Week 5

Food
Carrots
Garlic scapes YUM!
Lettuce
Peas
Rainbow chard
Turnips

Recipes
It seems like we received more food than that? At any rate, I cooked up the garlic scapes Wednesday night, per Sarah and Jeremy per the chef at the goods pick up. I cut them up, disgarding the top soft part. I cooked them in a hot pan with some olive oil for a couple minutes, and then added salt, pepper, and 1 T of balsamic vinegar. I served it over pasta, and with a salad made of my fresh veggies. Next time I would stick to the pesto, just because that is SO SO good, or use this as more of a side dish.

Week 4

Food

Beets

Broccoli raab

Green onions

Lettuce

Oregano

Peas

Recipes

Week 5 is almost here; I bet I am forgetting some of the goods I received last week. I cooked up the broccoli raab, which is not related to broccoli and which is quite popular in Hong Kong. I served it with pasta in a spicy sauce, and a salad made with some of the CSA veggies. Other than that, I added ingredients to a pulled chicken in salsa verde crockpot dish. 

Wilted broccoli raab 

Rinse broccoli raab and trim off bottom of stem

Cut stalks across

Place in pan with heated olive oil and garlic

Cook 3-5 minutes

Sprinkle with red pepper flakes

(Next time I would cook the stemmy pieces longer than the leafier pieces.)

Week 3

Food

Garlic scapes

Kale

Lettuce

Pea sprouts

Radishes

Rhubarb

Recipes

Our garlic scapes came with a recipe for pesto, which I made on Wednesday night. I served it with pasta and a fresh lettuce salad that was garnished with the radishes and pea sprouts. I tried to make roasted kale, but made burnt to a crisp kale instead. Oh well...the delicious pesto made up for it. 

Garlic scape pesto

1 cup chopped garlic scapes

1/3 cup walnuts

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated

1/2 cup EVOO

coarse salt and pepper, to taste.

Blend everything but the olive oil, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender. Slowly drizzle in the oil with the motor running, and blend until emulsified and smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Roasted kale

4 cups packed kale

1 T EVOO

1 t sea salt.

Heat the oven to 375. Wash and trim kale (remove tough stems by folding in half like a book and cutting off). Toss with EVOO. Roast 5 minutes. Turn kale over. Roast 7-10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve immediately. 

**My kale was burnt. I didn't have too much to work with, so perhaps that was my first problem. Also, Sarah pointed out that maybe the veggie share kale isn't as tough as grocery store kale. I would cut the oven temp next time.**

Week 2

Food

beets

arugula

cilantro

iris flower

leeks
lettuce

Beets! They taste like the earth to me, which means I am learning to like them. I do love how bright they look when you cut them open, and how the beet juice stains your cutting board. I was busy, so I made simple salads out of the food.

Cilantro! One of my new favorites, if doused in fresh lime juice.

Week 1

Food

radishes

lettuce

rhubarb

spinach

Recipe

My grandparents and aunt and uncle visited the weekend after Memorial Day. I wanted to have some special food on hand. In addition to making my family's favorite brownies and hitting up the Cheese Importers, I decided to make a strawberry-rhubarb jelly concoction for toast or with cheese and crackers. I read through several cookbooks and chose a simpler recipe from The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins. I modified it to the following:

5 large stalks of rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths

2 cups hulled, halved strawberries

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1. Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Stir well and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, until the rhubarb is tender, about 10-12 minutes. Remove any foam that forms on the surface.

2. Remove the vanilla bean and let the mixture cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate. It will keep for two days.

Yields approximately 2 cups

Notes

Rhubarb, which grew untouched and uncooked by me in the backyard of my last home in Boulder, seemed daunting to use. But it is easy. Cut off all leaves, as they are inedible. Trim a bit off the top and bottom of the stalk. Peel off strands from the bottom of the stalk with a knife by simply pulling upwards. 

Welcome

Finally, after over six years of putting it off, I have signed up for a summer vegetable share in a local CSA (community supported agriculture). Community Roots is an innovative version; instead of my veggies being grown on a local farm, they are grown in a suburban neighborhood setting. Front and back yards in Boulder's Martin Acres neighborhood have been converted into vegetable gardens. Participation in Community Roots varies from offering your yard, joining the CSA, volunteering, and more. I joined this CSA because my friend Sarah, a Martian Acres homeowner, wanted to split her share with someone, and I was eager to accept the push into community agriculture. Yay for growing things and eating them!

Welcome to this blog that will document my CSA experience. I hope to include lists of the food, photographs, and recipes.