The Suburban Herbivore

Since I’m writing this a number of days late, I can include a mention of what I made with some of this week’s share. The potatoes went into a delicious Peanut-Potato Curry. I used some of the tomatoes, plus bell peppers and red onion from the previous week, in making Friday Night Pizza. I need to whip up a batch of pesto – I’ve certainly got enough basil from the CSA for that.

Full share from August 19, 2009

For this week, we received two pounds of yellow squash, three pounds of white-flesh potatoes, five pounds of Big Beef tomatoes, one pint of Sungold tomatoes, and one large bunch ( 1/4 pound) of basil. Last week at this time we were at the beach, so we canceled our share.

Full share from August 12, 2009

I’ve realized that I’m spending all of my blogging time posting the CSA share descriptions and very little else. So what am I doing with all this produce? Well, I’ve simply been incorporating a lot of it into dishes that I make frequently. Sad to say, I haven’t really been trying anything new. But I figure I get a little bit of leeway now that we have a baby. I do have plans for posting some recipes in the near future. Here’s a taste: Black Beans and Rice, Hummus, Habanero Salsa, Caprese Salad, and Vegetable Lasagna. Mmmmmm….

This week, we got one large bunch of basil, one pound of red, orange, and yellow bell peppers, three pounds of Big Beef and Pink Girl tomatoes, one pint of Sungold tomatoes, one pound of yellow squash, and one pound of red and white onions.

Full share from August 13, 2008.

Sorry for the crazy photo of last year’s share! We were on the road and had to snap the picture of the produce laid out in the back of Jason’s car. What we got: three pounds of potatoes, one cantaloupe, three pounds of tomatoes, two pounds of red, orange, and yellow bell peppers, and one pint of Sungold tomatoes.

Full share from August 5, 2009

In the past, I’ve found basil to be about one of the easiest things to grow. But this year my plant is shrimpy and non-productive. I’ve gotten a few handfuls of leaves from it, and that’s it. My current theory is that the tomato plants are casting too much shade on the basil for it to thrive. I’m thinking that next year I’ll see if it does better in a container on the deck. Fortunately, there is no lack of basil from the CSA!

Full share from August 6, 2008

In this week’s share, we received one large bunch of basil, one pound of red and orange bell peppers (plus a jalapeno), two pounds of potatoes, one pound of Big Beef tomatoes, one pint of Sungold tomatoes, one pound of yellow squash, and one pound of white and red onions.

Last year: five pounds of tomatoes, two pounds of red, orange, and yellow bell peppers, one large butternut squash, and two white onions.

Full share from July 8, 2009.

So, this is the point last year where I quit, though I didn’t know it for a while. I continued to take photos of our share each week and I saved the newsletters. And after a while of being out of the habit, it was too overwhelming to try to catch up. Fortunately, I have most of the photos, so what I’ve decided to do is present this week’s share in conjunction with the corresponding week’s share from 2008.

Full share from July 9, 2008.

This year, we got: four pounds of Big Beef tomatoes, three pounds of potatoes, one pint of Sungold tomatoes, one pound of cucumbers, four green bell peppers, one jalapeno pepper, and three onions: two white (Candy) and one red (Candy Apple). Last year, we got: four pounds of Big Beef and Pink Girl tomatoes, three pounds of Rose Gold potatoes, one pint of Sungold tomatoes, two pounds of Japanese eggplant, four yellow squash, two zucchini, and one cantaloupe. The differences are pretty apparent, but it will be more interesting to see what trends develop.

This is week 4, a particularly colorful week! With the appearance of yellow squash, the summer vegetables begin. I refuse to make squash casserole right away. I’m going to use the squash in something else. I’m guessing that this is the last of the strawberries. I definitely need to start thinking about these beets, though they will keep for a while. It has been interesting, if challenging, getting different varieties of beets.

Full share from May 27, 2009

Here’s what we got: one head of lettuce, one large cauliflower, two zucchini, three yellow squash, one bunch of scallions, two pints of strawberries, one large bunch of Forona beets, one bunch of parsley, and one bunch of yellow, orange, and purple carrots. The parsley is a variety called Giant of Italy, and surely, the leaves are huge (for parsley, anyway).

Though it was the first squash of the year, I still felt compelled to pull out my old stand-by, Squash Casserole… despite the fact that there were far better/healthier things I could have made with these cute little yellow squash and zucchini, and also despite the fact that I had less than half the amount called for by the recipe. Fortunately, I had a great idea. It seemed perfectly reasonable that I could replace some of the missing squash with turnips. And so it was. I sliced up and used all the turnips that I had, and added some extra carrots to make up the rest. The casserole turned out great and I had the bonus of polishing off one of my problem vegetables.

And in share #6 of 20, the summer produce begins! Today we received yellow squash, zucchini, parsley, and… basil. I’ve been excitedly awaiting the arrival of basil. I love to use it in Thai dishes, as well as, of course, pesto. Once the tomatoes start, the easiest thing ever to make is a caprese salad. (More on that later.)

We also received beets, strawberries, broccoli, and a giant head of cauliflower. I think I’m going to need to bust out a roasted vegetables dish to go through the remaining beets and turnips. Or maybe we can grill them. Hmmm.