Who'd have thunk a box full of vegetables could turn me into a kid on Christmas morning? But when Christmas comes to our doorstep every Tuesday, via our CSA delivery, I get downright giddy.
To be fair some weeks are more exciting than others, or inspire more acts of culinary daring to incorporate all the veggies before they start to go bad (a challenge I find particularly satisfying). And other weeks are more run of the mill: carrots, onions, celery, potatoes... just screaming to be made into a simple soup.
My go-to is minestrone, and I can't really say I use a recipe, although I do reference Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything" from time to time.
Basically, you make a mirepoix (celery, carrots and onions cooked in oil/butter) and then add broth, tomatoes and whatever veggies you have on hand, being sure to strike a balance between "hard" (potatoes, turnips, parsnips, etc) and "soft" (greens, cabbage, green beans, etc). I also tend to add fresh herbs like thyme and parsley, about a cup of beans (usually kidney or white beans) and a handful or two of uncooked macaroni. It's pretty simple and takes maybe an hour with prep, and it's very flexible, which makes it a great way to use up those random CSA box ingredients, or the leftover veggies in your crisper drawer.
Today I used carrots, celery, fennel and leeks and garlic for my mirepoix, potatoes for my "hard" veggies and cabbage for my "soft" veggies:
Add some tasty sesame garlic sourdough from Boudin (I carefully photographed the side I had not been snacking from before Kevin got home):
And it made for a delicious, wholesome dinner from a box.
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