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spring peas

CSA Haul Week 4: Beyond the peas

Jul 2nd, 2010
by stephanie.
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csa-haul-peasI’m really sick of the peas.  The first week they were so fresh and springy and we had tons of them – they became a lovely afternoon snack, part of a warm salad, and a dinner side with balsamic vinegar.  The second week they were less fresh and less springy and I struggled to steam them and eat them, but I did, mainly as a snack.  The third week I have to admit they got yucchy in the fridge and they got tossed out.  This is the fourth week of peas, and now they’re old and tired.  They’re big and tough and I don’t even want to take the time to snap off the strings.  But I’ve put them lovingly into a green bag and into the crisper drawer in the fridge.  We’ll see what happens.

This week’s haul:

1 bunch Japanese Hakurei Turnips
1 bunch Red Beets (traded for extra Kale)
1 bunch Siberian Kale
1 bunch Italian Parlsey
1 bunch Scallions
1 Lettuce Head
1/2 lb snap peas

No fruit; strawberry season has come to an early end, unfortunately.

csa-haul-scallions-kale

Scallions & kale

The scallions are particularly beautiful this week – they were too big to fit in the crisper drawer so I hacked off some of the tops.  But there’s still plenty to last for a week’s worth of meals, and maybe we’ll grill some this weekend at the beach, too.

Adam is steaming up a bunch of last week’s rainbow chard and this week’s kale with which we’ll create a couple of portable summer salads to take to the beach for the holiday weekend.  For the kale I’ll probably do an Asian-style vinaigrette (rice wine vinegar, maybe some mirin or fish sauce, sesame oil) and toss in some sesame seeds.  For the chard, I think I’ll chop it and combine it with some red quinoa that Adam cooked for tonight’s dinner as well as some of the scallions.  And what the hell, maybe I’ll steam some peas to go in there too.

csa-haul-parsley-turnips-lettuce

Parsley, turnips & lettuce

Here’s hoping for blueberries next week.  I think it’s almost time.

CSA: First haul of the season!

Jun 10th, 2010
by stephanie.
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Today was the first day of our CSA!  We were told by the farmer that it could start this week or next, but due to the plentiful rain and nice weather, this week was it.

I’m really excited to “liveblog” our CSA experience this summer.  And though haul posts are typically video, I plan to stick to written posts plus photos, at least for now.

June 10, 2010 CSA Haul

Yonked.com - CSA: First haul (share) of the season!

Everything fit into one bag this week (though a little smooshed)

1 bunch Japanese turnips
3/4 lbs sweet peas
1 bunch scallions
1/2 lb arugula
1/2 lb lettuce mix
1 bunch rainbow chard
1 quart strawberries

Note on the strawberries that we buy the fruit share as well as the veggie share – likely more on that in a future post.

Each week when we get the share home I try to figure out how to best store everything so it will last as long as possible.  Our friend Marni calls this “processing,” and it can involve cutting things up, putting things in plastic ware or special veggie storage bags, or sometimes steaming things immediately for use later.  It’s best to process on Thursday nights, but there are plenty of weeks when processing doesn’t happen until Friday, which is risky; if Adam smashed the arugula into a bag and I don’t get to unpacking everything until Friday, half the arugula could be inedible by Friday.  Today’s processing was mainly just cutting the tops off of the Japanese turnips (we don’t like the tops; I know some people will consider this wasteful) and putting everything into the veggie bins in the fridge (I haven’t dug out the veggie bags yet).

Yonked.com - CSA: First haul (share) of the season!

Scallions, Japanese turnips, spring peas, rainbow chard

Yonked.com - CSA: First haul (share) of the season!

Mixed lettuce, arugula, strawberries

So what are we planning this week?

Tonight’s dinner

We don’t always make a meal from our share immediately on Thursday nights, but since we just got back from a vacation we have very little other food in the house, tonight’s dinner will be primarily CSA veggies.  It would be great to add a hunk of nice cheese and some crusty bread to this….oh well.

  • Quinoa, spring peas and garbanzos (recipe below)
  • Steamed rainbow chard with balsamic vinegar and olive oil (one bunch of chard is one meal for me and Adam, we both love it and it cooks down to nothing)

Later in the week (note that our CSA week begins Thursdays, so for these posts the week will be Thursday-Wednesday)

  • Braised Japanese turnips
  • Something else with the remaining spring peas (maybe a yogurt-based soup)
  • Salad! and more salad! with the lettuce and arugula and probably scallions and turnips too

Aaron will singlehandedly eat all the strawberries.  He loves berries and started saying “stawberry, stawberry” as soon as he saw them sitting on the counter.

Recipe: Quinoa with Spring Peas, Garbanzos and Scallions

Yonked.com - CSA: First haul (share) of the season!

Quinoa with spring peas, garbanzos and scallions

  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 2 cu veggie stock
  • 6 oz spring peas, strings removed
  • 4 scallions
  • 1 can (15 oz) garbanzos, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 cu apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cu lemon-flavored olive oil
  • salt & pepper to taste

Combine quinoa and water in saucepan with a bit of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cover. Simmer 15-20 min or until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender.

Lightly steam spring peas (we use the microwave for steaming, more on that in a future post). Slice on the bias into small pieces.  Slice the scallions.

Whisk together olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to make dressing.

Combine quinoa/veggies in a bowl.  Toss together with the dressing.

Serve lukewarm (if you combine everything and eat it immediately) or cold.

Makes 4 servings as a quasi-main dish, or 6-8 servings as a side salad.