Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Eating The Vegs From Fresh City Farms


Wow my first food post since April 19th. Way to get off topic! 
A few weeks ago a friend asked me if I ever look into getting a CSA. My response was what the heck is a CSA (even though I had been reading about CSA’s over at Whit’s Amuse Bouch, but I was distracted by all the DELICIOUS BACON). So after a quick round of google I learned about CSAs. CSAs are Community Shared Agriculture, so basically you buy a share of a farm, if the farm does well you get food from the farm, if the farm has a drought you take that risk. Unfortunately most CSAs start in May, and this was mid July. But then we found Fresh City Farms.
We liked them because they were not a big investment (weekly payments not a lump sum in May),  you can start and stop any time, they deliver, and the contents are from a Urban farm within the GTA. So we signed up. 
For the past month (and then some), for 40.99 for a large box of veggies and fruit (just more than enough for two people who eat a lot of Vegs and Fruits for a week), we have been getting a wonderful surprise on Wednesday night. This may seem like a lot for veggies, but we spend at least that much at No Frills and they are not local, organic, or as delicious.

Glorious Veggies
It is like Christmas except with veggies. Even though I had an awesome vacation, and went to Morocco and did 8 million exciting things this summer…getting the veggie box is one of the highlights.
Source
With this program you need to be a bit creative because the contents of the box are dependant of the harvest, and could possibly have veggies you have never heard of (black radish, patty pan squash).But they send out an email the week before with “expected contents” and then have newsletter with the box with the list of veggies and some recipes.
A few weeks ago we got the above mentioned black radish and tried out the black radish, kale, mushroom salad recipe that Fresh City provided. It was delicious. I got leftovers for lunch..om nom nom. 
Dressing:
-1/4 c sunflower seed oil (or olive oil)
-1/4 cup sour cream
-1 tablespoon lemon juice
-S and P
-1/4 c fresh Parsley
Salad:
-Black Radish
-Mushrooms
-Kale
Mix together the dressing. Chop mushrooms, grate radish, tear up kale. Massage kale with some olive oil to reduce the bitter flavour. Mix with mushrooms and radishes. Top with dressing

Mmm Kale and Radish

My plan is to share with you some recipes using the ingredients from Fresh city to showcase some of the veggies!
Is anyone else hoping on the CSAish train? Is it weird that I get so excited for a box of veggies?

2 comments:

  1. All YES - I get giddy when I open the fridge and see all the colourful options!

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  2. Veggies are actually presents in disguise :)

    ReplyDelete