Too many greens? Make this Green Chowder

This is my third year having a subscription to a CSA. (what is a CSA?) Each farm has been excellent to work with. The customer service and food quality have been great. The problem I still have is getting too much food of what I don't want and not enough of what I do want.  Last year I got a huge box of food every week. It was an extremely hot summer. There was a little wilting from the heat. I had to hurry to pick up the box and quickly get the greens into the cold water bath to reinvigorate them, wash them and put them into the fridge. This chore took up to 2 hours every Thursday. I still have spinach in the freezer from those days. Every delivery is a new adventure. I am delighted to receive things that you only get if you grow them your self like garlic scapes and heirloom varieties. The boxes contain foods I love and my kids will eat. Usually we never got enough of those kinds of veggies. I also have a medium size garden. Sometimes there is just too much food to manage. It stresses me out because I don't want to waste any of it. Only a few of the foods don't freeze well, so I just need to time to work on it.

In the early part of the season comes a lot of known and unknown greens. I didn't grow up eating cooked greens. I have learned to grow and cook them but a little goes a long way. I'm not too fond of them.  I know kale smoothies are all the rage these days. I think eating kale raw is a mistake if done more than once in a while. It's a digestion and assimilation issue. Plus, raw kale is goitrogenic. I purchased Greens, Glorious Greens!, a cookbook with some new ideas. I tried a few recipes with varying results.There are more I need to try, though some are too carby for me.  I recommend this cookbook (caveat: the song from Ice Age 2  might get stuck in your head. Yes, I know it's from Oliver but I like this one.)

I love supporting local food. It makes sense economically, nutritionally, and sustainably. The food is fresher, more nutrient dense and uses less energy to deliver it to the customer. The CSA I have this year is a very small one. I was friends with the farmers before they started the CSA. I respect them 100%. Having heard their lectures on gardening, I know their food as the very highest quality available. Yet, I'm still frustrated by the greens.

Here's one of my coping mechanisms - Green Chowder. (I was going to call it WTF CSA!? Chowder, but I thought I should be nice.) I got the idea from this Onion Puree Soup Recipe, which the author used to alleviate  urinary tract infection symptoms. That recipe starts with sauteing four kinds of onions in a stick of butter, adding water and pureeing it with the blender. It is a pretty good soup and successfully worked for the intended purpose. It is a very nice base for any kind of cream-of soup and it doesn't call for any flour. The idea with the recipe below is to create a thick chowder base and change the seasonings to make different soups. I have made it with chard, spinach, kale, arugula, dandelions and stuff I can't identify. The first CSA year was a cold spring. I got LOTS of green onions from the CSA plus from my garden.

Green Chowder Base
Ingredient amounts are based on quantities of the greens you are using up. Use more fat and broth as needed.

2-3 tablespoons fat (chicken fat, lard, bacon fat, beef tallow, coconut oil, olive oil, butter - whatever you want to cook with)
bunches of greens, washed, stems trimmed as needed
1 quart of bone broth
1 onion, chopped  (optional)
1 few cloves of garlic (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Wash and trim your greens. Chopping is unnecessary (but it depends on your blender). Heat the stock pot to medium high. Add fat/oil until shimmering. Add onion and garlic if using. Add a bunch of greens. Put the lid on and let it wilt. Check on it in a few minutes and stir it around. Add broth. Do you have more greens? add them in batches. Put the lid on until wilted.

Get out the blender or immersion blender (preferred). Puree the whole thing until no identifiable particles remain. If you didn't chop the greens beforehand, you may need to turn off the stick blender and pull pieces out of the blade from time to time. Taste your creation  to know how much salt and pepper to add.

Ideas for this chowder: 

• eat it as is
• add meat and vegetables for texture and flavor
• Add some heavy cream or butter and make cream-of asparagus soup, broccoli soup, carrot soup, cauliflower soup, mushroom soup... 
• Add chicken and lemon juice or make it into Avgolemono.
• It  might make a nice green Vichyssoise
• Thai inspired: 2 cups chowder, 1 can of coconut milk, 1 teaspoon chili paste, 1-2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger, garlic, lime juice, fresh cilantro or basil
• Southern greens inspired: add bacon and 1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• Tex Mex inspired: chorizo, onions, bell peppers, garlic, tomatoes, green chilies (or spicier kinds like jalapeno), chili powder, fresh cilantro
• Gazpacho: who says you have to eat it hot? Chill it, then add tomatoes, tomato juice, cucumbers, celery, bell peppers, avocado, Tabasco, etc.. then blend it all again
• Italian inspired: tomato sauce, italian herbs (basil, oregano), olive oil, Parmesan cheese, some ground beef or italian sausage
• Italian wedding soup: sausage, meatballs, cooked chicken or maybe pasta, italian herbs
• German green bean soup - fresh or frozen green beans, potatoes, ham, bacon or polish sausage and the key herb is summer savory
• Sauerkraut soup: 1-2 cups sauerkraut, pork or polish sausage
• Goulash: tomato paste, beef stew meat, paprika, onions. 
• German potato soup: cook peeled, diced potatoes in the chowder with a bay leaf and black pepper. Add some bacon, ham or ground beef.
• New England Clam Chowder: clams, potatoes, celery, bacon, cream
• Bean, split pea or lentil soup: I would cook the legumes separately, mix them into this chowder and simmer it some more.
• chill and mix it with sour cream or cream cheese and fresh herbs as a dip 
• Curry: cook down this base, add curry spices, meat, paneer, or chickpeas. Maybe base it on Saag Paneer

So you get the idea. It can use up greens you don't really want to eat and maybe other leftover foods too. When I want to make a specific soup like Italian Wedding Soup or Goulash, I google it and read a few of the recipes until I have an idea of what is generally in the dish. I compare that with what I have on hand and try it out. 

Real Food Challenge - week 4

Day #22: Why you should eat red meat.
Day #23: Pasture & Meadow. Eat your bacon, eggs and lard too.
Day #24: Homemade broth and stock.
Day #25: Not-so-awful Offal.
Day #26: Fish and seafood.
Day #27: Grow your foodshed.
Day #28: Beyond the challenge.




Why you should eat red meat
For many years I have been aware of the problems with our food supply, especially meat. If you are aware of it, you have to willfully ignore it when you eat it. For about 6 months, most of our meat has been purchased directly from the farmers that grew it. We still buy lunch meat, bags of chicken breasts and bacon now and then. It is difficult switching from old patterns. With the low fat craze, chicken became a staple in the American diet. Pastured chicken is more of a luxury than a staple. I have a whole chicken in my freezer that cost $18! I have so much broth, that I won't roast it until we make room for more broth. Buying meat this way is considerably more expensive. One thing I have noticed is that I am satisfied with eating a smaller portion. I'm sure that says something about the quality of the meat.


I liked the article about the nutrition in meat. My 6-year-old son is super picky. He'll eat ground beef, hamburgers and hotdogs but he won't eat stew meat or roast beef. It just doesn't look good to him. I held up a gallon jar and a coffee mug. I told him the coffee mug is meat and the gallon jar is vegetables. We all know there are lots of vitamins in vegetables. If you eat this much meat (coffee mug) you will get even more vitamins than all the vitmains in this much vegetables (gallon jar). He was quite impressed, but he is just not able to eat something he thinks is going to taste bad. All I can do is continue to offer it.


Eat your bacon, eggs and lard too
Our egg sources have been pastured for about a year. I was getting them from a family at church who live in an area that allows chickens. I think her egg production dropped off in winter. Now I get them from the farmers at my nutrition group. We eat about 1.5 dozen eggs a week. Sometimes we run low and have to buy the cage-free eggs from the grocery store. They seem to be equal in quality, but I don't really trust it. Buying directly from the chicken owner is totally different.


All of my meat sources carry beef and pork. Saturday I went to the Geneva Winter Market. Hasselmann Farms has good bacon prices but he was out of bacon. I bought the ham for Easter. Last week I cooked prok "steaks". I bought them because they seemed to be like pork chops but they were a little fattier and much less expensive. I could not believe how delicious they were!




Homemade broth and stock
I wish I could convince my family to eat more of it. This week 3 people in our family had a cough. I implored my husband to defrost the soup and sip it all day instead of tea. Soup is another thiing my son doesn't like. For many years I have tried all kinds of ways to make chicken soup. Long before I found traditional nutrition I was simmering chicken bones for broth. It took a lot of trial and error to figure out that is the best soup. If we buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, I always save the bones for soup. I also freeze bones, old celery and onion tops for making broth later. The Frugal Gourmet passed on the idea of saving the onion ends whenever an onion is chopped. Most people throw this stuff out but it can be made into wholesome food before throwing it away.


Not-so-awful Offal
I like offal for the novelty as well as the nutrition. I like to fry up a chicken liver to have with eggs in the morning. Sometimes I get so fed up with my son's complaining about normal food, I make liver, heart or oxtails just to really push his button! I picked up some chicken heads and feet from the Amish at the WAPF conference. I showed them to my kids because gross things don't freak them out. One time I was making broth and talking to my husband. He looked into the pot right as a head floated by. He got so freaked out, I had to laugh! It is sort of a Halloween thing to see a head or a chicken foot floating in soup.


My mom grew up on a farm near Winnipeg. Her parents were German Mennonite immigrants from the Ukraine. They had dairy cows, pigs and chickens. It has been very interesting hearing how her parents grew and preserved food using traditional methods. She told me that they put beef hearts in a huge steintopf and covered them with whey. She enjoyed head cheese, liver, heart and other offal. They ate chicken about once a month. My grandmother would slaughter a hen if she thought it wasn't laying. Sometimes she would find eggs inside the chicken in various states of development. She would be so sorry because this one was laying. She gathered those small yolks and made a cake with them. That one chicken, along with side dishes, fed all 8 people in her family. She roasted the head and feet. Oma liked the head very much. My Aunt Mary's favorite part of the chicken is the neck, because she usually ended up with that part at dinner.


Fish and seafood
We don't eat much fish, though I enjoy it. Lake Michigan is very close but people where I live don't eat the fish from it. It is considered a dangerous thing to do. How sad is that? Just this week we had salmon from Costco. I'm pretty sure it was farmed fish, which is not the best nutritional or environmental choice. This is really tough. I keep reading about overfishing and pollutants in the fish.


Grow your foodshed & Beyond the challenge
This was a fun experience. I enjoyed receiving the emails and trying new things. I have an update on the sauerkraut and the cheesemaking. I'll have to post it a little later when I have more time. I should have posted more pictures. As you can tell, I don't get around to blogging much.
Going forward, I plan to continue doing what I've been doing. I'm looking forward to spring and planting my garden. I haven't planned what I'll grow yet, but it always works out. I'm inspired by the people at my Traditional Nutrition club.


Here's the checklist

• Stay Natural & Unrefined. Eat only natural, whole foods in their unrefined state.
• Avoid Modern, Processed Foods. Avoid processed, packaged, refined foods even those sold as "natural" foods. If you're great-great-great-great-great grandmother wouldn't recognize it, don't eat it.
• Sour, sprout or soak. If you eat grain, beans, legumes, nuts or seeds, make sure that you properly prepare them to maximize your body's ability to assimilate their nutrients.
• Love healthy fats. Enjoy wholesome, healthy, unrefined natural fats liberally - and especially on your vegetables.
• Brew mineral-rich stock. Make homemade, mineral-rich broth and stock weekly, and consume it daily.
• Eat grass-fed, pasture-raised and wild-caught. Eat meat, including offal, and make sure it's from a trusted source that relies on traditional methods of raising their animals: on fresh pasture.
• Keep dairy raw and fresh. If you eat dairy, keep it raw or, at the very least, make sure it comes from grass-fed animals and is not subject to ultra-high-temperature pasteurization.
• Get Your Good Bacteria. Consume naturally fermented, probiotic foods and beverages daily.
• Get involved. Grow your foodshed and give back to the community. Fight for farmers and consumers rights and against the industrialization of our food supply.
• Maximize nutrient density of your foods by preparing and consuming them with time-honored tradition.

Real Food Challenge - week 3

Day #15: What's a SCOBY?
Day #16: Get Cultured (Veggies)
Day #17: Making Yogurt at Home
Day #18: Make Cheese at Home
Day #19: Preparing Nuts & Seeds
Day #20: Maximizing the Nutrient Value of Beans & Legumes
Day #21: Vegetables & Salads

What's a SCOBY?
I really like the idea of replacing fruit juice and soda with some other tasty and beneficial beverage. We don't buy much juice or soda. One idea is fruity herbal iced tea for the kids. I have been wondering if there is MSG in commercial herbal tea. Celestial Seasonings has something called "natural flavors (contains soy lecithin)". Am I going too far? Should I let it go? Please let me know.
Yesterday I read all about kefir. Some websites say that you can convert your kefir grains into water kefir grains. Wikipedia says that water kefir grains are completely different thing called tibicos. I've been reading about kombucha for months now. Once or twice I have tasted it sold at the grocery store. Many times I have found websites selling the mothers and I just haven't bought one. I think it's like buying a cat. Why would you buy one when so many people want to give one away for free? I'll post something on the local freecycle list. I need to find the right kind of fermenting container before starting.

Get Cultured (Veggies)
This was a great because I was planning on making more sauerkraut anyway. I made fermented garlic. I blanched the cloves in boiling water in order to remove the skins. Some of them got over cooked. I should have used a timer. My husband asked why I was making fermented garlic and my answer was, "I don't know.". I searched the web looking for recipes that use it and didn't get very far. Salad dressing?

I made sauerkraut on a Sunday afternoon. That was QUITE a workout. I sliced it with the food processor but I had to pound it by hand. The pounder was a pint jar. I wished I had raw cream in the house. I would have put it in the pounding jar and had butter by the time I was done! I followed the recipe in Nourishing Traditions and used whey as a starter. I packed 2 cabbages worth into a half gallon jar and a quart jar and stuck it in a bottom cabinet with the garlic. It is on an outer wall and is close to 60F, I imagine.

Making Yogurt at Home
A friend from India taught my mom to make yogurt when I was a kid. I have made yogurt probably twice. My mom ate it plain with a dollop of jam. I was never all that enthralled with it. For some reason, drinking kefir isn't as boring as eating plain yogurt. My snack at work has been 1 cup of kefir. It is made with whole milk and actually tastes kind of greasy. Weird. Maybe I'll make raita with it.

Tuesday night I found an unopened half gallon of Farmer's Creamery milk in the back of my fridge. It was probably 10 days since I bought it! Uh-oh! It was sort-of fresh but the next day my daughter wouldn't drink it. Kefir time! I had one quart of kefir still working in the warm closet. (The closet is about 75F and the kitchen counter is 62F.) I took the other batch of grains and put them in the plastic bottle that the milk was in. I am worried that the milk will sour before becoming kefir. Today the first batch of kefir was ready so I dumped those grains into the half gallon.

Make Cheese at Home
I still have to try this. We had a busy weekend. One of my friends from the Progressive Parenting Book Club is in love with making cheese. She just tried it and is very enthusiastic - especially about mozzarella.

Preparing Nuts & Seeds
I still have some Crispy Nuts (almonds) that I made a while ago. The walnuts were better than I've ever had. Toasted walnuts are delicious but soaked and dried walnuts are divine, buttery goodness. I have a question about the sunflower seed cracker recipe I posted last week. The method involved mixing raw sunflower seeds in the food processor until they are a flour, adding sesame seeds and a little water to hold it all together. It all gets baked in the oven. Does that take care of the phytates? Should I be soaking, drying and THEN making the recipe? That's a LOT of work.... :(

Maximizing the Nutrient Value of Beans & Legumes
I make the low-carb excuse again. I think beans are awesome. When I achieve the intended weight loss, legumes are the complex carbs I will definitely work back into my diet. Kalyn's Kitchen is one of my favorite food blogs. She has some great chickpea recipes.

Vegetables & Salads
This is about adding a little fat whenever eating vegetables so that the fat-soluable vitamins in the vegetables are absorbed and digested. I do try to make my own salad dressing because the bottled stuff doesn't taste good any longer. What's in there anyway? My husband makes dinner most weeknights. When the kids aren't looking I throw a pat of butter over the cooked veggies. I know this is strange but if they see me do it, they think it will taste bad.