Our CSA delivery for today was so packed with greens I could barely fit everything on the table.
It was also really late so I’ve got to run but I’ll be back later when I have time to give you the full rundown of what we got. Meanwhile, I have to figure out what to have for dinner. A salad, definitely. And maybe some kind of quiche or frittata.
UPDATE: Here’s what we got (roughly clockwise from the back): a mess o’greens including collard greens, green oak lettuce, dandelion greens, and spinach, English shelling peas, snap peas, nante carrots, chiogga beets, fresh spinach pesto, chamomile, kiwis, oro blanco grapefruit, navel oranges, rainbow swiss chard, fennel, celery root, and French radishes.
My favorite thing has got to be that container of fresh spinach pesto. Yum!
Let me know if you have any great ideas or recipes for snap peas or fennel. You can barely see it from this angle, but the fennel is over on the left side, partially covered by the rainbow chard.
Today we are rich in produce at our house. Click here to learn more about CSA and to find one near you.
When we lived in Sicily (hubby in the Navy) fennel was used when cooking mussels, added to salads and the bulb was used in cooked dishes like a stirfry or in a coleslaw type salad.
I so love these photos. A feast for the eyes and the soul.
At a farmers market over the summer, I sampled snap peas sautéed in olive oil and seasoned with a little salt and fresh mint. I would have never thought to add mint, but it was delicious.
Here is a recipe that I enjoy: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Penne-with-Spring-Vegetables/Detail.aspx
I steam the snap peas and asparagus rather than boil. You can substitute another vegetable for the asparagus.
I also use them raw in this salad when I have them on hand: http://premeditatedleftovers.blogspot.com/2009/03/from-grilled-chicken-to-pasta-salad.html
I enjoy them sauteed with olive oil, a couple cloves of garlic (minced), and a dash of pepper. Or sauteed in 1 T. butter with 3 green onions (diced), 1 T parsley, and 1 t basil.
Enjoy your incredible delivery.
I had to look in the dictionnary : so many veggies I didn't know in American ( and even in French) !
My basket, here, is less attractive but I find quite enjoyable to look for recipes.
what a beautiful photo…i am in the north east…two feet of snow still on the ground…
Check out Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa). She uses fennel in a lot of her recipes. Everything I've ever made by her is fantastic.
YUM! I love your CSA photos. They're so pretty.
I'm with Jennifer–check out the Barefoot Contessa. Her recipes are delicious.
Wow, gorgeous photo! I would make a fennel salad, composed of the fennel (of course!), apples and walnuts with a light vinaigrette with a bit of tartness and a bit of dijon mustard. And I would make a few green smoothes (1/3 to 1/2 fruit, and the remainder as chopped up fresh greens) zipped smooth in the blender. Yum! I just drank my kale, banana, kiwi and apple smoothie…de-licious!
I just started making lots of basil pesto… so the idea of using spinach sounds great!!
That delivery looks so unbelievably yummy!!
Thanks,
Forest.
http://frugalzeitgeist.com
Thank you all so much for your great suggestions! We will be eating well for the next 10 days.
Okay, I don't have recipe suggestions, but I just started following your blog. I was wondering what you felt the benefit of a CSA was over going to a traditional farmer's market? My husband and I are looking into CSAs and wondering if it's worth it or if we should just continue with the farmer's market? Or both? Your delivery looks amazing!!!
Hi Beth-
I do have opinions about the matter. I think if you have time to go to the Farmer's Market every weekend, and you're a creative cook, the Farmer's Market is just as good a choice. But if you can't always make it there, or you tend to get in a rut and always buy the same thing, the CSA is better. That's because she goes to 4 different Farmer's Markets and picks what's freshest and best, and also gives you tips on how to prepare and recipes. So we're eating all kinds of produce we weren't familiar with, and some we didn't even know how to cook. The only downside can be keeping up with it all because you so hate to waste it. You really do need at least a rough plan of how you're going to use it as soon as you see what you have. That's why we only get it every two weeks. We don't cook enough to use all that up in two weeks. I usually do buy more fruit in between though. But it will be just about your entire produce bill, so it's worth it and didn't make our grocery bill for the month any higher. If you want to read more about it, you can check out previous CSA installments by clicking "CSA" on the label area of the sidebar.
CSA doesn't work for people who are more particular and only like a few vegetables, or for people who want to plan their meals based on their mood or a cookbook rather than what's in season that comes in their delivery. So those are things to consider. We've found it fun to eat in season, and it tastes better. It's fresher and healthier too.
I meant to say we don't cook enough to use it all up in ONE week.
Thanks so much for your insight. We are trying to figure out what we are going to do this harvest season. So, I am just trying to gather info. I had done a bunch of research into CSA's, but wasn't sure why someone would pick that over going to a Farmer's Market. I see your points though. I am thinking of doing a lot of canning this year, so a CSA may be a better option just because of the quantity you get. Thanks again for your help!