You’ve joined the CSA. You’re ready for all the fresh vegetables. But now what? What else should you have in your kitchen?
Getting Hooked on Cooking with CSA from Katherine Deumling of Cook with What You Have has some great tips for how to stock your kitchen and how to cook with your CSA veggies. Below is a summary of what she suggests.
Pantry Items:
+ Lentils: French green, red, brown
+ Beans: black, pinto, white, chickpeas
+ Grains: brown and white rice, barley, farro, cornmeal/polenta, quinoa, pasta, couscous, bulgur
+ Seeds and Nuts: sunflower, pumpkin, hazelnuts, walnuts, peanuts, almonds, etc.
+ Spices: cumin, coriander, mustard seeds, dried chilies, turmeric, caraway, paprika, cardamom, etc.
+ Herbs: thyme, oregano, etc.
+ Vinegars: cider, rice and red wine
+ Oils: olive, sunflower, coconut, sesame
+ Hot sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce
+ Dairy products
+ Eggs
+ Lemons and limes
+ Meat and fish in freezer, sausages, bacon, chicken, etc.
This list is only a suggestion; feel free to add things you like or know you use and need.
Deumling also suggests to free yourself from strictly following recipes. Learn to improvise and substitute when you are cooking. You can also learn how to cook a few dishes that can use a variety of different vegetables. Examples of this include frittatas, vegetable fritters or pancakes, fried rice and curries, stir fries, soups and mac and cheese with added vegetables.
Now that your fridge is full of fresh vegetables and your pantry is stocked, meal time is much easier and grocery shopping is less stressful as you will just be shopping to restock pantry items, rather than shopping for meals!
UK-CSA 