New Location!

Yellow umbrella against blue skies, at Panelas Brazil Cuisine today

We have moved!  Well, the drop-off point for our CSA boxes has, anyway.  Now we're retrieving our boxes from Panelas Brazil Cuisine on the corner of Robinson and Beland, next to Dale Page Park.  There's good parking, and it's even walkable for some of our families.  Better yet, there are nice tables and umbrellas outside the shop (see photo).  So buy a juice, a little meal, or some nice Brazilian pastries, and take a nice break while you bag your Tanaka goodies.  (The goodies today included figs and pears--beautiful, beautiful fruit this week, it must be autumn.)  The owner of Panelas has children in the Redondo schools, and is happy to support our fundraiser, so return the favor if you can.  (They also have lovely dinners for takeout--maybe grab a potpie while you're there, make a salad from your box contents, fruit for dessert; sounds hearty and easy too, right?)

Do you have friends who haven't tried the Tanaka CSA program?  Maybe they tried it years ago, but it is far more convenient now. Tell them how easy it is to customize your schedule, set up an automatic payment or a vacation hold on the website; tell them about the small and large boxes, and the new mini-box.  And be sure to tell them about the new pickup spot!

The demise of Google Reader

What are you using instead?

I've tried several, but find idiosyncrasies in each one that I don't like.

Right now, I find Feedly and The Old Reader the least irritating.  TOR is a real shoestring operation and their servers are swamped.  Consider sending them a donation so that they can add servers.  It looks the most promising (for the way I like to use RSS readers, YMMV).

I also signed up for Bloglovin and claimed my blog, but I am not sure I recommend that service. Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Komatsuna!

Wondering what those leaves are in your box this week--the ones that aren't spinach, or kale, or lettuce, or beet greens, or cilantro?  Turns out they're komatsuna, or Japanese mustard spinach, aka  Brassica rapa.  Use them like spinach, or any other green.  Here's a good-sounding recipe that specifies komatsuna.

Roasty Toasty

Chilly days in Redondo Beach.  Hail, rain and wind might send you snuggling under a blanket, or turning up the thermostat.  But here's another way to keep warm:  roast some CSA vegetables.  Photo above, a bowl of roasted radishes and red beets from the recent box.  They're lovely just like this, or use them in a soup or salad.  (You can also roast the carrots, of course.)

The Bonus in your CSA Box

So, this week, we got celery, carrots, apples, peas, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, spinach, kohlrabi, turnips... hmmm, what am I forgetting?

The GREENS!  On the tops of those kohlrabi and turnips, on the stalks of the broccoli, leaves that are just as tasty as spinach and chard... and cook pretty much the same way.  It's like a bonus dish in every CSA box.  While they're still fresh from the box, cut the stalks off your kohlrabi (or turnips, or radishes, or beets...).  Strip out the ribs of the leaves.  Wash the leaves well.  Saute in a little oil, add garlic (or salt and pepper), maybe toss in some pine nuts if you have them handy.  As an added benefit, now your kohlrabi (or turnips, or radishes, or beets...) are easier to store, and will take one less step in the preparation.

Here's a photo guide to the greens you might be missing.  And here's a photo of my kohlrabi/turnip/broccoli greens from this week's box (as prepared for my lunch today):

Adams Middle School Wellness Fair

Adams Middle School is hosting their second annual Wellness Fair this Saturday, January 12, 2013 between 10:00 and 13:00 in the cafeteria.

Join us.  I'll be there, sharing the bounty from a seasonal box, including samples of winter strawberries.

Japanese turnips

A member asked how to cook the white Japanese turnips in this week's box.  Japanese and Chinese turnips can be used interchangeably in recipes.  They differ in form factor (size and shape), but their tastes and textures are very similar.

Try this Daikon soup recipe I posted in 2009.  Although I did not mention it in the recipe, you can save the turnip greens, wash and chop them, and add them in just before serving.

Turnip (and beet and radish...) greens are nutritious and delicious so I hope you are using them in your cooking.

Penny made a soup with her white turnips and greens in the past.  See the lovely picture.

Winter strawberries are coming!

I just got news from Tanaka Farms that super sweet (ambrosial is not an overstatement!)  winter strawberries will be in this week's Tanaka Farms CSA boxes.  Sign up now to eat your veggies, and strawberries, and support your local schools.

UPDATE
Eileen, CSA manager at Tanaka Farms sends this update:

I spoke too soon about the strawberries being in the boxes this week.  One of our strawberry patches suffered damage from the crows.  The birds were eating many of the strawberries.  We do not have enough strawberries for this week , we hope to have more in the next week or two.

Panko Wax Beans

I don't like wax beans.  I don't like their color, and they don't have much flavor--they seem like a wasted opportunity.  But we got a box of wax beans in our last CSA box, and I can't see letting them rot away without at least trying to eat them.  So I coated them with cornstarch, egg, and panko flakes, and fried them up, like I sometimes do with cauliflower or green beans.  Not bad; I definitely ate them all without complaint. 

PS--I believe this is the 100th post at the Adams Middle School CSA blog.

Radishes on the Grill

 We got some big, beautiful radishes in the CSA box this week.  Big, like they almost looked like red potatoes.  But they were definitely radishes.  I don't love the taste of a raw radish, except in small amounts, shredded into a sandwich maybe.  So, I tried an online recipe for cooking my radishes on the grill (we were grilling other vegetables anyway).

It was certainly easy to prepare.  This is the packet before grilling:

raw sliced radishes, bits of butter, snipped dill, salt, and pepper, in foil

And this is the packet after grilling:

cooked sliced radishes, right off the grill

 Cooked radishes are very mild in flavor, and benefit from extra spices and herbs; and next time, I'll probably add some garlic.  But it's a nice side dish, and a colorful change of pace.