Category Archives: CSA

CSA Week 11

Two point five pounds (my half) of tomatoes last week? No problem! They were delicious on tomato sandwiches, BLTs, and in salads. Almost two more pounds this week? Bring it on.

Even without lettuce, they still make a great salad! I’ve been loving the combination of tomato, green pepper, banana pepper, red onion, and feta with my go-to salad dressing (super easy recipe below). So simple, yet so freaking good.

It was nice to see corn again this week too, and two melons (one with the vegetable share and one with the fruit share). Lucky for me, I got another yellow one!

Week 11


I donated two of the eggplants to one (or two) lucky person(s) in my office. I saved one for myself and still need to figure out what to do with it, and soon, as they don’t always last as long as some other types of veggies. The onions seem to be accumulating, but they will last for awhile. I also need to figure out what to do with a zucchini (from last week) and now a summer squash. I did find a zucchini muffin recipe that I want to try, but this week it’s been too hot to even think about turning on the oven. 

Balsamic vinaigrette
1 part olive oil
1 part Dijon mustard
1 part balsamic vinegar
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Have a great week…stay cool!

CSA Week 10

After a two-week break from CSA and a Euro-Vegas vacation, I am back…and ready to welcome veggies back into my diet. Apparently Belgians do not like vegetables so much. I guess it could be hard to pick veggies over delicious beer, chocolate, and waffles! Vacation was lots of fun and it was great to celebrate some fabulous occasions, even if it did lead to a very strange itinerary and a *lot* of time on planes. Congrats to the newlyweds, Laurens and Matthias, and happy birthday to Paetra!

Week 10

It looks like I came back right in the thick of tomato season…five pounds this week! I can’t believe I bought some tomatoes at the store last weekend. Tomato sandwiches have definitely been happening. And I’m hoping to attempt a tomato tart with phyllo dough. Wish me luck!


Whenever I get a watermelon, I always cross my fingers that it’s yellow. And this week I was in luck! And that made me wonder if there is a way to tell…which led me to Google. While I did not find anything telling me a way to differentiate a yellow from a pink watermelon from the outside, I did learn that yellow watermelon is known as “Yellow Crimson” and the more popular pink watermelon is called “Crimson Sweet.” Remind me again, what did we do without Google? And speaking of Google, did you hear about their restructuring as Alphabet?

CSA Week 7

At the top of Cadillac Mountain
I felt a bit behind the eight ball this week, mostly because I got to spend four lovely days in Maine…spending time in Acadia National Park and eating lots of seafood and blueberries. Before my Maine-cation, I dried the oregano (a success!), used the zucchini to make a “zucchini pie” (recipe coming soon), and roasted the beets. I also, of course, ate all the blueberries.

And with some last minute veggie maintenance this evening, my vegetable drawer is feeling more manageable. I made a couple of salads for lunches the rest of the week, and re-attempted collards (with kale and beet greens too). The collards were much better, aka less salty, than last time.

Week 7

I still have the red onions, cucumbers, eggplant, and some radicchio. And to that I’m adding…
  • More onions
  • Another cucumber
  • Another eggplant
  • Zucchini…just one!
  • Collards
  • Green beans
  • Lettuce
  • Corn
  • Purple pepper
  • Basil
  • Blueberries

CSA Week 6

Naan pizza

After a valiant effort (well, sort of), I managed to cook two of the four zucchini/summer squash from last week. Hey, it’s progress! I tried to channel how much I liked it sliced and grilled, and managed to get pretty similar results with a grill pan on top of the stove. I did a lot of salads with the lettuce, endive, carrots, cucumber. I also sauteed the Swiss chard and the rest of the endive and used that as a topping on some semi-homemade naan pizza, which was super delish. But yes, I will admit that I might be a pizza-holic. So far this week I’ve had pizza three times already…naan pizza for dinner on Sunday, Trader Joe’s frozen Greco-Roman pizza for dinner last night, and a couple of slices of Otto pizza for lunch today while I was out running a couple of errands. Hi, my name is Kara, and I’m a pizza-holic.

Week 6

There was no sign at pick-up this week, so here’s what we got:
  • 1 bunch of red onions
  • 1 bunch of beets
  • 7 cucumbers
  • 2 zucchini
  • 1 eggplant
  • 1 bunch kale
  • 1 head radicchio
  • 6 ounces salad mix
  • 1 bunch herbs (I took oregano, and am attempting to dry it)
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 pint blueberries
The blueberries are so yummy, way better than what I bought last week at Whole Foods!

CSA Week 5

This week a lot of my veggies took a trip to NY for the holiday weekend….and they had a fantastic time! Their trip was one-way, mine was not. But I came back to an almost empty vegetable drawer save for one lone kohlrabi. I also haven’t used any of the dill yet.

But anyway, back to NY…we made a nice big salad and grilled the zucchini (I liked it!). And I also whipped up a batch of scape pesto. This is probably best used on things that require a bit of cooking since it’s raw and super garlicky. We used a little bit on a pork tenderloin that we then grilled. The rest of mine went into the freezer.

It has been super hot in Boston, as in I finally broke down and turned on the AC for a bit since it was > 90 degrees in my place. That is too hot to really cook anything so I’m going to be trying this recipe tonight for Thai peanut chicken salad…a recipe from Claire that came highly recommended. It does require cooking chicken and some rice noodles, but at least I do not have to turn on the oven. And I can use lettuce, carrots, garlic, and cilantro from this week’s share.

Week 5


Garlic scape pesto
Makes: a lot

Ingredients
20 garlic scapes
Handful of fresh basil (optional)
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Add garlic scapes, basil, and pine nuts in a food processor and process until finely chopped. With the food processor on, slowly pour in olive oil. Turn off food processor and stir in Parmesan cheese.

Pesto pasta salad

A quick and easy way to use some greens (I used the beta mix from last week’s CSA share) and other vegetables you might have lying around. I used my zucchini and also added grape tomatoes. By tossing the greens with the hot pasta, the greens wilted nicely. The pesto came from the freezer, leftover from last year.

Pesto pasta salad

Pasta salad, pre-mozzarella

Serves: 4

Ingredients
8 ounces pasta
1 small zucchini, sliced
4 ounces greens
1/3 cup pesto
1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half
4 ounces fresh pearline mozzarella
Salt and pepper, to taste.

Directions
1. In a large pot of water, cook pasta according to package directions. Add sliced zucchini to pasta water for the last 2-3 minutes of cooking.

2. Drain pasta and toss with greens, pesto, and grape tomatoes. Allow to cool slightly, then add the fresh mozzarella. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!

CSA Week 9

Week 9

There was no sign at this week’s pickup (also no Kara), but luckily everything was identifiable…and very colorful. It’s like ROYGBIV week! We’ve got red tomatoes, orange carrots, yellow corn, green Swiss chard and lettuce, blue-berries, and let’s go with cabbage and beets for indigo, and a pepper that’s violet. I will certainly be eating a rainbow this week, in addition to the lettuce, beet, and cabbage still hanging out in my fridge.


Side of corn
I made some delicious corn this week, with cotija cheese and cilantro. It was a perfect side for taco night. Cotjia cheese is a crumbled cow’s milk…I call it a Mexican feta. It came in a 12-ounce package so I will probably make it again this week! Here are the proportions I used with two ears of corn, cooked and cut off the cob:

1 teaspoon canola oil
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1-2 ounces cotija

Bento lunch and snacks
I’ve been doing such a good job with bringing my lunch and snacks, but have been using so many containers for everything (especially with taco night leftovers this week). So I was very happy to rediscover my Bento lunch pail, which was a Secret Winter Pal gift a couple of years ago from my friend Kendrin (I always seem to be her SWP).

Here’s what I’ll be packing in my lunch pail this week:
  • Lettuce
  • Swiss chard
  • Onion
  • Red cabbage
  • Beets (2)
  • Tomatoes (8)
  • Corn (3 ears)
  • Carrots (2)
  • Cucumbers (2)
  • Pepper
  • Watermelon
  • Blueberries


CSA Week 8

Delivery truck

This week I have bits and pieces of things left…a lil basil, a lil lettuce, a lil cilantro, and a big beet. Thanks to some very special visitors (my parents!) last weekend who not only celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary with me, but also helped to eat some veggies and clear out some major freezer space. They also took some of the zucchini salad home with them…I liked it, but was super happy to share!

My half

I arrived to the pick up a little before 4 PM today and the truck was still there…that didn’t seem like a good sign, but the truck was still there when I left. We did get extra blueberries to make up for no fruit last week, and a watermelon. I feel a little selfish this week because I kept the watermelon and the spelt bread. This week was good timing for me for bread, as I’m actually pretty caught up. But so far spelt is my least favorite of the breads we’ve been getting (eight grain is my favorite!).

I forgot to take a picture of the sign, but I think this is everything:

  • Broccoli
  • Carrots (6)
  • Zucchini, squash, or cucumber (6, mix and match – not surprising I took 3 cucumbers and zero squash for myself)
  • Tomatoes (1 pound)
  • Lettuce (1 head)
  • Kale (1 bunch)
  • Corn (6 ears)
  • Onion (1)
  • Green onions (1 bunch)
  • Basil (1/4 pound)
  • Herbs (2 bunches – I took chives and oregano)
  • Blueberries (2 pints)
  • Watermelon

Baked parsnip fries

“Fry” shaped parsnip

Spring dug parsnips are a treat and a great way to celebrate a USA win in our World Cup game earlier this evening! I had a parsnip that was about one-third of a pound and I decided to bake them into fries. I used cayenne pepper and paprika, but feel free to substitute other herbs or spices to your liking. Do you know what the technical measurements for a pinch and a dash are?

  • Pinch = 1/16 teaspoon
  • Dash = 1/8 teaspoon

Baked fries

Back in my days as a server at the East Islip Clam & Oyster Bar, we used to serve a maple mayo with our sweet potato fries. I think this is also where I fell in love with the sweet potato fry…that relationship is still going strong! I always thought it would be easy to recreate the maple mayo, and turns out it was! All I did was whisk 1/2 Tablespoon of maple syrup with 1 Tablespoon of mayonnaise, and I got to use the itty bitty baby whisk that I got at Jerel and Michael’s wedding. Not gonna lie, I wish I had a pair of itty bitty baby whisks. I think this would also be super tasty with plain yogurt instead of mayo, but I didn’t have any yogurt on hand.

Baked parsnip fries

Parsnip fries with maple mayo

Serves: 1

Ingredients
1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into “fry” shapes
1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
A pinch of cayenne pepper
A pinch of paprika
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Toss together all ingredients in a bowl, then spread on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 15 minutes until cooked through and enjoy!

Eggplant pizza

Getting ready for the broiler

I think I have Pinterest to thank (again) for the inspiration to make these eggplant pizzas. I was excited to break open both of my Julia Child cookbooks to see what she had to say about the aubergine (Mastering te Art of French Cooking, volumes 1 and 2). I also knew it would be easy because I had some breaded, pre-baked eggplant slices in my freezer from CSA season, which allowed me to skip all of the eggplant steps in the recipe. I added some sauteed baby spinach to the pizza, between the sauce and the cheese.


The finished product

Tranches d’aubergine á l’italienne
Makes 3-4 servings
Source: Julia Child (the one and only), via Kalyn’s Kitchen

Ingredients
1 globe eggplant (about 1/2 pound)
Salt
Olive oil
~2 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (14.5-ounces) petite diced tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/3 cup finely grated mozzarella cheese (or Italian blend)
Red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions
1. Cut off both ends of the eggplant, then cut it into thick slices (about 3/4-inch thick). Place the eggplant slices on a double layer of paper towels and sprinkle both sides generously with salt. Let the eggplant sit for about 30 minutes to draw out the liquid. While the eggplant is sitting, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. While the eggplant sits, heat 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil on the stove over medium heat and saute the garlic just until it becomes fragrant, without browning. Add the petite diced tomatoes, 1/2 teaspoon of the Italian seasoning, and the oregano and simmer until it’s thickened. Add water as needed, a few Tablespoons at a time, and keep the sauce at a low simmer until the eggplant slices are ready.

3. Back to the eggplant. After 30 minutes, wipe the eggplant dry with paper towels (this also removes most of the salt). Spray a roasting sheet with olive oil or non-stick spray, and place the eggplant slices on the sheet in a single layer. Brush the tops with olive oil and sprinkle with remaining Italian seasoning (~2 teaspoons, or to taste). Roast the eggplant for about 25 minutes, until they are cooked but not mushy.

4. When the eggplant slices are done, remove from the oven and set the oven to broil. Spread a few tablespoons of sauce on top of each eggplant slice and top with cheese. Put pizzas under the broiler until the cheese is melted and slightly browned. Keep an eye on it – it just took a few minutes. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes (if desired) and enjoy!