Keeping It Fresh

Inside our box the veggies are in a large plastic bag.  I find that even our lettuce will last up to three weeks if I put it in the fridge inside the bag.  We often have a large amount so storing it all in one big bags requires clearing out an entire shelf in our refrigerator, but it's worth it to have tasty, fresh greens for weeks.  It's been my experience that a few things will just last and last.  Three weeks ago we received a large bunch of garlic scapes and they are still crunchy and delicious chopped up into hummus. 

Our CSA share comes every two weeks and I want our food to be crisp for at least that long.  When our share arrives I will put whatever we haven't use so far into our new bag with the newest, freshest veggies.  One of the joys of a CSA is that the food is recently picked, some times that day, so you can feel good about saving it and keeping it fresh for weeks. 

It's Been Awhile

CSA boxes start arriving next week!

Can we get a Yay? Maybe a Meep?

Ok, so we have taken a small hiatus from posting, but we are all excited about our upcoming summer of fresh, local produce. Today I finally got around to the most rewarding bit of spring cleaning - emptying the fridge and freezer. I even finally got off all the frozen blue goo from the ice cream cake we had the first summer we lived here - four years ago! I am now ready for an influx of...greens?

Yep, greens.

The first few weeks of a CSA can be frustrating, especially for first-year members. It seems that all you are getting are boxes of green leaves (Kale! Oh the Kale! Dinosaur, green, purple!). This can be the hardest time of the year to make the most of your box as few of us have enough recipes to really make use of these greens. We will try to post recipes using early spring vegetables as often as possible.

Projects for the week: clean out the fridge of any miscellaneous remnants of the winter (I had 4, count them, 4 boxes with small amounts of stock/broth left, two cans of extremely moldy tomato paste and a soy sauce mixture for sushi that I am fairly sure was spawning); gather any frozen stock and find recipes to use them in (look for these on our site soon); and make sure check with your CSA to find the exact date, time and location of your first pickup!

Fridge Clean Out: (Detox) Cabbage Soup

So, this soup originally comes from a diet that was popular awhile back (late 90's? ish?) - the Detox Diet, also known as the Dolly Parton Diet. No idea why on the second one, but the first name makes sense. According to the diet, you are supposed to also drink hot water mixed with grade B syrup and cayenne pepper in the morning and a specific set of veggies and fruits over the next seven days. If you are interested, the specifics of the diet can be found here.

HOWEVER - this is just my version of the soup. I make a HUGE batch whenever I have a bunch of veggies I need to clear out, or I have put on a few pounds, or right after the holidays, or after a brewfest weekend. It tastes great, is extremely low in calories, really fills you up and is perfect for cold, rainy days throughout the year. It is extremely versatile and freezes very well. When I make it, I usually split it up - enough for a week in a container in the fridge, a big container for my grandparents, another for my mom, then the rest into a few quart size freezer bags for when I don't feel like cooking but still want something healthy.

And yes, it really makes this much. You really can't halve the recipe, since you use a whole head of cabbage plus enough veggies to balance the soup. I guess if you use half a head of cabbage for another recipe you can make a half batch, but I like the big batch with leftovers.

This is an EXCELLENT way to CLEAN OUT YOUR FRIDGE! Below I list the ingredients I generally use, but you can use almost anything to suit your tastes and the state of your pantry. This is a soup that is well suited to experimentation and adjustment for your family. If you have frozen and canned items left from last summer that need to make way for this year's harvest, this is the perfect soup for you!

Detox Cabbage Soup Recipe

First note: you need a BIG pot for this recipe! I use my 16 quart soup pot, which if you don't own one, I suggest one sized to fit your family. It is actually a good investment for making big batches with summer harvest vegetables.

Roughly chop the following into bite size pieces and smaller:
1 Head Cabbage
2-3 large onions
2 - 3 cans tomatoes (I use already diced ones) including any juice
2 - 6 peppers (red, green, yellow)
4 -6 stalks celery
4 - 6 carrots
8 oz. asparagus
Other options: zucchini, peas, eggplant, green beans, leeks, parsnips, etc.

Toss all these items into the pot, starting with the cabbage. You should end up with about an even amount of cabbage to other veggies. Add in:

15 - 20 oz. V8 juice (I use 3 little cans of the Spicy Hot version, which gives a nice kick to the soup)
1/2 - 1 cup of balsamic vinegar
Hot water, enough to cover all the veggies plus about an inch

I would put on the heat now, all the way on high. The soup takes a good amount of time to come to a boil.

Add in your spices. This is my general starting point:
Handful of parsley
Handful of dried onion
Handful of dried soup greens (if you have them around)
Tablespoon of black pepper
1 - 2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper
Spoonful of oregano
Spoonful of basil

You can adjust the spices, especially the pepper, according to taste. I don't put in any salt in the beginning, since it cooks for a very long time and the taste changes so much.

This is how my soup looked at this stage:

Bring the soup to a boil, then lower to a high simmer. Simmer for 2 - 3 hours with the lid off, until the veggies are soft all the way through. Depending on the mix of veggies, this can take awhile. I suggest starting the soup when you are going to be cleaning the house and can stir the pot every once in awhile when passing by the kitchen.

The soup is done when the veggies are nice and soft and the soup is reduced to the consistency you desire. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed. Some more parsley and oregano at this stage add a nice kick, as well as some more red pepper if you like spicy food. Eat your fill, then leave the soup on the stove with the lid on until it cools. Again, this takes a long time, so I generally just leave it overnight. In the morning it is still warm but ready to be doled into containers for storage and passing along!

This was my final product:

Enjoy!