Boxed Organics - Box #5 & #6: The Final 2 Boxes for the Season

So I didn't get to post about the previous box from November 21 because I actually didn't get to eat anything from it. I was able to leave it for my mother-in-law and brother-in-law to consume as my wife and I were out of town for Thanksgiving and my brother's wedding in Texas.

That week's box included:

• Purple Sweet Potatoes
• Brussel Sprouts
• Green Cabbage
• Yellow Onions
• Romanesco
• Winesap Apples
• Nittany Apples
• Organic large brown eggs

The thing I was most surprised to see was the Romanesco. And I'm very curious to know what it tastes like. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to catch-up with my brother-in-law to find out how her prepared it or what the flavor was. I hope he at least roasted the Brussel sprouts. 

The final box of the season came today. 

This week's box included:

• Leeks
• Red Cabbage
• Onions
• Carrots 
• Butternut Squash
• Gold Potatoes
• Cucumbers
• Tomatoes on the vine
• Salad spring mix
• Staymen Apples
• Organic large brown eggs

I'm looking forward to cooking with the Leeks. I'm not quite sure what to make of it besides maybe a leek and potato soup. I'll have to look up some recipes and see what piques my interest. 

I haven't yet renewed my subscription for the winter session with Boxed Organics but there is a good chance that I will. I think I just want to analyze whether or not it was worth it first. For $38 per box, I get a variety of organic, community sourced fruits and vegetables; I am doing my part in reducing the carbon footprint. If I could guesstimate the actual cost of the food, it's probably less than 2/3 the total. The balance would be my carbon offset and premium for organic food and sustaining the organization. I suppose that's not so bad. 

What do you think? 

Boxed Organics - Box #4

This week's box included:

• Candy onions
• Red onions
• Broccoli
• Mixed carrots
• Curly green kale
• Red potatoes
• Portobello mushrooms
• Honeycrisp apples
• Organic large brown eggs

This is a great box. I'm most excited to eat the Portobello mushrooms. If only we had these during the summer, I'd have thrown them on the grill with some olive oil and salt. But we will still certainly find a way to incorporate them in to our cooking.

The carrots are another things I'm looking forward to eating. Strangely, I've never had carrots of a different color. I'm so used to the orange colored carrots. I don't know if there's going to be a different taste that I should expect for the different colors. 

The broccoli is going to be easy. I eat a lot of broccoli regularly, so finding a way to include it in my dishes will be plenty easy to do. I'm hoping the flavor is distinctly different. Nevertheless, I will still enjoy it. 

And of course, the Honeycrisp apples, I have a feeling, will be excellent. They are some of the best tasting, sweetest apples I've ever had before. Again, I hope they will be noticeably different. It will be a nice departure for a week when I would normally have Gala apples in stock from the local grocery.

From the last box, we were not able to get to everything yet. I still have the butternut squash and cabbage to work with. I will have to find a way to consume it soon or risk it going bad. My mother-in-law cooked up the eggplant, so I was unable to taste it because I've been out of town for a few days over the past 2 weeks.

I guess that's partially an issue. If you're not home or don't cook all your meals, then there's a good chance ingredients will go unused and potentially rot. But as much as possible, with me being home, I've been trying to cook and consume everything.

And the variety in the boxes has been great. It's allowed us to try things that we would not usually buy. In the last box, my wife's favorite new vegetable was the red butterhead lettuce. She loves the flavor more than the typical green or red leaf lettuce, and it's definitely better than romaine or iceberg. The problem is now where to find it if we don't get it in another box.

If I haven't said it before, I'll say it now. Thanks Boxed Organics! It's been great so far. We hope to enjoy more as the season progresses. (431)

Boxed Organics - Box #3

We're starting to get into the Fall vegetables as this is the 2nd box that has given us a gourd. In this case, butternut squash. This should be another interesting week of figuring out how to cook or make use of each of these items. I think the ingredients I'm most unfamiliar with here are the kale and cauliflower. I may try some kale chips and maybe I'll rice the cauliflower. Yea, I used "rice" as a verb here. I figured if Green Giant coined the term then I should use it as such.

This week's box included:

• White cauliflower
• Baby Indian eggplant
• Red Russian kale
• Red Butterhead lettuce
• Bitter potatoes
• Red potatoes
• Butternut squash
• Gala apples
• Organic eggs

From the last box, I tried my hand at making a few things that I imagined I'd like. 

The first was a concoction with the cabbage. It wasn't the star of the dish, but it brought some texture and color to overall presentation. This is my garlic and onion chili chicken with cabbage. It was delicious. I generally use ground chicken because it's cheaper than beef and also more healthy. It's my protein of choice. I even use ground chicken in my pasta sauce and meatballs. Do you think you'd like it? 

Next, I pickled the winter radishes in a mixture of sugar, vinegar, and bay leaf. After boiling the mixture, I ladled it over the sliced radishes, let it cool, and then refrigerated it. I have to say that I'm really not a fan of this root vegetable in general. However, the Korean restaurants who make it, in whatever way they do it, I love it. Whenever I get the banchan, with my meal, I ask for more pickled radishes, cucumbers, and kimchi. Maybe mine needed to be less sweet and more sour. 

I've never pickled anything before, so maybe it was just a noob mistake or maybe I just picked the wrong recipe for my tastebuds. Whatever the case, these pickled radishes are still sitting in my fridge waiting for someone to eat them. 

At least the color is nice!

Lastly, but most notably was my attempt at making the purple sweet potato pie whose recipe was included in the newsletter that we get from Boxed Organics with every box. I'd have to say this was challenging because although the recipe calls for this to be raw, I had to boil my purple potatoes for ease of use. What do I mean? 

I don't have a food processor. So I had to mash these potatoes by hand with nothing but a regular sized fork. In order to make it easier, I boiled the spuds to make them softer, also allowing me to peel them easier. And it was still difficult to mash. Maybe I should have let it boil longer. But I cheated in another way I suppose; I traded the difficulty of mashing for the convenience of a pre-made pie crust. Nonetheless, the end result was fantastic. It was a hit in my household. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. And it's good at any time of day, for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or even dessert after dinner. For me, I took my slice for breakfast along with a nice warm cup of coffee. 

I'm having fun so far with the variety of vegetables we're getting through the CSA program. It's a great way to diversify the diet and keeps meals interesting and creative. I'm looking forward to "playing" with my food again this week. I'll let you know how it goes. 

In the meantime, I'll try to finish the radishes. =/  (604)

Boxed Organics - Box #2

Yesterday I picked up my second box from the CSA program that I enrolled in about 2 weeks ago, Boxed Organics. The first time, I wasn't able to physically go there myself, so my cousin picked up for me. But this time, I was able to go through the motions myself with his assistance of course. The pickup location is what seems to be a private residence's garage, which makes sense because it's a volunteer organization, right? And the honor system is in place to pick up the correct box (1 of 21). Easy as that. Pick up and go. And don't forget your eggs in the fridge!

This week's box included:

• Yellow onions
• Slicing cucumbers
• Green cabbage
• Red leaf lettuce
• Winter radishes
• Purple sweet potatoes
• Red potatoes
• Fuji apples
• Winesap apples
• Blake's pride pears
• Organic eggs

And again, I received an email with some helpful recipes that could be made using these freshest of vegetables and fruits. It's very likely that I'll make use of the recipes because I have no clue how to use cabbage (besides some kind of slaw) and purple sweet potatoes. One of the recipes is for a Raw Vegan Purple Sweet Potato Pie which sounds and looks amazing. I just might have to try that.

From the last box, the only thing I didn't completely finish were the yellow onions (just a couple left) and all of the gold potatoes. For one thing, I've been trying to stay away from starch. And for another thing, it's just such a heavy vegetable to eat. But if they are organic, I wonder if my body will process them better / easier? I'm so tempted to make baked potato chips from them. And since I don't like mashed potatoes that much (and don't want to physically mash them myself), my only other option would be to dice them to be roasted or included in a sauté of some sort. And now with more potatoes, finishing them might pose an even bigger problem.

That acorn squash that I got last time was probably the most challenging item. I looked up videos and recipes online and most of them said to just cut it in half and bake it in the oven with a glaze. That takes way too long and I wasn't necessarily a fan of the glaze. So I decided to experiment with it. Squash is a gourd. And although I'm not familiar with cooking gourds, I decided to treat it like a root vegetable, like a potato.

In my first attempt I diced it up, added some olive oil, fresh garlic, and rosemary and roasted it in the oven for 40 minutes. The result was quite good. It had a buttery sweetness to it and didn't take nearly as long as any of the online recipes. In another instance, I took the same mixture and sautéed it with chicken breast, onions, and broccoli. I had to make sure to cover the pan for a little while to develop a steaming effect to really cook through the diced squash, otherwise I don't think it would have cooked on an open pan. Another fantastic outcome though. I was probably able to make 4 dishes with that single acorn squash.

I tried to pay attention to the flavors and spot a difference in the taste of organically grown fruits and vegetables versus those that are not organic. I couldn't really identify major differences except for the eggs. Organic eggs have a completely different taste than any other eggs. Something about the yolk is different. I don't really know how to describe it, but you will for sure know the difference.

I heard something about eggs while we were abroad. While walking through many markets and grocery stores, we noticed that the eggs were just displayed on a regular shelf, not in a refrigerated section, but next to bread for example. Maybe I asked someone or maybe I looked it up online, but I found out that eggs (organic or not) in America are cleaned differently. Something about the process makes the shell thinner and therefore requiring refrigeration. In many other locales that we visited, the cleaning and disinfection process was probably not the same, hence the reason why they could store their eggs outside of refrigeration. Is this true? I'm not sure. There's plenty of reading material online that suggests other reasons, but it was an interesting tidbit that's worth looking into more.

Other than the freshness of all the fruits and vegetables, I can't say that I could clearly taste a difference in a blind taste test. But I'm happy that I'm participating in this program. I'm doing my part in helping out the farmers. I'm eating healthier. And I'm contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gases.

Have you thought about joining a CSA near you?

My Leap Into Organics & CSA

Yesterday I received my first box of organic fruits and vegetables from Boxed Organics, a local Community Sourced Agriculture (CSA) business. Everything is locally sourced so it's as fresh as can be.

Our first box - standard share size

If you've been following my blog and Twitter, you know that I've recently been reading plenty about the environment, climate change, and how to make life better in general. You'd also know that I've been fairly particular about what I eat and have been exercising regularly as part of my promise to myself to affect change at a personal level.

CSA is not a new concept to me. I've known about it ever since my cousin first started participating in the community, but I wasn't conscious (environmentally, physically, mentally) enough to join. From the 6 months abroad with my wife, I learned a lot about my body and really figured out and understood how it functions. I know how my metabolism is affected by certain things I eat. And I have a better understanding of what my body can tolerate and what is easier to digest.

Since we came back from our travels, I've paid plenty of attention to what I've been consuming. If I buy processed foods (peanut butter, jam, pasta, tomato sauce, guacamole, hummus, etc.), I've been sure to buy the organic versions. Carbohydrates have been really limited, and if I do consume them, they are usually whole wheat. My fruit consumption has been modified to try to get more nutritional value from them. So I've been eating apples, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and occasionally some mandarins. As for vegetables, I've increased my intake in general. Carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic, eggplant, and a couple of others occasionally make the list. But with the fruits and vegetables, I was never sure if they were organic, nor did I know where they came from.

So naturally, the next step to improving my health was to move towards organic fruits and vegetables. But not only does it help me and my diet, it also helps local farmers and the environment. It is another step in helping reduce our carbon footprint. Check out Boxed Organics 10 Reasons Why for just a snapshot at how simple participation in this community based effort and movement can change your life and the lives of others as well as the planet.

So what did I get? This week's box included:

• Yellow onions
• Green beans
• Broccoli
• Romaine lettuce
• Green Bell peppers
• Acorn squash
• Gold potatoes
• Gala apples
• Bosc pears
• Hardy kiwi berries

And to top it off, I get an email with some really helpful recipes using some of the ingredients that were included in the box.

The biggest surprise to me from this box was the kiwi berries! I had never even heard of this fruit before so that was already a shock. But the taste was the kicker. It's a sweet juicy kiwi explosion from a tiny grape/berry-sized fruit. At first look I thought it might be sour or tart, but I was certainly mistaken. What a beautiful new little fruit I've just learned about.

Overall, what I'm mostly looking forward to in the short-term is tasting the difference in fresh produce and trying a variety of things I normally would not buy in the market myself (ie. acorn squash, potatoes, kiwi berries). And I know that in the long run I am benefiting from the improved nutrition and contributing to the local social and economic impact that being green and going organic has on a community.

Will you go organic? (594)