Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Monday update

Monday dinner:

Penne with Greens and Feta.

Enough leftover to pack for lunches on Tuesday. I didn't make the scape pesto, and we still have the 1/2 cabbage. Today we pick up more veggies -- the full share is ours this week and next.

I had hoped to have an additional feature going this week, but I ran out of time. I think the best strategy is to do a little bit each day. Watch this space.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Coming into the home stretch

Sunday, around midday, we got in the car and drove for a while. We intended to go to Hopewell Valley Vineyards, but on the way we discovered that the Slow Food and Wine Festival that was taking place there had an admission price of $35/person. We detoured and went to Lambertville instead. A couple of bookstores caught my interest for a bit. We watched a pair of make-ways swim upstream. At our house, ducks and geese that embody the spirit of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard are now called "make-ways," after the Robert McCloskey book, Make Way for Ducklings. These two were actually mallards, 1 male and 1 female. We walked over the bridge to New Hope. The kids were really hungry by this point, but despite the appeal of sitting outdoors by the river, we could not find one place that enticed us. New Hope is not at all how I remember it from childhood excursions. Now it is like being on the boardwalk down at the shore. And not in a good way, in case you were thinking anything like that. So we drove home.

Sunday Lunch:

Red-leaf and salad mix with leftover shallot-lemon thyme vinigraitte.
A hummus sandwich for Desta.
Mac and cheese for Kailani.
A little leftover tabouli.

Sunday dinner:

More salad, despite Matt's protestations. More leftover vinigraitte.
We actually had 3 beets left, not two, and that was enough to make some golden beet soup with fresh tarragon from a recipe in The Millenium Cookbook. Matt even made fresh stock with the beet greens and some celery, carrots, and onion. Also some tofu-dill sour cream that was swirled into the soup.

Damn good soup.

Monday lunch:

Matt has packed me some leftover soup and some of the sour cream on the side.

Plan for the evening:

I am thinking of Fusilli with Greens and Feta, or some other pasta with Greens and Harissa. I won't be home, though, so it all depends on Matt's fancy. If I have time, I would like to make a big batch of scape pesto.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Sunday Morning catch-up and assessment

On Thursday, for dinner we had:
A big mixed green salad (romainey lettuce, red leaf, arugula, salad mix) with shredded golden beet, baked goat cheese croutons, and some shallot-lemon thyme vinaigrette.
Tabouli with lots of fresh mint and radishes from the farm, cherry tomatoes from Mexico (wince), and chives from the backyard. We had enough to take leftovers for lunch the next day.

For Friday dinner, there was:
Leftover brown basmati rice, stir-fried with garlic, herbs, and spinach/tatsoi combo.
Summer squash gratin with arugula pesto. Adapted from this recipe (101cookbooks).

Saturday, after Matt made beignets for breakfast, we did no cooking whatsoever.

We still have enough salad greens for a decent-sized salad.
Some kale and some spinach.
Two beets.
A lot of scapes.
Two days before the next pick-up.

UPDATE: Aargh! I forgot about the cabbage.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Wednesday update

Wednesday afternoon, Matt expertly put the sink back together.

And made dinner:
Fusilli with Indian-spiced cauliflower, chickpeas, and kale.

And he cleaned up. He also made cookie bars in a too-small pan, and dubbed it Cookie Cake. But he did not make much of a dent in our CSA loot.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

A New Beginning, courtesy of CSA week #3

Instead of excuses, list-making.

Here's what we picked up this week, from our half of a full-share at Cherry Grove Farm CSA:
1 pound spinach
1/4 pound tatsoi
1/4 pound salad mix
1/4 pound (I think) arugula
2 heads lettuce (1 red-leaf, 1 romaine-like, with fingery leaves)
1/2 bunch radishes
1/2 bunch golden beets
1/2 green cabbage
1/2 large bunch toscano kale
1/2 large bunch lacinato kale
1 pound garlic scapes (we got the whole portion of this item, just because).
Also, PYO (pick-your-own) black-eyed susans, 10 stems; small bunch of lemon thyme; small bunch of tarragon; slightly larger bunch of mint.

Tuesday dinner:

Salad of mixed greens, including some salad mix, some arugula, and some of the romaine-y lettuce. With chopped scapes.
Dressing: Lemon, McEvoy Ranch olive oil, lemon thyme, tarragon, salt, white pepper.

Brown basmati rice and seitan with sauteed garlic and spinach and tatsoi (from last week's share).

After dinner, I washed more salad greens for lunch the next day. Then Matt took the sink apart, broke the connector to the dishwasher hose, and discovered a live wire.

Wednesday lunch:

Salad, like the one from Tuesday dinner. Prepared without use of the sink, so it was fortunate that the greens had been washed the night before. Matt declined the salad, and ate at the food court instead. Wack.