A weekly update from Boston Organics.
Though January may be a month of cold, quiet and subdued colors, the produce Boston Organics is delivering this week didn't get the message. This week's boxes include tasty treasures like crisp butter lettuce and intensely red blood oranges. We are grateful for all the nutrients packed into these brightly-colored foods, helping keep us healthy and well even when it's gray outside.
Like Butter Lettuce
Cold temperatures are no reason to skip your greens, and the butter lettuce included in this week’s boxes is a delicious treat. The crunchy, loosely gathered leaves have a subtly sweet flavor. They are so tender that they melt in your mouth—like buttuh. The crisp, flavorful leaves make a satisfying salad with a simple vinaigrette dressing, or can be brightened by tangy citrus, sweet nuts and savory feta in this recipe.
Rosy Red Citrus
Organic blood oranges make their first appearance for the season in this week’s boxes. We are especially excited to see the red flesh of blood oranges this winter. Though glasses of orange juice continue to grace breakfast tables throughout the country, Florida orange growers have recently faced a severe challenge in the form of citrus greening, a bacterial infection spread by insects that eat the leaves of citrus trees. As a result of the infection, citrus fruit fails to ripen fully, and remains small, bitter and green.
The disease has decreased citrus availability and increased prices, but we are glad to still be able to offer an assortment of oranges, mandarins, grapefruits, lemons and limes in our boxes. Savor the ruby flesh of the blood oranges alone, or dispel New England’s cold with a Hot-Blooded Cocktail.
Eating for Immune Support
Also bringing warm colors to your plate this week are red bell peppers. In addition to brightening your meal, bell peppers may help boost your wintertime immunity—they are packed with vitamins, including vitamin C, in quantities even higher than their green counterparts. Enjoy a savory supper with this recipe for Pasta with Leek, Pepper and Chive Sauce (don’t forget the chives from Happy Valley Organics in Western Massachusetts!).
Eat well, friends.
