CSA Review: Savraw Organics

Hi everyone!  This is Alison, guest blogger, interrupting your regularly scheduled posts to bring you a special report.  When Molly asked me to do a guest-post, I was thrilled because I don’t know about you guys, but I think this blog is the best.  To be part of it is awesome, and I hope this post will be as fun as and informative as Molly’s are!

So let’s get started!  I just joined a local CSA, Savraw Organics (www.savraw.com) (formerly known as CSA California), and because the internet seems to rarely tell us the ins and outs of various CSAs, here’s my review, in graphic detail.

Here’s what I received the first week:

2 Ruby Star Grapefruits

3 Oranges

5 Tangerines

2 Lemons

2 Bacon Avocados

1 bunch Cilantro

1 bunch Green Onions

1 bunch Chard

1 bunch Broccoli Greens

1 head Cauliflower

2 heads Broccoli

1 bunch Red Beets (3 beets total plus lots of greens)

1 head Romaine Lettuce

All in all, it was a great haul!  There are three sizes of boxes to choose from—Full, Family, and Large, and you can choose every week or every other week.  You can pick up the produce at one of their many locations, or for $5 more, you can have it delivered.  I picked the smallest box, every other week, and drove to get it myself because I wanted to start off slow and also I am very cheap.  So far, it’s worked out perfectly!

The produce was fresh, and everything I’ve eaten has been delicious!  Each week, you receive a newsletter listing the items you’ll be getting, some fun facts, and recipes.  Truth be told, even though the newsletter came several days before my pick-up day, I didn’t read it.  I wanted to be surprised.  I may or may not have squealed when I saw the avocados, and I think everyone at pick-up thought I was a crazy person.

The most interesting item I received was the broccoli greens.  First of all, I didn’t know that it was a thing that existed or that you could eat, much like the beet leaves we learned about from Molly.  Apparently broccoli greens are the leaves that surround the head of broccoli, and they’re totally available for consumption. (The question I have is, what happens to broccoli greens normally?  Where do they go?  I’ve never seen them at grocery stores. Are farmers throwing it away?  Eating it in secret?  I demand answers!) As suggested in my recipe newsletter, I made them into chips, similar to kale chips. 

Basically you just toss the greens with some olive oil, salt, pepper (I added red pepper flakes) and bake until crispy.  Did they taste like potato chips?   No.  Did they taste better then they look?  Yes.  They were pretty good!  It’s a great snack because it feels like you’re eating something bad for you, when in truth it’s pretty healthy.  And isn’t that the goal in life?

Here are some other things I made:

Roasted cauliflower and broccoli with shaved parmesan and lemon juice.

Chicken schnitzel and lemon with a salad of chard, cauliflower, walnuts and roasted red pepper dressing.

Eventually, I may up this to every week, but right now I have my hands full trying to figure out how to cook with everything I received.  I don’t think all of this will last two weeks, so for now, I’ll eat very healthy for one week, and then terrible the next.  I think I’m on the right track.  Overall, I would give Savraw Organics a hearty “recommend!”