This Week's CSA Share and Featured Food

Happy Monday Food Friends!

I am pleased to share this week's CSA through photo as well as in list as it photographed so lovely! Receiving my CSA box each week is, as they say, like Christmas. I will add one more, for me it is as if I am on a reality Food Network show and I have to create something with the contents. Very fun and exciting :)

This week I also received some fresh Rosemary which I will use with a sharp white cheddar type cheese I picked up from Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese at the market called St. Jerome. If you ever are craving some new cheese flavor, just stop in at the Farmers Market and sample their cheese! The Rosemary and sharp cheese will be combined with a chopped or pureed (have not decided) Purple Globe Turnip for a flavorful side dish. Turnips are a good source of Vitamin B6, Calcium, Phosphorus and Manganese, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C and Potassium.  Enjoy this side dish in your Boxed Lunch this week.

All wraps and salads will be made with the leafy greens you see listed and fresh starboard kale for the Greens & Cheese Panini.  Bok Choy and Swiss Chard might make their way into a sweet Apple Greens Salad. 

The featured entree this week is vegetarian! Parmesan Spinach Artichoke & Cannellinni Bean Wrap. All regular menu items are still available and please do not hesitate to submit requests if you do not see one of your favorites on the Nutrisha online menu. 

Swiss Chard

Green Romaine

Red Romaine

Green Concept Leaf Lettuce

Green Bok Choi

Tokyo Bekana

Starbor Kale

Purple Globe Turnips

Leeks

Radishes

Spinach

Trish Marzella Mathisen

Nutrition Culinarian, Nutrisha LLC

www.nutrisha.com

facebook.com/GoNutrisha

trish@nutrisha.com

(615) 347-8838

Cold Sweet Potato Salad- An alternative turkey day side

Looking for an alternative to the traditional thanksgiving sides? Try this cold sweet potato salad that was included in today's boxed lunch>

3 Diced Sweet Potatoes Boiled and Chilled (Needs a bit of bite, not mushy for a mashed dish)
3 Tablespoons Local Honey
1/2 Cup Almond (Walnuts or Pecans will work too)

1 Tablespoon Dijon
1 Teaspoon Coriander
1 Teaspoon Tumeric
1 Cup Dried Cranberries

Fold honey into potatoes first then the dry ingredients. Serve cold or warm for more cozy flavor. Enjoy

A veggie pasta sauce without the sauce....

Everyone in the house eats pasta, especially "Mac & Cheese" but the mystery powder included in the box is less than nutrient rich. One of my favorite ways to hide veggies in food is in pasta, especially with a thick sauce so it all sticks together.
In this recipe the starchy water with butter and a low moisture high flavor cheese create your sauce. No need for mystery ingredients in a box!

My boys will eat this very quickly and you can stir in any leftover cooked meat to add protein.

The first boxed lunch run!

Nutrisha was on the road today delivering fresh boxed lunches. What a treat to offer farm fresh produce with nutrient rich flavorful recipes to folks at work.



So, I left the nice camera at home and was not able to get a great photo of the final product but here is a last minute look at the lunches delivered today. Would love your feedback.

Slow roasted pork loin and farm fresh organic green peppers from Delvin Farm CSA in Sazon Tropical and lime juice. The pork is thin sliced and packed in the tortilla with spring mix greens, organic tomatoes and fresh spicy guac. Mixed spring greens and mozz bring balance and nutrients to this flavor packed wrap.
What's more? Fresh organic watermelon from Devlin Farm CSA alongside Apple & Brie tarts made fresh this morning.

Delivered for $10 to the first folks that responded to the ad. What a deal! So glad they enjoyed it and glad I could provide the service. This is my joy!

Eagleville Country Horse Show: The food!

Nutrisha Caters: Eagleville Country Horse Show

This event, Nutrisha's first event of this scale, exemplified the Nutrisha concept. The week leading up to the day of the event I was in contact with known and unknown local food sources. Utilizing local food, supporting small farmers and using the freshest food possible is one of the main objectives of the Nutrisha concept. From the nutrition standpoint and culinary arts using the farm fresh local produce provides more nutrient efficiency and better flavor respectively. The food offerings were created with as much local in season produce as possible and provided a fresh concession option for participants and spectators. In the spirit of local economy and community the Eagleville Country Horse Show is an annual event that supports the Community Center which provides a free or low cost venue for activities in the small town.

Nutrisha Caters: Eagleville Country Horse Show

Five years ago this weekend I attended my first horse show on the arm of my tattooed Marine friend who later became my husband. It was this event that I first witnessed a five year old ride his pony over an obstacle course and still have the phone photos of my now ten year old brother in law. I have grown into and with this family and they have broadened and deepened my knowledge of not only the horse world but farming, Norwegian life and how to be a Marine wife.

Farm fresh berries for horse show concessions

Another trip to Bee Sweet Berry Farms, this time to secure supplies for a catering event...

Tuesday morning I called the fine folks at Bee Sweet Berry Farm in Lewisburg TN to find out if I would be able to use fresh berries. Good news! Raspberries were ready to be picked! Since I had met Ron on my previous trip to the berry farm I was pleased to be able to talk to and later meet Judi. When I first started this endeavor I imagined a scenario just like this: "Good morning, this is Trish from Nutrisha. I will be catering a horse show this weekend and would like to use some of your berries if you have any available". We chatted about the dark clouds forming in the area and how the rain makes the berries too fragile to pick and we would reconnect the next morning.

Florida Food Tour: The Perfect Cup- Matlacha, FL

Did you know that the tiny fishing community of Matlacha, FL ( pronounced Mat-La-Shay) has it's very own coffee roaster? Okay, if you have never been to or even heard of Matlacha then Florida tourism is doing exactly what it intends, keeping you in Orlando and Destin. If you are familiar with this island rich with art and grouper then you know the REAL Florida, the Florida I was fortunate to call a second home to Tennessee.

Florida Food Tour: Ceviche Downtown St. Pete

The dinner that almost wasn't and the service that was mediocre...

When I read restaurant recommendations for the downtown St. Petersburg area, everyone insisted on Ceviche. Ceviche is a Spanish tapas restaurant with three different dining experiences depending on your preference. We opted for the outdoor patio complete with wrought iron tables, chairs and umbrellas. It was 9:45pm when we finally got out to our dinner destination so there was concern that we might not even get to sample the acclaimed menu. Good news! They take their last tables in this side of the restaurant at 10 and we made it just in time. While the tapas we sampled were well constructed I was disappointed (again) with the standard of service and knowledge of local fish by the wait staff. The disappointment appeared again at dessert, but we will talk about that in a minute.

Florida Food Tour: Dinner at Fresco's Waterfront

Dinner at Fresco's Waterfront in downtown St. Petersburg. It was a celebratory dinner so we enjoyed sparkling wine with a Smoked Salmon Flatbread Pizza. This was a wonderful representation of intuitive eating as soon as it hit the table. First the rich scent of fresh basil and red onion. Although the toppings were a somewhat unevenly distributed the ingredients melded very well. Capers, tomatoes, spinach, pesto, red onion, green and parmesean on a cream cheese base. Imagine that lox combo on a bagel, in sushi or on a crostini in a first class flight and put it on a pizza crust! But better...

Food Paradigm Shift...

Paradigm shift. Systems change. However you label it, it can be daunting. We are so used to our NORMALITY however destructive it may be. I have been intimidated to take the big step to 'greenify' and naturalize my home and food, even with all I know about why it is the way to go. It was part of a new year objective and I am failing and succeeding all at the same time, such is the life in TRAINING. A wise man often tells me "Try = Fail, Just DO" and in a similar idea is the training versus trying that is taught in the Restore book Journey to Freedom. I humbly admit that I am in training on this Sage Endeavor as I have named it. Through my own successes and failures and culinary nutrition I hope to encourage and teach along the way- all through food!

The first Meat CSA share for the season!

CSA- Community Supported Agriculture is, in short, an investment up front in the local farmer of your choice and in return you as the consumer recieve both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards! Local Harvest is a good resource to find a CSA, Farmers Market or any other local goods in your area.

When I met my husband he at McDonalds three times a day, no, that is not an exaggeration. When you are a twenty-something studly Marine, you can do that I guess. The less gross part of that story is that he used to tell me he was a Carnivasaurus... loved meat. So, since I am often short on protein in the house, this CSA was insurance that I would be able to keep him fed in house and out of the drive thru.

For about $400 I bought a half share (both my produce CSA at Delvin Farms and the meat CSA offer a half or whole share) at Peaceful Pastures in Hickman, TN. Let's be honest, I picked this meat CSA because they were at the West Nashville Farmers Market when I signed up for the Delvin Farms CSA. A selling point being they were able to show us a bag of what a share looks like, that sold me. I also like that they make bath products (out of the fat), love the idea of Waste Not!

Fear NO Food!

Greetings friends and food seekers!

Welcome to the inaugural post of the official Nutrisha blog! As the title suggests today I am speaking to the subject of fear, specifically in food but personally in general.
I love food! I love the art that is found in the colors of fresh fruits and vegetables, the distinct texture color and viscosity of an hard boiled egg (although the yolk is something I will always give away- it is just something I have never enjoyed) and the endless combinations of possible creations!

Now the fear. Fear presents differently for everyone. Some fear weight gain, weight loss, cholesterol, sugar, that 4-letter word CARB... Some fear portions, eating in front of others or even shopping for groceries for fear of Cart Judgement. Yes, I can relate to similar fears. The over-analytical mind of a person neurotic enough to pursue the field of nutrition does not come by a science passion without a few ticks.