Following up on my post on Farmers Market’s and CSA I found another CSA that delivers, however this time to your doorstep. I have not tried them before, but I have heard great things about them. Reading about them prompted me to think about how Community Support Agriculture really forces us to eat seasonally.
When we join a local CSA, we pay a flat rate and get whatever comes in our box. Unlike the grocery store and even a local Farmer’s Market, the CSA farm picks the fruits, vegetables and herbs for us. So, what they pick, is what we get! This does two things.
1- It forces us to eat in season, and more importantly,
2 – It forces us to try new things.
Most CSAs will work their way through 50 or 60 different items in the course of the year. I can pretty much guarantee that this is a number well above the average American’s number for vegetable types tried in a year. Really good CSAs will include a recipe in each box which explains how to use it food. This helps with the more unusual ones, which, after you try them, sometimes become a favorite.
So, for everyone out there who finds Kale a challenge when it shows up in your CSA box, take heart! A few simple tips will have you using up the overly generous portions that make their way into our houses.
- Wash and clean the leaves, de-spine them ( I have heard that some people use the spines, but I don’t) and then mince them in a food processor. When you have pieces that are one quarter the size of your fingernail, stop. This stores well ina ziploc bag and can be thrown into any number of dishes while cooking, such as stir-fry, any rice dish, salads, you name it. Pieces this small are easy to mix in and practically unnoticeable, especially for picky eaters in the house. 
- A sure hit with my kids is the chop the pieces by hand (don’t food processor them) and then cook with chopped onions and a little maple syrup in a pan. The touch of sweetness gets you over the initial shock of Kale and helps kids and adults to learn to appreciate this nutrient dense vegetable.
I hope this helps and give CSA’s a try. By the way, the one I found that delivers to your door is Farm Fresh to You at http://www.farmfreshtoyou.com/
It’s a new year and we have great opportunities to eat healthily again this year. With my children’s food allergies, we already have been eating a very natural diet, however, I decided to take a even bigger leap recently and have been diving deeper into greening up my children’s meals.
