CSA Adventures, week 4 and 5

For some reason, I wasn't into dealing with fresh produce last week, so some of it is still sitting in my fridge (which also explains why I haven't blogged about it)!  Here's what I got...

Broccoli:  went into a DELICIOUS pot of black bean soup (I started with this recipe, but made quite a few changes along the way).

Zucchini:  went into some gorgeous looking sausage and cheese calzones, which we couldn't eat because hubby accidentally baked them with the plastic wrap still on (one of the hazards of make-ahead dinner, LOL!).

Green onion:  I remember chopping these, but can I remember what I put them in?  Of course not...

Snow peas:  Still in the fridge

Radishes:  Still in the fridge

Cherries:  Almost all eaten.

This week, my CSA buddy is out of town, so I got the whole box to myself.  I got:

Broccoli and cauliflower:  I'm going to try roasting this.

Zucchini:  I'll probably grill it, but the zucchini in my garden is finally starting to come on, so at some point I'm going to start shredding and freezing it (for bread, muffins, etc).

Green beans:  Steamed all the way, baby!

Sugar Daddy Peas:  I thought these were sugar SNAP peas, so I sat down this morning to shell them.  Well, the peas were DINKY, and the pods wouldn't budge since there weren't any strings!  I finally looked at the list again, saw what they actually are, and googled them since I've never heard of them before.  We'll most likely be steaming them and eating them whole.

Raspberries:  I absolutely LOVE the flavor of raspberries, but I have issues with my teeth and the seeds, so I don't eat them very often.  So I decided to make puree and freeze it, for sauces or Italian sodas or whatever.  Did that this morning.  Then I ran across this recipe, and now I'm kicking myself for pureeing them all because those sound AMAZING!  I've bookmarked it so, come this fall when my own raspberries come on (we have a few but not enough to cook with right now), I can give it a try.

CSA adventures, week 3

This week's box had asparagus, zucchini, green onions, cabbage, spinach, lettuce, and cherries.  My friend took the cabbage, since she needed to make coleslaw for a crowd, as well as the lettuce because my garden is more than covering our needs right now. 

I bought extra asparagus and pickled it all last night.  I've never made pickles of any kind before, let alone something as exotic as asparagus, so we'll see how it goes.  I have to let it sit at least a month before I can try it, so I'll keep you posted!

The trimmings of the asparagus and the spinach went into a delightful pasta dinner last night which also included, among other ingredients, fresh basil, Italian sausage, fontina cheese, garlic, and cream.  It was EXCELLENT. 

The green onions have gone into many things, including spinach dip and bean dip for our 4th of July gathering. 

I sauteed the zucchini in olive oil and served it as a side dish.  Normally I like my zucchini grilled, but since both of our propane cans are empty and we haven't taken the time to get them filled, that was not an option. 

We're still eating the cherries. Love them! 

So far, our boxes have been pretty mainstream, and haven't really had any "out there" ingredients that I've had to wrangle with.  In a way, this is good, because it helps to ensure that we actually eat what we're buying.  On the other hand, I haven't done much experimenting, either, which I definitely think would be a great deal of fun.  We'll see what the rest of the season holds...

CSA adventures, week 1

I decided to subscribe to a CSA this year.  If you're not familiar, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  Basically, you buy a share in a farm and get a box of produce each week in exchange.  I've been toying with the idea for a couple of years, and when a friend offered to split a share so neither of us would be overwhelmed, I jumped at the chance.

The trick, of course, is working it into your meal plans.  Week one, I received:

Asparagus
Collards
Rhubarb
Parsley
Strawberries

There were also two gorgeous heads of leaf lettuce, but since I have lettuce taking over the garden, I let my friend take those.

When it comes to asparagus, my husband is pretty set in his ways (actually, my husband is pretty set in his ways about most things, but once in a while, I can slip something new to him and he'll eat it.  He won't always eat it twice, but he'll almost always eat it once!).  He wants it either roasted or grilled.  So I drizzled it with olive oil, sprinkled it with kosher salt, and grilled it on a night when I was making grilled chicken.

The collards came with a grilling recipe, but I didn't have all the ingredients on hand.  So I went googling and came up with this recipe for creamed collards.  I knew hubby wouldn't want it, and there wasn't much since I'd split the bunch with my friend, so I made it for lunch.  I didn't have cream, so I used half and half.  It was divine!  My daughter wouldn't eat it, but I happily ate her share.  And the leftovers were excellent cold, I have to say. 

The rhubarb and strawberries are living in my freezer, waiting for the right opportunity (we're getting a ton of strawberries off of our plants right now, so we have plenty to eat fresh). 

I've used the parsley in a few things - mixed some into a boxed couscous mix, put some in salad, things like that.  I'm probably going to just chop the rest and freeze it in ice cubes for use in recipes later on.  It was quite a bit of parsley.  I should make tabbouleh, but I think I'm the only person who would eat it!

Looking forward to seeing what the rest of the summer has in store!