Spring Green (and White): Mixed Greens, Herbs and Soba Noodles with Asian Dressing

I always say that spring's first burst of greens is Mother Nature's way of reminding me that I need to get in a swim suit soon. It's a bit hard to tell myself this, however, when there is snow on the ground in May. I'm really going to miss spring this year. It's my favorite season we are skipping.

Ironically, this is our first year trying a "spring CSA." While we should be seeing some sexy new veggies that hearken the start of early summer, we are still getting March's bounty of greens, greens and greens. I love greens, so its not all bad. And I have a bit extra around the middle with the extra long winter.

(Well, the winter and this unfortunate moment where I decided to try both P90X and an insanity work out in a day, then could not bend over to tie my shoes for a couple weeks or go for a spring training run for six weeks.)

Salad, anyone?

This salad is a great way to use up a large amount of mixed, hearty greens in early spring. Think beet greens, turnip greens, baby kale, chard, bok choi, cabbage leaves all in one bowl. 

Soba Noodle and Greens Salad, Ginger Soy Dressing

For the salad:

At the farmers market now:

1 pound mixed early spring greens, washed and chopped

1 bunch scallions, white parts and 1 inch of green chopped

1 bunch early garlic, or garlic scapes, white parts chopped

1 bunch mint, chopped (it's already up and growing despite the cold)

1 bunch cilantro, chopped, (found this at the market amazingly)

3 carrots, shredded

1 small cucumber, (greenhouse surprise!) diced

From the produce section and store:

1 bunch Thai basil (might not find this at the farmers market yet)

1 red pepper, diced

1 package buckwheat soba noodles, prepared

For the dressing:

Juice of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup tamari soy sauce

1/4 cup white vinegar

1 tsp. grated ginger

1/2 tsp. powdered mustard

1 tsp. chili flakes

2 Tbs. honey

1/2 cup avocado oil

Toss the mixed greens, veggies, herbs, and prepared noodles in a large bowl. Store separately from the dressing if you want to eat this salad for a few lunches. It makes enough for about 12 portions and keeps well for a few days as long as the dressing is stored separately.

For the dressing, whisk all the ingredients except the avocado oil together. Then, whisk in the oil to emulsify. Serve each 1 cup portion of salad with 1 Tbs. of dressing.

Yes, you can have kids and a CSA, too

We moms get a lot of surprises in our lives. Everything from "projectile launch" by a kid with stomach flu on Christmas morning to trying to identify what the dog just ate from the scraps on the floor (a Christmas ornament, really?). Can we handle being ambushed by broccoli, too?

You bet! While the CSA, or community supported agriculture, box may hold a few new veggies for everyone, the fact is most fruits and veggies do have a certain season where they make their annual appearance. We've just lost track of it amidst the grapes from Chile in April and the tomatoes from Mexico in February. The seasonal guide from our book can help you plan ahead enough to give you some comfort factor — knowing things may vary a week or two depending on how soon spring is sprung each year.

Here is a basic list, not including many of the wonderful surprises a CSA can offer. Some surprises can be good! Look for the resources and links at the end of the list for further reading on CSAs!

Seasonal Calendar (not all items available in all areas! We don't see too much "local citrus" in the Midwest for sure!)

Spring (March through May)

In-Season Produce

Alliums: scallions, leeks, garlic scapes, chives

Cole crops: broccoli, cauliflower

Greens: cabbages, chard, kale, spinach

Herbs: borage, chervil, lovage

Lettuces: leaf lettuce, mâche, miner’s lettuce, spring mix

Root vegetables: beets, radishes, turnips

Others: artichokes, asparagus, mushrooms, peas and pea shoots, rhubarb, sorrel

Summer (June through August)

In-Season Produce

Alliums: garlic, onions

Beans: green beans, pole beans, field peas, lima beans

Berries: blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries

Cole crops: cabbages, collard greens, kohlrabi

Greens: amaranth, arugula, collards, mustard greens

Herbs: basil, cilantro, lemongrass, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley

Melons: cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon

Peppers: bell peppers, hot peppers

Root vegetables: potatoes

Squashes: summer squash (yellow, zucchini, pattypan, and so on)

Stone fruits: apricots, cherries, nectarines, peaches, plums

Others: corn, eggplant, fennel, figs, okra, tomatillos, tomatoes, cucumbers

Fall (September through November)

In-Season Produce

Cole crops: Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbages

Fruits: apples, grapes, pears, persimmons, pomegranates

Greens: kale, mustard greens, spinach

Herbs: rosemary, sage, savory, thyme

Nuts: chestnuts, hickory nuts, pecans, walnuts

Root vegetables: beets, carrots, horseradish, parsnips, sweet potatoes, rutabaga, turnips

Squashes: pumpkin, winter squash

Winter (December through February)

In-Season Produce

Though some farms may have greenhouses for production, with the exception of southern regions and areas with temperate climates, such as California, most growing seasons are over. In these warmer regions, the following are in season:

Fruit: grapefruits, lemons, limes, oranges

Others: avocados, pistachios

Resources and Links:
Types of CSAs, More Than Just Veggies
Five Good Reasons to Support Local Family Farms with a CSA
Five Foods I Only Tried by Eating Local
Why I am Changing CSAsAgriculture Policy and Food SafetyAgriculture Policy and Your Health
Recipes, Recipes, More Recipes

Here's the follow up from my presentation at the Local Food Expo:

First of all, THANKS to all the parents who voluntarily spent an hour with me at the Local Food Expo. I did see one guy nodding off, but I get that, I have a very soft voice. In fact, I used to read myself to sleep first while trying to get the kid down for a nap. Heh.

We had a lot of questions and great discussion. I did promise to post a few of the follow up links here, and I like to keep promises!

Beets, what to do with them
Beet salad dressing with spring greens
The beet risotto mentioned in the recipes handout
Plus, you can roast and chill beets, adding them to a smoothie (blueberries with cherry juice work great), dice into salads especially with citrus and fennel, add shredded to a red cabbage salad, and as I mentioned in our book, you can even put them (not pureed or stealthy) into brownies. You can also dye Easter eggs with them.

Flexible recipes
The handout I had was on making a risotto for all seasons. But other techniques can help you use nearly everything in the CSA box that is, uh, "cook-able." Roasting is a perfect technique. The book specifically calls out Roasted Asparagus and Green Beans. The key here is quick cooking items like tomatoes you can roast at higher heat and short times. For the more dense veggies like pumpkin or sweet potatoes, use a lower temperature and longer time so the veggie cooks through without burning on the outsides. A bit of olive oil, salt and pepper plus time and heat equals side dish. As a ballpark guide, this will give you a starting point. Just peek at the food, test, and customize for your oven's "quirks."

Higher Heat (375 or 400), Shorter Time (10-15 minutes):
Tomatoes, asparagus, green beans, summer squash, peppers, corn, okra

Lower Heat (350), Longer Time (20-60 minutes depending on how fine you chop them)
Potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, other root veggies, beets, kohlrabi, carrots

For the adventurous, outdoor-cooking types, grilling and, yes, smoking of vegetables is fun to try. Other veggies that are amazing smoked: tomatoes, corn, peppers, okra, even winter squashes.

Picky Kids and Adults
This series is the research that was the foundation for our picky eating chapter
And these guest posts on Dr. Greene are a fantastic resource for the control, color, texture, taste issues. Scroll down below the author photo and bio, please without thinking, "wow, she did not look like that in person." I was very tired and it showed.
We also talked a bit about using fun away from the table to get kids to eat better. And finally, if you are just stressed, stop by and read this interview I did with a feeding therapist on his 20-year career.

If I missed any questions or follow up, just ask me. You can reach me on our Facebook page, or by email at thecleanerplate [at] gmail [dot] com.

Sneaky Chefs May Not Need to Sneak So Much

Is your dinner menu "Deceptively Delicious?" Do you stash the broccoli in brownies or add pumpkin puree to pasta? 

It's not too hard to understand why we moms would be tempted to sneak around. Only 21 percent of our kids are eating their "five a day." Some of our kids can make even a piece of fruit into a battle of wills.

Need the good news?

You can come out of the pantry now — at least for those vegetables that your kids are familiar with. A recent study tested whether kids would prefer the same food including a vegetable if they knew the vegetable was there, or if they would prefer the unlabeled "stealth" version.

Interestingly, kids were just fine with knowing about the vegetables in the foods, as long as the vegetable was one they were familiar with. When it came to new vegetables the kids had not tried, there was more hesitation with the labeled version. Otherwise, the kids liked the snacks that clearly labeled the vegetable inside just as much as the unlabeled version.

My favorite quote from Ms. Lizzy Pope, MS, RD, the principal investigator of this study in the interview:

"I think the bottom line is, you don't necessarily have to hide vegetables from kids if you include them in foods that actually taste good."

Couldn't have said it better myself. In fact, its similar to what I've seen at our table at home. Zucchini was disliked by my kiddo in nearly all forms until I created the Chocolate Zucchini Bread recipe in our book, The Cleaner Plate Club. Even though the recipe contains more zucchini than any other ingredient (yep, more vegetable than flour AND sugar), she will request the recipe over and over.

Once that "Aha!" moment happens and a kid finds out how good a vegetable can taste in the right recipe, it helps reduce the trial barrier to other taste adventures, too.

Here's the study if you'd like to read it for yourself:

“The Influence of Labeling the Vegetable Content of Snack Food on Children’s Taste Preferences: A Pilot Study” by Lizzy Pope, MS, RD and Randi L. Wolf, PhD, MPH. It appears in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, Volume 44, Issue 2 (March/April 2012) published by Elsevier.

Thanksgiving: Yes, There Will Be Pie

While I mentioned that the sides are, if you love vegetables the way I do, "so good, you could skip the pie," there will be pie (or dessert "outside the crust"). Pie for everyone else at dinner, even if I am too full on salad and veggies. Leftover pie for my traditional Friday after Thanksgiving breakfast. In my jammies and as far from anything resembling a mall on Black Friday, I will have my pie and coffee. And I will rest.

Vanilla Sweet Potato Pie with Brown Sugar Pecan Crust
This one is a long-standing favorite and the original pie recipe that started my annual "create a new pie" quest. I still make this one every year.

Red-wine Caramel Apple Tart with Gorgonzola on a Walnut Crust
I cook a lot for the whole family, but once in a while, my grown-up taste buds need something complex and not too sweet for dessert. This is worth the effort.

Ginger Pear and Cranberry Tart
This is my second favorite Thanksgiving dessert (after the sweet potato pie). It's elegant and unexpected.

Roasted Fig and Pear Crumble
I've been crazy about figs since I was a kid and discovered fig newtons. Married to pears in this dish, it's a nice, easy dessert for the season if you don't have time for making pie crust!

Pumpkin Seed Brittle
Peanut brittle classic gets a spicy, fall update that makes a perfect garnish for Thanksgiving desserts, or just by itself. The full recipe uses the brittle as a topping for a poached pear and gorgonzola cheese salad with arugula. Sumptuous and amazing salad for the holiday table. If you are going potluck and just have one dish to bring, this one will impress the whole family and be a real stand out on the holiday table.

Pumpkin Panna Cotta with Bourbon Pecan Toffee Sauce

So easy, no oven is required. And no eggs, either in case you have an egg allergy in the family. Very good, quick and looks like you spent a ton of time on it.

Honey Five-Spice Pumpkin Pie

Uses Chinese 5-spice Powder instead of the traditional pumpkin pie spice and honey for the sweetener. Subtle, but nice take on the classic pumpkin.