Bok Choy, Baby!

Tuesday is my "farm to table" organic veggie delivery day, which means after 3pm every Tuesday I drive about a mile up the road to a house (owned by someone I don't know who has volunteered to be a drop-off spot) and pick up a box with my name on it and drive back home.  It's got this sort of weird / awesome clandestine feel to the whole thing, like I'm a swiss chard smuggler.

Really...how cool is this stuff?

I'm seriously giddy about getting this cardboard box open. I kid you not that Tuesdays are now Vegetable Christmas for me.  It's like getting that gift from the cool, funky aunt that you open and love instantly and don't really know what it is ("I love it!  Is it windchimes or a bolo tie?").  I typically tear into the box, read what the heck everything is and then go on online to figure out how to cook it.  Yesterday's delivery did not disappoint.   Among the strawberries, avocados, green leaf lettuce and pears (all of which I'm quite skilled at using/ eating), was rainbow chard, bok choy and sunchokes.  I did get rainbow chard last week too, so I'd already done my research on how to prepare it (and it went over quite nicely with the adults in the house).  But bok choy and sunchokes are new territory.  I was instantly excited about the baby bok choy because on the packing list it read "bok choy, baby" so I got to say that over & over for my own enjoyment.  We'll be having it tomorrow (details to come).

Now sunchokes (AKA Jerusalem Artichokes) are ugly little buggers.  Sort of a cross between potatoes and ginger root in appearance.  Gnarly, if you will.  My internet assistant advised to keep it simple and cut them up into chunks on a pan, sprinkle with salt & olive oil and toast in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 350.  I loved them!  We had fish, garlic quinoa, chard and sunchokes for dinner and I downed most of the 'chokes.  They are the consistency of a potato with the taste of an artichoke heart. Delicious!  (Good source of iron and low in fat, but does have a lot of carbs & sugar calories, so I suppose I can't go on an all-sunchoke diet).

I will admit that eating foods like this and becoming more knowledgeable about different vegetables (not to mention that I get weekly delivery of organic goodies from local farms) does make me a bit smug.  Which is something I don't feel when I'm standing in our pantry eating leftover Easter candy. But I'm okay with being proud of my weekly Vegetable Christmas.  I may even start wearing a Vegetable Christmas sweater.

Happy Bok Choy, Baby!