This spring, I read a little about detox diets or cleanses. Before heading to the farmers’ market on Saturday morning, I made a mental note that I’d probably want to buy food that I would make into a healthy meal rather than…ahem…rhubarb, which just begs to be paired with butter and sugar.
I bought some cute and delicious organic carrots from Grinnell Heritage Farm, one of the oldest family farms in central Iowa. They offer a CSA delivered to several cities across the state. If you’re considering joining a CSA but aren’t sure it would be the right fit, you can check out the newsletter archives to see what each week’s box contained for the past two years. I can vouch for the carrots; they were delicious, and the two pounds I bought are now gone.
We bought a bag of mint from one market stand for $1, the carrots for $4, two cucumbers for $5, and everything else from our CSA. We took home three heads of bok choi, a bag of spinach, green onions, radishes, and a dozen eggs.
So far, because of the cleanse, I’ve burned through this delightful produce. We’ve had stir fry with carrots, bok choi, and store bought organic red peppers on top of brown rice coated in pureed spinach and broth. We’ve had salads topped with carrots, radishes, cucumbers, and beans. The onions went into salads and fried rice. I plan to use the mint in a batch of iced tea.
I’ve been tossing my radish greens. Does anybody know if they’d be good in a green smoothie?
What did you find at the farmers’ market this week?
Mrs. Dexter 
We made it out to our farmer’s market Saturday, but only picked up some zucchini, squash and peaches. Question, what did you pay for your eggs? I felt like the eggs at our market were a bit pricing, but couldn’t remember how much they were in Iowa.
Also, check out this: http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2008/06/recipe-for-spicy-stir-fried-radish.html Not sure if it’s something you’d like or not.
Interesting recipe! I might try it because I have another radish recipe I want to try. However, I’m kind of a baby about eating cooked greens.
Our neighborhood market opened last week! We went but all I brought home were baked goods haha. I did however look into getting a CSA box or market bucks (which I’d never thought about before you mentioned it.
This week I hope to pick up greens for smoothies (whatever looks good and is cheap), carrots, and maybe some honey.
There’s no shame in getting those baked goods! Those are my favorite things 🙂
If you like mint, it grows like crazy. Get a start from someone – I could probably even mail you one – and it will grow grow grow wherever. When you mow it over it smells great!
Good to know! I just killed a basil plant, but I want to try again once we have a desk set up in a sunny spot. I like mint, although I’m not totally sure what food I’d use it in.
Radish greens are excellent in soups, so as a smoothie? I don’t see why not! As someone who likes the greens, I think it could be quite tasty. I’m just not a smoothie kinda gal. 😉
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