I am joining Chrisy at Living A Good North Coast Life for her "Reconnecting With Nature" series. As we bloggers sit around connected to our computers, it is a great way to force us to step outside and maybe notice something new in the natural world or just appreciate something that we see every day. Read more about the Reconnect with Nature - one photograph at a time idea here.
This post was inspired by one little carrot. One little misshapen, funny looking carrot. One way to reconnect with nature is to reconnect with our food. Real food. Food that was grown the way that nature intended. And that might mean that it is not perfect looking. Here is the carrot.
Want to see him up close?
What do you think? A funny looking little guy, huh?
These carrots and sweet potato came from Village Acres Farm, the CSA that we belong to. In winter, we receive a box every other Tuesday with veggies. Last week's box contained carrots and sweets, fresh spinach, garlic, red cabbage, and a butternut squash. Not enough to meet all of our food needs, but it gives us a good source of veggies. The CSA took a break over the winter holidays and we really missed it!
I wanted to make a warm soup for dinner and these were pretty much the only veg that we had. So I sauteed two onions, these carrots and sweet potato, and some minced fresh ginger until everything was soft. Pureed that along with some veggie stock (about 1/2 box) until smooth. Then put it back into the pot and added one can of coconut milk and salt and pepper to taste. Pretty yummy. It is a sweet soup, but you could add some red pepper or curry to spice it up.
So back to this carrot. You would never find a carrot like this in the grocery store - it wouldn't be allowed. He wouldn't have made the cut. Luckily the farmers at Village Acres know that he would taste just the same as all of the other carrots and is even more special because he would make someone smile. Like me. And hopefully you. And this little carrot - he didn't make it into our soup pot - he was just too special. He was given to the rabbit instead, who greatly appreciated and enjoyed him.
Moral of the story - support organic agriculture and local farms. They are reconnecting with nature on a daily basis.
