Planning week of meals around CSA boxes

[abandbunk]

Hey, i was thinking maybe we could do a thread of weekly meals centered around our csa boxes, anyone else game? I will start tomarrow, when we get our box, and think of a week of meals based on what we are getting.

[courtenay_e]

Sounds like fun, but we don't start till may!

[Momma2DoubleCuties]

Wow you are lucky! Our CSA basket didn't ever start until June!

[BlueStateMama]

Ours doesn't start until June either - I'm debating whether to join, or to just keep buying at the co-op and the farmer's market when that gets going. Aside from price saving - what are the advantages? (and what if I get a boatload of some veggie that no one likes?? )

[maryeliz]

I don't get a CSA box in the winter, but if you post a list of what you are getting, I would post recipes. All of us non-CSAers can live through you.

[abandbunk]

lol, ty for the responses :P i can't wait till everyone else is getting thier boxes too!
this week (today) we are getting

Carrots
Red Radishes
Yukon Gold Potatoes
Hass Avocados
Jonagold Apples
Kiwi
Yellow Onions
D'anjou Red Pears
Jewel Yams
Jonagold Apples
Green Bell Peppers
D'anjou Red Pears
Red Leaf Lettuce
apples and pears are listed twice becuz i swapped them for two of teh other items, i think one of them was thyme, i can't remember what the other two were (the jewel yams are from swapping one other item too). So its a pretty basic week, no overly interesting items :P lol, but sometimes they are wierd things like celery root or collard greens (probably not wierd to some of you lol, but new to me ).

[BetsyS]

Yesterday, Rachael Ray had a recipe that looked good on her show. Little toasts with a mixture of caramelized apples nad onions on top. Drizzle with a little reduced balsamic vinegar (until syrupy), then topped with pine nuts. We never have pine nuts, so I'd probably sub walnuts. I'm going to try it soon.

[maryeliz]

I like baked yams with carmelized onions on top (and maybe sour cream, cheese, or yogurt on top of that if you are so inclined).

if you do meat, you could make a nice beef stew with those carrots, onions, and potatoes.

or you could saute the onions, carrots, and potatoes until the potatoes are cooked most of the way. Then add chopped tomatoes and maybe peppers. then add a cup of stock. bring the stock to a boil and then add a cup of couscous. cover tightly and turn off the heat. let sit for 15 minutes and then eat.

also, you could do baked pears or apples.

[KnittingShaker]

It certainly wouldn't use a lot of the fabulous sounding produce you received, but I would make my favorite salad: red leaf lettuce with those divine pears (and probably apples, too) and some goat cheese. Topped with balsamic and a tiny bit of oil and a ton of black pepper.

I can't wait for CSA season to start. Sigh.

[Amys1st]

I dont get mine until May.

[MomToKandE]

Originally Posted by BlueStateMama

Ours doesn't start until June either - I'm debating whether to join, or to just keep buying at the co-op and the farmer's market when that gets going. Aside from price saving - what are the advantages? (and what if I get a boatload of some veggie that no one likes?? )

We don't start until June either. We did it for the first time last summer. The advantages for me are:
- It got us to try tons of things I wouldn't normally have bought. I had no idea what to do with turnips... turns out they're good shredded in a salad. Same with bok choi and several other items. With a little help from the Internet I was able to find tasty ways to prepare everything.
- It got us eating a lot more veggies. Having them already in the fridge meant I had to use them or I'd be wasting $$.
- The veggies were super-fresh. I don't usually get to the farmer's market so these were way better then what I could get at the grocery store.

[Barcino]

I am sure it is very obvious but what are CSAs?????

[elizawill]

haha, no it's not obvious....to me anyway. i had to google it:


"CSA is the acronym for Community Supported Agriculture, a grass roots movement to bring consumers into a closer relationship to their food production. Become a member of our CSA program to receive a weekly food box full of delicious, seasonal produce."

this was a quote from a community supported agriculture website. sounds awesome, huh????

[sadean]

Originally Posted by courtenay_e

Sounds like fun, but we don't start till may!

Same here.

[HerbanGirl]

Boy, I didn't really think about how lucky I am here in CA - my CSA is year-round! The lettuce, carrots, radishes, peppers, avocados onions and maybe some pears or kiwi would make a fabulous salad...could even be a main dish with a side of mashed or baked potatoes? You could also mash a mixture of potatoes and yams. If you want to stretch things out over the week you could make a number of salads of different combos too.

Here's a quick, yummy way I use apples and/or pears for dessert:
Chop fruit and saute in coconut oil or butter until soft and brown.
Dish up and serve topped with shredded coconut and fresh cream.
It is super-good!

So, tomorrow we're getting the following and I'd love to get some ideas too:
Carrots
Leeks
Salad Mix
Potatoes
Mandarins
Red Russian Kale
Celery

[AutumnMelody]

June here too And we don't get all the fabulous fruits that you do, but I won't complain as I love my CSA! :

[Nimbus]

Our CSA will also start in June and this will be our first time, so I'll be sure to check this thread as the time draws closer. I want to make sure we're making the most of our share.

I'm hoping to keep it going year-round, but wasn't able to join the spring share this year because it was only open to current members. It's so hard for me to be patient when I get excited about doing something new.

Can't wait for June!

[sunnylady303]

We start in May too and I have such a hard time meal planning with my CSA. We pick up one basket Monday evening, another (we're in two CSA's) on Wednesday afternoon and I do my grocery shopping on Saturday mornings. I can't change any of these - the pick up locations are at the farms which is not where our food coop is. How do you plan that way? It's really frustrating. I want the CSA to save us money and when I can't meal plan that doesn't happen!

[Wendy79]

My CSA is year round too--definitely something I'm going to miss if/when we leave California! We do grocery-shopping every two weeks or so to buy staples, dairy, pasta, that kind of thing; then I combine our vegetables and fruit with whatever we've got to come up with meals. The cookbook Vegetable Love by Barbara Kafka is great--there's a section for every vegetable.

My problem lately has been that we've been getting "winter" type vegetables, understandably, but our weather has been really warm and summery! I took advantage of a cold rainy day yesterday to make vegetable soup and use up a lot of different things.

We also don't eat nearly enough salad... salad mix is what we probably end up wasting or giving away the most often. In the summer, there's no way we could eat all the melon they send!

I was talking to my sister in Seattle a couple of days ago while unloading my box. "Meyer lemons again? What am I going to do with all of these?" She about fainted.

My favorite thing is the organic, heirloom potatoes--SO much flavor and color! Russet potatoes from the supermarket don't do it anymore; I'm spoiled. A winter CSA dish I make a lot: saute leeks and cabbage until very soft, boil potatoes with two cloves of garlic and mash them (adding salt, pepper, and slightly less butter than usual), then mix it all together.

Also love braised chard on polenta.

We're having our first asparagus tonight! I can't wait.

[Wendy79]

This week, among other things, we got red potatoes, asparagus, leeks, and green garlic in our CSA box. I chopped the potatoes and parboiled them, did the same to the asparagus, sauteed the leeks and garlic, added the half-cooked potatoes and asparagus, threw in a tablespoon of dill, and cooked the whole business for another fifteen minutes. Delicious, flavorful, organic goodness! I love it when I can make a whole meal with nothing but the box (well, the salt, pepper, olive oil, and dill I already had).

Need to do something with cauliflower tonight. We have a LOT of cauliflower.