Yesterday we had the first pickup of the season from our new CSA. We’ve pre-paid what amounts to $20/week for about 6 months worth of weekly vegetables at a local farm. I’m excited about this for several reasons. First, this helps us move toward our goal of eating locally produced food, at least for half the year (more if we are able to do some canning). Second, we get some of the freshest vegetables around – stuff that was picked from the field hours, or sometimes minutes, before pickup.

But this is my personal favorite part of being a member of a CSA – it forces me to learn about new vegetables and make healthier meals. For instance, yesterday I was given two bunches of white turnips with the greens attached. I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve never bought a turnip before. I’ve never cooked turnip greens either. When I got home with the veggies yesterday, I googled turnip greens and found out that they are among the healthiest vegetables out there. Now, I’ve been trying to eat more leafy greens for awhile. I’ve done chard, kale, and spinach quite a bit. But I’ve never done collards, mustard, or turnip greens. Who knows how long it would have been before I got around to trying turnip greens. But now, due to the CSA, I have them in my fridge. I think it’s great fun to figure out recipes to make with these new (for me) vegetables.

This week’s CSA order included: 2 bunches of white lady turnips with greens, radishes, 2 bunches tatsoi greens, a huge bag of spinach, garlic scapes, cilantro, several varieties of mint, thyme, sage, white and yellow popcorn and sugar snap peas.

Last night’s dinner was:

• tatsoi salad with red bell pepper, toasted sesame seeds, and a ginger-sesame-balsamic dressing
• pasta with garlic scapes, thyme, sage, and sugar snap peas.

Some of the other recipe ideas I have for this week include: mojitos, spinach-ginger-lentil pasta, guac-radish-sprout-feta sandwiches and braised turnips.  Please send me your recipe ideas for using the turnip greens.  I haven’t figured that one out yet!