This current winter I am supporting Elsewhere Farms in Herbster, WI by purchasing a winter greens CSA share. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. This share is all paid upfront directly to the farmer so that he,she,they can provide you weekly with a cooler of fresh, local yummies! My winter share typically consists of eggs, apple cider or blueberries or apples, spring mix, chard or kale, white onion, rosemary or bay leaves or garlic gloves or celeriac, beets or turnips, carrots, carnival squash or baby purple & white potatoes, and the occasional sheep milk cheese. Although I am plant-based when it comes to eating, this winter I decided to eat the eggs from my CSA share knowing they came from a good home, are local and that I would need the extra iron and nutrients (that aren’t starch or legumes) during the harsh winter season- I am so happy with this decision! (Curious about my egg experience- let me know in the comments! I’d love to share more!)
To top off the excitement of getting a basket of foods each Wednesday, I found out my supported farmer is a newly diagnosed type 1 diabetic!!! Claire was diagnosed the summer of 2018 and has put her energy into growing more veggies to create delicious lower carb meals to help manage her blood sugars. I reached out to her about also being diabetic and she asked to share any low carb recipes I make with her food, so I thought I’d also share them with y’all!
So let’s get down and dirty and hungry:
BREAKFAST
Hashies!!
Hashbrowns are just a great, wonderful staple breakfast meal. They are always delicious, always satisfying and easy to load nutrients into! Originally I was just throwing together some potatoes- but as I have manifested some creativity into my cooking thanks to some new spices in my CSA share, I have fostered the perfect fancy schmancy hashbrown recipe for y’all:
- handful of potatoes, shredded ( I use a cheese grater)
- 1-2 shredded carrots (also use a cheese grater here)
- rosemary
- 2 garlic cloves
- assorted spices: cinnamon, oregano, black pepper, cayenne pepper
- avocado oil
Trust me, cinnamon makes every meal better. It goes super well in savory dishes and can manifest warmth and comfort to a cozy meal like hashies or chili. And, for the best cooked potato result, squeeze all of the water out of the grated potatoes with a towel. This will allow the potatoes to soak up more of the oil and get that nice crusty texture.
LUNCH
I have two staple CSA meals I am enjoying currently for lunch time.
(1) Salad with
- mixed greens
- grated carrots (sometimes raw, sometimes cooked like I would hashies but without the potatoes)
- balsamic
- 2 fried eggs, hard
- beet marmalade (holy sh*t is this amazing!!)
Claire sends out weekly emails updating us on farm happenings as well as the ingredients in our food basket and a recommended recipe for some of our ingredients. One week was a beet marmalade. I was a little nervous b/c as much as I LOVE a good beet ginger lemon juice, I am not a huge fan of cooked beets. Nonetheless, I made this marmalade and it is my FAVeoRiTE thing! I’ll insert a link above (click on beet marmalade in thee list).
For the balsamic, my local food co-op has bulk balsamic vinegar that I mix with 1 part vinegar, 2-3 parts avocado oil (or any veg oil) and a little dash of coconut aminos.
Honestly, this meal is so filling and makes me feel so energized and fresh inside. I could not recommend it more!
(2) Soup!
- carrots
- turnips
- rosemary
- garlic
- ginger (grated, bought separately)
- coconut milk (the thick, more solidy kind found in a can)
- vegetable broth (also bought separately)
- roasted squash seeds
I am probably forgetting something in this recipe but amounts are truly dependent on how much soup you want to create. I typically use all of what is given to me in my weekly share. First I roast the carrots and turnips and spices in vegetable broth in a crock pot (this is more convenient to let sit for 4 hours on high while I am in college classes, but you can also roast them in an oven). Then I puree all of it together with the coconut milk in either a food processor or nutri-bullet until creamy. To top it all off, I try to save the seeds from my squash and roast them for 10 min with oil in the oven and add them to my soup! This meal is great accompanied by a slice of bread from my local bread bakery. I have paired cranberry walnut bread as well as wheat french rolls with this soup and am always satisfied. It keeps fairly well for a few days- just heat it up on the stove or in the microwave for an easy meal during the week!
SNACK – TIME
I love juice full of electrolytes in the afternoon to add an extra energy boost of motivation. I rotate depending on my weekly ingredients what juice I will make.
(1) Green Juice made with:
- rainbow chard
- kale
- spinach
- spring mix
- 1/2 lemon
- pear
I blend all of these together with some water in a food processor and squeeze out the solids with a nut milk bag. Sometimes, if I have too many greens to fit in the processor, I will add smaller amounts at a time and as they break up and become smaller in the processor, I will keep adding more. Same goes for the water amount.
(2) Beet Juice made with:
- roasted beets
- ginger (bought separately)
- lemon
Just like the green juice, after I roast the beets, I grate the ginger and add all 3 ingredients to a food processor with water and blend.
(3) Warm Apple Cider
A staple, a classic, a tribute to the Bayfield Apple Festival.
DINNER
I tend to use most of my share ingredients at lunch time or weekend brunch, but on the weeks I get squash, I’ll use that in my evening meal.
Curry Tahini Roasted Squash and Carrots
- Carnival Squash (cut into slices along its natural ridges)
- Carrots (chopped)
- Avocado oil (or any veg oil)
- Kale
- Sesame Oil
- Tahini
- Sesame seeds
- Curry Powder
- Lemon
- Spices- Rosemary, Turmeric, Cayenne, Chili powder, Ginger (these are typically mixed in randomly, I did not really follow the original recipes I looked up on Pinterest)
Step 1: Pre-heat oven to 400 deg. F; chop carrots and squash; place ingredients on baking sheet and pan; mix some veg oil with at least 1 tbsp of curry powder and other spices as you wish
[Again, I do not have exact measurements b/c I try to use all that is given to me in my CSA share, so I will cook everything at once in order to have left overs for easy college lunches, so many of these steps will be intuitive and based on what your taste buds most desire at any given time!}
Step 2: Cook for 20 min. I found that the carrots tend to stay in for closer to 30 min, but that is also up for personal desire
Step 3: While the roasting takes place; cook up some kale on the stove top. I love using sesame oil for this although any veg oil will suffice. However, since tahini is a sesame seed based ingredient, I find the sesame oil compliments well and maintains a well balanced taste palette. However, this can be made up for by adding some sesame seeds to the mix. I use both sesame seeds and oil!
Step 4: Mix your tahini sauce! This is created with tahini, half a lemon, curry powder, any other desired spices, water (add throughout until you get a good consistency- tahini tends to thicken the more it sits resting). I also love adding a dash of coconut aminos (or soy sauce) too!
Step 5: Feast with friends!!
I have never made this meal on my own; I have always shared with friends and it is absolutely the best time. It is not the cleanest to eat meal and I end up making a mess, but I have also had some of the best story sharing moments during this meal so it is becoming a special taste in my mouth 🙂
Also, here is a link to a blog post Claire wrote about her type one, short and sweet and worth reading 🙂
http://www.elsewherefarm.com/blog/type-one
Hope you consider making a meal for yourself this week or maybe you’ll think about supporting your local farmer through a CSA share or at a local farmers’ market. Or maybe you’ll just consider eating something new from this!
Either way, let me know in the comments what you have taken away from these meal ideas and what changes you have done to suite your taste buds!
<3,
manders
typeonegeologist.com 