CSA Week Six

Back from vacation and back to our weekly share. (In case you missed it, we were away for week 5 and shared our veggies with a friend.)

This week we received:

head lettuce
bok Choy (we traded ours in the trade bin for a second bunch of carrots, by the request of my 12 year old, who loves carrots but hates bok Choy)
onions
pint of new potatoes (I turned these into yummy garlic mashed potatoes, with the skin on)
beets
carrots
pint of tomatoes
purple peppers
cucumbers
zucchini
herbs - I chose basil

A lot of the veggies, like the zucchini and peppers and carrots, went straight into my lunch boxes as veggies and dip, while my husband continued to eat a salad with his lunch every day. One thing for sure, we are definitely eating our share!

I sliced up the beats to roast them (blanching and freezing the beet greens for future use), but they were so pretty inside I just had to take a picture.

Greens for dinner

There has been no menu plan around my house this summer, since I am cooking primarily from what we get from our CSA share. Here are a few things I've made.

Shrimp stir fry with bok choy, spicy greens mix, and spring onions, topped with spring onion greens.

Nappa cabbage, sauted with bacon.

Kale and sausage pasta.

Chicken stir fry with peppers, zucchini, and spring onions.

Good, fresh ingredients don't require much, and make cooking, while last minute, very simple.

CSA Week Four

I have to admit, whether I like the vegetable or not, I'm really enjoying taking this picture every week. I like having a visual record of everything we got in our share that week.

Four week four, we received:

Big bag of spicy mix
Head of Lettuce
Big head of Bok Choy
Buch of Radish
Bunch of Turnip
little bag of beans
A greenhouse cucumber
1.5lbs of Zucchini!
A bunch of Carrots
A greenhouse pepper
A bunch of onions
A bulb of garlic
Basil

Now I pick up our share each Wednesday, and have a week to go through it all. For this week, however, I knew we were going away on the following Monday, and I knew we were trying to clear out a bunch of edibles from the house. So my neighbour got my bok choy. My mother-in-law got most of the salad, some peppers and zucchini. And I brought my radishes and turnips with me to give to my dad, who loves raw radishes.

We were away for week 5, gave it to a friend instead, but I hear this is what was in it:

fennel
beets
carrots
onions
garlic
bunched arugula
napa cabbage
cucumbers
zucchinis
Head Lettuce
Red Russian Kale

I was sad to miss the fennel, but bought some next time I went to the market stand.

Next up, a couple of dishes I made with my lovely veggie share.

CSA Week Three

Week Three gave us our first beans of the season, as well as our first carrots. I'd have loved more beans and my children would have loved more carrots.

Here is what we got:

1 head Broccoli
I head Bok Choy
1 bunch Onions

1 bulb Garlic
1 bunch Carrots
1 bunch Hakurei Turnips
1 bunch Radishes
1 bunch Basil
1 Cucumber
1 lb Zucchini
1/3 lb Beans
1 bag Salad Mix

As soon as we got home, I prepped a bunch of the veggies for a veggie platter, which we had for dinner with some dip and other appetizer type munchies, picnic style. Sometimes you just need an indoor carpet picnic with a good tv show (we were watching Tour de France together.)

Despite my picnic and platter, I had lots of zucchini left to deal with, and a couple of reluctant eaters in my children, so I decided to try making zucchini chips with a bit of a crunchy coating on them.

It didn't work, they still didn't like zucchini.

They did, however, really like the lamb sliders I served with the chips.

Zucchini "Chips"

1-2 zucchini, sliced in 1/4 inch coins

1-2 egg whites

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a medium bowl, toss the zucchini with the egg whites, being sure to coat everything well.

In a separate bowl, mix the bread crumbs, cheese and pepper. Toss the coated zucchini in the mixture, then spread on a single layer on a baking sheet.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden and crispy.

Best served warm.