The Lively Kitchen

I’ve blogged about Greenling before (here and here).  It’s a local company that pretty much brings the farmer’s market to your doorstep with the home delivery of local produce.  We like Greenling because we can’t always make the 30 minute drive to and from the farmer’s market on the weekend.  Unfortunately in this area, most of the CSAs pick up at the farmer’s market, so we don’t do a CSA either. We get a Greenling Local Box about once a month.  Here’s a peek inside last week’s box:

Swiss Chard, Collard Greens, Dill, Carrots, Kohlrabi, Rutabagas, Oranges, Limes, Avocados, Broccoli

Thought it might be fun* to document how I used all the produce these last few days.

*Fun?  I clearly need to get out more…

I used a lime and avocado to make a Key Lime Pie smoothie (technically not key limes, I know), although I used coconut milk in place of the apple juice which made it more mellow and creamy.

I used the other avocado and the dill to make a Dill-icious* version of Vegan Green Goddess dressing (using this Vegan Green Goddess recipe as my starting point).  I’ll post my version soon.

*Puns are fun, right?  Right?  

I used half of the the swiss chard  in a greens and egg and combo – sautéed swiss chard topped with a fried egg and lots of pepper.

The other half of the swiss chard went into a green juice along with kale stalks, apple, lemon, ginger and celery.

The collard greens were used in a couple of ways.

I made collard wraps with collard greens, almond butter and banana.

I used the second half of the bunch in a saute with namu shoyu ( like soy sauce) and pumpkin seeds, a combo I was introduced to in The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone.

One of the oranges was eaten in school lunches by the kids.  The other orange was turned into an Orange Ginger vinaigrette to pour over a fantastic Spelt Salad with the Carrots and Kohlrabi. Recipe coming Thursday.

The broccoli was made into uber-gourmet steamed broccoli.  I know, I’m ambitious.  I honestly love simple ol’ steamed broccoli with lots of black pepper.

As for the rutebagas?  They are still sitting in the fridge.  Any advice?

I highly recommend Greenling if you are in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas or Ft. Worth.  Actually I recommend it no matter where you live, but they only deliver in those two areas.  If you do decide to try Greenling, feel free to use my referral code.  We’ll both get 10% off an order.  My code:MICHEA254.  I’ll give you my rutabagas if you use my code….  :)

I got my second Greenling delivery this week.  Here is how I’ve used this week’s produce.

• Green Chard – Juiced
• Spring Onions – Used in cooking various meals this week.
• Strawberries – Washed and ate within a day. We really like strawberries.
• Pea Shoots – Eaten in salads and juiced.
• Red Leaf Lettuce – Salad and juiced.
• White Beets – Roasted and snacked on.
• Heirloom Garlic – Used all of it in a Pot Pie recipe.
• Easter Egg Radishes – Snacked on.
• Turnip Greens – TBD (any suggestions?)

This was Greenling’s “Local Box,” which is most like a CSA in that you get what is freshest that week.  For next week I am going back to the ‘pick your own combo’ style box.

Tuesday I got my first Greenling delivery.  Greenling is a Austin and San Antonio grocery delivery service.  Their motto is Local Food, Organic Food, Home Delivered.  Yes please.

Click here to read more about Greenling.

The doorbell rang and the kids reacted as if Santa himself would be at the door.  We took our box from the nice man and came into the kitchen.  The kids scattered when they realized there was not a Barbie or Buzz Lightyear (pronounced Buzz Yite-Year by my guy) in the box, although my little guy did grab a handful of kale to munch on as he ran off to get back to annoying his sister.

With Greenling you can choose the popular ‘Local Box’ which is CSA-like in that you get whatever the farmer’s (or in this case, Greenling team) chooses.  For my first box, I chose to do a pick your own box and select the specific products I wanted.  I choose only local items, but there were many non-local items that could be chosen if you wanted to make the Greenling box your sole source of produce.  I personally enjoy grocery shopping, so I will probably continue to get both Greenling produce and grocery produce.

I personally plan to treat the Greenling produce as a CSA/Farmer’s Market replacement.  I hope for it to become the majority of the produce we consume, but also know I will still head to the grocery store for things like bananas, celery and kale – things we eat weekly all year but aren’t always local.

The bounty:

collard greens + sprouts + spinach + kale + kombucha  carrots + sweet potatoes

all local!  Go Texas!

new to me Buddha’s Brew Kombucha, bottled in Austin, TX

Broccoli Alfalfa Sprouts

• We ate half the carrots that night and are down to the final two by today.  We like carrots.
• The sweet potatoes went into tonight’s dinner of black bean and sweet potato burritos.  Yum.
• I’ve had some of the kale in Mama Pea’s Sunshine Salad.  Also yum.
• I ate a couple of the collard leaves in wraps today with a white bean spread and sprouts.  I’ve got lots more to eat, so I better get going.  Good thing I honestly love Collard Greens.
• The kombucha is waiting for a moment when I need a pick me up.  I love that stuff, but it isn’t cheap.  I usually wait until I really need it.  :)

Next week I am trying the local box, which will be a fun reverse meal planning experience.  Get the ingredients first and then plan the meals – sounds like my kinda challenge.  Kinda like Iron Chef.  Except for the whole kitchen stadium thing.  And no Alton Brown in my kitchen, sadly.

Any other Greenling fans out there?