CSA Share for 2013 Week Fourteen

I know it’s hot hot hot right now (at least here in the U.S. Northeast), but soon it will be cooler and you will feel like making soup, so check out the recipe below.  But first, in our share this week:

• tomatoes
• kale
• lettuce
• green beans
• eggplant
• green peppers
• Tropea onions
• potatoes
• apples
• lots of pick-your-own cherry tomatoes and hot peppers

I made this simple and inexpensive soup last week because I had a bunch of turnips to use up.  It’s tasty AND beautiful!

Turnip-Carrot-Onion Soup

• 1 pound turnips, diced
• 3/4 pound carrots, diced
• 1-1/2 large onions, diced
• olive oil
• 6 to 7 cups water
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper
• chives and parsley, chopped (optional)

Heat oil over medium heat.  Add vegetables and salt/pepper and saute for 5 minutes.  Add the water, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes or till veggies are soft.  Remove from heat and puree with stick blender (or in batches in a blender).  Stir in cheese.  Top with fresh chives or parsley.

CSA Share for 2012 Week Sixteen

It’s time to turn our attention to all that squash.  Luckily it stores well, plus it does look good on the counter!  If you chose one of the butternut squash, check out my previous post on a multitude of butternut squash soup recipes.  However, I’m sure you would get good results if you replaced the butternut squash with any of our varieties of squash in these recipes.

In our share this week:

• garlic
• kale
• onions
• potatoes
• corn
• peppers
• green beans
• beets
• several types of winter squash (butternut, kabocha, sweet dumpling, spaghetti)

What to do with that kabocha squash??  If you’re in the mood for soup, make some Kabocha Squash Soup from Fresh Tastes over at pbs.org.  Also, if you can get your hands on a copy of the cookbook Love Soup by Anna Thomas, her Winter Squash, Yam, and Poblano Pepper recipe calls for kabocha squash and looks pretty tasty (I checked this cookbook out of my library a couple winters ago).

I wanted to share with you a recipe that I tried last week:  Lentil-Mushroom Burgers.  This recipe appears in Scott Jurek’s new book Eat & Run, and will use up some of our garlic, onions, and kale from our share this week.  These burgers were actually MUCH tastier than I thought they would be…a pleasant surprise.  It takes a bit of time to make up a batch, but results in a lot of leftovers that you can freeze for an easy “veggie” burger on a busy night.

(Image courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

CSA Share for 2012 Week Fifteen

As our farmer said in this week’s newsletter, our farm party that’s coming up in a couple of weeks truly is no-stress.  Make whatever dish you are inspired to make, show up anytime, and eat as much as you can!  The variety and amount of food is truly amazing.  Over the years, our favorite activities have been pumpkin carving and the giant bonfire, but we have really been blown away each year by the food that our farmers generously supply and cook up, and the food-creativity shown by our members.  It’s a very good time indeed. 🙂

In our share this week:

• garlic
• kale
• mizuna
• potatoes
• green peppers
• kohlrabi
• cauliflower
• onions
• leeks
• winter squash
• apples

The cooler weather this week might motivate you to try a potato and leek soup.  In a previous post from last year, I link to an easy recipe.  The recipe calls for heavy cream, but I find I like it better when I replace the cream with plain milk (either whole or low-fat).

For new members, you might be stumped as to how to use mizuna.  It’s great in a salad, of course, but you could also try it with some of this week’s potatoes and garlic in this recipe over at Nourishing Words.  I’ve never tried mizuna in anything but salads, but I’m definitely going to check out this recipe.

CSA Share for 2012 Week Fourteen

This week I created a new page for this blog titled Recipe Box.  Check it out here or via the link at the top for a list of previous posts containing full recipes using our farm veggies.

In our share this week:

• kale
• collards
• arugula
• green beans
• green peppers
• potatoes
• onions
• delicata squash
• apples

Those delicata squash in our share this week are another sign of the cooler season that’s upon us, along with the red-tipped leaves I’ve been seeing lately.  I say “good riddance” to those sweltering summer days, and I’m sure this cooler weather makes working in the fields all day just a little easier on our farmers.  I love any type of winter squash (but HATED it as a kid…go figure), and last year I even tried a cookie recipe using winter squash.  I’ve found it for you over at The Golden Yolk blog.  A very interesting cookie recipe, indeed, since it calls for olive oil as well as squash.  It’s titled Butternut Cookies, but you can absolutely use any type of winter squash.

Don’t forget to save those squash seeds!  Just toss them in olive oil and salt, and bake at 400 degrees till crunchy.

(Image courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

CSA Share for 2012 Week Thirteen

Our farm’s animals seem to be giving our farmers a good workout lately with their escape antics!  I’m glad our farmers go to the trouble to have them, though; when my kids were younger, they loved seeing all the farm animals up close and personal.

In our share this week:

• basil
• kale
• onions
• green beans
• potatoes
• green peppers

For those of you with young kids who are looking for simple “what to do” ideas (that don’t involve video games, that is!), check out this site that has printable farm animal activities, including lots of mazes as well as word searches, dot-to-dots, and word scrambles.  I also found these farm animal games, many of which use standard playing card decks.

After the kids work up an appetite playing all those games, try out this Boboli Pizza Crust clone recipe.  We tried it this weekend and it turned out great.  It’s the perfect crust to top with all our farm veggies (basil, onions, green peppers), and of course sliced fresh mozzarella.  We used no sauce at all; a fantastic oil and garlic concoction that my husband made was all the base it needed.  Try mixing in some shredded parmesan cheese right into the dough and see how that turns out.

(Top image courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

CSA Share for 2012 Week Twelve

Let’s reminisce a bit this week, looking back at some old farm newsletters for recipes and inspiration.  But first, in our share this week:

• garlic
• onions
• potatoes
• peppers
• broccoli
• collard greens
• basil
• corn
• apples

It’s fun to see what the farm was up to during Week 12 of years gone by.    Just last year, Week 12 of 2011 brought writings of Hurricane Irene; thank goodness this year’s weather has been much quieter.  In contrast, going all the way back to Week 12 of 2005, there was talk of the drought!  Each year of farming seems to develop its own personality.

Don’t forget to use the search feature on our farm’s website, through which you can find recipes from years gone by.  I’ve got you started below:

Collards:  Try a collards soup recipe and also a collards and rice recipe from our Week 3 of 2012 newsletter, and look to our Week 8 of 2005 newsletter for a list of ideas for sauteed greens.  But really, my favorite recipe for greens is from page one of our Week 8 of 2011 newsletter, where our farmer explains how to make a warm BLT pasta salad…mmmmm, delicious. (Just substitute your collards for the called-for arugula.)

Potatoes:  You can find main dish recipes in our Week 16 of 2004 newsletter, and our Week 15 of 2010 newsletter has a delicious-sounding Zuppa Toscana recipe.

Peppers:  Our recent Week 10 of 2012 newsletter has a recipe that I haven’t tried yet and uses five of this week’s veggies:  Relish of Peppers, Onions, Tomatoes, Garlic, and Basil.  Then try another main dish, Smothered Pork Chops that calls for a lot of peppers, given in our Week 17 of 2008 newsletter.

(Image courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

CSA Share for 2012 Week Eleven

Now that we’re getting bagfuls and bagfuls of veggies, it might help some of you to read my post from last year which gives a quick tip on how to stay on top of it all.  In our share this week (another BIG week):

• basil
• greens (collards, kale)
• beets
•  broccoli
• tomatoes
• potatoes
• peppers
• Tropea onions
• green beans
• corn

Another tip to avoiding veggie waste this week is to hit first the veggies that won’t last long, or won’t stay fresh long, such as the green beans and corn.  Then over the next few days eat up or freeze your greens, broccoli, and bell peppers.  Then you can store the beets and potatoes for a much longer time.

For those of you who had a chance to grab some of the eggplant extras, give baba ghanouj a try (see my previous post).  I’m sure you still have some farm garlic leftover to use in this recipe.

(Image courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

CSA Share for 2012 Week Ten

The pickup list sure is looooong this week.  Such variety!  And the peaches and apples are an extra-special treat.  In our share this week:

• garlic
• basil
• tomatoes
• green peppers
• white onions
• broccoli
• greens (kale, swiss chard, or collards)
• eggplant
• cucumbers
• carrots
• potatoes
• peaches
• apples
• hot peppers

Green peppers galore!  I’m glad to see them since I love simply dicing them up and freezing for use atop our winter pizzas.  To use them now, though, Rachael Ray’s Green Pepper and Tomato Salad sounds refreshing.

Those white onions look interesting, so I needed to find out more about them over at onions-usa.org.  Frankly, I use all types of onions interchangeably with no thought to each one’s nuances, so the info on each type’s best usage will be particularly helpful in my efforts to change my onion-usage ways.  Be sure also to click the History of Onions link and the Onion Health Research link at this website.

(Image courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

CSA Share for 2012 Week Nine

With all this lovely basil we’re getting, don’t forget to keep making that basil pesto and then freezing it.  You’ll be happy you did come wintertime.  In our share this week:

• basil
• swiss chard
• cucumbers
• bell pepper
• kohlrabi
• beets
• potatoes
• corn
• tomato

I thought a mid-summer collection of recipes for this week’s veggies would be helpful.  I haven’t tried any of these, so let me know what you think.  I found these over at the Mayo Clinic’s website, where they have lots of recipes and healthy living tips.

Peppers:  Pasta Salad with Mixed Vegetables.  This recipe calls for several of our farmshare veggies including garlic, onions, zucchini, and basil.  You could even throw in some of the sweet corn.  It calls for green and red bell peppers, but you could omit the red bells until they start coming in.

Cucumbers:  Cucumber Pineapple Salad.  Never had these two foods together!  I wonder if it’s good…

Beets:  Beet Walnut Salad.  In addition to beets, this recipe calls for some of our greens.

Potatoes:  Potato Soup with Apples and Brie Cheese.  Save this one till later on when the weather turns a bit cooler.  Doesn’t this one sound delicious?

(Image courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

CSA Share for 2012 Week Seven

Even if I know how to prepare my veggies, sometimes I just need a little inspiration.  Reading cookbooks usually does that for me, and this week I found a beautiful new cookbook at the library:  The Homemade Pantry by Alana Chernila.  I especially like Alana’s writeups before each recipe which make each one special.  I’ll be sure to try her Hummus and her Nut Butter recipes, but I’ll wait till winter to make her Lentil Soup.

In our share this week:

• garlic
• basil
• lettuce
• swiss chard
• cabbage
• Chinese cabbage
• cucumbers
• potatoes

Basil and Garlic:  My family looooooves basil pesto, so the big bunch of basil was a welcome sight.  I thought I had my pesto recipe down-pat, and had been using walnuts instead of pine nuts for years (see my Arugula Pesto recipe post, and simply replace the called-for arugula with basil).  But then my husband was talking to a friend recently who recommended trying pecans as a pine nut replacement instead of walnuts; they’re still half the price of pine nuts but give the pesto a smoother taste than walnuts.  If you’d like to try it, here’s an actual Basil Pecan Pesto recipe.

Cucumbers and Cherry Tomatoes:  Now that the cherry tomatoes are really kicking in, try simply cutting them in half and mixing with diced-up cucumbers, then tossing with olive oil, balsamic, feta cheese, and a little fresh-ground pepper.  This is even better if left to sit for a bit.

Chinese Cabbage:  This is perfect for one of my favorite recipes:  Ellie Krieger’s Chop Suey.   As I mentioned in my previous post from a few weeks ago, I like to replace the called-for wonton skins with chow mein noodles.