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A CSA share means a lot of fresh, organic vegetables, but it can be hard to always know how to prepare them.
(Julia Corcoran/WNYC)
If you get a CSA share, you might find yourself stumped,
wondering how to cook vegetables like kohlrabi and bok choy and broccoli
rabe. Leonard picked up his CSA bag this morning, and Melissa Clark is here to share her ideas for how to use the summer's fresh vegetables. She's a New York Times Dining Section columnist and cookbook writer, and her most recent cookbook is Cook This Now: 120 Easy and Delectable Dishes You Can't Wait to Make.
Clark said that what’s great about it community supported
agriculture is that you’re buying directly from a farmer, and they bring
the produce to you—or to your neighborhood, where you can pick it up.
Getting a CSA share means you’re helping the farmer have enough money to
plant the crops and harvest the crops, and to plant a variety of
plants. If you’d like to find one, do an Internet search to find one
close to you. In NYC, you can visit justfood.org for information.
Melissa Clark opened up Leonard’s bag of CSA vegetables from Katchkie Farm and here’s what she found and her suggestions for what to do with it!
Swiss chard: Sautee it with garlic and olive oil and some pine nuts and mix it with pasta. Top it with parmesan cheese. Chop up the chard stems and grill them in a grill basket a couple minutes on each side.
Broccoli: Steam it and make a Vietnamese-style sauce with fish sauce, ginger, lemon grass, olive oil.
Beet greens: Add them to the Swiss chard and sautee with garlic and olive oil (or put on pasta, as recommended above). You can eat the greens from beets, radish, mustard greens—just taste the greens first. If they tastes good raw, use them raw (in a salad). Sauteeing the greens or blanching them will tone down any bitterness.
Cherry tomatoes: Are great salad tomatoes. If they’re big, cut them in half or in quarters. Take the perfect tomatoes and make salad, take any dinged up ones and make a sauce by simmer them in a pot until they cook down.
Parsley: Put it in a salad. Take the leaves off the stems, toss them with sliced radishes, and with feta, pecorino, or parmesan, some toasted pine nuts or almonds. Or you can use it to make pesto—add it to the basil leaves or even use it in place of basil.
Carrots: Peel them or not. Take a bite and if it’s bitter, peel the carrots. Otherwise just wash them. Grate them into salad.
Onions with greens: Don’t throw out the greens! They’re like scallions. Peel the onions, slice them, and grill them with the greens. You can also chop up the greens (grilled or not) and use them in a dressing.
Corn: grill it. Peel back the greens, take silk out, wrap the corn back up, and put it on the grill. It steams nicely in the husk. Or you can shuck it entirely, throw naked cobs on the grill, and coat them after they’re cooked with butter and parmesan cheese, a little onion.
Kale: To make kale chips: Wash kale. Dry it thoroughly—spin it in salad spinner, then lay it out on dish towels for a couple hours (or just dry it very well by hand). Toss it with oil and really rub the oil into leaves (you can use any oil). Sprinkle it amply with salt. Put it on one layer on baking sheets. Don’t overlap or pile up the leaves. Roast at 325 or 300 degrees and when they start looking ever so slightly brown (about 10 minutes), take them out of the oven. Store them in an air tight container. You can also try Dr. Drew Ramsey's recipe for kale chips.
Kohlrabi: a listener suggests treating it as like a potato and boil it, or steam it, then mash it with a little cream or olive oil. Uses it as a base for fish like sea bass. Another listener suggests trimming off outer rough skin, slicing it into planks, sprinkle them with salt, pepper, olive oil , and grill them. Melissa like to steam or roast it then purees it, or cut it into wedges and eat it raw.
Lettuce: You can cook it! Make a hot bacon vinaigrette and it’ll wilt the lettuce. Or take a little butter, a little chicken stock in a skillet pan, add lettuce and cook it until it wilts, about 2-3 minutes. Eat it topped with parmesan cheese.
Fennell: Is perfect for salads if you slice it really thin. Take the outer layer off, slice it with a mandolin, top with sea salt, lemon juice, olive oil. You can also grill fennel--cut it into big chunks, still attached at the root.
Melissa Clark opened up Leonard’s bag of CSA vegetables from Katchkie Farm and here’s what she found and her suggestions for what to do with it!
Swiss chard: Sautee it with garlic and olive oil and some pine nuts and mix it with pasta. Top it with parmesan cheese. Chop up the chard stems and grill them in a grill basket a couple minutes on each side.
Broccoli: Steam it and make a Vietnamese-style sauce with fish sauce, ginger, lemon grass, olive oil.
Beet greens: Add them to the Swiss chard and sautee with garlic and olive oil (or put on pasta, as recommended above). You can eat the greens from beets, radish, mustard greens—just taste the greens first. If they tastes good raw, use them raw (in a salad). Sauteeing the greens or blanching them will tone down any bitterness.
Cherry tomatoes: Are great salad tomatoes. If they’re big, cut them in half or in quarters. Take the perfect tomatoes and make salad, take any dinged up ones and make a sauce by simmer them in a pot until they cook down.
Parsley: Put it in a salad. Take the leaves off the stems, toss them with sliced radishes, and with feta, pecorino, or parmesan, some toasted pine nuts or almonds. Or you can use it to make pesto—add it to the basil leaves or even use it in place of basil.
Carrots: Peel them or not. Take a bite and if it’s bitter, peel the carrots. Otherwise just wash them. Grate them into salad.
Onions with greens: Don’t throw out the greens! They’re like scallions. Peel the onions, slice them, and grill them with the greens. You can also chop up the greens (grilled or not) and use them in a dressing.
Corn: grill it. Peel back the greens, take silk out, wrap the corn back up, and put it on the grill. It steams nicely in the husk. Or you can shuck it entirely, throw naked cobs on the grill, and coat them after they’re cooked with butter and parmesan cheese, a little onion.
Kale: To make kale chips: Wash kale. Dry it thoroughly—spin it in salad spinner, then lay it out on dish towels for a couple hours (or just dry it very well by hand). Toss it with oil and really rub the oil into leaves (you can use any oil). Sprinkle it amply with salt. Put it on one layer on baking sheets. Don’t overlap or pile up the leaves. Roast at 325 or 300 degrees and when they start looking ever so slightly brown (about 10 minutes), take them out of the oven. Store them in an air tight container. You can also try Dr. Drew Ramsey's recipe for kale chips.
Kohlrabi: a listener suggests treating it as like a potato and boil it, or steam it, then mash it with a little cream or olive oil. Uses it as a base for fish like sea bass. Another listener suggests trimming off outer rough skin, slicing it into planks, sprinkle them with salt, pepper, olive oil , and grill them. Melissa like to steam or roast it then purees it, or cut it into wedges and eat it raw.
Lettuce: You can cook it! Make a hot bacon vinaigrette and it’ll wilt the lettuce. Or take a little butter, a little chicken stock in a skillet pan, add lettuce and cook it until it wilts, about 2-3 minutes. Eat it topped with parmesan cheese.
Fennell: Is perfect for salads if you slice it really thin. Take the outer layer off, slice it with a mandolin, top with sea salt, lemon juice, olive oil. You can also grill fennel--cut it into big chunks, still attached at the root.
- Recipe: Melissa Clark's Tomatoes in Peanut Sauce
- Melissa Clark's Easy Summer Meals
- Recipe: Melissa Clark's Perfect Tomato Sandwich
Guests:
Melissa Clark- Leave a comment
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Comments [24]
what is CSA & A CSA Bag?
Jul. 31 2014 03:15 PM
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I've made kale chips in the oven
and in the microwave, and the microwave wins hands down for both results
and ease of use! Just make sure that the kale is really, really dry,
cut it into 2-inch pieces, toss with oil and kosher salt, put on a plate
with no pieces overlapping, and zap until crisp (3-4 minutes). You
will probably have to repeat process unless you are using a very small
amount of kale. If the heat and humidity gets to your finished chips in
spite of the air-tight container they are stored in, you can just
re-zap the chips for a very short time. Unlike the oven method, the
microwave allows you to keep an eye on the kale chips so that they come
out optimally between crispy and charred to a cinder. The microwave
recipe is from Cook's Illustrated.
Jul. 31 2014 03:05 PM
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Shave fennel as thinly as possible, toss with radicchio, olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper!
Jul. 31 2014 12:40 PM
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I had an abundance of lettuce in
the first weeks of my East Brunswick, N.J CSA at Giamarese Farm &
Orchards. Their weekly email newsletter led me to a delicious lettuce,
frozen peas & fennel soup. Saute the fennel & shallots in
butter, add lettuce( or any greens) & cook until wilted. Mix in
peas, broth water & fennel seeds. Cook 5-6 min. Put in a blender
-or 2 min. in a Vitamix - and enjoy a lovely soup.
Jul. 31 2014 12:38 PM
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Susan - You and he/she are right! Broccoli rabe has nothing to do with the broccoli family.
Jul. 31 2014 12:38 PM
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I never peel carrots--just cut out the "bad" spots. I don't peel any vegetables or fruits unless the skin is inedible.
Hey, what about rutabaga? It's been one of my favorites since I discovered you could get it w/out wax all over it. I even use it thinly sliced or grated in salads.
Hey, what about rutabaga? It's been one of my favorites since I discovered you could get it w/out wax all over it. I even use it thinly sliced or grated in salads.
Jul. 31 2014 12:38 PM
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While listening II'm making gazpacho!
Speaking of lettuce, why has lettuce become so expensive?
Speaking of lettuce, why has lettuce become so expensive?
Jul. 31 2014 12:37 PM
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Leonard, lettuce is great to add
to you blender for summer soups. Adds bright color, (don't blend with
reds and blues) and bright flavor, too.
Jul. 31 2014 12:35 PM
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A farmer at the farmer's market once told me that broccoli rabi is in the MUSTARD family.
Jul. 31 2014 12:35 PM
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Re the hot corn question, I use
potato peeling gloves I use for making puree to shuck (never say peel
with reference to corn) hot corn after grilling or microwaving.
(Microwaving preserves freshness and nutritional components.)
Also, may I sound off about people who open corn at the Greenmarket to assess its freshness or whether the kernels are full? This is not necessary. For freshness, look at the silk. If it is pale green or yellow, cool and soft to the touch, you've got a fresh ear of corn. Similarly, simply palpate the silk end of the ear. That way you can detect whether the kernels are fully developed or not.
I'm from the corn state. I ought to know!
Also, may I sound off about people who open corn at the Greenmarket to assess its freshness or whether the kernels are full? This is not necessary. For freshness, look at the silk. If it is pale green or yellow, cool and soft to the touch, you've got a fresh ear of corn. Similarly, simply palpate the silk end of the ear. That way you can detect whether the kernels are fully developed or not.
I'm from the corn state. I ought to know!
Jul. 31 2014 12:34 PM
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Fresh Direct now offers CSA boxes
Jul. 31 2014 12:32 PM
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Lily - My grandmother would do
sorrel soup, but I like cutting it into ribbons and after sauteeing
sliced mushrooms, minced garlic and some thyme, throwing it in, just to
wilt. I fold that into omelettes or bake it into a quiche with gruyere
cheese. You'll find it gives a lemony lift to this melange.
It's also nice in a salad!
It's also nice in a salad!
Jul. 31 2014 12:32 PM
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Kholrabi Raw! Sliced in hummus or
Kolrabi slaw - juilliene it, slice radish, a little grated carrot or some cabbage with a lime, cumin, olive oil, mustard dressing.
Kolrabi slaw - juilliene it, slice radish, a little grated carrot or some cabbage with a lime, cumin, olive oil, mustard dressing.
Jul. 31 2014 12:29 PM
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For Sophie, yes, buy a good stove-top grill such as Swiss Diamond. Beautiful results.
Jul. 31 2014 12:28 PM
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Good lord--is this one chirping about the kohlrabi Melissa Clark's overcaffeinated lost sister? Isn't one enough?
Jul. 31 2014 12:28 PM
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I heard Christopher Kimball
saying to use the microwave for kale chips. I haven't don it as I do not
have a microwave but sounds like it might work well as microwaves do
aggregate job drying out you food
Jul. 31 2014 12:27 PM
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We got Pursalane one week. What
on earth do you do with that? I know it's a supposed super food, but I
did not like it raw in salads. Any other suggestions?
Jul. 31 2014 12:26 PM
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what is a CSA box?????
Jul. 31 2014 12:21 PM
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how to eat/prepare sorrel.
Jul. 31 2014 12:20 PM
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Leonard and Melissa: Please let me know when lunch is ready. You're making me hungry.
Jul. 31 2014 12:20 PM
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This is NYC. Not everyone has an outdoor space for grilling. Alternative prep suggestions?
Jul. 31 2014 12:19 PM
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@ foodaggro from Brooklyn: That represents a paradox...
Jul. 31 2014 12:15 PM
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Leonard, try microwaving your
broccoli with some soy sauce and water instead of the butter and lemon
juice. Also very nice and easy.
Jul. 31 2014 12:10 PM
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Let me know when this segment is over so I can turn the radio back on.
Jul. 31 2014 12:08 PM
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