CSA Saturday! (Community Supported Agriculture)

Every saturday I go out, down the road to an organic farm that's in my 'hood - a farm that has a box of freshly picked organic veggies, herbs and fruit waiting for me! This year I was not able to get my own organic garden prepared fast enough to grow most of my own food, and I was lucky enough to remember that a few years ago at the Waynesville NC Farmers Market there was this awesome lady named Julie who was bringing boxes of food all the way from Hot Springs for her CSA members......
I totally called Mountain Harvest Organics up on da' phone and joined!

So here is how it works for me - since I am local instead of picking up my organic box of goodies at a market I go to the farm every saturday. I look forward to it all week long! I pull up to a barn, which has a second story that was converted into a house for the farm interns. (Neato, right? Right on...) Underneath that barn house are the freezers where my box is kept --- but before I show you that, check out their awesome greenhouses ... There are several greenhouses where food is being grown, to extend the seasons for their CSA members and their own kitchen table. This is in addition to the 4 acres of farmland they recently fenced in high enough to keep out the deer. There are also pigs and goats - which I hope to get to pics of another time for ya'll!

Inside this greenhouse is tomatoes - which I totally can not eat... the cool thing about a small organic CSA is that the owners Julie and Carl are kind enough to replace/substitute some other veggies for the shit I am allergic too...YAY!

I usually pick up some potted herbs and flowers too, for discounted prices - they said late in the season people don't buy them much at the market so I have been building an herb empire at the Luck Cabin for a very small fee --- herbs i use in cooking every single day.

After getting some live herbs, I go down under the barn house to the big industrial looking fridge to grab my box!

I buy the big box - there are two sizes and the big one is really for a family but since I cook every single meal from scratch every single day and rely heavily on vegetables as the part of my diet I CAN have - I pay $25 for the week of cornucopia. Pretty sweet deal when you realize how much you pay for all this in the store - I get things like bok choy, chinese cabbage, broccoli, onions, kale, lettuce, kohlrabi, radishes, turnips, squash, cucumbers..... and even had two weeks of the most DELICIOUS strawberries of my LIFE!!!

I stick my money in an envelope - for this farm, I pay either per week, per month, and I bet they wouldn't mind if you paid for the year too! ;)

BTW- my last name is kinda mis-spelled here .... it's pronounced REE_SHARD.

Thanks to Julie and Carl for making my life 100x's easier, better, and tastier!!!!!!!!!!

XOXO

Gluten Free & Organic Chickpea Burgers

Here is a recipe I made up a few years ago using chickpeas to make a nice yummy bean burger patty free of gluten, dairy, meat, and most any common food allergen! Each time I make it they come out a little bit different so I will share the basic recipe and you can make it your own with your favorite herbs, beans or spices. :)

What You'll Need:

• Eden Organic Canned Chickpeas (or other gluten free brand) - 2 cans
• Lundberg Organic Brown Rice -1/2 a cup
• Organic Herbs- rosemary, parsley, oregano or basil (whichever you like best, in amounts you like)
• Organic Red Onion - 1/3 chopped up
• Organic Olive Oil - couple teaspoons
• Ume Vinegar or Sea Salt- shake to personal salt preference

STEP 1: Cook the chickpeas and rice. I cooked mine with bay leaf, rosemary and ume plum for salt.

STEP 2: Smash the rice and chickpeas with a fork till textured. I made more rice then normal for this batch - a helpful hint is not too much rice and make sure all water is drained out, the burger will stick together better this way. Wet burgers will taste good but will fall apart.
STEP 3: Add chopped onion and herbs to the smooshed up chickpeas.

STEP 4: For pazzazz I added some grated carrot, then threw in the ume vinegar (salt source) & 3 teaspoons of olive oil.
STEP 5: Mix it all up and then form patties in your pan. You can cook them without oil, fry them with oil, or bake them to get an outside crunchy layer!!! I topped mine with baked shittake mushrooms and ate it straight out the pan with a fork. :) Mmmmmm. Goooood.
XoXOoo

The Veggie Islands

Deep in the mountains, surrounded by sand and water... right on my kitchen counter the veggie islands formed during the bleak winter snow storm. Nope, this is not a recipe - but for sure I am playing with my food. Have ya ever noticed how alot of veggies continue to grow in the dark cold of the fridge? The tops of carrots, radishes and a celery root were growing in mine - I took a ceramic dish, added sand and water to it and stuck the growing tops in (with some other seeds i wanted to watch sprout). Growing the tops (and bottoms) of veggies is a good way to collect more organic greens and seeds for later eating & planting! My veggie island is purely experimental, to keep something growing inside for fun while the cold consumes outside in it's blanket of ice. Eventually they will need to be transferred to some soil. Have you ever tried this gardening trick?
I also wanted to share my bike riding adventure this morning to collect chestnuts, but it turned into a freezing hell ride as the snow pelted my eyeballs, wind cut into my ears and the chestnut tree was completely taken for all it's nuts already! I was terribly defeated and exhausted after lugging my bike back up the road, so all I had energy left to do was create veggie island.

XoXo

Organic, Gluten Free, Mayo Free Egg Salad Sandwich

Are you ready for this? I have not eaten a sandwich since 2001, right before being diagnosed with Celiac Sprue during the end of that year! I can remember my very last sandwich I ever ate, it was a "live food" sandwich from the All Natural Store in New Orleans, it was totally stuffed with organic veggies, tempeh, miso & dill, and totally a gluten death sentence for me... I remember picking the middle goods off the whole wheat bread and thinking 'the bread part is sick!' This last year I have finally healed enough to begin eating a few gluten free baked products, mainly all from a brand called Namaste. This is how I got today's idea to make a Egg Salad Sandwich using their sugar free muffin mix and a little cajun DNA to invent something yummy to replace mayo - I am born to make something out of what seems like nothing.
Egg Salad Recipe:

• 5 hard boiled organic eggs (chopped up)
  
• Fresh or dried herbs- rosemary, thyme, chives (or any flavor you like)
  
• Lemon squeeze 1/2
• Olive Oil (a few cap fulls)
• Ume Vinegar (2 cap fulls)
• Shredded carrot

Bread Recipe:

• Namaste's Gluten Free Sugar Free Muffin Mix (bake in the oven)
  
• Add a little extra oil to give the bread thickness- cause it's gluten free, basically it's gonna fall apart a little. ;)

You mix the egg salad makings together and then mash a bunch of it onto your "bread" slices. I drizzled olive oil onto the gluten free bread before layering the egg salad on. Mmmmmm.
Oooooooh HOly crap! It is so good! You know exactly what happened next after this next pic... I cleaned the plate. :)
XoXoXoxooooo

An Organic Garden Is A Happy Garden!

The proof tis' here.

xoxo

100% Organic Farmed Breakfast

Everything on my breakfast plate was organically grown right here on the property I live. The free range chickens layed the eggs and I grew & harvested the green beans, yellow squash, dill and garlic chives. It totally rocks to finally see the fruits of ya' labor (labor of love) -and oh dang it was sooooooooo good. Melt in your mouth, every bite.
YAY!
xoxo

Something Fresh For Lunch?

Had to share my excitement, I got to eat from my organic garden for the first time this season!!! This is a picture of the organic French Breakfast & White Icycle radishes I grew from seed & picked for my lunch. Despite the lack of rain they still have grown pretty large, smelled something like wasabi, and tasted oh so yummy in my stir fry over organic rice noodles. If you can't grow your own garden the next best thing will be your local farmers market, which is much fresher then even the organic grocery chains. Local farmers usually have picked those veggies fresh the night before or that morning, and are far more eco friendly, produce less CO2 in transport and are healthy too.
Eat Fresh- eat from your yard or local farmers market!