Week 1

Week 1! My sister sent me an email the day before telling me what she received (she has a large share, so she gets more). 

• Broccoli
• Scallions
• 2 heads of lettuce (red leaf and green leaf)
• Hakurei turnips (similar to potato turnips)
• garlic leeks (look like thick scallions but they are leeks)
• radishes

I took the above list to Google, and discovered this awesome sounding Potato - Leek - Cheesy - Crock pot soup (The weather was still crap-tastic here in Boston, so a warm soup sounded just perfect). 

Doesn't this look good?? (Recipe found here)

I did not make this!

Also, I knew there were a few potatoes that needed to be used asap -- which just shows you how often I cook -- so Stella and I went to the store Wednesday night to get the few things for the soup that I did not have on had (evaporated milk and an immersion blender).

On Thursday the Monsoon season that we have been having here continued. All day. By the time I arrived at the coop tents, they were pretty muddy. I signed in at the administration tent, she showed me the small vegetable share tent and walked me through the process. Since it was so rainy and muddy, I had to hold Stella (all 28 pounds) and the bags as well. Suffice it to say, I did not linger. I grabbed and ran. I did notice right away that there were no garlic leeks available. 

What I ended up with:

• One MASSIVE head of Lettuce
• Broccoli
• Scallions
• Hakurei Turnips

Look at that huge head of lettuce!

Lettuce

When I got home, I immediately washed the head of lettuce. (Great tip from my sister). A lot of dirt washed down the drain. I took out my salad spinner.... and after opening the package (whoops, guess I never used it before) I spun that lettuce like I was it's boss. Stella actually really enjoyed this. She kept wanted to watch it spin. Once it was all dry, I broke it up and placed it in a container in the fridge for salads during the week. The next day, my lunch was just lettuce, croutons I had on hand and some dressing. It was one of the best salads I ever had. The lettuce was almost buttery, with this really subtle umami flavor (Yes, I watch top chef). I want more lettuce!

Hakurei Turnips

These are still in a plastic bad in my fridge. Not sure what to do with them, that I will like. Everyone is saying to just slice them and put them in your salad, they are like radishes / turnips. Both of which I am not a fan of. So, they sit in the crisper.

Broccoli & Scallions

The scallions reminded me of Fido

These both went into the crock pot soup. I decided, even though I did not get the garlic leeks, I was going to make the soup anyway. (That picture before makes it look damn good, doesn't it?)

Substitutions made: Broccoli instead of celery & carrots, and Scallions, along with some frozen chopped onion we had, instead of Garlic Leeks. Should be totally fine, right?

The night before, I 'prepped" everything and stuck it in the fridge. Since my husband leaves after me for work, I asked him to put everything in the crock pot before he left for work. I also asked him to add about 8 cups of chicken broth. Apparently, I only bought four and a half though. I did not know this until I asked him how much he ended up putting in, and he told me I can't do math (the broth I bought was labeled in ounces). Whoops.

Before

I was a little late getting home, since I ended up picking up some plant shares and delivering them, instead of coming straight home. The crock pot was still standing though, and the house smelled great. This was also the first day the sun was out in FOREVER.

I used the immersion blender in the crock pot, added the milk, and waited 30 minutes to try it,

After

The first night, it was really good. Almost like a creamy potato, broccoli soup. Almost. The turkey bacon I 'garnished' the soup with left a little to be desired, though. I wish I skipped that step. The extra chopped scallions on the top were perfect. Had a nice, sweet crunch. I have a love affair with onions - I probably could have just eaten them without the soup. (I did also add some scallions to my salads, which were great.) 

Stella tried a few spoonfuls of the soup, but she was not a big fan.

The next day, the soup was way to thick. I felt like I was eating a giant bowl of green mashed potatoes. The proper amount of broth would have helped this, I am sure.

The shares the first few weeks are apparently a little smaller; the upcoming weeks when more is in season will be a little more plentiful. 

So far, a successful week!