CSA Wednesday, Week 6

Six weeks down, sixteen more to go! I'm not really counting down, waiting for the end... I looked at the calendar... hehe...

This week's share includes...
1 (large) bag of arugula
1 bunch of radishes
1 bunch beets
1 bunch cilantro
1 head of speckled lettuce
1 lb summer squash
3 Gypsy peppers
1.25 lbs yellow peaches
1.25 lbs white nectarines
2 seeded cheese sticks

When I received the weekly email stating what will be in our share, I was really excited to see arugula on the list. I recently borrowed Barefoot Contessa's Back to Basics book where she features arugula in several delicious looking recipes, and can't wait to work with it.

What I wasn't very pleased about seeing were the breadsticks... We took my mom-in-law (MIL) to our farmer's market this past Saturday, and the bakery that shared the bread sticks with us was there... I actually commented on these bread sticks, saying they "Look like something Big Bird would eat." They weren't half bad, but I wouldn't put it past the bakery to give us the farmer's market leftovers because the bread was tough--like several days old, tough (I worked in restaurants long enough to know how leftovers work). So far this bakery has 3 out of 3 thumbs down from us. The first week they participated in our CSA was the single cookie and brownie, and last week was a Double Olive Bread that was too dense and too, well, olive-y for our tastes--and we like our olives. We all enjoyed the simplicity and larger quantity of bread the original bakery, Bibiane Bakery offered.

Challenges: As was the challenge for last week, it is once again to avoid spoilage! I've eaten canned beets, which were ok, but never cooked with them. I have no idea how they'll go over with the family.

Speaking of last week...
As Mrs. CSA Farmer suggested, I lightly coated the Magda squash in olive oil, salt and pepper, and grilled with some zucchini. Oh, Lordy, it was good! I par-boiled some new potatoes we picked up at the farmer's market, and threw them into a pan to saute with the rest of my homegrown onion and some garlic, and thickly sliced Zypher squash from last week's share. Mmmmm, nom!

Last week's CSA basil was made into another round of pesto. This time I replaced the pine nuts with toasted almonds. I also threw in a few of my own basil to bring the amount up to the correct quantity. I froze all of this in 1 Tbs portions for later use.

I finally used up the rest of the baby and sweet & sour plums with loquats in a Crumble (recipe on my food blog, here).

After feeling crummy, and having a very looong day yesterday, comfort food was in order. I made this quick and easy Broccoli Cheddar Soup, and served with fresh and crusty White-Whole Wheat French Bread.