What's in the box? Plus a potato & spinach quesadilla

Here's this week's box!

The box included:

• Asparagus
• Baby Beets
• Carrots
  
• Sun Dried Onions
• Green Garlic
• Chard
• Red Russian Kale
• Spinach

The chard is the brilliant red-stemmed ruby chard:

So lovely!

Carrots and green garlic:


And the dreaded beets:

I want to love beets. But my few (one?) at-home beet experiment failed miserably. That was probably three or four years ago but I am still traumatized. I had delicious roasted beets floating in delicate veggie broth at The Kitchen around the same time, which inspired me to attempt beets at home. The Kitchen is a major local Sacramento institution, a very fine dining experience that is also a cooking demonstration. It sounds like something you would see on QVC, but it isn't. Sous chefs parade monstrous fish around the dining room. Diners are invited to wander the premises and chat with the chefs while the prep in the industrial kitchen in the back. It's a fabulous experience and I thought that if they could do beets, then so could I. I was wrong. It's gotten to the point where I am wary just thinking about preparing beets; I don't want to waste my energy on something that I am pretty certain I will tolerate at best (loathe at worst).

Remember the dried peaches from last week? Now we've got sun-dried onions. These guys are a tasty little snack or garnish:

Last night we ate baked potatoes with all the fixings: sour cream, green onions, salsa, cheese, butter. Tonight we recycled one of the extra potatoes to make Potato & Spinach Quesadillas!

Yes, those are whole wheat tortillas. Normally, I am just not that virtuous. However, Trader Joe's was out of the $1.69 regular white flour tortillas, so these came home with me.

On the side, some spinach from tonight's box, sauteed in olive oil with garlic, lemon juice, and plenty of S&P:

Tasty! Does spinach make your mouth feel dry? I have a slight texture issue with spinach, similar to my texture issue with cotton. Cotton balls feel ... squeaky? ... to my fingers. Spinach has a similar uncomfortable texture if I eat too much of it. But it tastes delicious and it's good for me, so I can handle a little mouth discomfort.

It's going to be a good week!