In case you couldn't guess, these are the tops of the Brussels sprouts plants that we cut off each season around this time in order to "nudge" the plant's growing intentions in the direction we want them to go. When Brussels sprouts stalks get to a decent height (about 3 ft or so), we "top" them and that sends the message "Enough! You are plenty tall and are starting to make the petite lettuce heads in the beds next to you self-conscious. How about putting all of that energy into fattening up those delicious buds of yours?" Since these tops are edible and sweet (because of a couple kisses of frost we've gotten) and we spend the time cutting them off anyways, we decided to share them with you all in the boxes rather than compost them or try to eat them all ourselves. There is much talk these days about how to make our food system more sustainable and wasting less perfectly good food is one area that has a lot of room for improvement. A big part of that could involve expanding our ideas of acceptable aesthetics for produce (have you seen this Inglorious Vegetables campaign yet?) and which crops or parts of crops we eat. In this case, we have already put a lot of energy and resources into growing these plants for the purpose of human consumption, so shouldn't we be getting the most out of them that we can? On that note: eat those turnip and radish greens! See Week 10's newsletter here for the 'why?' and 'how?'.
Back to why you came here (recipes)...what to do with these tops? Chop them up (use the whole thing, it is tender enough) and add them to any dish that needs some cooked greens! You can use them the same as you would kale or collards: stir-fry, fried rice, scrambled eggs, grilled cheese filling, breakfast hash, etc. You could even throw them in a soup like the one below! (add them either before or after pureeing depending on what texture you want) Don't let the numbers scare you...

44-Clove Garlic Soup with Parmesan Cheese
from Smitten Kitchen 

Serves 4

26 garlic cloves (unpeeled)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
2 1/4 cups sliced onions
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
18 garlic cloves, peeled
3 1/2 cups chicken or veggie stock
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)
4 lemon wedges 

Preheat oven to 350�F. Place 26 garlic cloves in small glass baking dish. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake until garlic is golden brown and tender, about 45 minutes. Cool. Squeeze garlic between fingertips to release cloves. Transfer cloves to small bowl.

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and thyme and cook until onions are translucent, about 6 minutes. Add roasted garlic and 18 raw garlic cloves and cook 3 minutes. Add chicken stock; cover and simmer until garlic is very tender, about 20 minutes. Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return soup to saucepan; add cream and bring to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide grated cheese among 4 bowls and ladle soup over. Squeeze juice of 1 lemon wedge into each bowl and serve.

8 large celery stalks, stripped of strings
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for topping
1 1/2 cups / 10 oz / 285 cooked cannellini or garbanzo beans, heated
3 tablespoons currants (or golden raisins)
1/2 cup / 1 1/2 oz / 40 g sliced almonds, deeply toasted
sea salt or homemade celery salt
freshly chopped herbs or reserved celery leaves

Slice the celery stalks quite thinly - 1/8-inch or so. Then, in a small bowl, make a paste with the olive oil, lemon juice, and Parmesan. Set aside. In a large bowl toss the heated beans with the olive-Parmesan mixture. When well combined, add the celery, currants, and most of the almonds. Toss once more. Taste and add a bit of salt if needed. Serve in a bowl or platter topped with herb flowers and/or celery leaves.

Serves 4-6.