We started getting produce from Local Choice Food Box based in Washington state. Every week we get to choose vegetables and fruit, then pick it up every Thursday evening. The produce is all organic and locally grown in the state. It’s fresh, tasty and not genetically modified in any way. There are amazing number of farmers, companies and various groups that are providing wholesome, nutritious food that’s good for you. I really encourage you to support these farmers, companies, organizations. Over the last several weeks, I have been learning and discovering various organic foodfarmers that use sustainable agriculture, restaurants that use local ingredients and companies that care about the environment.
I just ordered The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
Living in Seattle, Washington, there are lots of restaurants, farmer markets, companies etc that use locally sourced food or supply them. My goal is to try the various restaurants and review them. I am going to start with a frozen custard place called Peak’s this weekend. Also, my goal is to list the various products I use in my cooking that are organic. Another excellent source for finding information about organic and green companies is the Organic Consumer’s Association. You can research various companies, take part in the various campaigns, find local news, events and green companies etc.
I decided to make the following recipe using some of the vegetables from the food box we had just received without using any spices other than thyme and pepper and salt. It came out really well. You should try it with some cooked barley and brown rice.
Braised Spring Vegetables
Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 spring onions, diced into 1/4 inch pieces
4 medium potatoes, cut lengthwise into quarter
4 medium size carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
6 french radishes, cut lengthwise into quarters
6 turnips, tops removed, stems trimmed, cut into half
Sprig of fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
(I used the very tasty Frontier Tellicherry Black Whole Peppercorns 
1/2 cup of water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2-3 garlic cloves
green part of spring onion, chopped
Directions:
Add the olive oil to a heavy bottomed pan on medium heat. Once heated, add the onions and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add potatoes, carrots, radishes, turnips and thyme. Coat with the olive oil. Add salt and pepper and water. Bring it to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Cover and let it braise for 20 minutes or so until tender. Once cooked, you should still have a little bit of liquid left. Discard the thyme.
Empty the contents of the pan into a bowl. Add a tablespoon of butter. Once the butter is heated (make sure it does not burn), add chopped garlic and green part of onion and let it warm in the butter for a minute or two. Pour over the cooked vegetables.
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