CSA Wednesday, Week 7

Oh yes, my readers, I knew week seven would bring us some CSA luck! Strawberries, carrots, and Bibaine bread, oh my! But the two things I was clicking my heels together for were Bibaine's bread, and cilantro. We got both, yes!

This week's share includes...
2 baskets strawberries
1 basket baby plums
1 bunch basil, dill, or cilantro
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch kale, bok choi, or chard
1 head cheddar cauliflower
1 head red butter lettuce
1 lb summer squash (I sorta cheated and grabbed the biggest Magda they had. Came in at 1.4 lbs, teehee)
rosemary focaccia bread sprinkled with salt & pepper

I was really glad to see Bibaine Bakery's bread on the menu today. And still warm at pick up time, mmmm. This is the second time for this style of loaf, so I now it's going to melt in our mouths at dinner tonight. That's right. I've managed not to tear off a chunk by now. LOL I had the chance to talk with Mr. CSA Farmer about how we felt about the two bakeries we've been receiving the bread from, so that's officially off my chest.

When I was setting up the food for pictures, I realized I grabbed bok choi instead of chard, so I guess we'll be having an Asian dish this week. A good opportunity to try some of my Siam Queen basil!

Challenges: I don't anticipate any challenges this week, surprisingly... With the exception of the cauliflower, everything looks like pretty standard fare here.

I only say cauliflower because I've made it once before. That one time was waaay back "in the day" when I knew how to steam broccoli, and cook three kinds of chicken; Shake n' Bake, BBQ, or lemon pepper chicken (premixed seasoning). I've come a long way since then, so I'm sure the cauliflower will turn out a lot better than the nasty roasted cauli I attempted to make.

Now on to last week's CSA meal highlights...
I make a lot of dinner salads, so the arugula and speckled lettuce were at home in my kitchen this past week. The first salad I made included the beets, which I roasted.
Beets before roasting...

And after...

This roasted beet salad with raspberry vinaigrette also included CSA radishes and greens.

I made a steak fajita salad which used up the cilantro, gypsy peppers, squash, onion (from another week), and the salad greens. You can read more about this divine salad with cilantro dressing here.

Last night's dinner was one I've been wanting to make for a few months, but thought I'd have to wait until I grew my own arugula this fall to try it... White Pizza with Arugula, by Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa). I used my own pizza crust which has Italian seasoning, and also added mushrooms and caramelized onions. The original recipe would probably be bland, but with these changes, it was everything I'd hoped it would be...

Sometime last week I made a Stone Fruit and Loquat Crisp to use up last week's stone fruits, our plums and loquats. It was good, and the oatmeal crisp topping rocked, but DH and I both decided we just don't really like fruit in our desserts.

I made up for it with butterscotch blondies, LOL.