For the last two years, i’ve planted a small garden. Nothing major. This year I had twice the size of my small plot, so I had carrots, lettuce, kale, two kinds of peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, green onions, multiple herbs, snap peas and arugula. I LOVED it! It’s such a fun hobby, and you get food out of it! I’m not exactly a ‘green thumb’, so i had plenty of failed crops (i’m looking at you, tomatoes!), and obviously had to supplement with grocery trips. But now that fall has set in, my little garden plot has all died. Sad!
Since i missed my garden (and the delicious tasting veggies is produces), we decided to sign up for a winter CSA. I’d never done one before, and I have really enjoyed it so far! There are definitely pros and cons to the CSA life.
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| all mine! |
Pro:
– fresh, local produce every 2 weeks!
– price is right ($35 every 2 weeks for more than we could ever finish)
– you get what they grow, so you’re introduced to new veggies you might not have cooked with before… it’s fun!
Con:
– sometimes you haven’t used your potatoes/radishes/greens from last week…. so now you have 2x as much and no idea what to do with them.
– you might not like the fun new veggies (i.e., the fennel i got last week)
– you might be gone part of your week, so a chunk of your food goes bad.
However, I’d like to add the pro that it inspires you to cook at home and use what you have! And to turn the excess of a certain veggie from a con to a pro, i decided to get creative.
But we got this big, beautiful bunch of radishes (see, top left of the box) which i was excited about…. except i still had 2/3 of my bunch from last week. I could only think of putting them in salads, and i hadn’t used up enough to justify a whole second bunch. Dilemma.
So I got creative, and made myself an entire meal out of radishes. It’s vegan, vegetarian, paleo, gluten free, nut free, dairy free… the list goes on.
Sautéed Radishes with Greens
7-9 Radishes w/ greens still attached
grape seed oil (or any high heat oil you prefer)
salt
pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1. Trim and quarter the radishes. Chop the greens like you were cutting them for a salad. Keep them separate.
2. Heat a pan to medium, add grapseed oil and allow to heat for 1-2 min. Add radish quarters and salt.
Sautée for 5-7 minutes on medium heat, they should be softening.
3. Add minced garlic and allow to mingle until fragrant. Add radish greens and lower heat to medium low. Sautée entire mix until greens are wilted but not completely mushy.
4. Top with pepper and serve warm.
It was different and delicious! I’ll certainly be making it again. Was great as a main dish for this vegetarian, but would be an excellent side for any meal. Are you a part of a CSA? Do you love it? Do you have any secret radish recipes i need to know about?
Coming next week: what to do with 1 million sweet potatoes.
xo