Organics to You - June 14, 2010

Missed last week's post due to the crazy busyness of getting ready for Open Source Bridge. We'd thought last week we'd come home and cook some, but were wrong. This week we have a crazy surplus of produce in the house including the contents of this week's box:

• 2 heads of red leaf lettuce
• 1 bunch of spinach
• garlic spears
• 2 ears corn
• a cucumber
  
• asparagus
• baby broccoli
• bunch of carrots
• 6 Russet potatoes
• 2 yams
• 2 bulbs of garlic
  
• 1 avocado
• 2 nectarines
• 3 fuji apples
  
• 2 peaches
  
• 2 mangoes
• bunch of basil
  

In the fridge:

• Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) - yep, these are still there and STILL might be OK
  
• red leaf lettuce
• piles of spinach
  
• 6 avocados
  
• 1 cucumber
• 2 bulbs garlic
• several onions
• 2 ears of corn
  
• collards
• celery
• green cabbage
• 1/2 apple
  
• some broccoli
• head of cauliflower
  
• 2 bulbs of fennel
• carrots
• red beets
• radishes
• 6 grapefruit
• 4 oranges
• 2 lemons
• 4 limes
• 2 nectarines
  
• several red & orange bell peppers
• 2 small daikon
  
• several bananas
• Pounds of Hood/Honeoye strawberries
• medium sized jicama
• 3 tomatoes
  

The Compost Pail of Shame (what we didn't use and had to compost):

• cucumber
• some lettuce
• cilantro
  

We are still rather awash in produce! I tried to make some real veggie rich dishes last week to help use up some of the surplus. Between that and the gift of house guests who like veggie dishes we are making some headway. The garden is getting underway and I haven't listed the pounds of kale, mustard greens, bok choi and chard that are out there waiting for me to pick them and do something interesting. Oh yes, and lots of peas too. As things really start to produce we may need to stagger boxes to every other week, perhaps even pausing completely until late autumn?

This week -- I think I've been over thinking the whole making of saag and am going to give it a try. Christie's favorite Indian dish is aloo saag (potatoes with spinach) and since her birthday is coming up I thought it would be good to try it out. I am thinking of adding in some pieces of seared tofu as a kind of saag paneer, vegan style. The broccoli, garlic spears and asparagus will most likely become yet another stir-fry. The peppers were picked up to make fajitas this week and I think I'll make a huge pile of guacamole (freezing some) to use up the avocados.