There were some really nice local hydroponic greens in this week's (March 22 2007) Good Food Box from Toronto's Food Share. The lettuce and spinach came with roots still attached and soaked in water to keep them fresh. I was missing the expected bosc pears but I got a credit note for my next order to cover them. Here's the summary:
- 2 rutabaga (flagged local)
- 1 red cabbage (flagged local)
- 1 bag carrots (Pfenning's - product of USA)
- 1 bunch broccoli (Cal-Organic - Bakersfield, Calif)
- 3 grapefruit (Purity Organic - USA)
- 3 lbs apples (flagged local)
- 1 green leaf lettuce (Slegers Premium - Canada)
- 2 hot house tomatoes (Earthbound Farm - USA)
- 1 pint strawberries (Natural Choice - Oxnard, Calif)
- 1 zucchini (New Harvest Organics)
- 2 lbs cooking onions in a plastic string bag (Pfenning's - Canada)
- 1 bunch spinach (Slegers Premium - Canada)
The zucchini looked a touch worn out, the strawberries will have to be eaten in the next day or two and the hothouse tomatoes may have been stored at too low a temperature, but everything else was of excellent quality, especially the local produce. I'm really looking forward to the increase in local fruits and vegetables as spring arrives in Toronto.
The flyer that accompanies the food box has some interesting ideas for using the rutabaga (aka swedes or yellow turnips). There's reference to a creamy rutabaga soup laced with maple syrup and seasoned with cayenne pepper that would be excellent as a first course. Sure sounds yummy!
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