Distribution and recipe

If I had a camera I would have taken a photo of today's bounty. But I don't - so I'll use words to describe it instead. So far - the CSA at Green Meadows Farm has been amazing. We get fresh looking and great tasting fruit, vegetables, and herbs week after week. The staff is extraordinarily helpful and friendly; and they care so much about each customer and want to make sure we are all satisfied by the produce they provide. It is a stark comparison to what we may experience at some of the standard supermarkets.

I first went out to the PYO fields in corduroys and flip-flops. Not the best idea. You see it was raining, and we kinda haven't seen the sun for a couple weeks, and I was walking around crops in mud. I was able to pick two quarts of strawberries - which was harder than you think. There were so many moldy strawberries. I feel bad that the weather can affect yields like this.

I then trudged over to the snap pea section for two quarts of snap peas (easy to pick). Then over to the snow peas section (still young and much harder to find) to pick one quart. I was soaked and filthy by the time I was done. Had I gone after work, dressed all business casual like, I would have not been very happy. But seeing as how I really don't have anything else to do, getting dirty is really no big deal.

So here's a quick synopsis of the CSA distibution from the farm stand:

• a bunch of radishes
• hakurei turnips
• garlic scapes
• 2 huge heads of lettuce (see photo in the last post)
• arugula
• kale
• spinach
• Pac Choi
• Tatsoi

We definitely have our work cut out for us this week. But I have already made a small dent. I cooked A Pac Choi sir-fry for lunch with a recipe that I half made up from a few things on the above list. I did find something on the web that I used for inspiration, but the final list of ingredients and the process I just winged (wung) it.

Here is the recipe...



Pac Choi, Snow Pea, and Chicken Stir Fry

1 garlic scape
1/2 chicken breast
5 Pac Choi leaves
2 handfuls of snow peas
sesame oil
sesame seeds
soy sauce

Because this is a stir fry it cooks pretty quickly so you'll want to prep all your ingredients before starting to cook.

Chop the garlic scape. Slice the chicken into bite size pieces. Separate the stems from the leaves on the pac choi and slice at a diagonal angle.

Pour some sesame oil around the pan and turn the burner to medium high. When the oil is hot, toss in the chicken and garlic scapes with some kosher salt and cracked pepper. Cook for about 5-10 minutes until you are comfortable that the chicken is cooked. It'll really depend on the size chicken slices you made.

When the chicken is just about ready, toss in the pac choi stems, they take longer to become tender than it will take for the leaves to wilt. After a few minutes, add a couple splashes of soy sauce, a few shakes of sesame seeds, the pac choi leaves, and the snow peas. Cook until the leaves wilt, which is about a minute or two.

That's it - pretty simple - and really tasty. Maybe add a squeeze or two of fresh lime juice when you serve it.