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Our share contents this week included:
Lettuce – 1 head romaine
Garlic – 3 each
Beets – 3 each
Carrots – 5 each
Onions – 4 each
Squash – 1 lb
Basil – 2 oz
Mixed Baby Greens – .25 lb
The beets and carrots widely varied in size (some were barely larger than my thumbnail), and I tried to pick out the largest ones. They weren’t super huge but I guess it’s still early in the season. The basil was gorgeous and fragrant, and 2 ounces is really a lot. Same with the mixed baby greens.
We also got our fruit share, which was pretty much the same as last week, except a smaller juice (boo).
Cherries – 3 pints
Juice – one bottle
We picked raspberry apple juice this time, and I liked it even better than the rhubarb apple from last week (though Josh prefers the rhubarb version).
According to the farm reports, the super hot weather hasn’t been good for the crops. Hopefully it cools down a bit because I’m really loving all these fresh veggies and fruits that we’re getting. And hopefully the pests stay away as well!
]]>LettuceĀ – 1 large head
Garlic – 3 bulbs
Garlic scapes – 5 stalks
Radishes – 4
Onions – 4
Greens – 3/4 lb
We had a choice between romaine lettuce and red leaf lettuce so we chose the romaine, because we still had red leaf left over from last week. We also had a choice between ruby chard and kale for the greens, and we went with the kale because we had chard last week.
In even more exciting news, our fruit share started this week!! The email that we received regarding the contents was a bit confusing, and so we thought we were getting three pints of juice. Not exactly fruit, but we figured it was because it’s still early in the season. Turns out that we got three pints of cherries, plus a juice. There were several juices to choose from and we opted for rhubarb apple, since it seemed to be the most unusual option.
Cherries – 3 pints
Juice – one bottle
The cherries are slightly tart but have a great firm, juicy texture. They’re good for snacking on their own, but I’m hoping to bake with some as well, since three pints is quite a lot of fruit.
We’re still trying to cook more each week, and we’re getting much better about it. More recipes to come!
]]>As part of our first CSA share, we received two medium-sized heads of romaine lettuce. They were really gorgeous – vibrant green, fresh, and crisp. We wanted to make caesar salad with it, but our usual homemade dressing is pretty heavy and thick. We didn’t want to overwhelm the lettuce and lose the fresh flavor so we decided to lighten it up a bit by omitting the egg and garlic and putting in a smaller amount of anchovy paste.
The dressing really couldn’t be simpler, and I made it in my knock-off magic bullet blender. Just throw the following ingredients in, eyeballing the amounts:
-Juice of one lemon
-About a teaspoon of anchovy paste
-A dash of worcestershire sauce
-Grated parmesan cheese
-Salt
-Pepper
-Olive oil
The amount of olive oil depends on how thick you want it to be. I started with about a quarter of a cup and then increased it to make the dressing a bit thicker, so that it would cling to the leaves. Blend, and then toss with the leaves, which we cleaned and chopped into 1 inch pieces. Grate some extra parmesan over the top, and a few grinds of pepper.
The salad was really fantastic, with the lemon brightening everything up. The lettuce itself was the best romaine we’ve ever eaten, crisp and flavorful, not watery and bland like the romaine you get from the supermarket. We served the salad alongside some tilapia cakes that Josh made extra special by adding in some bits of crunchy turkey bacon. It was a light meal but packed with flavor, and so very easy to prepare.
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