Once a week, I get an eco-bag full of vegetables from a farm in East Greenwich. The veggies are local, fresh, organic, and they don't require a jumbo jet's worth of fuel to get to Providence. But I have no control over what's in the bag or how much. This is a problem when I've got, say, a bagful of spinach, a pile of dandelion greens, 25 radishes and a handful of sugar snap peas. Sometimes, the farm distributes recipes, which helps with the cooking dilemma. But mostly I'm on my own. So I've devised some flavor rubrics and a method: chop, slice or otherwise transform the vegetables into bite-size pieces and throw them in a pan with some hot olive oil and...
Salt, lemon, pepper.
Salt, garlic, basil.
Salt, cilantro, cumin, turmeric, coriander.
Salt, salt, salt.
I could toss the result with pasta or rice (maybe add a chopped tomato). Or put it all in the food processor and have tapenade. A can of beans could be added in either case, for more protein. Or grilled chicken. The point is to get a method together that will result in reliably good, easy-to-make meals even when the farm sends an unusual vegetable ...
To be perfectly honest, the radishes make me a little crazy. I have no idea what to do with them.
