Seasonal Eating

I thought I did a pretty good job eating seasonally. I never bought tomatoes, berries, grapes, or peppers out of season. But this spring we joined a CSA and I quickly learned that my attempts at seasonal eating were pathetic. I have never eaten so many greens in my life. This past week my CSA share included mustard greens, rabe, kale, spinach, arugula, bok choy, pea shoots, and radishes. I still had baby turnips left over from the previous week so I decided to make a green soup. It was surprisingly delicious. I adapted a recipe from Deborah Madison's The Savory Way.

2 T olive oil
2 T butter
8 baby turnips, peeled and chopped or 2 medium red skin potatoes diced
1 small onion, chopped, or 2 to 3 medium leeks, thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 good pinches dried thyme
2 c spinach, chopped
1 c mustard greens, stems removed and chopped
1 c rabe, stems removed and chopped
2 c kale, stems removed and chopped
2 c arugula, chopped
2 qts chicken stock (I used water + better than bullion)
1/4 c cream or evaporated milk
6 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
1 T maple syrup

Warm oil and butter in a wide soup pot. Add the turnips, onion, carrot, garlic, thyme and some salt. Stir to coat, cover, and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the greens and allow them to gradually wilt down, stirring every few minutes.

When they have wilted add the stock and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer about 20 minutes. ***You can puree the soup at this point but Bryant hates pureed soups so I just left this consistency and added bacon.

While the soup is simmering fry the bacon is a dry frying pan until crispy. Add to soup with cream or evaporated milk and stir to combine. Serve with good bread.

The only way we've been able to make it through the mountain of bok choy we've received is by eating stir fry. I use quinoa cooked in chicken stock instead of rice and I chop the stems of the bok choy and tear the leaves and stir fry it with onion, garlic, ginger, shredded carrot, mushrooms, salt and pepper. I serve it with chopped peanuts or almonds, soy sauce, and crushed red pepper. Even Connor devours it.

Happy Spring.