Tanaka: Fresh Off the Vine
I’d rather eat cookies. As an adult, and a parent of growing children, I understand the importance of buying, serving and eating vegetables. But it’s really not my thing.
With spring’s arrival and the promise/threat of returning to real life and a real wardrobe, I am reconsidering my stance on veggies. Luckily I have a farm in my own city to get me started.
Tanaka Farms is known for its autumn pumpkin patch, Christmas tree grove, and sumptuous year-round strawberries. But it also offers CSA boxes loaded with fresh, organic fruits and veggies grown right here in Irvine. The farm allows people to sign up for a $20 mini box (just veggies), a $25 small box (veggies and fruit), or a $36 large box (more veggies and fruit). You can subscribe to buy the boxes weekly or every other week, and pick your box up in various locations around Irvine or at Tanaka Farms.
I signed up for a small weekly box to force all those micronutrients into the bodies of me and my family. I pick up directly at the farm because how many people can buy their produce directly where it grows?
This week I’m sharing what was eaten, what was a hit, and what reaffirmed my aversion to veggies. My goal was to eat, or at least prepare, everything in the box.
My CSA box included a bunch of kale, a container of spinach, three heads of romaine lettuce, a head of broccoli, a stunning amethyst-colored head of cauliflower, a few tangy tangerines, and a half pint of those famous Tanaka strawberries. Bust out the salad spinner and let’s go.
KALE
Kale in its chip state.
If I have to eat kale, I’m going to do so in chip form. Prepping them is a pain (remove leaves from their tough stems, tear into chip size, wash, drain, give them a ride in the salad spinner, and dry between kitchen towels). Real potato chips only require ripping open a bag, but alas, we are on a health kick. Back to the kale chip prep.
I place my prepared leaves on two foil-lined cookie sheets (mmm, cookies) and prep them with oil (the Trader Joe’s Avocado Oil spray) and salt. They bake for 45-60 minutes at 200 degrees. It’s a long wait for healthy chips.
Once they come out, they are glossy, crispy ghosts of their former lettuce selves. They taste good and I can cross kale off the list of CSA items to eat. Any leftovers can be stored in an air tight container and benefit from a brief reheat in the oven (200 degrees for 5-10 minutes) before eating.
SPINACH
These leaves practically leap out at me when the plastic container they’re tightly packed in is opened. I give these leaves the same salad spinner treatment (wash, drain, spin, dry). These are some dirty, dirty leaves. I chop up a couple leaves to sauté in some butter before I add eggs and scramble. It’s delicious and the spinach flavor is undetectable. I chop up another couple of leaves to stir into tomato sauce for quick mini pizzas. Also delicious. But I still have twelve ounces of dirty spinach to contend with. Time for lasagna.
This lasagna recipe is fussy and requires multiple components, which my husband tackles (I married well). The lasagna uses up the rest of the spinach. One more CSA box item sorted!
ROMAINE
I give one head of romaine the salad spinner treatment. It is fairly clean for not pre-washed lettuce. I normally like the sweet crunch of chopped romaine (preferably slick with Caesar dressing, topped with buttery croutons, and dusted in parmesan), but this lettuce has a slightly more vegetal flavor. The fact that I dress it in an austere vinaigrette and adorn it with nothing does not help its flavor. Most of this salad is thrown out after dinner. We have the same salad later in the week with romaine head number two. It tastes a little better. The third head remains uneaten. It’s a failure to utilize my CSA box fully.
BROCCOLI
Unlike the florets I buy at the grocery store, Tanaka’s broccoli has long gorgeous stems. After Googling what to do with them, I come across Cara Mangini, author of The Vegetable Butcher. She has excellent advice on broccoli stem prep. All the broccoli, florets and stems, get tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then roasted at 425. The results of this fresh broccoli? It’s good. But it definitely isn’t a cookie.
CAULIFLOWER
I happen to enjoy cauliflower. And this Barney-colored specimen is intriguing. I follow Mangini’s instructions for breaking down romanesco (a fancy type of cauliflower) to take care of this plum-colored variety. I give it the same treatment as the broccoli (oil, salt, pepper, 425). It darkens in the heat of the oven to a majestic hue. I still have beautiful lilac leftovers in the fridge but hopefully it will get eaten this weekend. I consider that a win.
TANGERINES
Tanaka’s tangerines have been mixed up with our regular store bought variety so I’m not sure if they were all eaten or not. The ones I tried the day I picked up my box are wonderfully tangy and juicy.
STRAWBERRIES
These are devoured the instant they are washed, dried and sliced. Definitely the highlight of the box. I’ll pick up an extra pound of strawberries at my next trip to my neighborhood farm.
A TREAT
Woodhouse Chocolate’s “vegetables” look like the real thing.
How could I not reward myself for a full week of veggie prepping and eating? These gorgeous chocolates are from a chocolatier nowhere near Irvine but absolutely worth a try if you ever find yourself in Napa with a craving for a treat (or you can order them online). They’ve already sold out of the veggie shaped chocolates for this year but they have other tantalizing options available.
The contents of the Tanaka Farms CSA box change from week to week. You can check what’s in Tanaka’s CSA boxes each week online. Interested in enjoying some truly wonderful local produce? Sign up to join.