Skip To Content

    31 Things To Do With Confusing CSA Vegetables

    Q: There's an enormous sack of weird-looking bulbs in my fridge. What should I do?! A: Breathe. Get a peeler and start peeling them. Everything will be OK.

    Having a share in a CSA is wonderful. In theory.

    CSA = community-supported agriculture. If you're not familiar, it's a system where a group of customers prepays a seasonal subscription fee directly to a farmer (or multiple farmers) and, in exchange, they each receive a lovely array of fresh fruits/vegetables on a regular basis throughout the growing season.

    There's just one problem.

    So what should I do if I got 17 tons of KOHLRABI?

    1. Make kohlrabi slaw.

    2. Bake it to make healthy kohlrabi home fries.

    3. Shred kohlrabi to make spring roll filling.

    4. Slice kohlrabi thinly with other fruits and veggies to make a salad.

    What if I'm scared of these creepy GARLIC SCAPES?

    5. Chop garlic scapes up and add them to vegetable and grain salads.

    6. Cut and blanch garlic scapes like green beans.

    7. Make garlic scape pesto.

    8. Throw garlic scapes into stir-fries.

    9. Make grilling skewers out of garlic scapes.

    What if I'm drowning in TURNIPS?

    10. Blend turnips into creamy soup.

    11. Serve roasted turnips and sautéed greens together.

    12. Make turnip pickles.

    13. Cook turnips with honey and lemon to glaze them.

    14. Bake a cheesy turnip gratin.

    What if I have CHARD coming out my ears?

    15. Sauté chopped chard and toss it with pasta.

    16. Make creamy chard soup.

    17. Turn chard stems into spicy pickles.

    18. Bake chard into a quiche.

    What if I'm being buried alive in BEETS?

    19. Roasting is hands-down the easiest, least messy way to cook beets. Here's how:

    20. Once they're roasted, you can slice the beets and put them in sandwiches...

    21. ...cut them up and add to salads, pasta, or grains...

    22. ...or shred them to make a pretty pink beet cake.

    23. You can eat beets raw if you slice them thinly with a mandoline.

    24. You can also bake the slices to make crispy beet chips...

    25. ...or cut the slices into matchsticks to make slaw.

    26. What if I ended up with an avalanche of SUGAR SNAP PEAS?

    27. Serve snap peas as crudités with dip.

    28. Chop snap peas finely and mix them into salad or slaw.

    29. Cut snap peas into long strips to make elegant salads.

    30. Throw snap peas into a simple stir fry.

    31. When in doubt with any veggie: quick-pickle that business.

    My current favorite pickle approach is the Asian-inspired brine from this noodle salad.

    Want more super-helpful recipes like these? Sign up for the BuzzFeed Food newsletter, and we’ll send them to you twice a week!