This year my
husband and I decided to take part in a CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) with a local organic farm. This means we paid a flat fee
before the season started and each Friday we get a bag of assorted really fresh
produce. We are now into week 5 and I
thought I’d share some of the adventures and experiments that have started from
them.
One of my
biggest concerns was that we were going to get a lot of kale, so much that I
would run out of ideas of what to make with it.
However so far, so good…. (Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself)
Look at the
adorable reusable bag we got the first week!
I use it each Friday to pick up the goodies!
One of the things I noticed is when I’m not sure how to use an item, on
strategy is to throw them into a quiche or frittata.
2nd week: head of lettuce, arugula, mixed salad greens,
garlic scapes, Swiss chard, radishes, asparagus, rhubarb, and pick your own
strawberries.
Here's a picture of the all the produce the 2nd week!
One of the
best things that I have made with this crop share has been the Arugula and
Bacon quiche mentioned in this previous blog post. The post is for spinach quiche, but you can
use the base and just change the fillings.
I also tried to make strawberry rhubarb pie, although it came out more
like strawberry rhubarb soup… It was one of those moments when I did not read the
recipe closely enough and screwed up the filling, and well since baking is a science
you need to be very precise in the measurements. However, the taste was great, the only
downfall was you needed to eat it with a spoon!
3rd week: B and I went
away to celebrate our anniversary, but because I have the best parents, my
mother actually went to pick up the CSA this week and we split the produce with
them. She kept the basil plant (which is
for the better since I have a black thumb) and scallions, we got more salad greens,
strawberries, sugar snap peas, cilantro and kale. (There probably was more this week but this
was what I can remember) I tried to get
her to take more, but that’s what she wanted.
I made some black bean
and kale burritos with cilantro rice. It was inspired off a recipe in food
network magazine, but it’s not posted online yet, so sorry no link! This was a great recipe, and you know it’s
good because my carnivore husband at it with no complaints, and even thought it
was good enough to have it again. There
are some changes I’d make to the recipe for the next time, but don’t worry I
jotted them down. I also threw
some of the leftover kale into the chili the next day!
4th
week: Lettuce, Chinese cabbage, chives, cucumbers, kohlrabi, pick your own
raspberries and some of the last strawberries.
I was so excited for this week, raspberries are my absolute favorite. I remember as a kid getting a pint for the car rides home from Vermont and sitting in the backseat just eating them out of the green pint container!
One night when we had a friend visiting from out of town we made Pioneer Woman's Raspberry Crisp – I halved the recipe just because we had a small pint of raspberries, and omitted the nuts and oats (I couldn't find them and since it was like 10:00 pm, I gave up looking.)
This is a picture of kohlrabi, which I had never heard of before! I thought it kinda looked like little UFOs. I peeled them and then chopped, and roasted in the oven with salt, pepper and garlic. Then finished with some Pecorino Romano cheese. I thought they were delicious, but there was a slight difference in opinion with B.
I also made homemade
dumplings via Food Network Magazine; I just swapped for the Napa cabbage
for my Chinese cabbage and omitted the salt they added. I felt the soy sauce had enough salt, it didn't need anymore. There were a few other
changes I’d make for next time, but overall it was good. Those wonton wrappers
are so easy to use; the hardest part was finding them in the store!
Can’t wait to
find out later today what will be in this week’s share.
What’s your
favorite summertime fresh produce?
