July 6th, 2011
{recipe} Are CSA’s Family Friendly? Plus Snap Peas with Mint & Ricotta Salata
I realize now that I’ve not been clear with you. I’ve written about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in a way that, perhaps, led you to think that I’ve been a loyal CSA subscriber. In fact, I’m just four weeks into my very first farm share. And—here goes—I’m feeling ambivalent.
I worked that last sentence several times before deciding that I had to say it plainly. It’s not an easy thing to admit given how important CSA’s are. They bond us with local farmers, provide those farmers critical financial support, and supply families with farm-fresh produce. CSA’s also force you to get creative with what’s available. While I love that in theory—and would probably love it in practice, too, if I was cooking for just me and the Hungry Papa—it’s more of a challenge than I anticipated.
Most of the veggies in my share so far have been bitter greens. While I love dark, leafy greens and cook with them regularly—probably more than most with little eaters—they can be challenging for young families. The Hungry Boys will only eat hearty leaves prepared in certain ways (like chopped fine into a veg lasagna or in savory bread pudding). Though you know I don’t limit my cooking to preparations sanctioned by the boys, I’m also not prepared to serve dark, leafy greens as a primary vegetable 5 nights a week when I know they are unlikely to eat them.
Serving up greens in different (kid accepted and unaccepted) ways, maintaining vegetable variety and limiting food waste has turned out to be a difficult balancing act which is why I’ve been LOVING snap peas. Tender and sweet, they have saved the day. The Hungry Boys gobble them up each week and I have happily faced (and risen to!) the CSA challenge of making do with whatever’s fresh.
My latest snap pea creation is a quick sauté that pairs the mellow-flavored pods with bright mint and salty ricotta salata (can be shared with kids 6+ mos). When I call this dish quick, I’m not selling you on something. You just want to introduce heat to the peas; they should not get too acquainted or the peas will lose their pop. There’s no recipe here, just quick and easy instructions:
- Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large saute pan or wok (just enough to evenly coat the bottom)
- When the oil is hot and begins to shimmer, toss in washed and trimmed snap peas
- Toss to coat; let the peas cook for about 30 seconds; toss one more time
- Add chopped mint to taste and a little salt (not too much; the cheese will add saltiness, too); toss for another 10-20 seconds until the peas are bright green and still crunchy
- Remove peas from heat; top with grated ricotta salata; season with salt and pepper to taste
The resulting side dish is a glistening pile of goodness, from the farm to your house via a Roman trattoria (where you are sitting in oversized sunglasses with a glass of rosé without children… oh, sorry… I’m back).
So, yes, while the snap peas have saved the day, I’m feeling a little torn about my CSA. I love how it brings me closer to a farm that I can visit and farmers with whom I can connect. I also love how it brings me closer to my community. But, with such great farmer’s markets nearby, I can’t help but crave more control over my week’s produce. Not because I’m too lazy to meet the weekly challenge, but because I’m not sure how family-friendly it is to expect a home cook to make meals for everyone 6+ months and up with turnips, pak choi, kale, lettuce and garlic.
If CSA’s are challenging for me, I can’t imagine what it’s like for most family cooks with less time and inclination to be inventive night after night. So what do you guys think? Are CSA’s family-friendly?
Have you had success with CSAs and, if so, any tips to share? Or do you prefer to stick to your local farmer’s market (or supermarket)?
PS: I’d run out of ricotta salata the night that I made these last. The picture shows grated parmesan, which will do nicely. If you can, though, grab ricotta salata for the real-deal.
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When my family gets tired of the endless greens in our CSA box, I usually just throw them into my juicer. It’s a great way to use them up quickly, and with apple, carrot, ginger, celery, parsley and cucumber, it tastes great!
Brilliant! Hadn’t thought of that. Thanks.
I’m in my first season with a CSA as well, and it can definitely be challenging. It’s worth the challenge though. I am loving my fresh box of produce each week.
We stopped our delivery for mostly the same reasons. Plus, we like biking to the market on the weekends as a family. So, we still support our local farms and eat seasonally .. Just with a lot less kohlrabi.
The greens get to me too but we finally made it to the other side and I’m really enjoying my CSA. My three year old loves the fruit and gobbles it up right away.
Our CSA delivers to my door and allows you exclude some items which is fantastic.
It was a lifesaver when my 6 month old was brand new and I was lucky if I could tell up from down let alone go out shopping for fruit and vegetables.
I think it opens up your children’s (and your own) palate to new flavors- While my boys may never choose to cook kohlrabi on their own, they can handle a week or two of eating it when it shows up in our CSA basket… AND if their future mom-in-law happens to serve it to them one day…. they hopefully won’t crunch up their noses!
The best part of our CSA is bringing my daughters (7 and
to pick it up. The CSA lines up bins with signs indicating how much to take and they also have a “swap” basket where you can trade something you don’t prefer for something that you do. My girls love choosing the produce and talking all the way home about what we’ll do with it. They have both come to love kale, swiss chard and escarole cut into thin ribbons in pasta (sometimes with small white beans) — and many varieties of slaw (particularly made with salad turnips and radishes — and even kohlrabi pancakes. I spend more time than usual planning meals — but it’s hugely rewarding to introduce them to new veggies and having them see the farm and meet the farmers.
They are seven and eight!
Hang in there for mid- to late-summer and fall, when the full variety of produce in our climate zone comes into season — I bet you and your boys will all be loving the CSA then!
I REALLY appreciate your honesty here chow mama. I know it took guts to put this out there, but i’m glad someone is saying it! We had a really similar experience when we did a CSA 2 years ago and ended up wasting a lot of food
As you know, I was tempted to give it a go again this year as my daughter LOVED going to the pick-ups and helping pick out our veggies and i loved the fruit and egg share. But we decided against it (for now).
I too believe strongly that we need to support our local farmers but as you mentioned am trying to do it thru the farmer’s market this year. The good news is that all my local CSAs are flourishing- even without me, LOL.
Maybe we should share a share next year? That way we get a taste of it but don’t feel overwhelmed? Love ya!!!
We have been a CSA-family for the second year in a row (kids are 1.5, 5, and 7) and yes, it can be challenging to incorporate everything in yummy, family-friendly meals. That said, there are some dishes that can use up a number of vegetables in one yummy dinner: you already mentioned lasagne, but our favourite go-to dish is our version of Spanish tortillas (you can even replace the potatoes with other root veggies, drop in all the left-over greens, and if you really want to keep the kids in our house happy, add shrimp). It’s fast, easy, and since the oven does the cooking, I can spend time with my kids after a long day at work.
We liked our CSA in our previous town. On the con side, I did throw away a few vegetables every few weeks because I just didn’t get to using them. I also did like Foodmomiac and pureed a lot of green and yellow vegetables which can then be put into almost anything. I loved it! We had summer squash macaroni and cheese unbeknownst to the children. Once I sliced up summer squash and zucchini really thinly like spaghetti and added them into a pot of spaghetti tossed with butter and parmesan. That was gobbled up like candy! It worked out pretty well for us, but I hear you on the choice factor. When we moved to a town that has an awesome variety of produce on sale every week at the grocery store…I no longer felt motivated to do a CSA.
This is our 4th year with a CSA. We switched farmers last year and have been loving our new CSA. They have a Wednesday pickup which makes it easier to balance the CSA and Saturday farmers market purchases. We also love that the produce is in great condition, so it lasts longer. That said, the greens are hard to deal with where kids are concerned. I end up making a lot of collard smoothies, but other than that it’s up to the grown-ups to eat the greens. You have a great point about CSA, and it’s a great discussion to be having. Thanks Stacie!
This is my second year as a member of a CSA. I split the share with my dad (in theory). This year, we decided on just a half veg share (though I specifically picked a CSA with a fruit share available). My 3 year old daughter won’t eat the bitter greens, and neither will my husband. That sucks, but my kid tore through the fava beans we got last week; she ate up the cabbage I shredded into a stir fry, last night; and she begged for more raw sour cherries, that I was trying to save for a cake
So I like to think it balances out. And then there’s more of the rest for me.
See… y’all are making me think that my CSA isn’t the best. We’ve not gotten favas, radishes, squash… really, truly, mostly greens. Two small bulbs of fennel came this week and I was ecstatic! Also, bc of rain, we just started getting fruit this week. Two pints of blueberries. While they are delicious… that’s it. Missed strawberries, no cherries. Maybe it’s a matter of patience and (sadly?) finding a different CSA that better suits our needs?
I recently found your blog so I’m almost exactly a year late on this conversation. But here are my two cents…I think you might want to try a different CSA. I started a CSA in my old Brooklyn neighborhood and we loved the farmer, his perfect produce and the community of people it brought together. Last year we were in a new neighborhood and tried the local CSA. It wasn’t good compared to what we were used to. This year, our fourth year of participating in CSAs we joined another CSA, not in our neighborhood, but with produce from our original farmer. For the first time I decided to get a partial share instead of a full share. Even though we have an almost 1 year old addition to the family and he eats everything right now, having a partial share takes the stress out of having to cook so many veggies. I supplement on Saturdays at our local farmer’s market and all is good. This is why I love the CSA season. Now I just need to read your blog daily so I’m inspired to try new recipes with all my local veggies!
Thank you.