Our Ridgeland Harvest CSA has begun for the season - we're in our fourth of twenty weeks of the bounty of Wisconsin veggies. After fifteen years in CSAs, we know what each week is likely to bring and are delighted at the challenge of the unexpected veggie. This Fourth of July weekend was particularly fun because it contained three days to make after being gone to a conference for the entire previous week. I missed cooking!
In the box we had rhubarb, green onions, 2# of peas, 1# of lettuce, napa cabbage, swiss chard, cilantro, broccoli, garlic scapes and a fennel bulb. What could be better? It's fun to spend 3-4 hours on each of these three long weekend days making and transforming these goodies into food for today, tomorrow...and the months ahead!
We started with rhubarb/strawberry fruit crisps. We make them in little coffee cups - a perfect bite and easy to share with friends and family.
Next, time to make garlic scape pesto. While reading the Fresh Food Nation: Simple Seasonal Recipes from America's Farmers, the author MArtha Holmberg suggested lightly sauteeing the scapes first to soften them - and their sharp flavor. Oh baby, that pesto is to die for. It is frozen and ready for a winter's night pasta when we miss the sun and warmth of summer so much we could cry.
Then we must deal with those sweet plump peas. For us, it is Risi e Bisi or nothing. Our recipe comes from Saveur magazine and we use up those lovely green onions as well.
Our first cilantro features heavily in burritos we make and freeze for lunches. We make rice and add minced cilantro and juice of a lime. Combine that with refried beans, green chiles, and taco meat made with plenty of chile powder, cumin and onions and we have a burrito factory. We have twenty fat little lunches all frozen and ready for the months ahead.
Napa cabbage is delicious in slaw that is lightly dressed with rice vinegar, a hint of honey and soy and a splash of sesame oil - add a few toasted peanuts or cashews and mmmmmmmmmm.
The broccoli gets a light steam and is dressed with the same rice vinegar, honey, soy sauce and sesame oil - we add toasted sesame seeds for a wonderful undertone.
The lettuce is part of sandwiches and salads. This is the one time of year, in an homage to a favorite sandwich of my childhood, that I buy braunschweiger (liver sausage) and pile lettuce high on it for a tasty treat on Lloyd's homemade wheat bread.
The chard and fennel will be part of a Vietnamese rice stir fry that we make and munch the few days following - sesame oil, soy sauce, a little sugar and finished with eggs. It's a great place to include any other veggies lurking from last week too.
When people ask me if getting a CSA is worth it, I always answer yes...as long as you love to make and cook as much as we do!
