Community Supported Agriculture

Well, I did it. For four years I have wanted to try community supported agriculture and this morning I picked up my box from Bountiful Baskets. I had opted for the 100% organic box, at $25 dollars, 8 pounds of mangos for $4.75 and a pack of ‘Mexican’ style produce for $7.50. With the fee for a first time order, I ended up with a bill of $41 dollars and some change. I didn’t know what to expect, but when I arrived I was surprised when I got a 20 pound box of produce for my organic basket, about five pounds for my ‘Mexican’ pack and ORGANIC mangos! Yep, my $4.75 eight pound box of mangos are ORGANIC! Yay! The box of produce was mostly fruit, and none of it was exotic. I was slightly disappointed about that, I love weird produce. However, I think I am in the minority. Things like strawberries and bananas are far less threatening to most than dragon fruit. Any lingering disappointment I had about my box being mostly fruit disapperared when I ate my first organic grape – wow. I thought, this is how grapes should taste! It was great. With all the mangos I plan on canning some and turning some into salsa. If any of that turns out I will post recipes.

So if you are thinking of trying it out, let me recommend the site I used http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/. They are available in many states and many sites within that state. My pick up site was only moments from my house.

Happy eating! I am getting back to my grapes…

Eating Great Should Not Taste Terrible

Recently, my wonderful husband Jason Wyrick gave a talk for a group of dietitians. What he said was very true, that if food doesn’t taste good, no matter how good it is for you, people won’t eat it. I myself find that too many people see ‘Vegan’ and immediately think we eat nothing but gravel and grass. I don’t know about other vegans but I have a batch of caramels at home and right now I am drinking a soy Mocha Coconut Frappuccino. Yeah, vegan does not have to mean suffering.

Still, one does not life on Fraps alone, no matter how tasty they are. I recently came up with this stir fry as a way to get lots of good healthy veggies down in a delicious dinner. The result came out so well that even my veggie phobic friend ate some!

Game Night Stir Fry
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
16 oz of super firm tofu, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 ½ to 2 medium onions, cut into half then sliced
2-3 tablespoons of grated ginger
8-10 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 tablespoons good quality soy sauce
1 tablespoon of vegan oyster sauce (optional) **
2 teaspoons of dark mushroom soy sauce (optional) **
2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
About 3-4 cups of sliced bok choi (1 head)
About 6-8 cups of Napa Cabbage (1 head)
1 bunch green onions, sliced, roots removed
Minced peanuts (optional)
Cooked Brown Rice

**If you are not using the vegan oyster sauce or the dark mushroom sauce, simply use the same amount of soy sauce

Dice your tofu. Slice your onions. Grate your ginger and mice your garlic. Prepare your bok choi and napa cabbage. Stir together the soy sauce, oyster sauce, mushroom sauce, and rice wine vinegar. Once this starts, it will all go very quickly. Heat a wok over medium high heat. Once hot, add the oil and tofu. Stir a few times over 3-4 minutes. The tofu should be lightly brown. Add the onion slices. Cook about 2-3 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic, ginger, and sauce mixture. Allow to cook 1 minute. Add the bok choi and Napa cabbage. Stir every 30 seconds until the greens wilt and reduce by about half, but still have some texture and crunch. Add the sliced green onions, remove from heat and top with the peanuts if using. Serve with cooked brown rice. Make sure to get a little of the liquid from the bottom of the wok as it will season the rice.