Week 2: Discount Vegetablefest

June 17, 2010

There's no doubt about it, week one was a raging success. We finished every last leaf in our basket, and to be quite honest, I feel like I could sprout wings and fly--not to mention the fact that my colon's singing showtunes. And that's not a poetic way of talking about farts.

This week, I left the basket where it belonged and came home with this:

Do you have any idea how many vegetables are in those bags? Check it out from this angle:

That's fifteen feet of organic leafy greens, you guys. Obviously I'm planning to outlive every last one of you--so write me into your will, okay?

Here's the breakdown...

2 heads of napa cabbage

4 heads of lettuce

2 heads of bok choy

2 bunches of kale

2 bags of spinach

2 bunches of beets

2 bunches of radishes

2 bunches of red turnips

2 bunches of white turnips

2 bunches of green onions

1 bag of snap peas

I added up the approximate cash value, and if I felt like buying this vegetablefest from my local grocery store, it would cost anywhere between $60 and $524. I feel like I'm getting one hell of a deal.

When I got home from the farm, I wasted no time. I immediately boiled some water, blanched a bag of spinach and one bunch of kale. I packed it away in our basement freezer and I'm planning to save it until the winter--you know, for the moments when James misbehaves.

JAMES: Mom, no time out! Anything but a timeout!

ME: Okay, here. Eat this kale instead.

Can't. Freaking. Wait.

Speaking of kale, I turned a few leaves into these crunchy little kale chips. They're super easy, and even though they pale in comparison to the almighty Cheeto, they're really quite snackable:

Unfortunately, they don't leave any kind of orange dust on your fingers. If you still want to make a batch, it's easy... Preheat the oven to 300. Cut a few kale leaves into chip sized pieces. Spray both sides with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. Put 'em in the over for 10ish minutes, or until they're nice and crunchy.

For dinner I whipped up a stir-fry. It had a few handfuls of snap peas, one bunch of white turnips, one bunch of red turnips, an undefiled head of bok choy, and some green onions. I threw in some sesame seeds, a few soy nuts, some teriyaki sauce, and a whole lot of love:

Then I rubbed Jared's fork under my armpit. Trust me, he was asking for it.