CSA Meals - Week 19

Yesterday I harvested around fifty little Thai peppers from the plant on our front porch. There are several more that haven't turned red yet, and it's very comforting to know that we'll have access to spicy peppers for the next several months. Squash has been an important part of my meals for the past few weeks, and I like pairing it with hot peppers or sauce to complement its sweetness.

I got two more meals out of the butternut squash and green bean pasta - once for dinner on Tuesday paired with sauteed arugula, and again for dinner Saturday night mixed with some restaurant leftovers.

Thursday was my birthday, and I was fortunate enough to have several birthday meals and celebrations. Davy and I had a fantastic dinner at Zeus Gallery Cafe, and I incorporated the other half of my meal into the squash and green bean pasta for dinner on Saturday night. My meal at Zeus Gallery was a delectable combination of orecchiette pasta, broccoletti, escarole, chicken, and fava beans.

Davy prepared the mustard greens with garlic and ginger on Wednesday night. They accompanied white rice and a delicious pork tenderloin rubbed with lemon zest and salt. Both the pork and greens had strong flavors, but they worked well together, especially with the plain rice.

I took the rest of the butternut squash in a different direction and made a smooth soup with it. The recipe also included potatoes, which I had from the share, and leeks. It was fairly simple to make with my new immersion blender. We toasted some slices of bread (baguette from Can Can) with the last of the Zamorano cheese grated on top, and served the soup with the toast at the bottom of the bowl on Sunday evening. In addition, we had arugula from Victory Farms (sold at Ellwood Thompson's) tossed with toasted pine nuts, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. It was a very comforting fall meal and was just as satisfying Monday night, with cheddar and Parmesan on the toast instead of Zamorano.

Tuesday afternoon I had one of the sweet peppers sliced as a snack. I'm sad to say that the green tomatoes have started ripening and turning red, so they're no longer going to qualify for fried green tomatoes. Hopefully we'll get a couple more with the next round of produce, and I should have more time to attempt frying them next week.