Cooking My Way Through Our CSA: Week 10 2015 (last week of June/First of July)

Jackie @ Crest Cottage 10:42 PM Add Comment basil , berries , cabbage , cauliflower , cherries , collards , cooking through our csa , CSA , dill , garlic scapes , green beans , greens , kale , kohlrabi , lettuce , meal plan , peas , spinach , squash , tomatoes Edit

I may have mentioned in the past that we get our produce through a CSA (Community Supported Agruculture) Box for a good portion of the year. Our favorite is from Alstede Farms. We have occasionally tried others, but we have found this farm to offer the best value. The season is long (31 weeks!), the produce is varied, and the price is reasonable for the amount of produce included. There are also occasional bonuses thrown in, like extra lettuce or jars of honey!

The only challenge in getting this huge variety of super fresh produce is finding a way to use it all! With that in mind, I would like to share what we receive each week, and what I plan to do with it. Hopefully this will keep me organized, and help inspire others in the same situation. I didn't think to do this earlier, so I am starting with Week 10.

This week we received:

Blueberries – Sustainable*
Cauliflower – Sustainable
Peas – Sustainable
Green Beans – Sustainable
Spinach – Certified Organic
Lettuces – Sustainable
Kale– Sustainable
Collards – Sustainable
Cherries – Sustainable
Garlic Scapes – Sustainable
Kohlrabi– Sustainable
Cabbage – Sustainable
Tomatoes– Sustainable
Raspberries – Sustainable
Squash – Sustainable
Basil – Sustainable
Dill - Sustainable

Here's the plan.

Blueberries, cherries, and raspberries- Snacking (Jemma has already devoured the raspberries)
Basil- Tomato Salad, Snack for Jemma... yes, she just eats the leaves like that. Does the same thing to cilantro
Spinach- Smoothies. I love making green smoothies, but most stronger tasting greens need bananas to mask the taste. John doesn't like bananas. So.... spinach pleases everyone!
Garlic Scapes- I just them in place of garlic in basically everything.
Squash- Grilled this up as a side dish already!
Lettuces, kale, and tomatoes- Lunch salads for me
Cauliflower- Fried in coconut oil and sprinkled with salt for a snack
Peas- Lunch/Snacks for the girls, mostly. They love fresh peas!
Green Beans- Dinner Monday (Some version of Spaghetti and Green Beans)
Cabbage- Slaw as side dish for dinner Tuesday (I'm thinking pork carnitas?) Also adding in the carrots from last week's box that haven't been used yet.
Dill- Some in Monday's spaghetti, some in the lactofermented kohlrabi, the rest frozen to make lacto-fermented pickles with later in the season.
Collards- Saute with garlic scapes and onions. Add in greens from kohlrabi and cauliflower, too
Kohlrabi- Lactofermented with dill and garlic scapes

WHEW! That's everything!

Do you participate in a CSA? Any tips for using up the yummy produce or favorite recipes?

For more information on Alstede Farms, please visit alstedefarms.com
This post was shared at Real Food Forager's Fat Tuesday!