CSA in NYC
Caring For Your Share
Presenter: Myra Klockenbrink, Just Food Community Chef and Cobble Hill CSA
Myra's approach for caring for your CSA share is from the viewpoint of creating a rich "culture of the kitchen." It is a wellspring of the culture of the home, culture of your lifestyle. What we keep in the fridge and pantry goes so far into creating the foundation of our health.
1. Eating your CSA share is the best way to use it. Consuming all of the fresh produce is very beneficial to your health.
• Organize and store your CSA share in the fridge in a way that makes it enticing to you. For example, trim the vegetables when you get your share home. Clean lettuce when you come home, spin it dry, and keep it in a plastic container so you'll be more likely to use it.
• Don't try to lose weight by under eating. Instead, bring parts of your CSA for lunch. Use a thermos to bring your lunch if you don't have access to a microwave.
• Kale tips, arugula, watercress, steamed cauliflower, chopped carrots, and clean snap peas are great snacks so when 4:00 pm comes you're not desperately hungry.
• Try making vegetable-centric meals instead of a meal centered around protein.
• Try eating nothing but your CSA share for a week. It will be a cleanse of wheat, meat, caffeine, and alcohol.
• Juice vegetables and have them for breakfast.
• Feed vegetables to your pets!
2. Freeze part of your CSA share.
Cauliflower, snap peas, green beans, bell peppers, summer squash, broccoli all freeze well. Steam the vegetables in a basket and then cool in an ice bath. Freeze them on a cookie sheet and then store them in a bag.
Freeze berries, stone fruit, cilantro, basil, parsley without steaming. Place them on a sheet and then bag them.
3. Tips for extending the life of your CSA share:
• Place robust vegetables wrapped in plastic in the coldest part of the fridge.
• Use "green bags" to neutralize ethylene gas that makes vegetables rot.
• Store scallions, mushrooms, and herbs in cloth bags
• Winter squash can keep on your counter for a few months
Remember: If you're eating seasonally you are naturally inoculating yourself with what you need to deal with the stresses of that particular season.
