CSA: First haul of the season!

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

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).

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

• 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.