CSA Box- Fall is in the air, but so is summer. . .

It's 80˚F as I sit here and write on this very summery day in September. Yup, summer took it's dear sweet time to arrive this year, which has left plants and humans rather confused about the current season. This week's vegetable box also is a bit confused since it includes token summer vegetables (tomatoes, sweet peppers, and cucumbers) and brand new fall vegetables (chard, potatoes, and winter squash). I'm just glad, honestly, that there isn't any melon this week. But don't worry, I still have a left over melon from last week just in case I go into melon withdraw.

This week's box contents:


¾ lb Green Beans
2 Cucumbers
1 bunch Scarlet Queen Turnips
1½ lbs Tomatoes
½ lb Sweet Peppers
1 bunch Chard
2 pieces Delicata Squash (winter)
1½ lbs Potatoes

Menu Ideas:

- Veggie Box Pizza - Sautéed chard & sweet peppers

- Thinly sliced turnips (raw) and heirloom tomato salad with blanched green beans and cucumber

- Thin sliced vegetable sandwich with cucumber, turnip, sweet pepper, tomato and goat cheese

- Roasted delicata squash and potatoes with lemon zest, rosemary, and goat cheese

- Sautéed chard and teriyaki tofu with brown rice and cucumber salad

CSA Box- Melon Madness x2

Eight pounds of melon. Eight. That means I need to consume 1+ pound of melon per day to stay on schedule. Holy moly. The CSA box list and letter that I receive every week only mentions the number of melons that this week's box contains so only when I lugged my veggie box bounty up three flights of stairs did I realize the true volume of melon I was dealing with. Nevermind that I still had half of a melon left over from last week's box... Oh dear. And, this happened two weeks in a row now. Melon madness!!!

As always the vegetables and fruits are delicious. The small peppers are sweet and crisp but also wonderful roasted and blended into pesto with basil and walnuts. I'll post this recipe soon. The heirloom tomatoes are 'picked at their peak' fresh, gorgeous to look at, and are perfect for caprese salads.

Last week's box contents:

1 bunch Basil

2 lbs Heirloom Tomatoes

1 Galia Melon

1 Crenshaw Melon

1 basket Cherry Tomatoes

1 lb Gypsy Peppers (sweet)

This week's box contents: 

2 lbs Heirloom Tomatoes

1 lb Sweet Peppers

1-2 Eggplants

1 Orange Honeydew or Crenshaw Melon

1 bunch Tokyo Turnips

1 basket Cherry Tomatoes

1 Cantaloupe

Menu Ideas:

- Melon and yogurt parfaits 

- Melon wrapped in prosciutto

- Melon smoothies

- Melon all by itself

- Vertical caprese salads *

- Tomato salad with thinly sliced turnip for crunch and spice w/ citrus vinaigrette*

- Eggplant parmesan*

*Item can be served with a side of melon **

** Joking! (only partially)