The Produce Box

One Pan Italian Sausage Meal Box We are continuing to feature Meal Boxes on our menu this year to help make dinner prep easy for our members! This is a way to enjoy delicious dinners with local, fresh ingredients but without an hourlong shopping trip or 20 minutes searching for a recipe! We hope to make your busy weeknights easier... and healthier! This week we partnered with First Hand Foods in Durham on the Italian Sausage Bake, an easy one-pan meal perfect for dinner this week. Enjoy! Italian Sausage Bake 1 lb. Firsthand Foods Sweet Italian Sausage 1 large fennel bulb, halved, sliced 1 red bell pepper, seeded, sliced 1 green bell pepper, seeded, sliced 6 large garlic cloves, sliced in half 5 sprigs fresh rosemary 4 Tbs. olive oil 2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar Salt & pepper 1. Preheat oven to 375° F 2.Cut each sausage into three pieces (approximately 2 inches long). Place on a baking sheet. 3. Arrange the fennel, peppers, garlic, and rosemary around the pan. Dr...

For the love of local Guest post by Wendy Sult, one of our wonderful Triad Coordinators for The Produce Box Aside from a failed attempt to grow brussel sprouts, a few sprigs of garlic trying to survive, and chicken-pecked lettuce leaves, my garden has looked pretty empty and bleak since last summer. I know it is important to eat seasonally and from local food sources; however, I do not have the time or patience for a large garden that would provide all of the produce we would need. (Can I get an “Amen!” from all of you who can relate?) I am thankful for farmers' markets, roadside stands and The Produce Box for providing most of what my family consumes! Did you catch what I said about eating local foods being important? It’s true. There are a ton of benefits to eating what is being grown in our area and in our state: You know exactly where it is coming from and you can often have a connection to the person who actually grew it.  Studies have shown loca...

Excited to introduce you to LB -- one of our awesome members from the Chapel Hill area. Here's a little bit about her and some great recipes that will be included in her Box this week! What made you join The Produce Box? I live in Fearrington Village with my husband John and a lot of books. I'm a PhD student and research assistant in the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Social Work and also work as a consultant and trainer on gender-based violence prevention. I love traveling, enjoying good food and beer with better company (ideally outside), yoga, dystopian science fiction and the occasional dance break.  I joined The Produce Box because I enjoy cooking from scratch with fresh, seasonal, and local ingredients. The Produce Box makes doing so easy and fun. What is your favorite local item on our menu? I've been loving the strawberries and collard greens lately. For local prepared items, I don't normally buy prepared seasoning, but that Durn Good southwe...

We know you all have read or seen the news about the weather swings we are having in North Carolina right now. They are really worrying our farmers (and us!) especially when it comes to those delicious NC field berries. Mother Nature can really take a toll on our farmers' livelihood and what you will see in our Boxes throughout the seasons. Irrigation levels, crop density and of course just overall harvests are all subject to the levels of rain, heat, cold, wind and other weather extremes in the area. The North Carolina strawberries this year have gone through an early maturity due to the warm weather snaps we got in February (and even January!) throughout the state. But now is the time when the farmers are especially vigilant of these crops as they get ready to harvest a great majority of them in the next 6-8 weeks. You can see from James in the video above, frost protection is going to be a necessity this weekend and possibly later in March as well. This includes using ...