CSA Diaries

The Politics of Grocery Shopping, Everyday Muesli, and the Joy of Marinated Beans

Welcome to my CSA diaries! A new series in which I give you the rundown on how I used everything in my bi-weekly box and share a couple of the stand-out recipes. This is my first time participating in a Community Shared Agriculture program and I could not be more excited. As peak bounty season was winding down in the garden, and farmers' markets and farm stores began to close their doors, I was becoming weary of having to rely on the grocery stores in town for my produce supply. Last winter was bleak! I do my best to have a stash of preserved fruit and vegetables on my shelves and in my freezer, but I can only do so much, and my deep freeze can only hold so much. Shopping in the produce aisles at the big box grocer in town is, I’ll say it: pathetic! The vegetables are on the verge of death, the fruit is soulless, and why does everything have to be wrapped in plastic or put in a clamshell? 

Grocery shopping in the city was one of my favourite hobbies, especially when I lived on Roncesvalles, a neighbourhood in Toronto with an almost ridiculous amount of specialty food stores, bespoke butchers and fish mongers, health food stores, and most importantly: incredible fruit and vegetable stands - so many that they priced competitively! I would walk up and down the strip every day looking for excuses to spend my time (and money) browsing. But since moving to the country, grocery shopping has come to mean something very different: getting in your car (sometimes in an outfit that’s less than inspiring) and driving to ‘the store’ to get everything you need. Unfortunately due to my snobbery, one store simply doesn’t do it most of the time so I end up going to a few to suit my needs. Getting your groceries in the country is less of an opportunity for retail therapy, or to get your steps in, and more of an exercise in working through your environmental anxiety. The carbon footprint from driving around, and not to mention where your food is coming from, the waste, the pesticides, the farming practices - it’s scary stuff! 

We directly and consistently have an impact on our food systems as we essentially ‘vote’ with our dollar every time we do our shopping. We have a range of choices - some more than others - on how we can support sustainable food systems and food sovereignty. One of the benefits of living where I do is that there is a large farming community, which allows me to support these folks directly, and get to know them too! I had become quite attached to my Saturday morning routine of teaching yoga, grabbing matcha, and making my way down to the farmers market. I was expressing my sorrow to one of the farmers I shop from every week when she told me about her CSA program. This was the solution I had been looking for! I was overcome with relief and joy. Goodbye nasty produce from the food monopolies, hello certified organic goodness grown by a local WOMAN! Also, huge bonus points that her farm is called Lunar Rhythms. Their website states: 

Community Shared Agriculture is a practice in which the consumers get a variety of high–quality vegetables at an affordable price, while supporting, small-scale, environmentally and community-oriented food production 

CSA is a way to experience directly how food is grown and be a part of a social community around food; a mutually beneficial partnership between farmers and consumers.  CSA is also a way to keep local money in the local community and reduce your environmental footprint.

Everybody wins! And I personally love the added element of surprise, in that each week you get what you’re given. This type of challenge is exactly how I love to exercise my creativity. I’m excited to take you on this journey with me, there will be highs, and there may very well be some lows, but we’re in it together!

Week 1-2: Apples, Carrots, Radishes, Lettuce, Brussel Sprouts, Butternut Squash, Parsley Root, Parsley Leaf, Dino Kale, Rainbow Chard, Leeks, and Potatoes

This was a pretty generous haul! The first night was a celebratory feast, and I made chicken legs braised in cider with apples and leeks, sauteed swiss chard, and potato and parsley root mash with parsley sprinkled on everything. The apples have been a hit overall, since that thematic dinner, they have been put to work in daily muesli breakfasts. I love this dish because saying the word ‘muesli’ makes me feel like the woman I long to be, and you prepare it the night before so you have a delicious breakfast ready to go in the morning. 

Every Day Meusli

1 small apple, grated

⅓ cup rolled oats 

1 tbsp flax meal

1 tbsp chia seeds

⅓ cup milk (I use almond)

⅓ cup kefir or yogurt

¼ tsp cinnamon

Pinch of salt 

Mix everything in a small bowl until well combined, cover the bowl and put it in the fridge overnight. Serve in the morning topped with fruit, nuts, seeds, bee pollen, etc. 

The kale has been sauteed and added to a delicious trio of roasted sweet potatoes, garlicky yogurt, and brown butter toasted nuts; and has been stripped of its stems and massaged with a caeser leaning dressing to have with fancy frozen pizzas. The radishes were roasted and finished with ramp butter from the freezer to have alongside salmon and miso sauce; I plan to quick pickle the rest today. I used the lettuce as a salad base for a cauliflower that needed using. I roasted it with chickpeas and lots of smoked paprika, and served it on top of the greens with a shallot vinaigrette, and garlicky aioli on the side - fab. Tonight I’m using the potatoes for a quick and comforting sheet pan dinner with sausages, cabbage, and onions tossed with carraway seed; and tomorrow I have plans for a butternut squash risotto. As for the carrots, leeks, and brussel sprouts….stay tuned!

Top lunch of the season so far!

Another dish that sparked my flame this week was my standard marinated mixed beans. I forgot how much of a joy it is to have a hearty, carby, protein in the fridge that the longer it sits, the better it gets. I made it all the time, often doubling the batch when I used to bring my lunch into an office. It lends itself to many flavours and food combinations, I used to like it with radicchio, apple, and feta as a beefed-up salad. This week I added it to a leftover grain salad with roasted fennel and radicchio, dried apricots and parm; I also had it plain jane with roasted delicata squash. It couldn’t be simpler, and I’m excited for you to have it in your repertoire.

Marinated Mixed Beans