What to do with a CSA delivery?

Photo courtesy of of Ambreen Ali.

We got our very first CSA delivery yesterday! (Find a CSA for yourself at this great resource.) We are splitting a full share with our friends Ambreen and Bilaal and thank goodness because there were a lot of greens in our first delivery! The list above is a breakdown of everything that came in the share. The thing I am looking most forward to with the CSA is trying out new vegetables that I probably wouldn't buy otherwise.

The first thing I did was clean down the sink, fill it up with water and give everything a good scrub. My friend recommended prepping everything right away so I would be more likely to use it and would be able to cook at the drop of a dime. 

I laid everything out to dry a bit before I went to work. I looked up recipes while the greens dryed so I would know how to chop everything and also so I could package things I would be cooking together in one bag.

There were three turnips in our half. Aren't they a sweet little family?

I think asparagus are beautiful. That is probably why they are a luxury vegetable. 

Here is everything nicely chopped up and ready to go. I ate about half the greens as I chopped- it was so hard to resist!

Here is everything all packed up and ready to be stored in the fridge. Here is how I organized everything:

I put the asparagus and kale together because I will lightly marinate them with olive oil, salt and pepper and put them in the oven to be baked. I have been hearing rave reviews about baked kale chips but this will be my first time trying them. 

I chopped and packaged the spinach and red komatsuna together so I can use them in a stir fry with fresh shitake mushrooms. The komatsuna has such a beautiful taste. I can't wait to see how the mushrooms bring it out.

I chopped the scallions and curly parsley and packaged them in their own bags because I will mostly use them as garnishments for the regular desi food I'm making in the week.

I mixed all the salads and leaves and soft stems of the into one bag to have a nice base for salads or to just snack on alone. 

I cut the bok choy up in medium sized pieces so I can try to recreate the bok choy I love having a Sichuan Pavilion.

Instead of throwing away all the stems I cut off, I put them in a ziplock bag to freeze. My friend recommended doing this because once I fill up the bag, I can use the contents to make a lovely vegetable broth.

I do hope to see some more color as the CSA continues but this was a great start. Even though I like to eat salad, I never would have thought I could enjoy snacking on greens so much. 

(Today I am grateful for an unexpected moment. I got a little lost as I tend to and ended up on the mall right between the Capital Building and the Washington Monument. The mall was almost empty and with the backdrop of the dark sky, both looked amazing. I am grateful for the moments being lost can bring!)