CSA Share #4

From the City (temporarily in a small town)...

So as you can see, I've been picking up a little of the blog slack lately. Laura is as busy as a bee on the farm working hard and I, let's just say, have a little more time on my hands.

Here's what I got in my share last week:

1 quart strawberries

1 quart cherry tomatoes

1 bunch garlic scapes

2 bunches of beets

1 bunch spring onions

1 dozen eggs

1 bag of salad greens

1 deliciously amazing roll of summer sausage (which we have easily eaten half of)

Our lunch pretty much all week.

Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

1 large bunch of beets

2-3 cups beet tops washed

2 large spring onions

1/4 cup goat cheese

Olive oil for drizzling

Balsamic vinegar for drizzling

chopped italian parsley (optional, only if you like it)

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a baking dish add beets and a light drizzling of olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

When beets are cool, peel them and set aside.

In a pan, saute finely chopped spring onion. Add beet greens, cover and turn off the heat.

In a bowl, combine beets, greens, parsley, goat cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Mix well and enjoy!

Simon and I ate this salad for the better half of the week and it really is quite delicious.

CSA Share #3

From the City (temporarily in a small town)...

We picked up our last CSA share in Toronto until September and it contained:

1 quart strawberries

1 bunch baby beets plus the tops

1 bunch green onions

1 bunch rhubarb

1 bunch garlic scapes

3 huge white turnips plus the tops

1 bag of salad greens

1 small cucumber

1 loaf of bread

1 dozen eggs

I'm not gonna lie, doing any cooking last weekend was tough. We spent the majority of the weekend cleaning and packing and actually moving which is NEVER and easy task. There is also more stuff than you thought there was, more mess to clean up and barely enough room to move it all. Alas though, we finally made it. No more city for two whole months.

Here is a recipe that I did actually have time to make:

Green Onion and Basil Pesto

1 cup basil leaves ( I raided my herb garden)

1 cup beet tops (or spinach, or swiss chard or whatever green you might have on hand)

5 large green onions
¼ cup walnuts or pine nuts
¼ teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons olive oil

Puree the whole mess.

Make a yummy pizza or pasta or whatever else you fancy.

CSA Share #2

From the City...

We picked up our share two days ago and of course, we were totally totally ecstatic about the goods.

Here's what we got:

1 quart of strawberries (which we ate on the walk home, they were warm, sweet and delicious)

1 quart shelling peas

1 large bunch garlic scapes

1 incredibly beautiful tomato which will be happily made into a sandwich tomorrow

1 bunch of baby beets with the greens

1 head of buttery lettuce

4 Naked Pig sausages made by Kyle Deming, which were incredibly unbelievably more amazing than I thought possible.

1/2 lb organic noodles

After our first week as CSA members, we've stuck pretty well to our guns. Aside from a handful of oranges, avocados, a loaf of bread, milk and some goat cheese, we ate only from our CSA share. Which is pretty great. We're eating super locally and paying a fair price for our food, which makes up feel pretty good.

Here's a recipe from our dinner tonight. It was pretty amazing. It also gave us a chance to use up some of our leftover spinach from our last share.

Green Noodles with Barbecued Naked Pig Sausages

Ingredients:

1/2 lb noodles

1 quart shelling peas, shelled

1 cup chopped garlic scapes

1 cup spinach

1 large onion, chopped

4 good quality sausages, barbecued to perfect and cut into chunks

1 small hunk of ontario goat cheese (optional)

1/2 cup olive oil

sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

Method:

1. In a pot , bring to a boil enough water to cook your noodles in. When noodles are almost finished, add garlic scapes and peas. Drain and set aside.

2. Saute onions in a splash of olive oil. Add spinach. Now add noodles, peas and garlic scapes. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Add sausage and top with goat cheese. Serve and enjoy heaven.

Note: this whole recipe from beginning to end, took us about 20 minutes to prepare. Not bad, not bad at all.

CSA Share Numero Uno

From the City...

I picked up my first CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) box on Friday and this was the core list that every large share was given:

A huge bunch of spinach

Large bunch of spring onions

Bunch of rhubarb

Quart of Fingerling Potatoes

Head of Romaine

Choice of herbs (I chose parsley)

In addition that that core list, I had $15 extra dollars that I could spend on the table. The table being loaded up with fresh bread, jam, jelly, meats, honey, maple syrup and other goodies.

We were in desperate need of eggs and maple syrup so that's how we spent our money.

What I've really enjoyed about this first share is that I've had to work with what I'm given and my recipes have had to reflect only what is in the box that given week. Simon and I are making a real effort to only eat what the box provides, minus some avocados and oranges of course.

So here's what I've cooked up so far.

Scrambled eggs with green onions, spinach and ontario goat cheese.

Roasted fingerling potatoes (smothered in Ketchup a la Simon), grass fed organic steak from Kawartha Ecological Growers, spinach and romaine salad with balsamic vinaigrette.

Homemade Falafels with Yogurt (with minced garlic)

Recipe:

4 cups cooked chickpeas ( 2 15 oz cans)

4 medium cloves garlic

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp salt

2 green onions (4-5 if they are smaller, like I said, mine were quite large)

1/4 cup parsley

1/3 cup water

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/3 cup flour

oil for frying (I used coconut and it turned out pretty well)

1. Rinse chickpeas and drain well.

2. Combine all ingredients except flour, in a food processor and process until you have a uniform batter

3. Add flour and stir until thoroughly combined.

4. Heat a heavy skillet and add about 3 tbsp of oil. When it's hot enough to sizzle, drop tablespoons of of batter onto pan, flattening each slightly. Saute for about 10 minutes on each side, until golden and crisp.

5. Serve with pita and yogurt.

....I wonder what goodies I'm gonna get this week...

Something Interesting

From the City...

The Environmental Working Group, an american non profit organization, has just come up with a list of the Dirty Dozen as well as the Clean 15. A list of the most heavily sprayed fruits and vegetables as well as the cleanest conventionally grown fruits and vegetables out there.

I like these types of lists A LOT. They make my life easier. I do the best I can but at the end of the day, I don't have a ton of money so these lists guide me on how to best spend my money.

The Dirty Dozen:

1. Celery

2. Peaches

3. Strawberries

4. Apples

5. Blueberries

6. Nectarines

7. Bell Peppers

8. Spinach

9. Kale

10. Cherries

11. Potatoes

12. Imported Grapes

The Clean 15:

1. Onions

2. Avocado (Lucky for me, I eat about 6 a week)

3. Sweet Corn

4. Pineapple

5. Mangoes

6. Sweet Peas

7. Asparagus (which is in season here in Ontario, lucky for us all)

8. Kiwi

9. Cabbage

10. Eggplant

11. Cantaloupe

12. Watermelon

13. Grapefruit

14. Sweet Potatoes

15. Honeydew Melon

more info here: http://foodnews.org/

Sometimes I hit a moment of weakness though. Like last week I was at the fruit market in Kensington and the first batch of ontario strawberries were in and I'm not gonna lie, I bought some. I wanted so badly to taste sweet summer. Laura and I grew up on a strawberry farm and strawberries make me feel a little nostalgic so I threw caution to the wind and I did it. They were okay, by far not the best I've tasted but they'll tie me over until my first CSA share starts next week.

Here are some washes that apparently reduce pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables for those times when you have a moment of weakness like myself.

• Soak produce in a 50/50 solution of water and vinegar for five minutes
• Spray vegetables with a combination of 1 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp baking soda and 1 cup water
• Diluted dish detergent followed by a rinse of water

Happy Eating!

amelia