SpiceLines

Never mind that everyday cooking is a chore.

Or that Mrs. Obama is the first since Eleanor Roosevelt to plant a[n organic] vegetable garden at the White House. Nope, Michelle must also be role model in chief, leading fast food-swilling Americans back into the kitchen where they will rediscover the joyous virtues—and they are virtues--of “cooking from scratch.” (For more on this culinary brouhaha, see "Amanda Hesser's *Interesting* Op Ed..." on Obama Foodarama.)

Actually ever since we got back from Spain, I’ve been pondering everyday cooking--never more so than on Wednesday afternoons, when I pick up our CSA box from Elysian Fields Farm. This year we went from a half to a full share, and suddenly our new refrigerator—and the old one in the garage--are bursting with healthy, all-too- perishable things to eat.

This week, the box was erupting with late spring crops: sweet Forona beets, slender Rainbow carrots and a huge bunch of scallions, plus lots of flat leaf parsley, ruffled green lettuce and a creamy cauliflower. This is strawberry month in North Carolina, and for the third week in a row there was a pint or two of delicate red berries, not very sweet, that have to be eaten within a day or two. A pair of zucchini and one yellow squash reminded me that the summer surge starts soon.

I love getting our weekly CSA box. Often it holds one or two items I’d never buy at the grocery store, so it forces me outside my comfort zone. But sometimes figuring out how to keep up with the flow of vegetables is daunting. I would, in fact, be “fine with other people cooking.”

Yes, yes. I know we can eat the berries with sugar and cream, and turn the rest into one big raw veggie plate, but we did that last week. I adore local strawberries, but not when they whine, “Eat me right this instant or I’ll degenerate into red slime.” And the rutabagas from two boxes ago? They glare at me accusingly every time I open the crisper drawer. As Hesser observed, “terrific local ingredients aren’t much use” if you don’t...use them.

So I’m officially launching an “everyday cooking” project: Three or four times during the season, I’ll photograph the contents of our CSA box and then share with you what I actually did with all that great produce. The goal will be to use it all up before the next box arrives. I’ll try to keep recipes simple, but creative. I’m guessing that sometimes it will be pretty easy to breeze through the box, especially in tomato season, but occasionally there will be rutabaga-like challenges.

The ground rules: Spices and herbs are definitely allowed, as are the contents of my freezer (lots of local pork and lamb), refrigerator (country ham, eggs, olives and chutney) and the pantry (potatoes, onions, good olive oil, etc.). Consulting favorite cookbooks and going to the grocery store for a few ingredients are OK too, as long as local produce is the real star of the show.

So tonight I used the parsley and the strawberries, plus some pork chops that also came from Elysian Fields. It takes all of five minutes to make a brine, and if you keep the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer, you can make ice cream at the drop of a…whisk.

Here’s our Sunday supper menu:

Local Pork Chops, Brined with Sweet Spices and Grilled
Paula Wolfert’s Pulled Parsley Salad with Black Olives
Strawberry Ice Cream with Orange and Black Pepper

Recipes will be posted tomorrow.

Are you a CSA member or avid farmer’s market shopper? I’d love to know what you do with all the produce you bring home.