CSA produce boxes: Where to find them, how to use them

Small farms across Southern California are still growing and harvesting produce during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now they are selling produce boxes directly to customers or through restaurants.

Good Food host Evan Kleiman gives her recommendations on where to get produce boxes in LA: 

- SÜPRMARKT is a Leimert Park-based, organic grocery service that also accepts EBT.
- Thao Family Farms sets up at farmers markets in Santa Monica on Saturdays, Hollywood on Sundays, and Torrance on Tuesdays and Sundays.
- Lady and Larder is a West LA shop that also arranges pickups for produce boxes from County Line Harvest , Schaner Farms and Windrose Farm .   

If you have concerns about using all the produce in a box, Kleiman recommends immediately cooking leafy greens or other vegetables that take up precious refrigerator real estate. She likes to blanch the vegetables in salted water until they are tender. 

You can also use the contents of your CSA box to try her recipe for Spring Vegetable Sauté. 

“It’s a celebration of spring and the green vegetables that are available in spring,” Kleiman says of the Italian veggie dish. 

Evan Kleiman’s Spring Vegetable Sauté includes leeks, asparagus, sugar snap peas, and romaine lettuce. Photo by Evan Kleiman/KCRW