Missing the Weekly CSA Share

This is the first week I don’t have a CSA share since the season ended last week and won’t start again until next June. It feels odd to not have the bounty of fresh veggies coming in from that source. I am intent on getting every bit of goodness out of what is left --- wondering how long I can go before I’ll buy veggies from my grocery store’s produce section. It won’t be this week certainly.

The refrigerator was so full that the ‘cool’ actually got a bit cooler and some of the greens froze…so I used them in soup and stir fry. I still have lettuce, spinach, radicchio, and cabbage for salads…lots of root vegetables (carrot, turnips, sweet potatoes, and radishes) for slaw. I have peppers, pac choi and tatsoi for stir fry. I’m trying to eat the most fragile veggies first.

I thought the cilantro might degrade first so I made salsa with it (using tomatoes and hot peppers from earlier in the CSA season and frozen). I love the blend of the veggies with onion, garlic, and half a lemon. I use salsa for more than just tacos; it becomes salad dressing and stir fry sauce…a drizzle on the top of soup.

There is still a butternut squash, small white potatoes, and garlic along with a lot of sweet potatoes that don’t take up any room in the refrigerator and will be edible for quite some time.

I’ve got dried thyme and parsley/carrot tops that will season foods into the winter too.

The big lesson learned from the CSA is how good vegetables can be. I am a little spoiled with getting them the same day they are picked so I choose carefully in the grocery store during the offseason. I don’t try to eat the same all during the year. During the winter I like to have warm meals so I tend to eat a lot less salad type greens and stick with the sturdy greens (kale, cabbage, pac choi) that hold up well in stir fries or soups. Sometimes my grocery store has organic greenhouse dandelion greens and that is a treat in winter!

Mint Harvest - June 2015

The mint beds are growing profusely this summer - getting an extra boost from the rains in June. I’ve harvested about 70% of the first harvest at this point and will do the rest in the next few days. I put off the harvest because I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to be using it for since I am no longer drinking tea of any kind (part of the behavior change required to eliminate artificial sweeteners); I’ve discovered I like adding dried mint to stir fries and soups! It makes the kitchen smell wonderful and adds a delicate layer of flavor.

The two areas of mint I’ve cut so far are quite different. One is a flowerbed in the front of the house where the mint is concentrated in a huge mound backed by day lilies. It was growing rapidly

And blooming too! I processed both the leaves and the blooms.

The other area was the deck garden. There were several pots thick with mint. One had mint growing on tall stalks. I’ve included and before and after shot.

I rinse off the pile of cut mint in the sink and then strip the leaves. It is a time consuming and tiring process. The NINJA processor is a bit easier to use that then Cuisinart food processor that I finally wore out after many years.

The last load of mint in the processor was combined with 2 lemons (with skins) to use for the apple crisp I plan to make later in the day.

And now the mint is on my white drying tray in a prominent place so that I remember to stir it a few times a day so that it will dry evenly. And then it goes into small soup tureen with a lid; I’m already thinking ahead to all the dishes it will enhance.

Homemade Zucchini Hummus and Orange Marmalade

I have discovered two recipes recently that are so easy to make at home that I won’t be buying the equivalent in the grocery store any time soon.  Both recipes are the ones I will make again and again this summer - the 'condiments' of Summer 2015!

Zucchini Hummus

(This recipe uses zucchini rather than chickpeas. A version of it was included in a newsletter from the Gorman Farms CSA on the first week zucchini was included in the share. I modified it slightly - part of joy of cooking as far as I'm concerned.)

1 cup diced raw zucchini

1/3 cup tahini butter

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 cloves garlic minced

2 teaspoon cumin

Salt to taste

Put everything in a food processor and process until smooth. Refrigerate and use as dip or salad dressing!

Some variations I am going to try:

• Add fresh basil or mint or both (since I have them growing in deck pots)
• Season with no-salt seasoning blends
• Add lemon or orange zest
• Add a little extra tahini or some olive oil for better salad dress consistency
• Add 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal for thicker consistency

Orange Marmalade

Cut the ends off an orange. Cut into wedges, removing seeds. (Option: If you have the skin and pulp of a lemon after making zucchini hummus, cut it up and add to the orange to make orange/lemon marmalade!). Process in a food processor until skin and pulp are reduced to small bits.

Place process citrus in a small saucepan. Add 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Set timer for 15 minutes and bring to boil on high heat then the lower the heat to simmer.

Cool. Place in a glass jar with a tight lid (I use a wide mouthed jar that salsa came in). Refrigerate.

I enjoy marmalade in warmed pitas (small) or on toast. It is a wonderful salad dressing either alone or combined with olive oil. Use as a component of dressing for carrot/raisin or celery/apple/raisin or spinach/strawberry salad.