Homegrown Texan

Born and raised in Texas, I've found the home of my heart and soul in the Pacific Northwest. I love trees, cool weather, and rain. I'm a back to basics kind of gal just trying to raise my family and find a bit of time to slow down in this hectic life.

Last week I signed up for 6 weeks (or is it 8? or 12?...anyway) of delivery service from a local organic farm. Basically, you buy a share (or you can get a half-share, which is what I did), and they distribute everything evenly amongst the members. It's different from a buying group in that you're not guaranteed a set amount; rather, your portion is based on whatever the farm produces. But, the price isn't bad, and I thought it would be worth a try...I've started buying organic when I can, and I like the idea of supporting a local farm. Plus, this is a good way to force myself to try new veggies, which I'd really like to do because the salad/spinach/carrot/green bean rotation is getting a bit old. And, they deliver right to your door once a week (they also give you a compost bag and pick up your organic fruit & veggie scraps, which is cool). Here is their website for anyone who may be interested: http://www.desertrootsfarm.com/

I got my first delivery last Friday. It contained:
baby beets (w/greens)
baby turnips (w/greens)
kale
spinach
lettuce/salad mix
baby cauliflower

I think that's it. I had some of the salad for lunch yesterday and it was fabulous...much fresher than the stuff you get in the store. Very tasty, too. Last night I forced myself to cook the beets. I've never eaten beets before; had never even seen them, really. I had no idea what they would taste like. So I cleaned them up (no need to peel them, since they are young and tender, the note from the farm said), cut them in half, and sauteed them in olive oil with some salt. I washed and cut up the greens as well, and when the beets were almost done, I added in the greens, more salt, and some fresh crushed garlic.

I don't eat enough greens, but I've never had a green sauteed in olive oil and garlic that I didn't like, and these were no exception. I also think the beets carmelized a bit (difficult to see for sure, since the beets are dark purple and I was using a black cast iron skillet), which added a sweetness to the greens. So the greens were fabulous. The beets were, well, kind of tasteless. Not bad, but not great, either. Just kind of blah (which was actually good, since I was honestly expecting something more on the order of "gross"). DH and I ate them with the greens. I think next time I'll try roasting them with some garlic to give them more flavor, or if I saute them, I'll cut them up first so that I can cook them with garlic (I was afraid to do the garlic this time because I thought the garlic would burn before the beets cooked through). All and all it was an ok experience, and at least I know if/when I get beets in my delivery again, I can eat them without them going to waste.

Today I'm toying with trying the turnips. Or maybe the kale. I'm dreading the cauliflower...I've never liked cauliflower (although I do like broccoli), so I don't know what to do with that. Maybe I can give it to DH and I'll take the turnips (which I suspect he won't care for). We'll see.

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