Local Produce, Happy Kitchen

Today was a very exciting day. After work I hopped in the car and drove a few minutes out of town to pick up our first produce box of the season. Funny enough, I felt a little like a child on Christmas morning, so eager to see what I was getting, in this case, what delicious produce was waiting for me.

Oh, I was not disappointed:

In this week's box we have: rhubarb, chives, pea shoots, lettuce, salad greens, maple syrup, green onions, red beets, and peppermint.

We participated in this program last year and loved it. It is so much fun, and quite educational, to get a box of locally produced food every week and then prepare our meals from that.

There is always a little note included with the produce, sharing a little bit about how things are growing, as well as a small collection of recipes; some of the recipes from last year have become family favorites.

Having cooked mostly plant-based/vegetarian for the last few years, I feel very well equipped to cook up delicious meals with our weekly, local produce. And when in doubt I will be referring to my all-time favorite cookbook, The Forest Feast.  

Tonight for dinner, using ingredients from our box, I made a beet salad that was a huge hit; even Claire, who is quite a picky eater, devoured it. And later this week I am going to bake some rhubarb muffins. Happy times in my kitchen making delicious food.

I absolutely love that all this food is organic, grown in a sustainable way, and locally sourced...and it tastes incredible. We have committed to the program from now until November and I am really excited to see what we get each week...