CSA Meals - Week 7

The full bag of produce this week made me realize that summer is in full effect. I was, of course, excited about the eggs, but the copious amounts of vegetables allowed for many cooking options.

On Tuesday night we made a quinoa salad from 101 Cookbooks to accompany grilled boneless pork chops. We grilled squash and zucchini, which were deliciously sweet, and prepared the eggs according to the recipe's directions. The hard-boiled eggs were some of the best I've ever had because of how plump they were. I added a seeded jalapeno from the share to the creamy avocado and yogurt dressing, though I think I would have liked it to be spicier to offset the richness of the dressing, pine nuts and goat cheese.


I steamed the Chinese red noodle beans and mixed them with chopped tomato and pesto. Their purple color (which reminded me of eggplant) was intriguing, as was the taste, which was similar to regular green beans. In addition, the red noodle beans had an almost chalky aftertaste, and I think next time I'll try them in a stir fry.


On Wednesday and Thursday I ate the leftover quinoa salad for lunch. It got better over the next couple days, and I liked having it at room temperature or a little cold. I didn't add the last third of the dressing like the recipe suggested; I think that would have overwhelmed the other ingredients and it was still creamy two days later. As usual, I made a cucumber and tomato salad to accompany my lunch on Wednesday. Davy finished it that night with our homemade egg mcmuffins.

Over the weekend I was in Harrisburg helping my parents prepare for their annual summer cookout. My dad got up at 5 am on Saturday to start smoking a pork shoulder, and I had the honor of pulling it that night. It was my favorite out of the meats, which also included a whole chicken, wild turkey, and brisket with two homemade sauces. There were several other highlights to dinner that night, including smoked red potatoes, delicious yellow beans with black sesame seeds, two wonderful pies (peach and blueberry, still warm and served with ice cream), and a famous banana pudding.

On Monday night Davy and I ate some of the leftover chicken and brisket, along with potatoes from our share and green beans. I steamed the green beans and mixed in balsamic vinegar, chopped tomato, and a little feta. The potatoes were roasted with olive oil and rosemary.

I'm looking forward to having the green pepper this afternoon with white bean dip. Despite being away for a few days, the only items remaining from the share are a small head of a garlic, two sweet peppers and a jalapeno. Something tells me they won't be uneaten for long.