Posts Tagged ‘Purslane’

CSA2 Week #9

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011 by virginia

We weren’t expecting to pick up our CSA share this week but due to unforeseen circumstances, our trip was unfortunately cancelled. Not a big deal, as we plan on redoing the same trip next year. And this means we have more time to eat our veggies, as I was starting to get worried about the state of our fridge again. Hey, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, right? Well in this case, we got a ton of tomatoes this week, so Josh is making gazpacho, one of my favorites. This week our share contents included:

Greens – 1 lb
Peppers – 3 each
Squash – 1.15 lbs
Cucumber – 1.5 lbs
Tomatoes – 4.5  lbs
Watermelon – 1 each
Mint – 0.12 lbs
Perslaine – 0.12 lbs

Chard, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, purslane, squash, mint, watermelon on top

Spaghetti carbonara with chard is one of our favorite dishes, and so easy to make. It’s always a quick standby dinner for us. Other simple suppers include pureed zucchini soup, or zucchini pancakes with smoked salmon and poached eggs.

I was surprised to see purple peppers, since we’ve been getting a lot of green peppers. I wonder if they taste the same, or if they’re any sweeter. I might just eat those fresh with a salad.

We also got more purslane, which I’ve been using as a garnish. It adds a citrusy, almost sweet bite to every dish. This batch will be the perfect topping for Josh’s garlicky gazpacho.

As for the mint and watermelon, maybe we can combine those for a refreshing salad or an interesting dessert? So many possibilities!

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CSA2 Week #8

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011 by virginia

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. We were in Hilton Head for a long weekend and ended up staying an extra half day when our flight was cancelled due to weather here in NY. At least we had great weather down there, lots of sun, though it was pretty hot and humid. I sat by the pool while Josh golfed in the morning. Not a bad way to spend a few days. Now we’re back and have lots of work to catch up on before we head off on our next trip, next week.

Josh picked up the share this week, which was another heavy load. This week our share contents included:

Cucumbers – 1.75 lbs
Tomatoes – 1.9 lbs
Squash – 1.5 lbs
Greens – 1 lb
Beets – 0.75 lbs
Purslane – 0.4 lbs
Eggplant – 1.75 lbs
Peppers – 1.25 lbs
Melon – 1 each
Basil – 0.2 lbs

Kale, purslane, eggplant, tomatoes, beets, cucumbers, squash, peppers, basil, melon on top

This was the first week that we got tomatoes, and they’re pretty ripe. I’m sure we’ll get more in the next few weeks, and while these are standard red tomatoes, I can’t wait for the heirlooms to come in. I’m not sure if we’ll make a gazpacho with these, or just pair them simply with the gorgeous basil leaves we got.

For the greens, only kale was available, which is always fine by me. We also got some more purslane, which I’m still not sure is the best way to prepare. There’s also a wonky looking yellow melon, which I don’t know if it’s sweet or savory. I guess we’ll just have to cut into it to find out!

As usual, we got more squash and cucumbers, as well as a bunch more peppers. I’ve also got a big supply of eggplant now, though Claire’s idea of baba ganoush is definitely up my alley. I love smokey eggplant dip, and the few recipes I’ve looked up look pretty simple to make. We just don’t have much time to use up all our veggies, since we’ll be away for a week and a half starting next Wednesday. I’m pickling cucumbers as I write!

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CSA2 Week #7

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011 by virginia

It was a pretty hectic CSA Wednesday for me, as Josh was out of town and I had a work function to attend at 5:30. I ended up running out of my office at 3 to pick up the share, then running back to work right afterward. It was also tough because our share was so HEAVY this week, though the farm reports warn us that shares later on in the season will be smaller because things are ripening so fast right now due to the warm weather. This week our share contents included:

Cucumbers  – 2.5 lbs
Squash – 2 lbs
Greens – 1 lb
Eggplant – 1 lb
Peppers – 3 each
Purslane – 1/2 lb
Basil – 1/3 lb
Watermelon – 1 each
Dandelion – 1/3 lb
Tomatillos – 0.4 lbs
Beans – 2/3 lb
Corn – 2 each

Ruby chard, dandelion, squash, beans, peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, watermelon, cucumbers, basil, corn, purslane

There were two new items for the season this week – corn and tomatillos. We got corn last year, but the tomatillos are brand new to us. I’d love to make a salsa verde with them, but we really don’t have a whole lot to work with. I can’t wait to try them out though, and experience their tanginess.

For the greens, we got ruby chard again. Beautiful stems though, so I’m excited. The leafy portion we’ll probably mix with dandelion and either eat them sauteed with garlic, or mixed into a spaghetti carbonara.

For the beans, I picked ordinary string  beans rather than yellow or green pole beans. I prefer the tender crispiness of string beans. I’m not sure what to do with the squash and eggplant, since we get those fairly often. Maybe mix them with the peppers for a nice ratatouille? I might also try to stuff the peppers, since we still have a few from last week to use up.

As for the basil, I have a batch of pesto already in the freezer, since we’ll be away this weekend and then for the next two weekends after. Hopefully another batch will keep just as well. With regard to the purslane, we ate a simple salad of purslane and parsley greens mixed with a bit of lemon juice and olive oil. Refreshing and delicious. It’s a bit intense, so a little goes a long way. The purslane has a nice lemony flavor to it. It’s a great accompaniment to something rich – try it out! Lots of omega-3s are just a bonus.

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CSA2 Week #6

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011 by virginia

Josh was in charge of picking up our CSA share this week, which was good because there was A LOT of stuff. I guess the warm weather has really rushed the ripening of a lot of the vegetables. Even so, I was pretty happy to see so much variety in addition to the quantity. This week our share included:

Squash – 2.75 lbs
Cucumbers – 2 lbs
Peppers – 0.8 lbs
Eggplant – 0.8 lbs
Basil – 0.5 lbs
Lettuce – 1 each
Greens – 1 lb
Purslane – 0.33 lbs
Beans – 0.6 lbs
Pole Beans – 0.75 lbs
Parsley – 0.15 lbs

Cucumbers, basil, string beans, collards, pole beans, peppers, lettuce, eggplant, parsley, purslane, squash

It’s the first time that we’ve received purslane, and I’m curious about it. I’ll have to do some research on how it should be prepared – anyone have any ideas? I’m also intrigued by the purple string beans, though I suspect they probably taste like regular string beans.  Supposedly they turn green when cooked; that seems pretty cool.

I plan on turning the cucumbers into Chinese style garlic pickles, which are delicious and super quick to make. As for the squash, I foresee some zucchini pancakes with smoked salmon and sous vide eggs – one of my favorite brunch dishes.

I was disappointed again that we didn’t get kale for greens, but collards make good chips as well. I’m not sure how to prepare the eggplants though, which are the thin Japanese style. Maybe in some sort of garlic sauce? So many possibilities, too little time. We’ll have to make a good dent in the veggies this week though, as Josh will be on a business trip next week and then we’re off to Hilton Head for a long weekend. We did a decent job cleaning out the fridge last week so we’re almost all caught up on our veggie shares, finally!

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