Stop ...it's Cobbler Time!

I follow a mostly plant-based diet about 70% because vegetables taste good and about 30% because they're healthy. True story: a few years back I had blood work done that revealed I was high in fiber. My response: "I eat a lot of spinach." Joining the Norwood CSA Food Co-op just made sense. Since then, the experience with John, my veggie share (and everything else) partner has been filled with experimentation and fun, since cooking and eating are two of our favorite things to do together.

cherry cobbler out of the oven. Mmm!

It's also been fruitful. Literally. This week's delivery yielded two huge helpings of cherries — yay! On the Fourth of July, John operated a genius and incredibly useful food prep tool called a cherry pitter, as I measured things like sugar and flour for this cherry cobbler recipe. Admittedly, I'm fairly liberal in the measurements department, so there may have been some heavy handedness on the white sugar. The end result was just, whoa. I'll say this: if I was adamant about baking real fruit into pies and desserts before, I am now in a class of my own. Greetings from Snobtown, USA.

cucumber and fava bean salad

This week's veggie share delivery included fava beans, which we received in bright green, cartoonishly large seed pods— they're huuuge! First I opened the pod, which contained thick, white seed covers that I boiled for 5ish minutes after learning that eating raw fava beans might be deadly. Then I got to work in peeling open the now-soft and bright green fava beans. The whole process reminded me of opening a Matryoshka doll. I added the beans to a cucumber salad with a few glugs of olive oil, white vinegar, salt and pepper and dill, and bam! Refreshing.

Christine eating cherry cobbler

For vegheads like us, the Norwood CSA Food Co-op is great. I'm a naturally curious person who loves cooking and the Bronx, so I always want to try new dishes and explore new 'hoods. My Wednesday pickups at the Bainbridge Avenue Garden have felt like visits to my own personal farmer's market, where I choose and bag my produce for the week. It's also convenient — right outside the garden is the Bx34 bus stop at Mosholu Pkwy S / Bainbridge Avenue. This is how I return to Woodlawn Heights, where my kitchen and couch are located.

Happy cooking, eating and sharing,
Christine