A Week of Healthy Meals with Collective Harvest CSA

If you’re a regular around here then you probably know how much I love local produce. It just doesn’t get better than eating food that was grown and harvested less than an hour from where you live.

Even though I’ve been a frequent flyer at the farmers market for years, this winter season was my first time joining a CSA. I’ve always been a little hesitant in the past because I’m a bit of a control freak but I was pleasantly surprised with how streamlined and convenient the process was. 

Our local CSA, Collective Harvest, recently incorporated software that allows you to tell them what your preferences are. Once they have all of the members feedback, it gives them a heads up of what they can plan on growing for the season.

A week before the delivery, members are sent email notifications of what to expect in their box. At that point if there’s something you don’t like, you can swap it out for a different option.

Another awesome feature is the ability to add items to your share. Whether you want more of something you already have or to add something different altogether, you have the option to do so with the click of a button.

Overall I’ve been very impressed with how well organized everything is. It’s made it super easy for me to meal plan each week. Here’s an example of how I use the produce for a week of meals.

In this box I received:

• 1 head of bok choy
• 1 head of romaine lettuce
• 1 bundle of collard greens
• 1 bundle of kale
• 1 bunch of carrots
• 1 bag tat soi (this is like an asian spinach)
• 2lbs sweet potatoes

As soon as I get the produce home, I wash and dry all of my greens, chop them up and then store them in glass containers in the refrigerator. You have to put the time in up front but it’s worth it to me to have dinner come together fast when I’m hangry.

Monday

For the first meal I sautéed the collard greens with onion, garlic and a splash of vegetable broth. Then I served them with baked sweet potatoes (topped with Miyoko’s vegan butter and cinnamon…YUM) and a veggie burger with a side of dill sauerkraut. We’ve been loving these South West Veggie Burgers lately. They’re allergy friendly an each one has 10 grams of protein. Boom.

Tuesday

I put the bok choy to good use in a big bowl of cozy mushroom ramen. I left out the dried mushrooms and used Pacific’s Mushroom Broth instead. Paired with forbidden rice ramen, it’s the perfect cure for gloomy winter weather.

Wednesday

Time for grilled cheese and tomato soup! I used my 15-Minute Tomato Soup recipe and paired it with a salad using the romaine and carrots topped with green olives, white wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. The grilled cheese is made with Violife aged cheddar slices and gluten-free sourdough.

Thursday

Another warm and cozy meal, this One-Pot Golden Lentil Curry has been a favorite of ours. You can’t really see it because it cooked down quite a bit but I promise there’s tat soi in there. I served it with a toasted Siete Foods cashew flour tortilla and half an avocado.

Friday

Last but not least, I used the kale and remaining sweet potatoes to make Miso Glazed Sweet Potato Bowls. I forgot how much I love this recipe! It’s definitely not the quickest but having the kale and the rice prepped in advance helps save time.

Dessert

Ok so this has nothing to do with the CSA but I have been obsessed with eating avocado pudding for dessert lately. I follow this recipe and just top it off with a sprinkle of coconut, dried blueberries and sometimes a few almonds. So simple, so delicious.

I hope that you were able to get some inspiration from today’s post! I think it goes to show that supporting local agriculture is becoming so much easier and more approachable.

If you’re local to the Athens area and want to sign up for the spring/summer harvest you can do so by clicking HERE.

Or if you want to learn more about supporting farmers that are near you, you can click HERE.

Disclaimer: Collective Harvest provided me a complimentary share in exchange for writing this post. I did purchase the remaining winter shares with my own money.  All opinions and text are entirely my own. It makes me so happy to be able to support our local farmers! :)