Roasty Toasty

Chilly days in Redondo Beach.  Hail, rain and wind might send you snuggling under a blanket, or turning up the thermostat.  But here's another way to keep warm:  roast some CSA vegetables.  Photo above, a bowl of roasted radishes and red beets from the recent box.  They're lovely just like this, or use them in a soup or salad.  (You can also roast the carrots, of course.)

Panko Wax Beans

I don't like wax beans.  I don't like their color, and they don't have much flavor--they seem like a wasted opportunity.  But we got a box of wax beans in our last CSA box, and I can't see letting them rot away without at least trying to eat them.  So I coated them with cornstarch, egg, and panko flakes, and fried them up, like I sometimes do with cauliflower or green beans.  Not bad; I definitely ate them all without complaint. 

PS--I believe this is the 100th post at the Adams Middle School CSA blog.

Radishes on the Grill

 We got some big, beautiful radishes in the CSA box this week.  Big, like they almost looked like red potatoes.  But they were definitely radishes.  I don't love the taste of a raw radish, except in small amounts, shredded into a sandwich maybe.  So, I tried an online recipe for cooking my radishes on the grill (we were grilling other vegetables anyway).

It was certainly easy to prepare.  This is the packet before grilling:

raw sliced radishes, bits of butter, snipped dill, salt, and pepper, in foil

And this is the packet after grilling:

cooked sliced radishes, right off the grill

 Cooked radishes are very mild in flavor, and benefit from extra spices and herbs; and next time, I'll probably add some garlic.  But it's a nice side dish, and a colorful change of pace.

Asian Guavas

What is this week's mystery item? The Asian guava--from an organic grower in Fallbrook. Here are Farmer Tanaka's comments from the Tanaka Farms CSA blog:

You will probably have some little green things in your boxes this week. They are Asian guavas. They can be eaten when they are hard or soft. The seeds, try not to bite down on them, just swallow them whole. A little salt and or lime and they are good to go. We got them from an organic grower from the Fallbrook area. I will post a bio about him when I get a little more time.

Green Cauliflower the Size of my Head

Not even a tiny exaggeration...In today's box.

Stuffed Pattypan Squash

The little green UFOs in the CSA box two weeks ago? Pattypan squash. They're lovely, but we got a lot of them, and one of the best ways to use a lot of something is to stuff them. It's easy, and it's pretty (if you're a visual eater). The stuffing can be almost anything you like or have handy. I'll show you how I made this batch:

1. Wash the squash.

2. Cut the stem end of the squash so it's flat to sit on the baking pan. Then hollow out the other side; don't worry about the hollow being pretty, it'll be hidden. Keep the pieces that come from the hollow space! If you cut through the bottom, don't worry, just replace the piece that fits in the space best.
3. When you have them all hollowed out, place on a cookie sheet:

4. Now make the stuffing. This time I combined leftover rice, 2 chopped jalapenos, cream cheese, shredded cheddar, four small CSA tomatoes, cumin, some garden herbs, and the chopped bits of squash that came from the hollowing out step. But you can stuff them with anything, really! Look around online, there are plenty of ideas. Mix up the stuffing, and scoop it generously into the squash on the cookie sheet:
Bake the stuffed squash in a 350 oven until the squash is tender and the filling is warm through and melty--probably 20-25 minutes for this version. I broiled a little at the end to get a little hint of browning on top...

If you have leftover stuffing (I did), it works just as well to stuff a zucchini or a bell pepper. I had two of these with a bread roll for a very happy lunch today, and the rest we'll have tonight at dinnertime.

Swiss Chard

Check out designer Poppy Gall's fantastic photographs and the color palette she designed using rainbow Swiss chard for inspiration.

Golden Beets!

Did you get golden beets in your box this week? I did, a nice bunch of them. Even if you're not a fan of red beets, try to goldens--their flavor isn't as strong, and the color is more friendly to visual eaters. I've learned to like red beets, even love them, but the intense magenta kept me away from them for a very long time--it just didn't seem like a savory food color.

Last time I got golden beets in my box, I just fried them up in a little butter (shown above) and sprinkled them with salt and pepper--so simple. Even the picky child in my house enjoyed them--they looked enough like fried potatoes, I guess. Another visual eater!

Another bowl of CSA goodness

So here's something easy and satisfying to do with some of your CSA veggies, especially as the weather cools down...

Chop up some cabbage, carrots, and green onions, and anything else you like in soup. Put them in the crockpot with a few tablespoons of green curry paste and enough broth to cover. Crockpot all day (or overnight). When the veggies are tender, add a little coconut milk if you like (or not), and salt if you like (or not). Cube some firm tofu (or meat if you want) and fry in a pan with a Tbsp or two of olive oil. Serve soup over rice, and top with the fried tofu.

A CSA Party!

Here's a trick to using up your CSA box--schedule a party the day after it arrives! I used much of last week's box contents--tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, squash, onion, basil, grapefruit, orange, and apple--in making these dishes, as it was my turn to host bunco last Friday night. Tarts aren't difficult, and salads are even easier--it's mostly just chopping when you're starting with such fresh ingredients.

Dinosaur Egg, or Melon?

In today's box...Pretty sure it's a melon--but if it IS a live dinosaur egg, our blog will have a pretty impressive scoop, eh?

They were shelling peas.

If you tried to eat the packet of peas last week as if they were sugar snap peas, you probably noticed that they weren't... they were shelling peas, explains the Tanaka Farms blog. Fun for even young children to prepare--no knives required. (Bowl above are my CSA peas, before we sauteed them and added them to a casserole.)

CSA Comfort Foods...

Sometimes, I want a bowl of grains, with some sauteed/steamed/wilted greens and maybe some sauce or nuts on top. And it's the perfect way to make a nice bowl of comfort food from a CSA box brimming with cabbage, chard, spinach, lettuce...

Comfort Bowl #1: Cheesy Risotto (from a box), sauteed chard and cabbage, and pine nuts:

Comfort Bowl #2: Couscous with chopped cilantro, sauteed chard and onions, and peanut sauce:
What's your go-to CSA comfort food?