Summer CSA Week 1

Today, I'm excited to announce a new blog series! I recently posted a picture of everything I got in my CSA box on social media and asked if you guys would be interested in seeing how I use the items each week. Lots of you were excited about the idea, so every week I will be showing you what I got in the previous week's box and sharing how I ended using each item. I'm introducing this on a Monday, but all of the following posts will go up on Friday. Since this is the first post, I'll start with a little background info to get us started.

What's a CSA?

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It's basically like a weekly subscription to a local farm. You sign up before the growing season starts and pay up-front. Once the season is under way, you receive a share of what the farm is producing each week.

Why join a CSA?

The CSA model has a number of benefits for the farmer and consumer.

For the farmer

  • More accurate forecasting of demand, resulting in less waste
  • Financial security in the event that poor growing conditions, natural disaster, or some other unforeseen event negatively impacts production
  • Closer relationships with consumers

For the consumer

  • Consistent access to fresh, local foods
  • More food for less money because of the security you are providing the farmer with your up-front payment
  • Opportunity to try different and specialty items
  • Greater awareness of the seasonality of foods grown in your area
  • Closer relationship with the farmer

This week's box

This is technically the second week of our CSA because we missed the first week while on vacation. To make things less confusing, I'm just calling this Week 1.

Here's what we got! Everything is listed below, starting at the top of the picture and moving from left to right.

Summer CSA Haul Week 1

 

 

  1. Head of lettuce
  2. Bok Choy
  3. Cilantro
  4. Green Kale
  5. Swiss chard
  6. Snow peas
  7. Strawberries
  8. White salad turnips
  9. Garlic chives

How I used it

The snow peas and strawberries were ate up as snacks, so no pics of those.

I used some of the garlic chives to add garlic  flavor to a roasted potato salad...

Roasted Potatoes

...and used the rest when I sauteed the bok choy.

Bok Choy

I cut the swiss chard into ribbons and chopped the stems to all be sauteed with some onion, garlic, salt, and pepper. Simple and delicious, especially when served with a fried egg!

Swiss Chard and Fried Egg

The kale became a massage kale salad.

Massaged Kale Salad

Cilantro = burrito bowl night. It got added to the rice and was a key player in the guacamole.

Cilantro Lime Rice

Burrito Bowl

The lettuce was salad and a topping for our burrito bowls. Here it is after a few rinses.

Lettuce

I thinly sliced some of the white salad turnips and ate them raw on a salad (shocking, I know). I still have a few left and I plan to saute them up as a side one night.

White Salad Turnips

 

So that wraps up everything from our first week! Let me know if you have an ideas for this series, such as info you'd like me to include/omit or a catchier title. :) We'll be doing Week 2 on Friday, so make sure you come back for that!

Are any of you CSA members too? Let me know what you're getting in your boxes and how you're using it in the comments below!

Summer CSA Haul Week 2