Weekly Blog on Grant Family Farms CSA - Week19

Fall has definitely started! Decorative corn and squash are included in this week's basket, but we've still got some reminders of sumer with lettuce and tomatoes.

• Corn
  
• Squash
  
• Spagetti squash
  
• Celery
  
• Baby greens
  
• Green chilies
  
• Carrots
  
• Onions
  
• Romaine lettuce
  
• Curly kale
  
• Curly parsley
  

This week I used the onions, green chilies (including those from week 18) and last week's cilantro to make a quick rice dish. Roast the chilies, then peel, seed and dice. Slice the onions and grill to add some smoke flavor, then dice them and combine with diced chilies. Finally, roughly chop the cilantro and combine the chilies, onions, cilantro with some cooked rice. Dress lighly with lime juice and a neutral flavored olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. To kick it up a bit, you can add some cayenne pepper and some ground cumin.

Weekly Blog on Grant Family Farms CSA - Week18

Week 18 baskets:

• Cucumber
  
• Small pickling cucumbers
  
• Golden Beets
  
• Eggplant
  
• Green chilies
  
• Acorn Squash
  
• Pumpkin
  
• Flat leaf parsley
  
• Curly parsley
  
• Cilantro
  
• Cabbage
  
• Swish chard
  
• Celery
  

One of my favorite dishes for this week is a simple roasted beet salad with blue cheese. Start off by lightly coating the beets in olive oil, then wrapping each individually in tin foil. Roast in a 350 degree oven until tender, you should be able to easily slide a knife into the center of the beet. Roasting time will vary based on the size of the beets, i usually find medium beets to take about 1.5 hours.

Once done, let cool, then remove from the foil, and remove skin. I use a paper towel to lightly scrub the surface of the beets - the skin comes right off. Next slice the beets into wedges or slices. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and top with a blue cheese, like blue or gorgonzola.

Weekly Blog on Grant Family Farms CSA - Week17

Week 17 continues with a nice variety of vegetables, including:

• Baby Greens
  
• Cilantro
  
• Green Peppers
  
• Broccholi
  
• Tomatoes
  
• Cucumber
  
• Eggplant
  
• Green Beans
  
• Celery
  
• Rainbow Chard
  
• Yukon Gold Potatoes
  
• Corn
  
• And Beer!
  

Over the last few weeks there has been a lot of eggplant so we've taken to making eggplant parmesan. First peel and slice the eggplants into thick rounds. Salt both sides of the slices liberally then lay out on a clean towel. Cover with another towel, then place a cutting board over and add weight. This will help to pull the water out of the eggplant. Bread and fry the eggplant. Move to a sheet pan, cover with a slice of cheese and bake until bubbly. Finally, plate and cover with a bit of sauce.

Weekly Blog on Grant Family Farms CSA - Week16

Week 16 continues with the beautiful produce, although not nearly the size of last week's enormous basket. This week included:

• Watermelon
  
• Zucchini
  
• English peas
  
• Fava beans
  
• Tomatoes
  
• Green peppers
  
• Cucumber
  
• Eggplant
  
• Carrots
  
• Radishes
  
• Corn
  
• Baby Greens

This week many of the veggies went into a simple succotash - to spice things up a bit I added a bit of fennel pollen at the end. This complimented the vegetables nicely while adding a bit of a unique flavor.

Weekly Blog on Grant Family Farms CSA - Week15

The CSA posts are a bit backlogged due to a hectic work travel schedule but, not to fear, I've still been cataloging the weekly basket (with a little help)!

Week 15 is one of the largest baskets of the year, including:

• Baby Greens
  
• Giant Beet
  
• Yellow Onion
  
• Cipollini Onion
  
• Carrots
  
• Parsley
  
• Green Beans
• Zucchini
  
• Eggplant
  
• Tomatoes
  
• Corn
  
• Celery
  
• Cabbage
  
• Spinach
  
• Romain Lettuce
  
• Watermelon
  
• Musk Melon

All this produce made it into several different dishes and salads. One of my go to dishes with all of this produce is a simple vegetable succotash - dice up all the veggies and saute with garlic, olive oil and fresh parsley until tender. This is a great way to utilize a lot of produce in a healthy, satisfying dish. The cabbage was made into a fresh slaw to accompany barbecued salmon. And the corn was roasted on the grill. I still haven't found a use for a beet of this size - probably would be best juiced.