Here we go again!
I already know what I’ll be making with most of this, so this week will be a breeze!
The CSA Challenge for this week has ended, and I’m please to say it’s also been met. Tonight’s meal was a grilled NY Strip with corn on the cob (not from the box), combined with a fresh vegetable medley of yellow beans, fennel, cauliflower, onion and garlic sauteed in Spicy V8 juice.
So here’s the tally for the week:
The fun and once again challenge part is that all of this starts again tomorrow, when I once again pick up my produce box.
So far so good! We’re making progress on the produce box. Pictured, the salmon salad that I made and ate for two lunches this week. Served with the salad mix (and some tomatoes, olives and mozarrella that I picked up at a pretty decent local store, topped off with a homemade horseradish mustard salad dressing). Also polished off: the miniature yellow cucumbers served with grilled burgers and fresh corn on the cob (not from the box!)
The only things left are some green beans, some cauliflower and a bulb of fennel. I’ve got plans for that tomorrow!
Click the link to see the produce box hitlist!
Pasta with Bacon and Vegetables
Tonight’s dinner, geared at using produce from our CSA box, was a simple pasta with sauteed broccoli, onion, garlic, shelled peas, tomato, bacon and olive oil with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Oh, yeah, and garlic scrapes. I forgot to list the garlic scrapes on my original list (below, under the link), so I am adding them - and crossing them off! - now.
Served with a salad of fresh, homegrown tomatoes and basil with tiny mozzarella balls.
Not too bad today! I used several things from our CSA box today. I can’t post about them all, because I did my IMBB #6: Grillers Delight entry today, to be posted on Sunday.
But here’s what I can tell you about:
Strawberry Rum Thingy:
I froze one pint of strawberries, then combined it with rum and some orange juice to come up with this quite tasty drink. I’d be tempted to call it an alcoholic smoothie of some sort, but… well… smoothies are so trendy these days, and I don’t do “trendy” well.
Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Currant Brandy Sauce:
I made a pretty good cream cheese pound cake, and served it with the currant sauce on top. For the currant sauce I cleaned the currants and added them to the pan with water, sugar, and very liberal splashes of brandy. After simmering for a while, I blended them with my immersion blender. I strained the sauce, put it back in the pan, adjusted the sugar and brandy (ok, I added a lot more brandy!), and simmered a bit longer again. This was served with a glass of Heitz Wine Cellars Ink Grade Vineyard Port
Click the link below to see the CSA box tally. Again, some things are marked off which won’t be posted til Sunday!
As mentioned in one of my previous entries, I am determined to use all the produce from our CSA box this week. Tonight: Grilled yellow beans, fennel, yellow squash, onion and garlic, served with yogurt marinated chicken breasts.
Click below to see what I’ve used up, and what’s left to go. (I have a plan for the strawberries, chard and currants tomorrow, I think!)
And here’s a picture of the most (self) important member of our household, MacDuff, overseeing the evening meal tonight:
It’s getting to be that time of year - our Community Supported Agriculture box from our CSA is beginning to show up overflowing. This presents quite a challenge. How do you use every bit of the box without letting anything go to waste? Especially when there are only two of you doing the eating?
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a challenge that we enjoy facing, or we wouldn’t participate in the program year after year. So this week, I am going to vow to use every piece of produce, and document it here as I do. Here’s the list of produce that I need to use up. I’m looking forward to it, and of course if anyone has suggestions, leave me a comment (hint: I could especially use help with the currants!).
All of this for only $50/month. I think it’s a huge bargain.
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If its Saturday, that means its CSA Produce box day!
(Click to enlarge the images)
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And also picked up at the Farmer’s Market: Morels, Fresh brown eggs, Snow Peas, Organic beef brisket, Tuscany bread (but more on that in my next post!)
It’s official, it’s really spring here! Yesterday we got our first CSA Produce Box from our farm, Harmony Valley Farm. Here’s what we got:
I also went up to the Farmer’s Market on the Square and picked up asparagus, mixed spring greens, arugula, more ramps (you can never have too many ramps), and two Early Girl tomato plants.
Spring is good!