I'm getting a CSA share this week! What should I make?

[SollysMom]

My friend is going on vacation and offered me her CSA share for the week. I get it Tuesday night. Here's what I'm told I can expect: Dino Kale, Mizuna, Mustard Greens, Gold Potatoes, Spaghetti Squash, Tomatillos,and Heirloom Tomatoes, and Sungold Cherry Tomatoes. I'm making it my goal to not let anything go to waste, so I want to use everything or maybe give some of it to my parents.

I'm ovo-lacto vegetarian and my husband's kind of picky. When I read him the list, the only thing he seemed excited about was the potatoes

I drink a green smoothie every day, so which of those would be best for my smoothies? I'm thinking the kale? I've never had dinosaur kale but have used "regular" kale (from the bagged salad section) for smoothies before. What should I do with the other greens? DH likes spinach and he does like bitter things so I think he'd like more greens, but he's kind of reluctant to try new things. I'm thinking of just sauteeing with olive oil and garlic and serving over rice or pasta. Any other ideas?

I doubt he'll eat the squash, and he's not a fan of actual tomatoes but he does like tomato flavor/sauce (just not chunks).

I should mention our oven is out of commission, so everything needs to be done stove-top. I really want to impress DH this week so I can hopefully convince him to get a CSA next year. TIA for any replies!

[Youngfrankenstein]

We faithfully make kale chips with every bunch! We are in Ohio and get it for about 6 weeks in the spring/summer. The kids love them and they are not adventerous when it comes to greens.

I mandoline-slice my summer squash and saute it in butter (sorry, I don't know if you eat butter)

There are great recipes for cherry tomato and corn salads with red onion and a vinegar based dressing.

And don't forget to check out allrecipes.com you can search by ingredient and I've used the site tons of time for those "other" veg we don't normal buy.

[SollysMom]

Thanks so much for the reply! I forgot about allrecipes ingredient search function.

One more question - on Thursday, I'm bringing over dinner for a friend who just had a baby and I would like to use some of the CSA stuff. She's also an ovo-lacto vegetarian but the rest of her family is not (husband and three older kids). Like I said my oven's out of commission, but maybe I can prepare something and bring it over earlier in the day, and just tell her how long to bake it?

[cristeen]

With that selection, i'd probably cook the spaghetti squash up, and use that for your pasta. Braise all your greens, then mix them w the tomatoes and cook it down into a nice sauce to put on your pasta. You'll need plenty of fat with that - a healthy dose of olive oil and a good amount of romano/parmesan cheese should do it.

[SollysMom]

Originally Posted by cristeen

With that selection, i'd probably cook the spaghetti squash up, and use that for your pasta. Braise all your greens, then mix them w the tomatoes and cook it down into a nice sauce to put on your pasta. You'll need plenty of fat with that - a healthy dose of olive oil and a good amount of romano/parmesan cheese should do it.

I'm going to take this idea and run with it. Here's what I think I'll do:

On Thursday, I'll dice some of the tomatoes and sautee in olive oil and garlic with the greens and some chickpeas. I'll cook up a bunch of pasta, plus the spaghetti squash. For my friend and her family, I'll toss the tomato/chickpea/greens mixture with pasta. Just in case her kids are picky, I'll make some regular pasta sauce with some of the tomatoes and serve in a smaller dish with some pasta. I'll toss some of the mixture with pasta for my husband, and keep the spaghetti squash all to myself (my husband won't eat it) to toss with some of the mixture.

I have no idea about quantities since I don't normally cook for this many people, and I've never seen how much comes in a CSA share before, so when I get the food on Tuesday I'll have to see if it seems like enough. Maybe I'll get some extra greens from Wegmans just in case.