Can you imagine living in a place where the food you ate was based on the seasons? We don't even flinch when we see a red tomato at the grocery store in the middle of winter. Nathan and I have done the produce boxes and we've attempted to eat local but have found that if we truly ate local, since we live in Chicago, we would be eating kale for a better part of the year. One way to extend our seasons is to freeze and preserve. Nothing compares to homemade canned pears from last summer to be consumed in the middle of winter.
This summer, since time is now our greatest resource, we hope to pick and freeze a ton of berries, peaches, pears and sauce apples. Especially because our little girl Nilsa will be eating solids in the coming months.
While not local or organic, I also can't resist the produce trucks found on Kedzie or Foster. True most of the produce found on the trucks are not organic and have probably traveled from Mexico (not exactly local). But they are sold by families in our community and are fresh and economical.
Today we purchased by favorite - champagne mangoes. If you have never had them run don't walk to the grocery store. They are SO good. If we don't eat them all this week I plan to dice and freeze to enjoy in the colder months in our smoothies. Here is a recipe for Mango Lassi that we enjoyed tonight for dessert.
Mango Lassi
1 C diced mango, preferably champagne
1 C yogurt (if you use plain add a few tspns of sugar)
1/2 C milk (we used rice milk but cow's milk would work just fine)
a few dashes of cardamom - clutch
Throw in the blender and enjoy.
I also made a batch but didn't blend for the morning to enjoy with cardamom buns and honey butter I made earlier in the day.
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