CSA Week 4 (6/22/13) + a Refresh-Your-Kale Tip

The kids and I were out of town this week, so we picked up our veggies this morning (Saturday) in downtown Knoxville at the Market Square farmer's market instead of our usual New Harvest Thursday pick-up. So, we got to see Isaac and Noah instead of Caleb (and this post is a few days later than usual!). I got a great picture of Isaac holding out our box and our boys peering in.

Our "haul" this week shows the changing seasons! We're full into summer weather-wise, so we're starting to see true summer produce. Here's what we got:

• 1 bunch green onions (they're still fairly good-sized onions)
• 2 stalks green garlic
• 2 bunches kale--it's the pretty stuff! (the kind with purple ribs--notice that it's kind of wilty over there in the left of the frame? more on that in a minute)
• 1 bunch small white turnips with greens
• 1 bunch radishes with greens
• 3 cucumbers!! (kids are VERY excited about these)
• 1 round yellow squash (is that a 1-ball?)
• 2 round zucchini squash (8-balls)**
• lots of small yellow summer squash
• 2 nice heads lettuce

**these are freebies Isaac threw in--thanks, Isaac! I mentioned a particular kind of pizza I was planning to make, and that's all he needed to hear. I have TWO pizza recipes for you in the coming days :-).

Whew! And, we have some lettuce and bok choy left over from last week (even though I took it with me on our trip--we ate up a lot, but didn't get it all eaten). Since we will do our usual pick up on Thursday, we don't have tons of time to gobble this bounty up. But I have a plan, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, here's a refresh-your-wilty-kale tip (we ran an errand after getting our veggies, so the box got to sit in the hot car...). I *wish* I'd taken a before picture, but you'll have to make do with the after picture alone:

Simply submerge the kale in a tub of cool water and then--very important here--cut off the bottom 1-inch or so of stems under water and keep those stems submerged. The leaves will start to perk up and poke up out of the water but keep the stems under water until you're ready to transport the whole mess into whatever container you use for the fridge. Like new! Notice how those leaves in the picture are coming up out of the water? When I first put them all in, the leaves just sort of drooped under the surface of the water. I did not do anything to "prop" them up!

Consider that your free tip of the week! Do you have any tips for me?