Category Archives: CSA

Dana’s dish

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Dana’s accounting of week 12 of our CSA. Color me impressed!

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I was all too happy to try Darci’s CSA. My previous CSA experience didn’t include the variety that I’d hoped for — so after opting out this year, I’ve been living vicariously through Darci.

After pick up, I made a rookie mistake. I left the veggies in my hot car for an hour while I ran an errand and picked up my daughter from camp. When I got home, everything was just a smidge more ripe than it had been when I’d inspected it earlier. I quickly put it all in the fridge, said a prayer to the veggie gods to keep it fresh for at least three days, and set to work finding ways to use it all by then.

First up was Saturday night’s dinner. I’d planned on doing “farmer’s market pasta,” which in my house is simply fresh, local tomatoes, onions, garlic and basil over a slightly higher-end brand of pasta (i.e., something even *more* expensive at Whole Foods). Since the share contained plenty of Swiss chard, I changed it up to be a swiss chard and tomato dish.

It was delish! I can’t say my kids loved it, but at the very least they tried it and did not utter the words, “Ew, I don’t like it.” My husband and I happily ate their helpings.

FARMER’S MARKET PASTA

Ingredients
1 pound Swiss chard, stems cut from the leaves and then both chopped, rinsed and drained separately
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup water
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
1/2 pound penne pasta (or really, any shape you like)
1/2 pound Italian sausage, sliced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Instructions
1. In a large  skillet, sauté the red pepper flakes, onion and garlic in the oil over medium heat. Add the Swiss chard stems and 1/4 cup of the water, cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the Swiss chard leaves, the remaining 1/4 cup  water, cover and cook for 5 more minutes.

2. Stir in the tomatoes, cover and cook for 3 minutes.

3. Add Italian sausage and simmer on low for 5 minutes.

4. Boil the paste until it’s al dente then drain.

5. Toss the pasta and the Swiss chard and sausage mixture with the Parmesan cheese. Serve with a healthy sprinkling of Parmesan.

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Sunday night, I was able to use the grape tomatoes in a lovely simple salad of cucumber, tomato, avocado oil and a touch of red wine vinegar. This was a side dish for our main meal of burgers, along with the AMAZING corn. I don’t think I’ve had corn that good all summer. My kids literally wolfed their ears down.

I felt good about my CSA progress, especially considering the tomatoes were the most in need of use, but I was on a roll. For dinner last night, I went full steam ahead and prepared a stir-fry of green beans, broccoli, eggplant, green pepper, the one hot pepper, onion (not from the CSA) and the one leftover ear of grilled corn. I sautéed everything with two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat while I boiled some Asian flat noodles. I mixed together soy sauce and sesame oil with a touch of ground ginger and poured that over then added a corn starch mixture (2 tablespoons of corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup of water) at the very end. It thickened perfectly and by not overcooking or over-saucing (it’s a word I’m sure) my vegetables, for the first time in history, everything retained its fresh taste.

One note on hot pepper usage: Research what kind of pepper it is before using. WOW, that pepper was hot. The stir-fry was very tasty but it required a whole lot of water in between bites.

Three days and the CSA is almost 100 percent gone. Just one cucumber is left, and I’ve been using it as a side dish for lunches. What a treat this was for us! Now, where can I get Mike and Darci to go next week?

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CSA, hooray! Chapter 12

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Since Mike and I were in northern Michigan for a long weekend, we couldn’t enjoy or even pick up our CSA share. But my friend Dana happily agreed to do both!

Here’s what she and her family enjoyed:

  • peppers — one hot, one not
  • cucumbers
  • tomatoes (grape and plum)
  • broccoli
  • green beans
  • Swiss chard
  • ice box melon
  • eggplant
  • sweet corn

CSA, hooray! Chapter 11

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The last few Fridays I’ve found myself cramming as many of the week prior’s vegetables into that day’s meals as possible. This week was the worst, though — my niece, Leah, is staying with us, and we spent Wednesday morning at the farmer’s market. So in addition to the bounty already in the crisper, we added a few things that piqued her curiosity, like garlic scapes, kohlrabi and an interesting round cucumber with a kiwi-esque peel.

Of course, the scapes became Garlic Scapes Carbonara (from this post), which was even better this go-around. I credit this to having a helper during the final stage. Leah stirred like a madwoman while I slowly poured the beaten egg into the ideal spot — only on the noodles and nowhere near the side of the pan. The sauce was creamy and perfect.

Tonight’s dinner was a tad more scattered: chicken apple sausages on the grill sided with roasted eggplant and kohlrabi, corn on the cob, and a simple tomato, avocado and kiwi-like cucumber salad. According to Leah, a college senior, the vegetables in this one meal totaled more than her typical intake in a week on her own.

Hey, at least I was able to make room for:

  • more peppers — some hot, some not
  • little leaf cucumbers — although one is not so little
  • Japanese cucumber
  • garlic
  • Swiss chard
  • tomatoes (3 pounds, again)
  • Juliet and Sun Gold salad tomatoes
  • green beans
  • summer squash
  • ice box melon

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CSA, hooray! Chapter 10

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Week 10 brought more tomatoes (3 pounds!) and our first ears of sweet corn.

What else was in the box:

  • peppers — some hot, some not
  • basil
  • little leaf cucumbers
  • Japanese cucumber
  • onions
  • cabbage
  • ice box melon
  • eggplant
  • cutting celery

First off, I totally thought the cutting celery was cilantro until I verified what was in this week’s share through Scotch Hill Farm’s weekly CSA newsletter. Oops.

Second, the corn is already gone. We ate three ears with grilled pork tenderloin on Friday night. And last night, I cut the kernels off the final three cobs for a summer vegetable pasta dish that also included zucchini, garlic, tomatoes and crumbled goat cheese. (I followed the cover recipe from the current issue of Real Simple magazine, which isn’t online, unfortunately.)

CSA, hooray! Chapter 8

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I can’t believe we’re two months into CSA season. Our weekly box selection is definitely getting interesting:

  • okra
  • green bush beans
  • radishes
  • little leaf cucumbers
  • Japanese cucumber
  • zucchini
  • red Italian onion
  • tomatoes
  • Swiss chard

This week’s “what in the heck do I do with this?” veggie: Okra. I’ve never eaten it, let alone cooked with it.

Like I said, this is getting interesting.

CSA, hooray! Chapter 7

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This past week was a farm share fail. We ate out three times, way more than we like — especially when our refrigerator is full of fresh vegetables. But one night we drove to Milwaukee for the Paul McCartney concert (amazing); one night Mike was starving and not excited about the salmon and Swiss chard I had planned for dinner, so we tried the new Thai Burrito restaurant around the corner (interesting); and last night we went out for a nice dinner at Mon Ami Gabi, also in our neighborhood, to celebrate our shared birthday (really delicious).

Needless to say, we have plenty leftover from last week’s CSA, and today added:

  • leaf lettuce mix
  • snow peas
  • green bush beans
  • garlic
  • little leaf cucumbers
  • Japanese cucumber
  • zucchini
  • basil
  • broccoli
  • onion

I got right to it tonight, making pesto with the basil and garlic to top the salmon that was already thawed. I served it on top of plain Israeli couscous and sided it with my now-favorite recipe for Swiss chard, which Mike not-so-lovingly refers to as the “new kale.” I followed this easy Basil Salmon recipe from the Taste of Home website, which I’d recommend for when you don’t have any pine nuts in the house. Because really, who has pine nuts just lying around?

Plus, it was tasty. See for yourself:

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CSA, hooray! Chapter 6

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Scotch Hill Farm didn’t disappoint this week:

  • leaf lettuce mix
  • snow peas
  • green bush beans
  • bright lights Swiss chard
  • little leaf cucumbers
  • Japanese cucumbers
  • zucchini
  • patty pan squash
  • radishes

First off, yay for patty pan squash. I discovered these super cute little squashes last year, and am excited to cook with them again.

Second, I don’t know what to do with all of these radishes. I slice one up on every salad, but we still have an abundance. My brother Daren recently told me that he eats a good five radishes a day with hummus. I’m just not sure I can get on board with that.

Third, and last, one day in and we’ve finished off the green beans, a third of the lettuce and one of the leaf cucumbers. What to use tomorrow …

CSA, hooray! Chapter 5

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Our holiday weekend was a whirlwind, with a wedding and a last-minute barbecue invitation, so I’m just now processing what exactly was in our CSA share this week:

  • radishes
  • turnips
  • snow peas
  • cucumbers
  • leaf lettuce mix
  • onions
  • basil and oregano

Plus, I stopped by the farmer’s market at Lincoln Park High School on Saturday morning, and picked up fresh peas and raspberries from two great Michigan farmers, as well as bangers for the grill. It looks like we’re in for a tasty week!

Have veggies, will travel

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I’m spending a few days at my parents’ home in northern Michigan. Rather than let the vegetables from last week’s CSA share rot in the refrigerator, I packed them in a cooler and took them with me.

I can’t say they received all that warm of a welcome. My mom likes to plan meals when the whole family is up to the lake, and my bok choy, turnips, photo copysnowpeas and the like didn’t really fit in. (She did use my radishes in her tuna macaroni salad and the leaf lettuce to dress grilled hamburgers. And I added onions to one morning’s scrambled eggs.)

But tonight, my final night here, I had no choice but cook everything else I brought or haul it back home. And that simply wasn’t going to happen.

My dad fried bass and pike he caught on Lake St. Helen — a family tradition. My mom broke out baked beans, along with her macaroni salad. I roasted the turnips and kohlrabi in vegetable oil, since I couldn’t find any olive oil in the house. Surprisingly, they went over well, much better than the bok choy, Asian greens, snow peas, garlic scapes and broccoli I sautéed in butter. (Again, no olive oil.)

p.s. Enjoy the view I’ve had this week!

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Photo by Bailey Smith