Qu'est-ce Que C'est Dans Ma Boite De CSA? Greens, Garlic Scapes, Spring Garlic, Radishes, Spearmint, and Bok Choy

My first week of CSA membership did not go as smoothly as hoped. Like so many overblown culinary ambitions -- the croquembouche I thought I'd "throw together" for a holiday party, my first naive tries at salt-roasted salmon, the ridiculous notion of making agnolotti at 2 AM after way, way too many mojitos -- 100% utilization of my CSA delivery was not meant to be this time around.

The vegetable delivery came in a container about the size of a file box, and included a big fistful of mixed greens (mizuna, swiss chard, and green chard, by my account), an armful of lettuces, and modest quantitites of spearmint, bok choy, spring garlic, garlic scapes, and radishes.

The lettuces were a quick win -- I washed them, tore them up, and tossed them with a vinaigrette of tarragon, white wine vinegar, mustard, and olive oil.



Sliced radishes added peppery bite to a salad of white beans, dill, cherry tomatoes, and red onion, all mixed together with olive oil and lemon juice. This salad is highly recommended, as it's delicious and accomplishes the cheap/quick/healthy trifecta.



Spring garlic, which is a lot like a scallion but with a garlicky aftertaste, was chopped, sauteed with pancetta, and used to fill an omelette.



No sooner had I made my little dig about bok choy than it showed up on my doorstep, demanding to be transformed into something fabulous. The obvious choice here is an Asian stir fry, but I had hoped to think outside the box. I ended up making a Provencal stir fry...which was not really so imaginative at all, but tasted great all the same. I minced and sauteed garlic scapes (little green hoses with a pungent onion and garlic flavor - very cool) with a bay leaf, fresh thyme leaves, and strips of orange zest, adding in chopped bok choy, tomatoes, olives, and parsley.



And what of the mixed greens and spearmint? They met their end in a garbage bin, for no good reason other than that I wasn't sure off the top of my head how to prepare them and lacked the time and energy to figure it out.

So there you have it. That's what became of my first CSA delivery. I aspire to do better next time; I will endeavor to eat all my vegetables.