First thing's first - i'll give you a very brief low down on Foodshare's Good Food Box program. To find out more about FoodShare (an incredible non-profit whose vision is "Good Healthy Food for All"), please check out http://www.foodshare.net.
Foodshare's Good Food Box program is a pick-up service. To find a pickup location in your area, email gfbox@foodshare.net with the closest intersection to your home - I received an email back within 48 hrs with 3 possible choices. The pick up locations are the homes of customers who have volunteered to be pick-up spots. I chose the closest one to me, called on a Friday to set up a new delivery, and had my first box on Tuesday! The delivery days depend on where you live in the city, and there are weekly and biweekly options available.
There are a variety of box content options too (I've copy this from their website):
Good Food Box - $17
Family-sized selection of affordable fresh fruit and vegetables, with an emphasis on seasonal produce and one or two "interesting" items each delivery.
Small Good Food Box - $12
A smaller version of the Good Food Box for singles, seniors or small families.
Fruit Box - $12
Just fruit, with an emphasis on what's at its best and in season at the moment.
Large Organic Box - $32
Certified organic produce, mostly local. Very seasonal, lots of root vegetables in the winter. The higher price of this box reflects the higher production costs that come from producing food organically.
Small Organic Box - $22
Smaller version with the same certified organic produce, mostly local, very seasonal.
Wellness Box - $12
A week's worth of servings of fruits and vegetables cut-up and measured for you with love and care. Suitable for seniors and students.
I went for the standard Good Food Box for $17 - the pick up location that I chose only offers biweekly delivery, so I hoped the large box would carry us through. Payment can be made by cash or cheque at pick-up time.
There was a small mix-up when I went to pick up my box - one of the existing customers took my box in error and left her organic produce box. No one was expecting a new customer, and although the boxes were labelled, this was a classic case mindless-produce-pick-up (?). The pick-up coordinator promptly called the suspect, and arranged for a switcheroo. Since all the customers live in the same neighbourhood, I offered to go do the switch myself. No harm, no foul.... off to the kitchen with a bounty of who-knows-what waiting for me!
As of yet, I have nothing to compare this to... stay tuned in the coming months...but I was impressed with the variety and the amount of local produce - and the content card was bang-on! There was also a one page newsletter in the box, which provided me with a nifty little story about the history of squash, and a couple of recipes (baked squash, and butternut squash soup).
what to make, what to make? I was in a rush - Tuesday night volleyball - and needed a serious 30 minute meal....I had a gorgeous fillet of steelhead trout ready to be baked, and needed some compatible sides... I have never in my life cooked swiss chard before, but had a very successful run-in with rapini just last week, and decided to do something similar...and something starchy for my carb-craving palette...had potatoes the night before, so decided on their less starchy root relative, carrots!
Final menu:
Baked steelhead trout, ginger braised swiss chard, and brown sugar glazed carrot rounds.
Success you ask? mostly yes!
The trout was seasoned with course salt and freshly ground black pepper, and baked for 11 minutes at 400 degrees. It was simple and delicious - 10 minutes would've been even perfect-er!
The Chard: Boiled heavily salted water (1 Tbsp regular old salt), chopped my chard into 1.5" pieces, and threw them in for 2 minutes - strained, ran under cold water (to stop cooking), and threw it in the salad spinner to get rid of excess moisture.
Next, heated 1 tsp of canola oil (but whatever would work), added 1 tsp of grated fresh ginger sauteed for a minute, then added 2 tsp of oyster sauce, and a splash or two of water (2-3 Tbsp-ish)...add the chard, and cook through, another 2-3 minutes, most of the moisture should evaporate.
the verdict: the cooking time was perfect...still slightly firm. the ginger was a lovely touch, and the oyster sauce would have been nice if I used less - just too salty...next time I would add 1/2 tsp at the most... the chard already has some seasoning being boiled in salt water.
The carrots: peeled and chopped in to 1/4" rounds, threw them in the steamer for I'd say 15 minutes(ish)..i'm terrible at writing recipes I just realized!. In a small saucepan, added 1 Tbsp of dark brown sugar and 1 tsp of butter, and melted over low heat...added the carrots (soft but firm), and a pinch of salt.
the verdict: will make this again for sure (as i'm sure carrots will continue to pop up in produce boxes throughout the winter months)..simple, fast, and brown sugar and butter were included - which gives this dish an automatic advantage!
So there we have it! Day 1 was a success! I look forward to hearing from my thousands of followers! :o
Let me know what types of things you would like to see and hear about. I hope to post a couple of times per week, and add photos whenever possible. man...this is SO much fun.
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