CSA Wednesday, Week 3

Week three of our CSA has me feeling a little less excited than I was last week... I'm finding that a "bunch of this," and a "pound of that" is a bit much for us to finish in a week. On the flip side of that statement, I'm still trying to get into the new habit of incorporating more of the veggies into our meals. I'm also trying to get better at meal planning, which I haven't been able to stick to in my 3 years of off-again, on-again trying... Factor in not knowing what I'll be picking up until half way through the week, and it makes things a little more complicated...

By the bye, I found another article on Edible Communities about our farm if you'd like to learn more about it where my CSA shares are coming from.

Without  further ado, this week's share:

This week's share includes...
1.25 pounds apriums
1.25 pounds white flesh nectarines
1 basket red or yellow sweet and sour plums
1 bag loose leaf lettuce
1 bunch collards or choi (I chose choi)
1 pound summer squash (equaled one zucchini that was 1.5 pounds--variety is "Raven"*)
2 pounds Torpedo onions* (I found a large white one in the crate, so I took that with the Torpedo variety)
1 bunch (6 small to medium heads) of white garlic
1 bunch parsley or thyme (I chose thyme)
French batard loaf
Bonus Box: pickling cucumbers
*Links to varieties are not where the farm gets their seeds. I don't know where they get their seeds.

Where to start... Let's start with the fruits. I wasn't very excited about having apriums again. We still have a few left from last week because they've been hit or miss for us. Some have been too tart, and others have gone bad (even though they're stored in the fridge). They're also, well, "BM inducing" like the plouts/plums, and the LO is sensitive to "inducing" foods, so I'm supplementing his fruit intake with store-bought grapes and some watermelon (left over from Boy Wonder's school party). I was really hoping I'd be able to pick the stone fruit types again this week... Oh well... The white nectarines rock, so I'm happy to have more. I've never heard of "sweet and sour" plums before. They're the fruits that look like cherries in the picture. They sort of taste like a mix between plums and under ripe cherries.

There were "extras" in the bonus box today. Most were bruised fruit, but then there was an overflowing bag of the pickling cucumbers. I grabbed a handful to try making refrigerator pickles. Oh, my mouth is watering...

The big challenge for me this week will be using up the fruit. I think I'll make a dessert with the apriums. I'm happy to report that the choi will not be a problem to consume. I chose the choi over the collards (ok DH came with us today and he chose it) because it was a success last week.


Speaking of last week...
What's left:
Choi - about half the amount I brought home, but plan on using tomorrow.
1 large onion scape
1 plout
2 apriums
garlic (I added to the garlic I grew, and what I received this week)
a little chives

What I made:
The strawberries and bread were gone the first day, and the white nectarines disappeared shortly thereafter.
I've been pleasantly surprised with my chive usage. I thought the herb would go bad from not being used, but I only have a little left. I've been using scissors to snip, adding it to as many dishes as I can think of. It's been more of a color adder than flavor enhancer.

"Mrs. Farm Owner" recommended the following recipe for using the onion scapes.

Scape Pesto with Artichokes
I added some chopped asparagus that almost got lost in the fridge's veggie bin, and used jarred marinated artichoke hearts. I didn't use all of the onion scape pesto out of fear of the onion overpowering everything, but I should've added more. The pesto didn't have as much flavor as I thought it would... I froze the remaining pesto, and still have one huge scape sitting in a cup of water that I need to use.

A huge "THANK YOU" goes out to Clare from Curbstone Valley Farm for the following Choi recipe.
DH and I are obviously going to eat the food I make, our 2yo still doesn't "know better" and has more of a... refined pallet than our 8yo, so our picky 8yo is the one we use to gauge whether a recipe is a hit or not. Let me just say the following recipe was devoured by him, and was one of the quickest meals we've had since I made fried chicken in February (fried chicken is a big deal here)!

Can you tell I'm left-handed?

I'll call this "Clare's Tofu Stir Fry"
1 package extra firm tofu, drained and cubed into 1/2" pieces
2 Tbs oil (I used part canola, part sesame)
2-4 cloves, finely chopped
1-2 Tbs freshly grated ginger
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
1 bunch chopped pak choi
1 chopped bell pepper**
Prepared rice

Fry the tofu in the oil until edges are nice and crispy. Remove the tofu, and add garlic and ginger, and cook until aromatic and lightly golden. Toss the tofu back in the pan, add teriyaki sauce and cook for 1-2 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the chopped greens and cover just long enough to wilt the greens, about 2-3 minutes. Remove the lid and stir together. Serve over rice.

**I added the pepper to help appeal to the 8yo, and because I normally use them in a lot of dishes, and I've been missing them.

For dessert I used the Meyer lemons from week 1 in sandwich cookies I adapted from the original recipe here. I'm the lemon fan in the house, so guess who ate most of the cookies? LOL