Planning your meals around what’s in season can be a tasty experience and satisfying way to enjoy food.  It may be daunting to imagine only utilizing fresh food that’s growing nearby, but here are some tips that may help:

• Purchase seasonal foods in enough quantity to last for several meals.
• Wash and cook what you purchase right away.
• Use the freshly cooked ingredient in several meals by creatively adding it to different dishes.
• Divide and store in the refrigerator to be used throughout the week.

Let’s take an example from OurLocalFoods at Thornhill Farm.  We’ll plan a few meals around a yummy seasonal item from the CSA box!!

Our spring garden is in full bounty of seasonal greens.  We have an abundance of Curly Mustard, Russian Red Kale and Turnip Greens.  Yummm!

Let’s cook two pounds of curly mustard.  Wash the beautiful lacy chartruese leaves and leave in the collander to drain.   Finely dice some garlic or shallots.  Heat a tablespoon of fresh green olive oil in a large wok or saute pan.   Have a half cut fresh lemon for the finish.

Coursely chop the mustard leaves.  Add shallots and curly mustard leaves together to the wok at medium heat.  Simply stir the greens as they wilt and gently saute to tenderness in about 10 minutes.  Finally, drizzle with about a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, then salt & pepper.

Bowtie Pasta with Curly Mustard – Add the cooked chopped mustard greens to some al dente bowtie pasta!  Drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and toasted pine nuts.   Finally, top with a dusting of good quality parmesan cheese.

Serve bowtie pasta with curly mustard alongside grilled pork tenderloin and garnish with a bouquet of beautiful red radishes, fresh from the farm!

Later in the week, think about a lovely Rice Pilaf, with curly mustard, garbanzo beans and sundried tomatoes.  Served with some flat bread and hummus, or a 6 oz portion of grilled free range chicken breast, you’ll be satisfied with a light mediterranean meal.

Finish the weeks seasonal serving of bright green sauteed curly mustard by making a Pizza a la Springtime! For a healthy and fast weeknight meal, top a thin pizza crust with dollops of sauteed curly mustard, some local goat cheese and diced sundried tomatoes.  Drizzle with olive oil before baking, then dust with salt and pepper as it comes out of the oven.  A spring arugula and radish salad will complete a healthy week of eating locally!

Enjoy-

Maria