CSA 2013, Weeks Two and Three

My parents were visiting last week and then my computer crashed, so I was unable to report on weeks two and three of the CSA until now.

Week Two
For week two's box we got: Lovelock Head Lettuce, Spinach, Pea Vines, Radishes, Garlic Scapes, and Rainbow Swiss Chard. The lettuce, pea shoots, and radishes were used in salads with MB's* Asian salad dressing. This dressing is so good, I actually crave it! It made a nice complement to the sweet potato soup I made, also from MB* that also had some Asian food undertones (coconut milk, ginger, mint, cilantro). The potatoes came from the farmer's market, not the CSA.

The spinach went in a Spinach, feta and walnut lasagna, again, from MB*. I made this lasagna together with a more traditional pork/red sauce lasagna, thinking that I'd be the only one eating the veggie one. However, everyone had a little of both and really liked how they complemented each other.

The garlic scapes went together with last week's portion to make a pesto. MB* once again provided the recipe, where you combine scapes with almonds, parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt, and pepper. It is amazing. We've been spreading it on bread and also put it on some grilled chicken.

The chard I sauteed with garlic, cranberries, and sunflower seeds (yes, from MB*) like the week before, and my mom, who'd never had chard before, said she liked the combination of bitter, sweet, and crunchy.

Week Three
In week three's box we got: Garlic Scapes, Green Towers Romaine Lettuce, Lovelock Lettuce, Red Russian Kale, Pea Shoots

I immediately made another batch of the scape pesto to freeze. This stuff is soooooo good!

The lettuces and shoots went into salads. Honestly, the kale is still waiting to be used, but will be consumed tonight in the same Smitten Kitchen recipe as Week 1.

I kind of went crazy at the farmer's market last Saturday. There was finally tons of produce to be had (the season is so late this year). I bought tomatoes and basil to mix with mozzarella for Caprese salads; two baskets of snap peas, because Belalu and I ate one basket before even leaving the market; green beans; mint and cilantro; and 2 pounds of shelling peas. From the two kinds of peas and the mint I made a yummy cold mint pea soup. The basic inspiration was from MB* but I made some substitutions with ingredients I already had on hand. I had no lemons, but did have limes, so used lime juice instead and I had some coconut milk in the fridge from the other soup and used that instead of cream. It came out great, and is super refreshing for these scorching days we're in.

*Minnesota's Bounty: The Farmer's Market Cookbook by Beth Dooley

CSA 2013, Week One

We go to the local Farmer's Market most Saturdays, and while occasionally I try to branch out and try something new, usually I stick with the foods I'm familiar with. I love vegetables and eat/prepare a good lot of them, but there are still some that I've never known what to do with. Having two little ones has made it hard to experiment in the kitchen, but now that Belalu is at the point of being able to play with her brother and/or entertain herself when I'm in the kitchen, I've gotten adventurous again.

We joined a CSA this year and receive a half share of produce every week. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. The members pay for their share up front and then pick up a box of goodies once a week throughout the growing season. In our area, that's about 18-20 weeks long. Lousy, wet weather has postponed the start of the summer harvest this year, so our CSA started just last week. I'm excited about it because I will receive veggies I've never tried; we are supporting a local farm; it's all organic and locally produced; and I will have a better sense of the natural growing cycle of veggies. I've been trying to eat seasonally, but to my embarrassment, I don't even know when many fruits and veggies are in season! We are so used to buying whatever we want when we want it, that I've lost all sense of nature's true cycles. Getting fruits and veggies in season means that they are more flavorful, more nutritious (they don't have to travel around the world to get to me), and more sustainable. I also love knowing who is growing my veggies- I see them every week at the farmer's market and can ask for suggestions about what to do with the produce they grow for us. They also have a blog where they share what's going on at the farm that week, and provide recipes and suggestions for preparation for the veggies they harvest.

I've been relying on a couple of cookbooks to help me with recipe ideas, too. In May I attended a dinner at the local bookstore that featured the book Minnesota's Bounty (MB). The author, Beth Dooley, and photographer, Mette Nielsen, were in attendance, and I got to sit across from them at the dinner table. I love this book, because Beth wrote it as a field guide to the farmer's market. It is arranged by item, so if I want to know what to do with pea shoots, I go to the veggie section, "Peas," and there I can see what they look like, when they are in season, how to store them, and several ideas on how to prepare them. She has at least a couple of super-easy ideas, not even recipes really, for each item and then a couple of recipes that involve more ingredients. For example, for peas, there's a simple pea and mint saute suggestion, and then a snap pea and radish salad recipe, among other things. As you can see, the other ingredients are seasonally in tune with the featured veggie, so they are likely to be found at the market at the same time. I also consult Vegetable Harvest (VH) quite a bit, though it's based on French markets, so doesn't always coincide with what we have here.

This spring/summer in my culinary adventures I have discovered green garlic, garlic scapes, ramps, and pea shoots. I also finally found a way to eat kale (this is huge). All super delicious. I can't believe I've never had all these spring treats in my life before! (The ramps and the green garlic I found at the local Co-op, the others are from the CSA). I'm going to keep track of what we get each week and which recipes I really like so I have a record for next year. So, after that long introduction, here's what veggies are happening in my kitchen these days.

For Week One, we received Red Russian kale, arugula, spinach, garlic scapes, oregano, mint, chives, radishes. I used everything within the week except the scapes and the oregano. MB has a recipe for sauted scapes and I was hoping I would get more this week to have plenty to saute. I did, so I'll be trying that out and will post the results in Week Two's round-up. The oregano I'm not sure yet what I'll do with it. It's holding up so far in the fridge, but I need to figure out what to do with it soon. I've only used it as a dry herb before.

Arugula is my favorite green and can only be found once in a while in the stores here. I've been growing it in my garden this year, and it's been doing well. The batch from the CSA got mixed with the kale. Honestly, I've tried a few times to like kale and I just couldn't unless it was in a stew or soup. Smoothies, kale chips, saute... I just didn't care for it. So, when I decided to try it raw in a salad, I threw my favorite green in with my least favorite and magic happened. I used Smitten Kitchen's recipe for kale salad with honey mustard dressing, goat cheese, craisins, and pecans, and we loved it.  Score!

For the spinach, chives, and radishes I used a recipe from VH. It called for couscous, but I was out, so I subbed bulgar wheat instead. The chives went in a creamy chive dressing that mixed in with the bulgar and spinach that had been shredded and then I threw in some chopped radishes- I forget if that was part of the recipe or I just added them for interest.

The mint was used for mojitos, my favorite drink, and perfect for summer.

Happy October!

September went out with a bang. It was quite overwhelming for me- I'm more than happy with just one social event a week, but we have been out and about since Thursday.

Thursday we went to hear Dan Savage speak about his It Gets Better Project. It was a funny, educational, heart breaking talk. I'll write more about it in my next post.

Friday we had dinner with some new and old friends. It was so nice to be at the end of September and still dining outside under the stars. Essie had more than his share of cookies, though, and even though he got sick the next morning, he didn't appear to feel sick at all. We were supposed to go to a bowling birthday party Sat afternoon, but had to cancel because I didn't want to take the chance that it was the flu and get everyone else sick, too.

Saturday, after stocking up on this week's veggies at the farmers' market, we took the boat out to a sandbar on the river. There was already a houseboat there with a bunch of guys hanging out and a couple of other people by a canoe when we arrived, but within five minutes of our pulling up to the beach, a dozen or so canoes and kayaks also pulled up, and suddenly there was a party- bluegrass music and all. They stayed for a couple of hours and then left us with the silence of the water once again. It was an unexpected, but welcome addition to the afternoon with friends.

Today we had a birthday party at a local park for Essie and Belalu's friend who turned 2. Belalu had received this sweet dress for her birthday last month from some friends of ours, and I was so happy the day was warm enough for her to wear it. I think it'll still fit her in the spring, but just in case...

It was such a great weekend. The weather was gorgeous, we were outside a ton, we got a lot of friends and family time, and I somehow still feel caught up with work and ready to start a new week. Hope your weekend was also wonderful!

Back in the Kitchen

Last week classes started and it felt like we dove into the middle of the semester. We ate either take-out or throw-it-on-the-grill stuff all week. I took advantage of the long weekend to re-set and get back into the kitchen. I love to make my food from scratch. If I had the time, I’d make everything from scratch. I think I was a pioneer girl in another life. Some of the things coming out the kitchen in the past few days: lots of bread- baguettes and little sandwich loaves, watermelon and lemonade sorbet, sweet corn ice cream with raspberry sauce, flapjacks (the British kind- sweet, syrupy oat bars). We went to the farmers’ market on Saturday morning and stocked up on yummy veggies and fruits, so we’ve been eating lots of those, too. The other night we had a whole dinner from the market or our garden: salad and leek and shitake mushroom frittata with roasted garlic to spread on the baguettes fresh out of the oven. I’m going to miss the market this winter.

I’ve spent this rainy Labor Day tending to domestic matters. The house is clean, the laundry’s done, lunches and dinners are prepped and/or planned for the week. I got behind my sewing machine this morning while Belalu napped and converted a dress whose top part I never loved into a skirt that I will now wear all the time. My latest knitting project, a warm wool pullover for me, has gotten some attention, too.

Last week took me by surprise, but this week I’m ready for it! I hope you also had a wonderful holiday weekend.

Left-over bread w/ Nutella and coffee the next morning: Essie couldn't wait :)

 

Introducing Our New Grill!

J prepping it for cooking & making a silly face

 

More of my farmers market veggies: portabella mushrooms and rainbow chard

 

Belalu ate some of the chard, but really preferred the ribs!

Saturday Mornings

I like routines and rituals. I also like to shake them up and break them here and there, but generally, routine is good. Especially with little ones. This past winter, Saturdays were "Doughnut Day." But once the Farmers Market opened in May, Saturdays have become "Farmers Market Day." The produce has finally started coming in and today I got beets, rainbow chard, shiitake mushrooms, and sugar snap peas. My favorite veggie ever. I eat them like others down potato chips. Just pop them in my mouth and savor their crunchy sweetness. These were the best I've had this season. I'll have to go back and get more on Wednesday. Sugar Snap Pea season is never long enough around here.

PS We spent the afternoon outside and discovered that our raspberries are starting to ripen. Belalu and Essie loved them. Snap peas and raspberries- what a great day!