CSA Meals - Week 3

I didn't think it would be possible, but somehow I managed to incorporate most of the herbs and vegetables into delicious meals before the weekend.

For the first night, Tuesday, I made a frittata with two of the spring onions (and their green shoots), yellow squash, zucchini, and local goat cheese. It had layers of light, seasonal flavors that were perfect for a quick summer meal. The freshness of the eggs shone through and I have a feeling that frittatas may play more of a role in my kitchen in the next few months.

Wednesday was a kickball night so I put together a quick carbonara with macaroni. The recipe, which I halved, called for an egg yolk. Compared to the sauce made with a normal grocery store yolk, the pasta had a much thicker, creamier coating. I used my homegrown Italian parsley for the first time, along with the garlic from the farm, which was mild and sweeter than store bought garlic.

Based loosely on a Jamie Oliver recipe for crostini with greens, I let the swiss chard and turnip greens get tender for a few minutes in boiling water, then drained them and added lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. There were three cloves of garlic in the pot, which I removed and mashed with a fork to mix in with the greens. It was a simple procedure that yielded wonderful results.

On Thursday we grilled pork tenderloin with chimichurri sauce (made with basil from the share, parsley, and cilantro instead of oregano). If you haven't tried chimichurri sauce or made it yourself, I've had success with an Emeril Lagasse recipe and it's a great warm weather dish. To go with the meat, we put the baby carrots, turnips, zucchini and squash in the grill basket and tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Everything tasted delicious and the turnips were pleasantly sweet. The chimichurri also went well with the black beans I sauteed with olive oil, garlic and green onions. The onion was tough and it is the first item I haven't been thoroughly pleased with, though that may have been my fault for not cooking it long enough.

It is now Monday and the only produce left is a small spring onion and green beans. The plan is to steam the beans, grill a piece of mahi, and eat orzo with pesto on the side. I'm already getting impatient for tomorrow's share.