CSA Box- This week's bounty

Salads in the morning and in the afternoon, salads in the evening and underneath the moon. . .

Well, not really, but two large heads of lettuce is a lot for one person even if they are fresh, crisp, and delicious. My first CSA box went surprisingly well. I managed to keep on schedule, finish most of the vegetables, and am very excited for my second box of goodies. The next two heads of lettuce may be tricky to manage, especially since I'm still polishing off week one's lettuce, but I'll let you know how it turns out. 

Box Contents:
¾ lb Summer Squash
1 bunch Cilantro
1 lb Carrots (purple!)
¾ lb Broccoli
¾ lb Cauliflower
1 bunch Dino Kale
1½ lbs French Fingerling Potatoes
2 heads of Lettuce
½ lb Spinach
1 bunch Red Beets

Dishes to utilize vegetables:

#1 Vegetable frittata with summer squash, broccoli, fingerling potatoes and a cilantro chile sauce

#2 Salads with roasted beets, carrots, and broccoli 

#3 Sautéed spinach and beet greens (I made this last week, but it was a great side dish so I'm doing it again)

#4 Oven roasted cauliflower with panko and chile

#5 Kale smoothies 

#6 Marinated and grilled summer squash 

CSA Box Adventures- The Beginning

I've taken the plunge and subscribed to a CSA box. What is a CSA box you ask? Otherwise known as a farm box or veggie box, the CSA (community-supported agriculture) box comes from a local farm that you choose. For a certain weekly fee, which varies on the farm and the quantity of vegetables you receive, you take home a box of gorgeous, seasonal, and local produce. Now, some of you may wonder why I am only signing up now, but I was always intimidated by the quantity of veggies and the iron chef quality of the veggie box since you can't choose the veggies you receive this week.

However, after picking up my first box this week, which felt like christmas by the way, I was totally sold. Will it be tricky to use all the picked-at-its-peak produce before it spoils? Yes. Will it be a challenge to design recipes that use assortment of veggies that I receive each week without repeating recipes or drowning in basic salads? Definitely.

My (optimistic) plan is to post the list of vegetables I receive every week with a meal plan that will utilize said vegetables. I will then post any exceptional and/or original recipes later on. Do you subscribe to a CSA? Let me know what you receive and plan to cook!

Bring on the vegetables!

This week's Box Contents:
1/2 lb Snow and Snap Peas
1/2 lb Summer Squash
1 bunch Baby Carrots
1 bunch Tokyo Turnips (They look like white radishes and are good sliced in salads or roasted whole with their greens attached)
1 lb Chioggia Beets (Light red/Pink beets that have fine white stripes when sliced)
1/2 lb Arugula
1 bunch spinach
1 lb Broccoli
2 heads of lettuce
1 1/2 lbs Red Onions

This week's meal plan:

1- Arugula salad with citrus vinaigrette, roasted chioggia beets, sliced tokyo turnips, and oven roasted panko breaded dijon chicken.

2- Thai curry with snap and snow peas, summer squash, broccoli, red onions and baby carrots with brown rice.

3- Sautéed greens (spinach and beet greens) with italian chicken sausage and butternut squash ravioli

4- The remaining sweet and snow peas, carrots, turnips lettuce, and red onions will be used in salads for lunch and to accompany meal #3.

Filled Stout Cupcakes with Baileys Frosting

Vacation always ends before it should, don't you think? My vacation, and the hectic weeks that led up to it, left me sitting here this morning with the realization that it's been more than a month since I last posted. Oopsie. Hopefully this recipe will make it up to you. 

Three kinds of alcohol, chocolate, and more chocolate. You can make these cupcakes without the filling, but why would you ever want to do that? First, you get to eat the centers of all the cupcakes yourself if you fill them and it makes the cupcakes that much more tasty. Totally worth it.