Here's what my family is getting from our CSA this week. The picture and the text below come directly from Harmony Valley Farm's weekly email.
- Fresh garlic: Cook carefully- the fresh garlic seems to scorch more quickly than dry garlic. Keep an eye on it and remove from heat if it starts to brown at all.
- White cipollini onions
- Red or Chioggia beets: Roast, peel, quarter, and toss with salt and a little bit of balsamic vinegar. Serve hot or cold.
- Fennel: Try slicing thin and adding to coleslaw.
- Carrots: Use promptly while they are still crisp. If you plan to wait a few days, remove the green tops (keep for another use - they are edible!) and store carrots in a bag in the crisper drawer.
- Thai basil: Stir into a light noodle soup.
- Cucumbers or Summer squash: Slice the squash thinly and sauté lightly in olive oil with a pinch of thyme until softened. Makes a good toast substitute with your morning eggs. Slice the cucumber and add to a salad or veggie tray.
- Sugar Snap or Snow Peas: Trim and sauté just long enough to leave them slightly crisp, shake with salt and a little bit of pepper, and serve as a delicious accompaniment to any meal.
- Baby bok choi: Steam and use to garnish fish.
- Salad Mix: Makes a refreshing light lunch.
- Cauliflower: Steam lightly, refrigerate, and make a cool snack with a creamy dip.
A few things that are true about me, but I'm not necessarily proud of:
- I love getting salad mix from Harmony Valley. It always comes fresh, clean in a bag, and generally includes some sort of yellow flowers I can eat. I really like eating yellow flowers that have been prewashed.
- I'm ecstatic to be getting local carrots. We've been buying organic ones from California - my kids eat tons of carrots, and we all love them - and I'm excited to get them from closer to home. Anyone wanna recommend a good, local, organic ranch dressing my kids will like? (Better yet, post a recipe?)
- I'm also glad to be getting some cauliflower and cucumbers - it feels relaxing to get stuff I already know what to do with. I can choose to be creative and experimental, or I can just make 'em like I'm used to.
- I'm a basil nut. We've been eating fresh pesto - my wife is the pesto master - from our garden's basil for weeks now, and I'm glad to be getting more, more, more.
Let me know what you get from your CSA this week and what you're doing with it, please!
