CSA 2012: Week 2

FRIDAY! I’m sure you have heard but just in case…it is HOT in Boston! We reached 97 degrees today. WHAT?! I have the window A/Cs installed at the house, but my office A/C is on the outs. Ugh. Sweating at work is no bueno.

What IS bueno though was this week’s CSA haul! Big ups to Karen for taking the lead on picking up our veggies while I was earning a paycheck. I got home Tuesday night and was greeted with a bag of greens galore.

My half!

My share this week:
-2 bunches of spinach
-1 kohlrabi
-1 bunch dinosaur kale
-10 garlic scapes
-1 head of cabbage
-1 bunch of scallions
-a bunch of radishes, white & purple

The You-Pick-Your-Own included flowers (so pretty!) and sugar snap peas. Good pickin’ Karen!

My fridge was starting burst at the seams so I decided to do some random cooking over the past few days.

Kale chips

Dinosaur kale is the way to go when making kale chips. They hold up so much better and really get that nice crunchy chip texture!

Garlic Scape Hummus<—Wow. I have bad breath after this one. <3

I used this recipe for the hummus. I would have done a few things differently. I would have reduced the amount of garlic scapes and I would have added more water/liquid. Lesson learned!

Brown Rice Pasta with Spinach and Heirloom Tomatoes

This was my first time cooking brown rice pasta and honestly…it isn’t so bad! It took a lot longer than I was expecting, but the texture was great. Rather than cook the spinach, I just put the grapes and spinach in a strainer. Once the pasta was ready I poured it into the strainer to drain over the veggies. This was the perfect amount of heat to wilt the lettuce a little but not create absolute mush. Sprinkle everything with some Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb and you are good to go!

Egg & Pasta

Brown rice pasta again FTW! This time in addition to some spinach in there (that you can’t see) I topped the pasta with a CSA egg poached in spaghetti sauce and topped it with some of the scallions. Quick, simple and delicious.

Kohlrabi & Apple Slaw

Not the most exciting looking side dish, but this combo of apples with the kohlrabi mixed with a mustard sauce was the perfect afternoon snack. The tanginess of the mustard mixed with the sweetness and crunch of the apples was perfect. I also topped the dish with parsley from my herb garden.  Check out Karen’s blog to see how she spiced up her kohlrabi.

This season’s CSA is already turning out to be really fun. Last year we got a crap ton of corn and I was over the whole thing by the middle of the season. This year we have really started out strong with some interesting picks and I’m looking forward to seeing our future hauls.

Folks, I’m so glad it is Friday! This weekend I have big plans for dinner on both Friday AND Saturday night. I’m hoping to throw in some Zumba, a run, and some beautifying appointments. Lets get this started!

Have you ever tried brown rice pasta? Thoughts?

Tagged as: brown rice pasta, CSA, garlic scapes, kale, kohlrabi, pasta