A Hearty Takeaway

After only two weeks of goodies, it seems like the farm is yielding more produce and more variety.  Yesterday I picked up:

- salad mix

- broccoli raab

- Japanese turnips

- garlic scapes

- mustard greens

- arugula

- spring onions

- zucchini 


Adam and Darbi also offered the CSA members the opportunity to buy whole chickens from Ault's Family Farm, and I bought a four pound bird which is going to stay in the freezer until I have time to roast it.

CSA Meals - Week 1

I feel victorious and encouraged after the first week of produce - I think it's the first time in my short history of CSA participation that everything was used in seven days.  

Technically we haven't eaten the broccoli raab and some of the arugula yet, but it was sauteed and layered into a lasagna for Shannon's birthday dinner.  

We went to Belmont Butchery to buy sausage for the lasagna, and I made the exciting discovery that they sell their sausage "loose," or without the casing. It's discounted because they vacuum pack and freeze it, but I tend to cook with sausage out of the casings anyway, so the discount was just a bonus for me.  Tanya, the owner, also told me that if I ever want to buy some of their sausage but they only have it in link form, they'd be happy to remove the casings for me.  Below are pictures of the San Miniato sausage browning, followed by the tomato sauce that went into the lasagna, the uncooked pasta dish, and the finished product.  

Making tacos early in the week had a lot to do with my success.  A pound or so of ground, seasoned meat will provide us with multiple dinners, and Davy and I like to have tacos with shredded lettuce.  We ate the head of lettuce and some of the salad mix that we got in our share with grated cheese, guacamole, salsa, and the other components of our taco dinners.

On Thursday I made this week's recipe from The Splendid Table newsletter, which was "Warm Balsamic Bean Salad on Lettuces."  Instead of the large onion that was called for, I used our two sizable spring onions from the share.  Much of the salad mix and arugula was designated to multiple servings of the salad, which also consisted of celery and a small amount of grated cheese.

We also used a little arugula in our omelets on Saturday morning, and it added a spicy hit of flavor to the eggs and cheese. 

Monday night's dinner was comprised of some leftover grilled pork tenderloin and garlicky mashed red potatoes. I chopped and sauteed the Tokyo bekana with garlic, ginger, Thai pepeprs, and soy sauce.  These Asian greens, which can be eaten raw or lightly cooked, reminded me a lot of bok choy because of their crunchy stems and tender leaves. 

Davy and I are going out of town for the holiday weekend, so I know that we won't be as efficient with our veggies in Week 2.  I'm considering blanching and freezing what I can, and will probably give some of the greens away.  That, or I'll just make another round of tacos.

 

Update

The take away was slightly different than what we originally expected.  We didn't get any mustard greens, but we did get a head of lettuce, broccoli raab and Tokyo bekana, which is a tender Asian green that looks like a paler version of romaine lettuce.  Below are pictures of the gorgeous strawberries, lettuce, and chopped broccoli raab that I blanched to use for a birthday lasagna next week.  The first round is bigger than normal, and all of the produce looks great!

Return of the CSA

Our CSA starts again this week, and there's going to be a variety of produce at our pick up:

- salad mix

- arugula

- radishes

- strawberries

- spring onions

- mustard greens and/or Asian greens


Stay tuned!