When I went to the Junior League’s annual Spring Fling a few weeks ago, among all the booths of teeny-tiny boutique clothing and sparkly, shiny costume jewelry, there was this booth ad a display of fantastic vegies.  Of course, I stopped.

Off the Vine was advertising their new-ish delivery in my area of organic fruits and vegies.  Here’s how it works.  They gather domestic certified USDA organic vegies and fruits form the growers and assemble a box big enough for a family of 2-4 to last all week. In my area, they deliver each Thursday.  I can make a decision each Sunday if I want to order a box for the following Thursday.

vegies from Off the Vine

So, (with the encouragement of my friend Karen who uses me as her guinea pig for things like this), I signed up for delivery.  We both marked it on our calendars and counted the days–no, we don’t get a lot of excitement in my neck of the woods<G>.  I never expected, never imagined, the humongous box full of gorgeous raw food.   Tomatoes, zucchini, kiwi from California which I thought could only be grown in New Zealand and Australia, yams, onions…..at least 35-40 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables.  I printed off the proper care for everything in the box and carefully stored them to make them stay fresh for the coming  week.   Meal plans were bouncing around in my head all the while.

Swiss chard my new discovery

Then there was the humongous bunch of gorgeous red and green Swiss chard–which I have never cooked with before.  I found a recipe for chard chips.  Tried it.  Not impressed. It seems like a way to pretend you’re eating healthy when you’re really just eating salt.  So then, I looked it up in several cookbooks I’ve got around the house.   They all seemed complicated enough that they would cover up the taste of the chard by disguising it i.e. in a vegie lasagna or using in a vegie medley soup.  I wanted to know what chard tasted like.  Finally, in a cookbook I got from my mama, dated 1963, was a line entry. Swiss chard:  Cook as with spinach.

Now I was getting somewhere.  I saute’ a mean skillet of spinach.  (I’ll post the recipe on Friday.)   Then I used it in a vegie omelet.  Delicious.   And friends on facebook have sent me recipes that I can’t wait to try.

Squeeee!  Hurrah for Swiss chard!

Is it overreacting to be so thrilled to add a new vegetable to my family’s repertoire?  Or is it the little things like this that make day-to-day life a cause for celebration?

It’s too hot to cook and I have a deadline looming (I LOVE typing that).  So here’s the world’s easiest summer soup.

2 cups plain yogurt (not the vanilla flavor.  Just plain.)
1/2 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded, pureed  –many thanks to sister-in-law Sonia for the fresh cucumbers
1/2 tsp dried dill

Blend together.  Let sit–covered– in refrigerator at least 3 hours.  Overnight is better. (If you don’t cover it, it will pick up all the refrigerator smells.)

Serve w/ interesting crackers that are only slightly salty and w/ ice cold cucumber water. (Water that has chilled w/ sliced cucumber in it for a bit.)

That’s it! (Great for upset tummies, btw)