This box was a doozy!  There was a huuuuuuuge watermelon hiding in the bottom.  Of course, it was filled with all types of delici-osity (Is that a realword?  It is now!).  If you missed our past pickups, you can read about them HERE.  This week we received:

• Peaches Sustainable
• Plums Sustainable
• Donut Peaches Sustainable
• Watermelon Sustainable
• Swiss Chard Sustainable
• Cubanelle and Bell Peppers Sustainable
• Summer Squash Sustainable
• Cucumbers Sustainable
• Beefsteak and Plum Tomatoes Sustainable
• Apples (Sansa/Red Free) Sustainable
• Beets Certified Organic
• Red Onions Sustainable
• Leeks Sustainable
• Kohlrabi Sustainable
• Beans Sustainable
• Sweet Corn Sustainable

I promised to share more of our easy veggie bowls... so here's another!

Oh how I love cooked onions.  I like them fried.  I like them caramelized.  I like them sauteed.  Oh, the sweet sweet yum!

Ahem... so I put them into a veggie bowl...

Am I the only one who gets all misty-eyed over veggies?  And not just because I was cutting onions?
Anyway.  Back to the bowl.  We had to blanch a few bags of green beans so as the onions cooked, Jemma and I snipped the ends (her term for cutting off the stems).

I really think she helps me cook just so she can sneak in extra tastes.

Once the were clean and snipped, I plunged them into boiling water until they were bright green, then put them in cold water.
I wanted to include a protein, so I grabbed a bag of beans I had pre-cooked and frozen from the freezer.  To defrost them, I just poured the boiling green bean water over the beans in the strainer.  Just as easy as canned, but cooked in bone broth!

I don't even know what greens we used.  Sorry.  But, I mixed them with the beans.

Well, we picked up another CSA box this week.  If you missed our past pickups, you can read about them HERE.  This week we received:

• Peaches – Sustainable
• Nectarines – Sustainable
• Carrots – Sustainable
• Plums – Sustainable
• Cucumbers – Sustainable
• Pickling Cucumbers – Sustainable
• Beefsteak Tomatoes – Sustainable
• Cherry Tomatoes – Sustainable
• Plum Tomatoes – Sustainable
• Beets – Organic
• Beans – Organic
• Arugula – Organic
• Dill – Organic
• Swiss Chard – Sustainable
• Bell Peppers – Sustainable
• Red Leaf Lettuces – Organic
• Apricots – Sustainable
• Bonus: Peaches!

I may have mentioned in the past that I am NOT a chef.  I have not trained in any way shape or form, aside from watching other home cooks and reading.  There are many many many things I have yet to learn, but there is one upside to my lack of training.  I don't get caught up in any "rules" or feel like I need to make something in a "traditional" way to be correct.

Case in point?  Green Bean Carbonar-ish.  It's a knock-off, makeshift carbonara and it is scrumptious.

I stumbled across this recipe while searching for a way to use up the green beans from our CSA.  Without bacon, and with a surplus of random leafy greens, I had to improvise.

First, I sauteed the onions in bacon grease.  How did I get bacon grease without bacon?  Easy.  It was in the jar in the fridge!  Whenever I make bacon, I save the leftover grease and refrigerate it.  That way it is always on hand to add a little bacon-y heaven.
While the onions and leafy greens were cooking, I boiled the water.  The rotini went in for a few minutes, and then I blanched the green beans at the same time.  While they were cooking, I prepped the "sauce."
2 eggs, a cup of shredded Parmesan, salt and pepper all beaten together.  That's it!  For the record, I was testing to see if Juliet and I could start having dairy without her being miserable for a few days.  We can't. Anyway, once the pasta and green beans were done, I mixed them together with the greens and onions.
Immediately, I poured the sauce on top and stirred it furiously.  The goal is to lightly cook the eggs in the residual heat without scrambling them.  The result?  Pure yum!
It was perfect.  Light, yet filling.  Just writing about it makes me want to make it again!

Another week, another box.  Now that summer is in full swing, I am having a ball with all of the yummy surprises.  Planning everything out like this helps ensure nothing is lost in the back of the fridge, but it isn't set in stone.  I change it up if the mood strikes!

If you missed the past pickups, you can read about them HERE.  This week we received:

• Peaches Sustainable
• Plums Sustainable
• Carrots Sustainable
• Arugula Certified Organic
• Bell Peppers Sustainable
• Hot Peppers Sustainable
• Radishes Certified Organic
• Basil Certified Organic
• Sicilian Eggplant Sustainable
• Purple Eggplant Sustainable
• Cucumbers Sustainable
• Green Beans Sustainable
• Scallions Sustainable
• Swiss Chard Sustainable
• Garlic Sustainable
• Tomatoes Sustainable
• BONUS!! Extra Peaches!!

Well, we picked up another CSA box this week.  If you missed the past pickups, you can read about them HERE.  This week we received:

• Blueberries – Sustainable*
• Broccoli – Sustainable
• Lettuce – Sustainable
• Garlic – Sustainable
• Sweet Corn– Sustainable
• Lodi Apples– Sustainable
• Beets with Greens– Sustainable
• Raspberries – Sustainable
• Kale – Sustainable
• Collards – Sustainable
• Cucumbers– Sustainable
• Basil– Sustainable
• Green Beans – Sustainable
• Onions – Sustainable
• Yellow Squash – Sustainable

Well, we picked up another CSA box this week.  If you missed last week's pickup, you can read it HERE.  This week we received:

• Blueberries – Sustainable*
• Broccoli – Sustainable
• Lettuce – Sustainable
• Radishes – Sustainable
• Kohlrabi – Sustainable
• Turnips – Sustainable
• Currants – Sustainable
• Raspberries – Sustainable
• Kale – Sustainable
• Collards – Sustainable
• Cherries – Sustainable
• Cauliflower – Sustainable
• Green Beans – Sustainable
• Onions – Sustainable
• Yellow Squash – Sustainable
• Cabbage – Sustainable

Here at Crest Cottage we loooooove smoothies.  98% of the time they have a leafy green base, so they don't always LOOK as appetizing as they taste.  This particular smoothie concoction was developed after I was reminiscing on the black forest milkshakes I used to drink in high school.  There was a Carvel next door to my school (the my best friend worked at for a while, bonus!).  Some days we would walk over and pick out something sweet to enjoy.  I ALWAYS got a black forest milkshake without whipped cream.  This smoothie has similar flavors, and is delish!

All of our smoothies start with leafy greens.  Lately I've been favoring spinach, especially if the finished product has no banana.  I mix the leafy greens with the liquid first.  I've found that helps them break into the smallest pieces.  Maybe someday we'll have a Vitamix, but until then, doing it this way works.  Once the spinach is broken up, we added in frozen cherries and cocoa powder.  The cherries were sweet enough, so we didn't need to add any maple syrup or honey.  Then, we blended it up and enjoyed!

Jemma helps by:

• Filling the  blender with spinach
• Turning all the buttons on and off (she's three, buttons are super fun!)
• Adding the cherries and cocoa powder (she needs extra supervision here... unless we want it to be alllllll cocoa powder)
• Pouring into the cups

Adding Spinach

Blending spinach and water

The spinach/water base is ready!

Adding frozen cherries...

... and cocoa powder!

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

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!