Week 13 Veggie List & Ideas

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Baking Several Foods at Once

Here on the central California coast our climate is described as Mediterranean. We usually have rainy winters and dry summers, and fairly moderate temperatures. Usually. An un-seasonal rain swept through our area this week. In years past we sometimes have been hit by a stray tropical storm, but this storm was especially unusual because it came from the Gulf of Alaska, where our winter storms come from. This means that the usual Pacific High air mass, which keeps summer storms away, is not as strong. In addition, we had a very rainy winter, just like the year before. Climate change? It seems so. Tomorrow I have two places to go. To reduce my vehicle greenhouse gas emissions,  I’m taking public transport and carpooling.

The rain made the strawberries fragile and soggy, but still delicious. We will have to eat them quickly though. Luckily the greens were picked before the deluge, so are clean and dry. Broccoli is so large right now that the rain can’t ruin it, and the root veggies hold up well in the rain. The blackberries held up surprisingly well. Still, our CSA share was smaller than usual this week. How much of our agriculture depends upon the weather? How will our farms be affected by our changing climate?

This week’s veggies:

Arugula

Asian stir-fry mix (Mizuna/Tatsoi)

Broccoli

Carrots (new crop; baby and bunched)

Kale

Lettuce

Fresh onions

Radishes (2 large bunches)

Spinach

Strawberries

Blackberries

Leftovers: Purple & green cabbage, lettuce, green & almost-dry garlic, onions

Ideas:

Salads: lettuce, carrots, radishes

Broccoli-Carrot-Asian Stirfry mix stirfry

Lemon-baked Broccoli

Kale hot salad

Tuscan style spinach & arugula with green garlic

Chocolate dipped strawberries

Veggie pasta with onions, garlic, veggie crumbles

Herbed or honeyed carrots

Sautéed radishes & their greens

Leftover cabbage: slow cooker braised cabbage: for sure this week!