Garden Vegetables

I have ventured out into unfamiliar territory.....GARDEN VEGETABLES!

The Referee loves vegetables. So do our kids. He once suggested going vegetarian. I said a meal is not a meal if it does not include meat. I reminded him that vegetables are side dishes....what you put at the side of the meat! He laughed at me.

Well, I am laughing at myself now. I joined a local organic farm co-op. I had heard great things about them from some vegetable-loving people in the past....and now they deliver! How convenient to have fresh fruits and vegetables delivered once a week right to our door.

I signed up. And then, I had second thoughts. When produce is labeled "organic"...it is a lot like the labels "wedding" or "baby"....the cost rises dramatically. I liked the idea of supporting local farmers, but the grocery budget has its limits. I decided to try it out for one week, and see what we thought.

Before our first delivery occurred, The Referee had some major attacks of his unidentified food allergy. His health during the past 2 years has been really challenging. He is having some severe allergic reactions. Unfortunately, the tests and treatment attempts are not easily identifying the source of the problem. Whatever he is allergic to is hard to pinpoint and the reactions are getting worse. In desperation, we have started seeking more foods in their natural state, and adding more fruits and vegetables to our meals. As I looked over my grocery shopping list that week, I came to the realization that shifting the grocery budget to include the co-op produce would be in The Referee's best interest.

I was overwhelmed when that first cooler of produce arrived. When I was growing up, vegetables came out of a can. I am not used to seeing garden vegetables, except for tomatoes that ripen on the window sill. I had no idea what half of the items were. I closed the lid and walked away.

I had to consult the list of items on the invoice. Then, I had to Google a few items to learn more about them and how to prepare them. I went back to the cooler and unloaded it onto the table, to see what I was dealing with. That was when I realized I did recognize about half of the items. That made me feel better.

Two weeks later, I have become a fan of fresh produce. I have been including fresh fruit in our breakfast and morning snacks. I have been adding multiple vegetables to dinner. The Referee hardly knows me anymore, because I have become such a vegetable chef! He is not complaining, but he is certainly speechless.

So far, I have narrowed down the vegetables to 4 categories.....

1) vegetables that can be treated like potatoes: peel, cube, toss with olive oil, salt, and garlic pepper, then roast in the oven.

I've done this with Kohlrabi....

...and with beets (which Jersey #5 loved so much that it was all he ate for dinner that night, and he had 4 servings).

I've even boiled turnips, mashed them, and added them to my mashed potatoes.

2) Vegetables that can be diced and sauteed in butter: squash, carrots, broccoli...

3) Vegetables that can be chopped up for a salad, or in finger-food size for dipping. The kids love carrot sticks with ranch and celery sticks with peanut butter.

And the final category....

4) Vegetables that I am not sure I will ever be able to eat: mushrooms and cooking greens. Mushrooms are fungus. How does that count as food? Cooking greens....mustard greens, collard greens, spinach.....look like lawn clippings. All the recipes I can find talk about boiling them (ick!) until they are soft (double ick!). Spinach can be included in the salad vegetable category, and I am fine with that. But, as soon as it....or any vegetable...is cooked to mush, I can't handle it. I don't even like carrots cooked to soft with a roast.

So, I am sticking to the raw, roasted, or sauteed vegetables for now. So far, the kids enjoy them. The Referee is thrilled because he can eat eat most everyting without any allergic response. Dinners are quite colorful now. Lettuce really can replace a bun, taco shell, or tortilla. Plus, I have unexpectedly dropped 4 pounds these past 2 weeks.

I just lost weight without even trying......bring on the veggies!