Last week the gf embarked on a new dietary regime designed to detox the body by eliminating potentially allergenic foods. Dairy? Gone. Wheat? Axed. Shellfish and beef? Off the table. Citrus, tomatoes, potatoes and corn are also taboo. What's left? Chicken, fish, rice, lentils, and veggies. And since detoxing is a goal, eliminating chemicals and processed foods is also beneficial. Wanting to be supportive, I seized on this as an opportunity to try out a service I've long been curious about-- organic produce delivery.
The service, from Pioneer Organics (wouldn't the title of this entry be a better name, battalions of Lucasfilm lawyers not withstanding?), delivers a box of seasonal produce to your door every one or two weeks. The contents of the box changes each week depending on what's fresh, but you can ban things you don't like (we'll pass on the eggplants and lima beans, thanks) and you can vet the packing list beforehand every time and add or remove whatever you want. This goes with my belief that life should be delivered. I've never much cared if my produce was organic or not, so I'm very interested to see if I notice any difference in taste or quality.
We opted to start with the small box, delivered every other week. Better to use everything up early and switch to a more frequent interval if need be than to drown under a sea of produce. Our deliveries are on Thursdays, and the first box came today. If I'd been more on the ball I'd have taken a picture of the contents, but you'll have to make do with a list:
1 Galia melon, 1 lb mixed baby new potatoes, 2 ears of white corn, 1 bunch broccoli, 1 bulb purple garlic, 1 mango, 1 Valencia orange, 2/3 lb Bing cherries, 2 lbs bananas, 1/4 lb salad mix, 1 bunch kale, 3/4 lb green grapes, 1 head Romaine lettuce.
The potatoes, corn, and orange are earmarked for me since they're off-limits for the gf. I intend to eat the corn ASAP (likely Saturday) since its sugar quickly turns to starch causing the corn to lose flavor. We dipped into the cherries tonight and they're deliciously sweet. The Romaine is easily the fullest head of Romaine I've ever seen. It's screaming "Caesar salad" to me, but... egg. Parmesan. Not gf-friendly. Perhaps a different salad, or a Thai lettuce wrap recipe the gf dug up. I've never seen a Galia melon before-- it's about the size of a grapefruit, and I'm not sure if it's ripe yet. Since it has no odor, I'm inclined to wait a bit. I've never used kale in my life, so that's going to be a fun little adventure. In fact, having unfamiliar produce thrust upon us and being forced to figure out how to use it was part of the motivation for signing up with the service.
So... the experiment is too early to call. I'm hoping that having the produce in the house will spur me to cook with it, and if that happens it's all to the good. And every other Thursday is going to feel a little bit like Christmas. With a granola-crunching, overall-clad Santa.
Posted by Peter at June 28, 2007 11:42 PM