CSA - Week Four

Another week of yummy produce to enjoy.  I'm having to get creative with the zucchini - between the CSA and my own garden, we are being taken over!  But it's not a bad problem to have.  Come winter we'll really miss the stuff!  Here's this week's share...

It includes zucchini (of course!), squash, tomatoes, garlic, peas, radishes, cabbage, cucumbers, and blackberries.  I'm going to make freezer jam with the blackberries because we just can't eat them fast enough and I need to clear the fridge for vacation.  I think I'll pass the peas along to friends - we just don't care much for them around here.  So, that leaves the cabbage and radishes to deal with.  Still not sure how to use up the heads of cabbage and not sure about the radishes, either.  I don't care much for them raw, but I've never had them any other way.  My husband likes them alright sliced on a salad, so that's probably as creative as I'll get.  I'll miss a couple of weeks due to vacation - my MIL will be enjoying the shares in my place until we get back.

CSA - Week Three

We are still so enjoying our CSA share!  Here's our haul for week three:

I must confess I cheated a bit and also included several zucchini that I picked from my own garden over the weekend.  But, the share included zucchini, squash, cucumbers, popping corn, garlic, tomatoes, garlic scapes, blackberries, and cabbage.  I don't work with cabbage very much, so I'm a bit at a loss as to how to use this up.  My husband doesn't like cole slaw, and I've never cooked cabbage.  Guess I'll have to google some recipes!

CSA - Week Two

Here's a picture of our CSA haul this week:

Included are cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, green onions, more garlic scapes, tomatoes, and on the cob popcorn.  I just love having a fridge full of fresh veggies, although with the harvest from my own garden, we are nearly buried in zucchini.  I'm cooking it as often as my family will let me get away with, but it seems to be multiplying!  Anyway, not a terrible problem to have, I suppose.  My daughter is excited to pop up the popcorn - should be yummy!

Garlic "Escapes" - CSA Week One

This year we decided to join a CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture.  Essentially, you pay an annual fee upfront to a local farm at the beginning of the growing season which then entitles you to a share of the harvest for the year.  I was so excited to get our first allotment!  The first week we got zucchini, cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, tomatoes, and something I was not familiar with - garlic scapes.  Or, as my daughter keeps calling them, garlic escapes.  They are basically the green shoot which forms above ground as a garlic bulb grows underground.  Mine looked like this:

Crazy, right?  I did some googling and found that these babies have the flavor of garlic, but in a much milder form.  I searched through my Google Reader for inspiration, and came across this recipe which looked like it would fit the bill.  I made a few changes for our tastes, and here's my finished product: 

I did add some grilled chicken on top for my husband because he doesn't really do meatless meals, but I thought it was just perfect without.  Overall, I liked the garlic scape, although I need to work on removing all the woody parts.  Some of them were a bit tough.  But the mild garlic flavor was nice.  Good thing we liked it, because word on the street is that garlic scapes will be making more appearances in our CSA shares.  So, I'm on the lookout for recipes using them..  Here's the pasta recipe as I made it...

Pasta with Garlic Scapes
Adapted from Andrea the Kitchen Witch
Makes 2 servings
8 oz spaghetti
4 garlic scapes
1/2 c frozen corn
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
1/4 c chicken broth
1/4 c heavy cream
1/2 c fresh grated Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper

First, cut garlic scapes into 1/2 inch pieces with kitchen shears.  I thought I got rid of all the tough, woody ends, but I did not. I hope to do better next time!

Boil spaghetti noodles according to instructions on box. While pasta cooks prepare sauce.

Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add butter and oil, once butter has melted add the garlic scapes. Toss to coat in fat and cook about 1 minute, until the scapes smell fragrant and are barely brown. Add the frozen corn and cook 1 minute longer, garlic scapes will start to brown.  Here's what mine looked like at this point:

 
Already looking and smelling yummy!

Add the chicken broth and reduce by half. Add the heavy cream, salt & pepper and Parmesan cheese. Stir to melt and incorporate cheese into sauce. Add cooked and drained pasta, toss with sauce and serve.  As I mentioned, I browned up a couple of chicken tenders seasoned with salt and pepper to put over top of my husband's portion.  He enjoyed this as well, and he's not a huge fan of pasta in general.  Can't wait for next week's share!