the site, but I used cabbage in a way that doesn't require a recipe: Chop/slice it as you would for cole slaw. Melt a little butter and olive oil together and when heated, add the cabbage and saute it over med heat until it is tender and slightly browned - keep a fairly close watch, as it can burn easily. Simply salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with fresh herb(s) such as chives, parsley and/or thyme. When cooked like this it takes on an almost sweet, nutty taste. It goes really well with pork and chicken.

We are back to receiving a lot of greens - embrace it and add them to many of the dishes that you cook - don't worry if the recipe doesn't call for them: soups, stews, chili. Saute a single green or combo with garlic, onion, a hot pepper. Add other things to suit your family's taste. Keep the tops to turnips, beets, radishes to add to all these dishes - I was amazed last night to see that I have really kept up with using my greens, even though for the most part I am only cooking for the 2 of us.

Enjoy the Abundance!