Nearly as fresh as you can get

It's been ages since I posted here. I've been busy this summer, though still enjoying my food!

Tonight, I needed to make a quickie dinner. Adam threw some water on for pasta, and I raided the CSA share and our garden. I chopped up:

2 fairytale eggplants (from the garden)
1 onion (from the CSA)
2 cloves of garlic (CSA)
1 tomato (farmer's market)
a bunch of basil and parsley (garden)

and sauteed it in olive oil, salt, and pepper. When the pasta was done, I threw it all together and dinner was done!

I also made some iced tea using loose black tea and mint from the garden, and I made a salad for the side using an itty bitty cabbage, some fennel fronds, a bit of fennel stem, and small yellow tomatoes, all from the CSA. I added salt, pepper & and a commercial dressing (an organic red wine vinaigrette) because I was out of time and we were hungry!

All in all, a nice, quick dinner made almost entirely from fresh & local ingredients! Yay!

2011 CSA, Week 2

It's week 2 of the PVF CSA, and the shares are getting a bit bigger! This week we were told to choose 7 including at least one herb. We also have an egg share Today, we chose:

1 giant zucchini
a bunch of baby leeks
1 very large fennel bulb with fronds
a bag of lemon basil
a bunch of swiss chard
a bunch of kale
a small box of red & yellow cherry tomatoes

And of course a 1/2 dozen eggs.

We still have a little bit of the salad greens from last week, as well as some of the turnips. This is one thing that I really like about the market style CSA. If we just had a regular mini share, we might have ended up with more turnips or salad greens, which we really don't need right now. We picked items that we did not get last week, with the exception of the chard (which is so universally liked in this house that it only seems right to get more), so we should not find ourselves with too much of one item that we don't necessarily want a lot of. Now, as for the fennel, it's one of my husband's favorite things in the world, so as long as they look good, we'll probably continue getting them.

It was good to see that the number went up this week from 6 items to 7, and I can appreciate that they wanted you to take at least one herb.

We got a recipe for grilled fennel; I think I'll make it later in the week with fish and using the fronds to help season the fish. The kale will likely become chips. The chard, well, we'll see how we're feeling but I'm thinking egg pie :)

Oh and the kids totally went for the tomatoes. I had to grab the box away before they did to the tomatoes what they did to the peas last week!

2011 CSA, Week 1

Once again, we decided to do our CSA with Potomac Vegetable Farms, and I have to say, I could not be happier. Well, I could be a little happier if we had had the money to do the regular share this year, but instead we did the mini share, because we were poor in February when we had to pay for it. It's ok though! Because PVF will have a farm stand later in the summer, and they are at the Reston Farmer's Market on Saturdays as well.

This year, they are doing an experiment, having the Wednesday group do a "market style" CSA.  They set up the CSA room like a farm stand, and you get to pick your items. You get to choose based on your share size. So today, minis got to take 6 items, regulars got to take 8, and robust shares got to take 12. I took the kids in to the room and it was amazing! We also got eggs again this year because they are the best eggs ever. Micah decided he wanted:

kohlrabi (he picked a purple one). He did not know what it was but I told him it tasted like broccoli stems so he thought that would be a good pick.
salad turnips (it was a pint sized container with small salad turnips)
sugar snap peas
a bag of salad greens
a bunch of garlic curls
a bunch of swiss chard

Plus of course we picked up our eggs. Seeing the other items made me wish we could have had the regular share, because they had zucchini, leeks, spring onions, spring garlic, and a ton of herbs. But we're growing our own herbs this year, and like I said, we can supplement with the farm market this weekend. In fact, I had picked up spring onions and garlic at the market last week, so we actually did have some already.

Hana, who is the woman who runs the CSA, was present in the room when we were picking up, making sure everyone knew what to do since it was the first week. When I told Micah that there was swiss chard, he said, "Oh YES! I love Swiss Chard! It's my FAVORITE!!" She got a big kick out of that, and said "Oh my gosh, then you're with the right CSA!" It's a big joke among PVF people that we start and end very very leafy.

If the amounts of food are anything like last year, we should have more picks as the summer goes on. I'm really looking forward to it!

Oh and by the way, the sugar snap peas are already gone. We ate them for lunch with sandwiches. I got 5 of them and the kids ate all the rest.

CSA this week!

I traded weeks with Amy this week, so we got our share two weeks in a row. And boy was it an awesome one!

Tomatoes
Eggplant (SO MUCH EGGPLANT!)
Onions  (about 6 of them)
Pole Beans
Peppers
Cherry Tomatoes
Salsa Kit!!!
Chard
Arugula
Thai Basil
Raspberries (YAY!)
Eggs

There were a bunch of eggplants that had been left in the "take or leave" bin, so I got a couple of extra (they were small) in hopes that I can make a whole bunch of eggplant stuff for the freezer. I have offers of kitchen use from a few friends, and with all of the tomatoes and eggplant, I see both eggplant parmagiana and caponata in our near future. Also, if I can find the food processor, that Salsa Kit will be Salsa in no time.

I also think we will have to make some swiss chard empanadas. If I can prep them at a friend's kitchen, they will cook nicely in the toaster oven until I have a real oven again.

So yeah, really excited about this week's share.

We have been Tomatoed! Plus, the Kitchen is Nearly Ready For Cabinets!

Today when we arrived for our CSA pickup, there were 5 bins of heirloom tomatoes and a scale saying that mini-shareholders should take 2 lbs, Regular shareholders should take 3 lbs, and Robust shareholders should take 4 lbs. Three pounds of tomatoes should keep us going until the next pickup we have in 2 weeks (we are sharing our farm share with a friend this year)

We also have basil and parsley, many many onions, cucumbers, peppers, chives, eggs, cabbage, carrots, and a watermelon. All of which means I need to borrow someone's kitchen to make bruschetta, cucumber salad, and cole slaw. And more hard boiled eggs. My friend Amy was kind enough last week to allow me to boil a bunch of eggs at her house last week, so that all of these wonderful eggs do not go to waste. Here's hoping I can also make some egg salad while I'm at it.

In other Kitchen News, I am now fully baffled at why anyone would ever do a popcorn/textured ceiling. I've been told that it's easier than making the ceiling look nice and smooth. Well, I can tell you that I am an amateur and my ceiling is now Gorgeous. And it was my first one. When I get to the dining and living rooms, it will go much more smoothly, because now I know what I'm doing. Three weeks ago I didn't know what I'm doing. Now I do.

That's one of the reasons I love that we are doing the kitchen ourselves, even if it's a pain in the ass. I learned how to take down a stippled ceiling and make it look gorgeous. I learned how to make a wall made from 7 pieces of drywall look like a wall made from one. Soon I'll learn how to install recessed lights.

I just wish I could cook. But SOON. SOON we will be able to cook.

CSA Week 1!! YAY!!!!

Today I picked up our farm share for the first time this summer. We are sharing our farm share with a friend this year, so we only get to pick it up 8 times--every other week. That said, the farm stand should be open soon, and we can supplement from that. It is possible that there will be Autumn shares available, and if there are, we will participate as long as we have the cash to do so.

SO! Today's farm share:

Swiss Chard

lettuce

itty bitty Beets w/ greens

kohlrabi

garlic curls

mint

dill

eggs

Tonight, I had planned to make a freezer meal, but it wasn't defrosted enough when I got home, so I made a stir fry of spring onions (from the farmer's market), garlic curls, kohlrabi, swiss chard, and tofu. I seasoned it with soy sauce, a little rice vinegar, a splash of apple juice, and some garam masala. Don't ask why, I just did, and it tasted great! We made some brown rice on the side, and it was a very delicious, summery, first CSA-meal of the season.

Summertime Eating

It's been a while since I posted here. For one, very soon after reaching Lifetime on Weight Watchers I started feeling nauseated all the time. It's not really conducive to posting in a food blog. Since that has passed (for the most part; I think it's dairy that causes it), I am back to cooking, mostly.

But the fun and wonderful thing is that we have the Farmer's Market, and starting on Wednesday, our CSA!!

So far at our Farmer's Market, we have picked up strawberries, various kinds of greens, bunches of herbs, sweet Italian sausage, Goat Cheese, more strawberries, spring onions, spring garlic, cauliflower, more strawberries, and some pastries. Oh and more strawberries. We all like strawberries a lot. Adam is making a strawberry beer, so this week we picked up 6 quarts of them, and only 2 of them are available for me to eat. Uh, I mean for us to eat. That's right.

We're splitting our farm share this year, so we are only getting 8 weeks worth of vegetables, so I expect that we will be buying more at the farmer's market this year than last.

And so far, that's where we are. Oh and of course, we will be redoing our kitchen this year, so I anticipate many raw meals while we don't have a working kitchen!

Salsa Madness

I can't take credit for the recipe. My CSA had a bunch of Salsa Kits in our shares. All you do is put everything in a food processor, blend it all together, and add vinegar or lime juice and salt. I made up the first kit and it lasted WEEKS. I had 2 more kits in the fridge and just made them up. I'm just posting this so I remember what was in each of the kits:

Roma tomatoes

tomatillos

peppers (early ones had jalapenos, and others had other kinds of peppers)

garlic

onion

Really that was it. And it is fabulous. :-D

CSA Last Week!

It's with a tear in my eye that I post that this is our last CSA Week! I'm so sad. Next year I think we'll do the Fall share, to keep it going for another 4 weeks.

This week:

Watermelon (from the "everyone take a watermelon" box)
Opal Basil
Some other herb (need to look it up)
peppers
tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
potatoes
onions
zucchini
LOTS of cucumbers
corn
chard (from the "take what you want" pile)

Tonight I'm making chard and chicken quesadillas. We made quesadillas with just chard the other day and OMG they were so good. But I thought they might be nice with some chicken added, too. I made a TON of chard though so I might just make the chicken ones for tonight and prep the chard ones for the freezer.

Will post the recipe if they come out well.

CSA Next to Last Week, With Raspberries!

Today's pickup was beautiful and bountiful as usual!

Raspberries!

Spaghetti Squash

Swiss Chard

Corn

Tomatoes

Radishes

Chinese Long Beans

Pole Beans

Parsley

Eggs

Surprisingly, there were no potatoes as we have had in the last several weeks! That's OK though--I have plenty PLENTY of potatoes still. Our newsletter came with a recipe for swiss chard quesadillas, and actually it sounds not just pretty good, but potentially freezable as well. We had some pretty tasty chicken quesadillas from Dinner Zen, and they froze beautifully and reheated great. So I'm thinking of doing maybe a swiss chard, corn, and chicken quesadilla and making it more of a dinner than a snack. I'll post if they come out yummy.

Meanwhile, only one week to go! I'm so sad. I was sorely tempted to add the fall share (they had some openings at the East Farm, which is where I go), but I think that instead we will just go to the farm stand and farmer's market for our fall veggies. It's supposed to be very leafy and rooty again, so it will nice to see what they have at the stands. If we like it, then next year we'll add the fall share when we do our initial share purchase. Meanwhile, one more week to go! Hooray!

CSA this week-- with Watermelon!

Holy cow! Watermelon!

My CSA box was crazy heavy today due to the addition of a watermelon. My son is thrilled.

Today's haul:

Watermelon!
Blackberries
Figs
cherry tomatoes
tomatoes
onions
peppers
yet another salsa kit
purslane (looks like a jade plant--you just pick off the leaves and add to a salad)
pole beans
2 eggplants
eggs

I can't see the figs making it beyond today. They are magic figs that jump right out of the box and into my mouth!

Due to having 2 sick kids, my plan for today had been to bake something from the freezer--that is still my plan but I think we will have tomato and onion salad on the side. Too bad there is a basil blight here and most of the basil is no longer good. Sad.

By the way, try carrying all of that plus a baby in an infant seat and wrangle a 3 year old at the same time. I think I need a trip to the chiropractor.

Back when I was on bedrest, some friends brought me a salad from a restaurant that had in it watermelon, onions, blueberries, and some kind of sweet vinaigrette over spinach. I wonder how that would taste with blackberries instead of blueberries. I would try it tonight only I have no spinach. Sad.

CSA This week

It's hard to believe we are coming to the end of our CSA! We didn't do the full summer and fall, so our last pickup is going to be on September 16th! Crazy!

This week:

blackberries
1/2 dozen eggs
a whole lot of potatoes
carrots!
corn
2 eggplants
yellow mini tomatoes
12 or so heirloom tomatoes
chinese long beans (anyone know what these are? How to cook them?)

The eggplants and many of the tomatoes have already become more caponata. I made about 2 quarts and gave some away to a friend today. We have so many potatoes it's hard to remember to cook them all the time. Today I made some cheesy potatoes to have with dinner and they were kind of a hit. The blackberries were, as usual, fabulous.

Our farmer's market goes until November, so after our share ends we'll still be buying locally grown produce, just from the market instead of from our share. It would have been an extra $100 for our share to include four weeks of autumn veggies, and I think we figured we wouldn't spend that much in that amount of time on things like squash. We'll track our spending though, and see if we do, and if we do, we may opt to take the extra weeks next year. Meanwhile, I'll be sad when it is no longer part of our ritual to go to the farm every Wednesday to get our veggies.

Here's a quickie salad that tasted way better than it probably ought to have tasted. Don't ask me why I thought to do this, but it seemed like a good idea and it was very tasty.

some greens (mostly romaine)
top with blackberries
add some crumbled goat cheese (I used Cherry Glen Monocacy Silver)
drizzle with ranch dressing
drizzle with a little bit of Big Fig Jam from The Crackpot Gourmet
Eat and wonder why it tastes so good.

CSA Pickup--Tomatoed again!

Have I mentioned it's tomato season here?

This week our CSA decided that instead of packing up our tomatoes for us, they would leave out a selection and tell you how many to take, with the caveat that this week it's ok to be greedy and take more. My husband did the pickup and came back with 10 heirloom tomatoes, plus a box of cherry tomatoes that was in our share already and a salsa kit, which is just what it sounds like--take all ingredients from the salsa kit, put in a food processor, and add salt, vinegar, and anything else you want to add (I added a bit of sugar).

I haven't actually looked at everything we got but I'm pretty sure it included:

10 heirloom tomatoes

1 box of cherry tomatoes

1 salsa kit (it had several tomatoes, 3 small tomatillos, garlic, onion, and 2 kinds of peppers)

a giant box of blackberries

2 small heads of garlic

4 ears of corn

a whole lot of potatoes

onions (not sure how many but my son announced that we had onions!)

1/2 dozen eggs

1 medium sized eggplant

handful of basil (they have a box of "take if you want" stuff and the basil came from there. I asked Adam to get me some so that I can use it with the tomatoes and onion)

Not sure if I missed anything. I already made the salsa and it is fantastic. I'm going to try to contain myself and not make more tomato corn soup because I do know how much my son loves corn on the cob. I guess I can always get him more corn at the market.

I am considering what to do with the eggplant. The volume of tomatoes that we have suggests Caponata, but I know most of my friends would suggest Dusted Eggplant instead (and I do have fresh garlic to go with it). I'll have to think on that one.

CSA Week I lost Track! But OMG TOMATOES!

We have been Tomatoed! Here was our haul this week. There was so much food!

A BAG of mixed heirloom tomatoes

a BOX of Italian tomatoes

1 bunch of rainbow swiss chard

3 onions

1 quart of blackberries

2 small eggplants

4 small summer squash (green)

2 long cucumbers

1/2 dozen eggs

1 big bunch of some kind of very lemony smelling herb (they say this is thai basil but I think it is more like Thai Lemon Basil).

4 ears of corn

1 bag of pole beans 

1 bunch of parsley

I have no idea what to do with pole beans.

But it looks like this is the week to make Tomato and Corn Soup. It generally calls for cilantro, but no one locally has any because apparently it is too hot to grow right now. Very sad as I like to get as many of my ingredients locally as possible. I might just make it with parsley instead. I learned my lesson about making it with basil last year--it tasted more like pasta sauce than soup! 

Speaking of sauce, I might just have to make some pasta sauce, too. Because I really have no idea what to do with all of these tomatoes. We still have 5 left over from last week! I also think we will have to make the swiss chard pies again, because they have been a hit all around. They reheat out of the freezer really well, and 2 pies seem to make a good lunch (I might just make them bigger this time and then one pie will make a lunch!)

So, any suggestions for what to do with pole beans? And any good recipes that use Thai Lemon Basil?

CSA--Half way through the summer!

The last few weeks I have not actually been aware of what was coming in our CSA share, as I have been on bedrest and friends have been picking it up, delivering it, and making it disappear into my fridge. Then my husband makes salad. 

But today I was downstairs on the sofa when Kristen and Howard showed up with the share, so I know what we have and boy is it a beauty!

Swiss Chard

Onions--three kinds

Shallots

Fennel

Garlic

Opal Basil (it's Purple!)

Thyme

More fingerling potatoes than you can shake a stick at 

Tomatoes!

I have a feeling that tomorrow, I will be eating some sort of tomato, onion, and basil all together. Perhaps on a bagel (my parents are coming into town and they are bagel people) but also perhaps as a salad or just by slicing up tomatoes and putting the onion and basil on top. Who can say?  What I do know is that I am having a baby in 4 days and I am not going to let those tomatoes go to waste!

Hospital Food--it could kill you

First of all, I have no idea what's in our CSA share this week, as I'm on complete bedrest now. I think there is some bibb lettuce, some zucchini, more garlic curls, and potentially some lemon basil but I haven't seen for myself yet. I guess this week will be a big week of food surprises from my husband.

I spent 2 days in the hospital this week, and who would have thought that my awesome diet would be completely thwarted by hospital food. I mean, I understand that it's institutional food, but must it be so completely bad for you?  

While I was still laying in triage, heading into my fifth hour, I begged for some food, and the nurses brought me some snacks from the maternity snack fridge. A banana, some graham crackers, and a ginger ale. All but the banana were sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup, which I haven't had any of in months. Boy was that a shock to the system.

After they admitted me, most of the meals were mystery meat smothered in gravy, vegetables that had had the life cooked out of them, and desserts that undoubtedly were again made with HFCS. Even when I started requesting iced tea, what came was some kind of industrial blend of tea-like substance. Even the juices were sweetened with HFCS--as if fruit juice needs to be sweetened at all.

The most remarkable dinner that I had, and by remarkable I do not mean that in a good way, was the "chicken pot pie." I figured, ok, institutional food. TONS of frozen food companies make perfectly decent chicken pot pie. How bad could it be?

What came was what appeared to be semi-condensed cream of chicken soup with a biscuit thrown in the middle. It was mostly broth, about 4 small chunks of chicken, 5 peas, and 2 carrot slices. I kid you not. I had ordered spinach on the side as a choice that was not mashed potatoes, and it was, of course, cooked to death. 

It's a recipe for disaster. And constipation. If I'm going to eat this crap, I thought, I may as well let my husband bring me a whopper. 

I later remembered the advice a nurse had given to my dad when he was in the hospital ten years ago--always order the sandwich. Haha! It's apparently really hard to mess up a sandwich, and because of health regulations it has to be made much more freshly than, say, a "chicken pot pie." I'll keep this in mind when I am in the hospital next time (I'm not being pessimistic. This baby does in fact have to come out and I will be in the hospital for it!)

Meanwhile, some real food should be had tonight! Yesterday my husband had to go into work and he left me a cooler of food--veggies, fruit, yogurt, a yummy sandwich, and a pitcher of lemonade. Much better :)

CSA Week 3, plus some more CSA & Farm Recipes

Our share this week is lovely!

1 bag of basil

1 head of lettuce

1 napa cabbage

1 regular cabbage

2 zucchini (one big, one little)

more garlic curls

1 bunch of swiss chard

1/2 dozen eggs

So as it turns out, according to the newsletter, all this rain is playing havoc on the farms around here. Stuff that's already growing seems to be doing well, but stuff that is waiting in the greenhouses can't be planted. It's really sad.  But as it is, at least we know that we'll be getting more lettuce, greens, and garlic products for a while!

I'm glad we have basil this week. I want to get some tomatoes at the market (there is  place that has good hydroponic ones) so that we can have a fabulous salad of tomatoes, onions, and basil. YUM.

Meanwhile, we had some veggies from the previous 2 weeks to use! Since I am actually on bedrest now, I am not so much cooking as directing. Tonight, my awesome husband was going to make hamburgers and mashed potatoes. He suggested using garlic curls and onion tops in the potatoes, and I suggested adding kale, since we had it. Kale is one of those greens that just keeps growing and growing, and if you have a CSA share around here, you are sure to get a lot of it, so it's good to have some recipes! So here is my recipe for Mashed Potatoes with Greens

Mashed Potatoes with Greens

5 medium potatoes, cut up with skins on

1 bunch of kale, stripped of the hard stems and torn into smallish pieces

3-4 garlic curls, chopped

4 onion or scallion tops, chopped

2 T smart balance

1/4-1/3 cup milk

salt & pepper to taste

Boil potatoes, and at the same time steam the kale with garlic curls and onion tops. When the potatoes are done, remove everything from heat. Chop the kale mixture and mash the potatoes. Add the kale mix to the potatoes, add smart balance and milk (start with less and add more if needed), salt and pepper. Continue mashing until milk is mixed in well, and serve.

We made it without salt because my husband is all about salt but I am on bedrest with high blood pressure. I did end up adding a tiny bit of salt to mine, but it was very little. It was yummy.

For one final recipe, I leave you with the idea that I have to drink a LOT of water these days. Well, water can be boring. But I had some leftover mint from the cold cucumber soup, and so I decided to make Sekanjabin syrup. This is an old old old middle eastern recipe. You make the syrup and it stores for ages, not that it will last that long. Slightly diluted, it makes a fantastic salad dressing. Extra diluted, it makes water taste much more refreshing and  minty! Here's the recipe:

Sekanjabin

2 cups sugar

1 and 1/4 cup water

1/2 cup wine vinegar

handful of fresh mint

Bring sugar and water to a boil. When it comes to a boil, add vinegar and reduce heat. Simmer for 1/2 hour. Make sure you are simmering and not boiling or you will get sekanjabin candy! Add mint and cool. Remove mint and transfer to a container to store. It will store well unrefrigerated, but I like to keep mine cold. For a drink, use one part syrup to 10 parts water. 

Enjoy!

CSA Week 2!

In our box today:

2 heads of lettuce (different kinds)

1 head of arrowhead cabbage

1 bag of dill

1 bunch of collard greens

1 bunch of beets with greens

1 bag of sugar snap peas (these are 1/2 gone now because the boy and I ate them in the car!)

1 giant onion with greens

probably about 10 garlic curls 

1/2 dozen eggs

I am still mostly looking forward to the beets, though I might make some collard greens with whatever we eat for dinner tonight! Yum!

CSA Food Budgeting, plus Beets!!

Not Money Budgeting, really, but budgeting the actual food that we receive from our CSA is proving to be a challenge. This week, I must get better at incorporating the fresh veggies into our weekly eating routine. Even with the freezer meals, we can be more easily eating fresh vegetables on the side, rather than the frozen ones that came with the meals. As of yesterday we had a lot of left over veggies from last week still sitting in the fridge. 

Last night, in an effort to blow through a lot of vegetables, I made a HUGE salad of 1/2 a head of small cabbage, all of our remaining mixed greens, the remaining onion tops, and some (non-CSA) carrots and celery. I served it with goat cheese and lemon-tahini dressing from the farmer's market, and altogether, it was a side dish to pasta shells with meatballs (from the freezer from last time I made meatballs)

Well, the kiddo didn't want the salad, and mostly ate meatballs and pasta. Truthfully, the salad was so good that we basically said, "OK! No problem kid!" and ate all of the salad without him. Oh by the way, the child seems to have moved from "will eat only carbs if they are on the plate" to "will eat meat first and carbs after if there is room." I suppose that a toddler appetite really is different from week to week. 

My friend Kristen, who picks up a smaller share from our CSA on Tuesdays, says that we have beets this week! I love beets! I know that beets are somehow some kind of childhood trauma food for some people, but I'm so excited about the beets. I make this awesome side dish of beets with beet greens--it uses the whole vegetable in one dish and everyone loves it! Very messy to make of course, but worth it for the awesome mix of flavors. You just roast the beets and then dice them when they are done, and steam the leaves and chop them up, then put them in a bowl together with some salt & pepper. So you get the sweet from the beets, bitter from the greens, and salty from the salt, and have a perfect mix of flavors all in one dish. Yum! I can't wait!

It looks like we'll be getting garlic curls again--I really need to get out to the store and get some other ingredients for Garlic Pesto. Kristen made hers with walnuts (we are going to use almonds) and she said it was strong but delicious. She also froze a lot of pesto in ice cube trays for later. Great idea, and I will probably do the same.

CSA Week 1!!

Today was our first pickup day from our Potomac Vegetable Farms CSA, and OH MY GOSH what a haul we brought home. I haven't completely identified everything yet, but here's what I think we have added to our fridge today!

1 bag of mixed salad greens

1 bag containing 3 small heads of lettuce

some kind of small cabbage

3 heads of baby Mei Qing Choi 

a head of escarole

some kind of green that looks like kale from the stems but isn't quite as curly. It may be in the kale family based on the stem though (and based on the fact that our "In the Bag" info says we have kale)

an unidentified spicy herb. It's very peppery. It's not on the "in the bag" sheet so I don't know what it is.

a small bag of basil

a whole lot of garlic curls

a large onion with the greens still on top

a box of strawberries

1/2 dozen eggs

Now, we paid for our CSA back in February, and when you divide what we paid by the number of weeks we have, it comes out to about $30 per week for this food. OH MY GOSH. I just never expected there would be so much food for $30 per week. And yes, I'm aware that we're looking at a lot of salad and greens in the next week, but they are going to be awesome salads and greens! My friend Amy came with me to watch the kiddo in the car while I went to pick up the share (I didn't know how long a walk it would be), and we were tasting everything in the car on the way back. I even gave her a garlic curl to use tonight, because I have way too many of them now (though apparently I now have a recipe for garlic curl pesto which I may have to try).

From what I hear, the amounts of food just keep increasing as the summer goes on, so I can't imagine what we'll be getting in a few weeks! How exciting!!