I started up my organic box delivery again this spring.  I hadn’t done it since Angus was born. I just couldn’t see myself identifying mystery veggies *while* doing all the things required to keep a baby alive.  But this year it was time to get back to The Box. 

The good news about organic box delivery is that you get lots of veggies that you might not fill your cart with at the grocery store.  The bad news is that you get lots of veggies that you might not fill your cart with at the grocery store.  What to do with them all? 

Well, eating them is good.  We bbq’d some pork chops on the weekend and HoneyBunny was horrified to see me pass him 4 little tin foil packet thingies with different veggies in each.  All requiring different cooking times, of course.  You know, the parsnips need way more than the asparagus, but the cauliflower needs something in between. 

It seriously harshed his beer-drinking-in-the-sun-buzz.  But boy are we healthy and pesticide-free.  Especially Angus, that kid can eat his body weight in cauliflower in a single sitting.  We just keep passing him “white trees” and try to conceal our surprise and amazement.

I’ve discovered that by the week’s end (quickly before The Next Box gets delivered on Saturday!) it’s time for kitchen sink meals.  Things you can make that allow you to throw in everything but.  Stir fry’s are good.  Quiche works.  Pasta is good.  I prefer a non-red sauce and then throw a bunch of saute veggies (onions, mushrooms, chopped up spinach etc.) in a frying pan, or if it’s something that’s better off at a boil (carrots, cauliflower) throw them in the pasta water toward the end of the cooking time.

Another one is soup.  I fry up some onions, garlic and ginger and add veggies.  Lots of ‘em and don’t bother chopping them small.  Then fill the pot up with chicken stock up to the top of the veggies and let it simmer.  When it’s done you can either puree the whole thing, or if you’re not big on baby food, puree half just to make it a more smooth and thick.  The challenge there is color.  If you don’t stick with the same color palette of veggie, you will end up with grey green mush.  Tasty healthy grey green mush.  It could be worse right?

But the other challenge of getting The Box is the zucchini.  In May it starts off cute and small.  But as the summer goes on it gets scary.  By early fall, you can hoist it over your head for personal protection when you hear odd sounds in the night.  It’ll scare the crap out of the boogie man.

But the bonus is that zucchini is awesome for baking.  And the best part is, people don’t know it’s there.  Here’s a recipe I adapted from the Rebar cookbook from the really great nouveau hippie food restaurant in Victoria.  These babies taste decadent *and* use up two cups of zucchini, which in the spring means all the zucchini from The Box, and later on doesn’t scratch the surface.  But grate the sucker up and throw it into baggies to bake with later, that’s why god created freezers.

Chocolate Zuccini Cupcakes

1 1/2 c brown sugar

1 c oil

3 eggs

1 t vanilla

1/2 c milk

2 c grated zucchini

1 c chocolate chips

2 c white flour

1 c cocoa

1/2 t salt

1 t cinamon

2/3 t nutmeg

Mix everything up.  Sprinkle the top with a couple of chocolate chips so you can feel justified in not icing them, life’s too short and they are tasty enough.  Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes.  You can freeze them too.