Felix and Wendy grab the first season’s CSA box by the horns!
This week we got our first CSA box of the season from our beloved Soil Sisters- members of Living Lands Agrarian Network.
This early in the season, we know to expect a lot of GREEN for a few weeks before the other veggies start to come. I made a delightful dish with fresh fava beans, chard and spinach, rosemary and one of my early season favorites, garlic scapes (scapes are the green shoots that shoot up before the garlic blooms and goes to seed, cut them when they are young and tender and they have a mind garlic flavor)!
People in cooking classes are always asking me what to do with the copious amounts of greens, (kale, chard, collards and spinach) that they get each summer in their CSA boxes. I will take this chance to plug a new class we have coming up called MAMA SAYS EAT YOUR GREENS! On August 15th.
Wednesday, August 15
Mama Says Eat Your Greens!
6-8pm
$35
Delicious recipes and inspiration to help your whole family enjoy
eating more greens, with as little hassle as possible. This class is
hands-on, yet we will discuss some important points about maximizing
your nutrient absorption from the greens you eat. Both raw and cooked
methods will be demonstrated.
Email or call Mielle at (510)290-5508or email at pieceofmyheartkitchen@gmail.com
I happen to love greens so sauteing them up with some butter or olive oil and salt is just about all I do to them. This week, I used a bunch of items in our box to make a very simple dish highlighting the favas while enjoying my greens at the same time. Here it goes:
Felix helps me to shell the beans, I crack the thick fava pods and squeeze the beans out. He is a great helper 
Next boiled a small pot of water and threw the beans in or about 2-3 minutes, until soft. Then we pulled the protective outer layer of each bean. Yes this is labor intensive, but SO worth while! Get those little hands to help you! Felix was so much more interested in eating this dish because he helped me make it!
I washed the greens and the scapes and got them ready to throw into the pan. This dish cooks fast once all the prep is done.
I threw some butter and the chopped scapes and rosemary into a big pan.
Next in goes the spinach/other greens and I cooked them just until they wilted, then I added in the bright green favas and cooked only until heated through. I added a pinch of sea salt and grate of fresh nutmeg. BAM!
I served this up with a bowl of fresh cherries and a nice stick of string cheese for both me and Felix. Joe was working tonight so I could get away with a lighter dinner
Can you tell I am in the child raising part of my life?
Get those greens this summer and COOK THEM! Don’t let them go to waste because you are unsure how to prepare them. Use the basic saute method and get creative with what else goes in. It is hard to go wrong. Some other of my favorite was to cook them are with garlic and chili flakes or a splash of soy sauce.
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