Some years ago, I went to a Jewish diner in Brookline with a friend of mine who was Jewish. (No, this is not the beginning of a bad joke.) She ordered borscht. I had no idea what that was, so when it arrived, I asked her. She said it was a beet-based soup and one of her favorite things because it reminded her of her grandmother. Food is funny that way, isn't it? Flavors reminding us of things that go well beyond our ability to taste...

Unfortunately, I did not taste her soup, so I had no idea how Borscht should taste. I went to Pinterest, as I'm apt to do, and found this recipe for borscht soup. And I made it. And it tastes...familiar. Weird, right? The closest epicurean ethnicity I could claim would be Irish: meat and potatoes. And there are potatoes and lots of cabbage in this, so perhaps it's that. I'm not exactly sure, to be perfectly honest. But it tastes earthy and good and the way soup should taste when paired with delicious whole grain bread. I don't taste the beets at all so if you're trying to hide them, I guess this is an (unintentionally) good thing. But I froze this batch for easy thaw later and moved on to conquering my second meal for the day.

I wanted to use the beet greens in some way so I didn't feel like I was wasting them. So, as many veteran CSA-er's will tell you, 'when in doubt, cook up greens in a little EVOO and some garlic." So, I made a small side dish for dinner with that advice. I also boiled corn on the cob. (FYI: I looked up how to boil corn on the cob AFTER I started cooking it. Yeah, not such a great idea. Best advice says to boil the water, add corn and when it comes back to a boil, remove.) I baked some chicken and made these sour cream (I subbed greek yogurt) and chives mashed potatoes.

So, on the CSA count, I used up all the beets, and beet greens, and all of the chives. Oh, and in between, I made my own granola bars. No big deal. They're just AMAZING. They didn't take long at all, they're chewy (hard to achieve, actually) and I know exactly what went into them. I didn't take a picture, but I guarantee if you make these you will be a happier person. Even if none of the ingredients are from your CSA.