Beautiful Vegetables - CSA Week Four

I really just wanted to share the beautiful vegetables that we got for week four in our CSA. We are starting to get more color in our bags. This week Bay End Farm gave us:

• Potatoes
• Red top turnip
• Lettuce
• Escarole
• Peas
• Cilantro
• Chard
• Arugula
• Carrots
• Kohlrabi
• Garlic scapes

I started eating the peas almost immediately. I got back to my office, washed a bunch and then placed them on a corner of my desk to munch on throughout the day. Lets face it, they made it about ten minutes. We got so many that I ate a handful and still had most of them left. It's a great thing to just pop the whole pod in your mouth for some crunchy, fresh goodness.

I never realized how sweet and amazing the actual peas inside the pods are when they are so fresh. As I sat editing at my desk, I pulled a pod apart and popped the little peas inside into my mouth. They have a very distinct and wonderful taste. I then promptly dismantled each pod and put the peas aside to eat after I had gobbled up the outside pod. It was wonderful.

The CSA is really opening my eyes to some foods I haven't really given a thought to before. Sure, they may have been in and/or garnished a dish I had in a restaurant, but I surely didn't actually purchase and cook many of these myself prior to this CSA. I have always stuck to the familiar - peppers, onions, tomatoes, garlic etc.

For instance, we recently received San Po Sai. I had never even heard of it. My google search came up nearly blank (just a myspace blog that I couldn't even see)! Not one site mentioned what it was or how to cook it. What was I to do with such huge leaves!? So, I did what I always do when I see a green - sautéed it! To me, there is no green that cannot taste amazing sautéed with some garlic! Word the to wise, while I am sure that there are other things that can be done with san po sai, I say - sauté it!