Adventures with CSA Veggies – July 2016

By the beginning of July, I was becoming overwhelmed with vegetables from our weekly medium share from Gorman Farms Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). I was not eating all the veggies each week in June and the crispers were never empty. I was thrilled to have guests right after the 4^th of July; I sent home all the excess with them – filling the ice chest they had brought for the purpose.

I have strategies to keep veggies for a little longer: basil in a glass of water on the counter and

Greens (like carrot tops) in bins that I save from salad greens purchased in the winter.

Now when I see the board, I’m already thinking about what I’ll make. I’ve enjoyed make dark red (chocolate) pudding with beets and zucchini (summer squash since I pick the other colors than dark green if given a choice) bread already. Something as simple as slices of cucumbers and turnips with hummus makes a great summer snack (or meal).

We haven’t gotten tomatoes yet (maybe next week), but I was in the mood for something tomato yesterday and made an excellent soup with leeks, potatoes, summer squash, basil and carrot tops….in a spicy ‘spaghetti’ sauce. Yum!

I still may have to shred some of the summer squash to freeze for fall and winter baking before I pick up next week’s share!

Chicken Soup

Yesterday was blustery and cold. When we first got up there were a few snowflakes but the only place I could find that they were sticking was the skylight on the covered part of our deck (as seen from my office window). The day alternated between a gray winter day with short periods of brilliant sunshine.

It was a good day for making Chicken Soup with the leftover chicken from earlier this week. I started a pan with water, a chicken bouillon cube, and a cup of shredded summer squash from the freezer (left from last summer’s CSA). By the time I had cut up a few mushrooms to add, the squash had thawed and the liquid was bubbling. I added seasonings (not measuring…just added what I thought would be enough): onion flakes, my own grated orange peel, minced garlic, ‘original’ Pinch Perfect no-salt blend. I decided that cilantro would be good in the soup but it has more flavor if it isn’t cooked too much so I put it in the soup bowl and cut it up with scissors – with the plan to pour the soup over the fresh greens. Finally, I cut up the chicken and added it to the simmering soup. It took about 15 minutes…and was just what I wanted for lunch!