CSA stands for community supported agriculture. Basically, you pay an upfront fee, and you have access to farm fresh produce (and other goods such as milk, cheese, and eggs) on a weekly basis.
This is my first time joining a CSA. I decided on a location that is convenient for me to pickup my produce on the way home from the office. I also chose a small share, which should be a good amount of produce for myself, my husband, and our young daughter. The CSA that I choose to be a part of runs for 9 weeks in the fall (there was a summer session as well, but I didn’t sign up in time for that one!).
I picked up my first CSA box on Tuesday, and here is what was in it!
- 2 cucumbers
- 1 bag of potatoes (4 large)
- 1 large cantaloupe
- 1 head of romaine lettuce
- 5 peaches
- 3 tomatoes (actually from a friend’s garden)
Time for a plan! I do not want any of my precious produce to go to waste. I was really hoping to get creative with my recipes, but it has been a busy week, so here is what I have done so far!
Garden Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 head of romaine lettuce (from CSA)
- 1 cucumber (from CSA)
- 1 tomato (from a friends garden)
- 1/4 cup freshly shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 sweet onion- chopped
I chopped everything up. Placed it in a clear glass bowl and then popped it in the fridge.
TIP #1** Anytime that I prep a batch of salad, I always put it in a clear glass bowl. This ensures that each time I open the fridge, I see salad. This makes me so much more likely to grab a quick bowl of salad rather than reaching for another snack or food. It also allows me to keep an eye on how fresh the veggies are looking.
TIP #2** I shred the cheese ahead of time, but I do not add it until I am ready to eat it. This keeps my cheese from getting all wet and slimy…gross. You can use bagged shredded cheese too, I just prefer to shred my own…mostly because it is cheaper!
Cantaloupe
I do not like cantaloupe. It smells so good, but I just don’t enjoy the taste of it. Maybe I’ve just never had a good cantaloupe? Regardless, I am determined to not let anything go to waste, and I am pushing my self to try new things.
NOTE* one great thing about my CSA is that they have a trade table. If I really did not want my cantaloupe, I could leave it on the trade table and take something else (like more potatoes!).
I did not do anything fancy with my cantaloupe. I cut it up once it was ripe…took a few bites…then took it with me to the office where my coworkers finished it for me!
Potatoes
The potatoes I saved and they went into one of my favorite dinners….shrimp and sausage cajun foil bakes. See pictures and the recipe in CSA Week 2 here.
Peaches
We let them sit on the counter until they softened a bit. Sliced them. Ate them. BORING I know! With fresh produce like this…it doesn’t take a lot of work.
