Here’s what we got!

 A pepper, a cucumber, another white eggplant, a bunch of carrots, fennel (?)

Bag of greens, bag of basil, green onions (hiding), micellaneous corn, a paper bag with….

 ~Ten tomatoes

 Eight ears of corn!

 Closer look at the bag of greens, an onion, a yellow squash, a pepper (any guesses as to what kind?), melon

In sum:

• 1 green pepper
• 1 cucumber
• 1 eggplant, white
• 1 bunch carrots
• 1 fennel
• 1 bunch of green onions
• ~10 tomatoes
• 8 ears of corn
• 1 bag greens
• 1 bag basil
• 1 onion
• 1 yellow squash
• 1 melon
• 1 pepper

Not a bad haul.

I’ve realized something. Getting our CSA box is helping me learn how to cook. I cooked before but I was not adventurous. I would eat “anything,” but I didn’t really know how to prepare veggies aside from boiling or steaming them.

I mentioned last week that I would share the recipe I used for coleslaw. What I needed was a coleslaw that I could eat, but that didn’t have mayo in it because my husband hates mayo. I just Googled “coleslaw without mayo” and I stumbled upon Gluten-free Goddess’s Snappy Crunchy Coleslaw. LOVE IT (and so does my husband). I made it a bit differently than she did. I skipped the caraway seeds, dill, cumin, and pepper and just drizzled honey on it because I’m addicted to sweet.

Oh yeah, I added cucumber too (yeah, I have quite a few of those!)

The texture was a bit too chunky for me so the next time I made it, I dusted off my mini-Cuisinart (received it as a wedding gift many years ago – probably haven’t used it since my son’s birth) to pulverize all the veggies and it looked like this:

 I added chopped-up kohlrabi, skipped the onion, and let my son push “chop” and “grind” The texture was way better.

Since I had my seldom-used trusty mini-Cuisinart out, I decided to try making salsa. I had never made salsa before so I never knew it was so easy! I used the recipe for salsa with nectarines and corn from the book Cooking for Isaiah by Silvana Nardone. Salsa recipes can be found anywhere and are super easy (and delicious). I ended up skipping the corn and just whizzing the tomatoes and nectarines (and the rest of the ingredients) in the little machine. Part of my problem with tomatoes is that I don’t like chunks. The salsa I made had no chunks. I used a banana pepper (moderate spice level) instead of a jalapeno, which was a great substitution.

I took a picture of the salsa, but I can’t share it because it was the color of puke. Tasted amazing, but after getting tossed around in the food processor it didn’t look so great. You’ll have to trust me on that one.

I also made corn cakes with red pepper, fennel and basil for Sunday’s breakfast. My husband almost died — they were that good. Also from Silvana’s book though I added what I had and didn’t know how to use: the fennel and the basil. No pictures because I forgot. Her book is my go-to gluten free cookbook.

Lastly, I’m perfecting the “use something for two meals” technique. I roasted a bunch of veggies:

Before they baked for 45 minutes. By the way, the beets and potatoes are from the farmer’s market. No after pic…

That night we had sandwiches with roasted veggies on the side. The next day I made a stew starting out with oil in a pan and chopped onions (from the CSA) and then chopped up the leftover roasted veggies and threw them in there. I let it sit for a bit while I boiled up some lentils, wild rice, and black quinoa. Threw everything in one big pot and it turning into a terrific stew. To guide me I used an old magazine cutting “If you have lentils, you could…” and it gave a beginning cook an idea of where to start. Hilarious, but it was a great road map. I keep a small binder of interesting recipes that I cut out of magazines and the paper:

I’m big into casseroles and stews. My husband loved the lentil stew, but my son? Not so much.

I still don’t know what to do with every veggie. I still feel overwhelmed in the kitchen a lot of the time. I still deal with food refusals from my son.

But at least I’m trying. One thing I’ve learned through this blog is that it’s worth it to take risks.

Normally I would never go into a store and buy something I had no name for.
Normally I would never buy more than one herb.
Normally I would never buy an herb not in a little plastic package.

Basil, Celery, Lettuce, Chard

Normally I would never buy more than two green veggies at once.
Normally I would not buy lettuce and chard at the same time.

Corn, Five Cucumbers, Dill

Normally I would not buy five cucumbers in one year.
Normally I would avoid dill.

Yellow squash, purple eggplant, white eggplant, LIGHT GREEN THING (top right!?), zucchini, garlic (at bottom left), onion (bottom right)

Normally I would not buy something I had never seen before without a recipe like a white eggplant.
Normally I would not buy something I didn’t know how to cook.

Ten ears of corn and one more (hidden) cucumber!

Normally I would not buy ten ears of corn at once.
Normally I would not buy something that needs to pickle.
I guess I’m not normal anymore. That’s ok, I never want to go back.

***

Here’s what came in the box:

• 11 ears corn
• 6 cucumbers
• 1 zucchini
• 1 purple eggplant
• 1 white eggplant
• 1 LIGHT GREEN THING
• 1 bulb garlic
• 1 onion
• 1 yellow zucchini/squash
• 1 bunch dill
• 1 bag basil
• 1 celery
• 1 head of lettuce
• 1 bunch of chard

 
It really does take us two weeks to get through everything. Here’s what I did with the patty pan squash:

 Patty pan squash with basil and olive oil (before oven roasting)

I’ll spare you both a link to the recipe and the final product. I am not a fan. I like spaghetti and acorn squash, but not patty pan, sadly. Hey, at least I tried.

Big win? The cabbage I turned into the most delectable slaw. I’ll share the recipe later (I must go to sleep now).

I’m loving my new relationship with produce.

I’m only getting the box of veggies from the farm every other week so this week I wanted to share a different “farm” experience with you. Just before the strawberry season ended, I was able to take my son strawberry picking. I had never gone picking of any sort before (at least that I can remember — my parents may have taken my sister and I apple picking once) so I was determined to do this with him. To locate a strawberry farm, I used www.pickyourown.org and clicked on my state. The site is a little busy visually, but it’s pretty easy to determine where you want to go and what is in season. My advice is to call ahead to make sure that the farm(s) you are interested in visiting have what the website says they have. I almost took the family to a place that didn’t have any more strawberries!

We drove up and my son asked, “Is dat strawberry flying?” I had a hard time explaining that one.

 We walked along the rows.

 My son was enthusiastic at first and enjoyed looking for strawberries.

But he faded fast in the hot sun. I don’t know how long we were out there, but it was probably less than 20 minutes.

My basket on the left and his on the right. He was so excited to eat them. I paid — they cost $3.80 at weighing — and we found a bench in the shade. While we nibbled, one patron commented, “The smaller, the sweeter.” When people brag about eating “real” strawberries, I get it now. They were delectable. Most of the berries were one half or one quarter the size of strawberries sold at the grocery store. The skin of the berries we picked offered no resistance to my teeth and just exploded in my mouth.

Later when we got home, I was happy that we had only picked a small amount because about 12 hours later the berries had already started to change. Some were still great the next day, but others changed color and generally wilted. They didn’t taste the same. It made me wonder how modern grocery stores keep strawberries fresh… *shiver* Anyway, they were perfect for baking! We made strawberry cupcakes the next day and strawberry bread the following day.

Strawberry Bread (adapted from the recipe for “No Hassle Banana Bread” on the back of the package of Bob’s Red Mill’s All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour)

Ingredients
•1/3 cup olive oil
•2/3 cup sugar
•2 large eggs
•1 tsp. vanilla
•1-3/4 cups Bob’s Red Mill’s Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
•2 tsp. baking powder
•1-1/4 tsp. cinnamon
•1/2 tsp. salt
•1-1/2 cups chopped strawberries

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 9×5-inch non-stick loaf pan or three mini loaf pans. Mix oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in large bowl. Add flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon to egg mixture. Add strawberries last and stir. Pour into pans. Bake for 35-45 minutes, depending on the oven.

 When the batter looked like this prior to baking, I was a bit nervous.

But they came out beautifully!

Next up? Raspberries, which will be in season in my area in August!

Opening the CSA box is like opening happy Pandora’s box. It’s a big surprise — I actually get excited.

I wanted to let you know that the CSA sent us a cookbook in the mail with pictures of the produce and when to expect it. Even with that help, I’m having trouble with the herbs. The herbs are drawn, not photographed, and I can’t match them to what I’ve got in my box.

I put the box on my counter and got out a pen and paper so I could write everything down, name or not. You guys are going to have to help me out again! Let’s start off with the easy ones, why don’t we…

Beets and onions

I was excited when I saw the onions. I have to tell you I compared them to onions I had in my fridge’s crisper and I was shocked. The fresh ones were almost pretty. Definitely more robust.

Here’s where it gets murky…

Kale, small celery(?), Purple flower herb, random herb. Need help please! I don’t have a clue what these are.

Holy cukes!

Here’s what was at the bottom of the box. I identified arugula in the bag, cabbage heads, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, another patty pan squash (thanks for naming that one for me last week). Wow, what a bounty.

There’s the bag of lettuce (top right)

Our fridge was overflowing with veggies. Whenever I open it, I smile. There’s nothing like having a full fridge. Now if I could figure out something to do with all of this wonderful stuff…

The complete list:

• 6 beets, two types
• 2 onions
• 1 bunch of kale
• 1 bunch of small celery?
• 1 bunch purple flower herb
• 1 bunch random herb
• 1 bag lettuce
• 1 bag arugula
• 2 zucchinis
• 4 cucumbers
• 1 patty pan squash
• 1 yellow squash
• 2 heads of cabbage

Not being able to identify something makes it hard for me to cook with it. I’m a decent home cook and I’ll take limited risks with straightforward recipes, but being creative in the kitchen with brand-new foods is hard. I still believe I’m over my head with the CSA, but thankfully I’m not curled up in a ball and rocking in a corner.

Thanks for all your terrific suggestions with last week’s CSA post. I loved the idea of garlic scape pesto, but considering I’ve never made a regular pesto, I decided I’m not ready for that.

I got those gorgeous onions from the farm (see above picture), but I already had ten yellow onions that I had purchased from the store the week previous. I needed to use those up and fast. I remembered that when I’d roasted a chicken, using Jamie Oliver’s recipe from the Food Revolution cookbook, my husband had gone nuts for the roasted onions. So I thought I’d try that with the garlic scapes. This is the world’s most basic recipe — it’s for a beginner like me. I served the onions with red quinoa and large pan-fried sausages.

Oven roasted onions with garlic scapes

• 2 onions (as many onions as you have people — subtracting kids)
• 2 garlic scapes
• olive oil
• salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop onions in quarters and then chop garlic scapes. Place onions on a foil-lined baking sheet or roasting pan. Scatter the garlic scapes. Drizzle liberally with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt. Toss. Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes depending on your oven.

I ended up switching to a 13 by 9 pan. This is far too crowded for even cooking.

Getting the scapes prepped. I keep wanting to call them garlic “snapes” — I must have Harry Potter and Professor Snape on the brain. Now only if I could get childcare so that my husband and I could go out and see the movie! Man, I love Alan Rickman.

Another before shot. I didn’t do an “after” shot because I wasn’t sure I would share this recipe with you because it’s incredibly boring and nowhere near fancy. But hey, why not? The onions were a big hit with my son, which surprised my husband and me. The kid hates quinoa now, too. Win some, lose others.

I’m officially in over my head. I don’t know what some of this stuff is!

And underneath the bags of lettuce…

That yellow thing?? Green ropes next to that? You eat and cook that??

I picked up this box of yummy foods, some of which I had never seen before, and headed over to a friend’s house. My husband, the kid and I were scheduled to leave on a vacation far, far away by plane the following day and so I knew that I had to give some of this produce to my friend. I gave her some parsley, some lettuce, some spinach, and the entire bunch of the mystery herb (which I think you guys identified as oregano). Yeah, I chickened out on the mystery herb.

I knew that the rest of the the veggies would survive in our crisper while we were gone.

The CSA box contained:

• 2 bunches of lettuce
• 1 bag of spinach
• 1 bag mystery green/ Tuscano kale?
• 1 large bunch of parsley
• 1 bunch mystery herb/oregano
• 4-5 green ropes/garlic scapes
• 1 bunch onions/scallions
• 1 zucchini
• 1 yellow summer squash
• 1 head cabbage
• 1 bunch of beets
• 1 bunch broccoli

So I’ve made salad again. A lot of salad. But before I get into that, I wanted to share that I made radish chips with last week’s radishes. I didn’t know what to do with the radishes as I find them bitter. So I Googled ‘radish recipes’ and found a few for radish chips (source, source, and source). I figured since kale chips are such a big hit with my son, these guys would be too.

Before and…

after!

My husband and my son thought they were pretty good. Truth be told, I found the radish chips to be on the bitter side. But they must have left an impression on my son. Every now and then he mentions that he loves radishes. I guess I’m going to have to get more.

The garlic scapes are amazing by the way. I only just figured out what they were and so I cooked with them tonight. I would never have had the courage to buy these, but since they were thrust upon me, I had to figure out how to cook with them. All I did was slice them and fry them in a pan with some olive oil (then added andouille sausage). It’s like a garlion (garlic/onion). Smells terrific frying in a pan. I’m hooked!

And I made a beet salad…

Wash the beets

Cut off the ends. Douse in olive oil. Sprinkle salt. Oh and I roasted a portobello mushroom too (not in the CSA box)

Arrange a salad (I used lettuce, spinach, parsley, green onions, yellow pepper)

I love eggs. I didn’t cut them up and spread them over the greens because that’s just too messy. Better to cut them up over individual plated salads.

Some of the beets look psychedelic!

My plate!

I’m not going to give much of a recipe here. Here’s the recipe I used to roast the beets. Also, I’m working on perfecting my portobello roasting formula. Usually I like to try something twice before I share it. And I’m not sure I can eat that many beets again. They were so delicious that I ate a ton of beets. My husband and my son were not as crazy about beets as I was. I thought they were amazing. When you eat that many, your plate and hands get stained with bright purple beet juice.

But later I paid.

The next morning I used the bathroom. My pee was pink! The only reason I’m revealing this highly personal information is to warn you. I panicked that there was something wrong with me like some kind of infection or kidney issue, even though I felt fine. I thought I would have to go to the doctor. But I consulted Google and found out that if you eat a lot of beets, you may pee pink. Or other things. Ahem.

So I waited because I felt no pain. Sure enough, it was very temporary.

Oh the perils of a CSA box!

(And I’m taking suggestions for the squash! I’m thinking I’ll roast it.)

I picked up our first CSA box a couple weeks ago. I told my son that we had a special box to open up together and he was thrilled.

We pulled open the cardboard and he exclaimed, “Dere’s food in here!” He was intrigued by the radishes as I have never bought them before and of course he had never laid eyes on them.

Can you guys tell me what herb this is? I have only a little experience with herbs so I can’t say. I’m sad to report that I ended up going bad in my fridge!

There were onions and broccoli!

Lettuce and basil

Spinach and arugula

My son tore into the box and because we were making dinner and he was hungry, he started ripping leaves and nibbling on them. He was not afraid. He already eats lettuce, kale and spinach, so when he encountered the mystery herb (above) and the arugula, he ripped off some and shoved them in his mouth. Unfortunately, he was put off. We both needed to drink some water after we sampled those and he told me with a wrinkled brow, “Wugala is bad!” I hope I never forget that – it was hilarious and I sort of have to agree. It was on the bitter side (as are radishes actually).

The produce was dirty. As in, it had just come from the farm. I was reminded that what we get from the grocery store is spiffed up quite a bit (triple washes on greens and waxes on fruit). The consequence of these beauty treatments is that we forget that our food originated from the ground. Looking at the dirt on the lettuce, I wondered who picked this food for me and how they got it out of the ground. It sounds stupid, but I’ve never harvested food before so I don’t know if people just use their hands or a big knife — a machete even? 🙂 I even wondered if the person who gathered this food for me had enough to eat and if they had a chance to eat some of these veggies too. I never had these thoughts before about my food. The farm that supplys the CSA offers family activities so I’m thinking we’ll take a trip out there to see what it’s like. We also may milk a goat if we go out there on a special day. Yee-haw!

The contents of our box included:

• 1 bunch of radishes
• 1 bag of arugula
• 1 larger bag of spinach
• 3 bags of lettuce
• 1 bunch of basil
• 1 bunch of onions
• 4 broccoli heads
• 1 bunch of mystery herbs

A bounty of green. It was really fun for the family. Everything was eaten except for the mystery herbs!

Stay tuned: Next week we get even more diverse and interesting produce!

***

Taco Salad with Lime

I adore taco salads and threw this together for dinner the same night I picked up the CSA box. I normally would never buy as much lettuce as we got so I had to serve more salad on a daily basis for the next week. It made me realize that if everyone ate seasonally, we’d be eating a lot more green. I’ve never been much of a salad person (my dad called it rabbit food), but I’m really trying. It doesn’t hurt that this lettuce from the farm feels special somehow. Taco salad is a nice entry salad for a first-timer.

Taco Salad with Lime

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• dash of sea salt
• 1/2 jar of salsa
• 1 bunch red lettuce
• 1/2 bunch arugula
• 1/2 – 1 bunch spinach
• 2 green onions
• 1/2 lime per person
• Tortilla chips

Pour olive oil in pan, add meat and sprinkle salt on top. Add salsa. Allow meat to brown. Turn off heat when meat is cooked. 

Wash all greens. Chop lettuce into bite-size pieces and put in a large serving bowl. Add arugula by the handful to taste. Tear or chop spinach and add to bowl. Chop onions and add them. Toss. Quarter limes, place on individual plates. Allow people to serve themselves with tortilla chips on the side or crushed and sprinkled over the salad.

Note: I used salsa in place of taco sauce since I didn’t have taco sauce on hand. I only had peach salsa in the back of the fridge. It leant a sweet flavor to the turkey meat — next time I’ll choose a darker, richer salsa (maybe a chipotle?). Also I used lime as a dressing, you can also add cheese, sour cream or guacamole if you have it and you love it!