A Crate Full of Veggies - Week One

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A couple of weeks ago I mentioned adding a new component to The Sweet Life regarding my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share. Last Wednesday I picked up my first beautiful crate from Fern Creek Farm that was not only full of wonderful early summer vegetables but a tomato plant and a cookbook too! In the past when I've been part of CSAs I've struggled to wisely and entirely consume or preserve all of the goods. This year I made a challenge to use every last vegetable and share my progress along the way. Hopefully together we can share ideas, recipes, and preserving techniques throughout the season.

This is what I had my first week:

Blush Butter Cos Lettuce

Fire Red Romaine Lettuce

New Red Potatoes

Bunching Onions

Kohlrabi

Broccoli

Strawberries

Dinosaur and Curly Kale

Mustard Greens

Arugula

and this is what I did:

"Anything Goes" Salad

I made a bunch of salads similar to this one using up most the lettuce, arugula, mustard greens, onions and kohlrabi. I was pretty new to kohlrabi but found it extremely tasty sliced into these earthy summer salads. I intended to stir fry some of it I enjoyed it too much raw.

Lemon Garlic Quinoa & Kale Salad

I got this recipe off the Fern Creek Newsletter that came inside the crate. Check it out here. I enjoyed this salad  not only because it was tasty in a fresh, zesty, summery sort of way, but the quinoa base provided me enough protein and substance that it made a quick, simple, and healthful meal.

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

This Roasted Potato recipe also came from the CSA's newsletter.  It made a great side dish to my quinoa kale salad.

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake

 Oh fresh Oregon-grown strawberries, I love you. I had so much fun with strawberries this week that I'm taking a trip on Friday to a U-pick farm and stocking up. The Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake was an experiment that needs a little more experimenting but believe me you will be getting the recipe soon! The Strawberry Shortcakes were for this baby shower.  I used a basic vanilla cupcake recipe, whipped coconut cream, and sugar sliced strawberries. I use the same technique here as for my chocolate strawberry parfaits. The key when making these cupcakes is to cut out the middle and fill it with strawberries to create delight in every bite.

Tempeh Tuna Salad

I used up the last of my onions and lettuce in this Tempeh Tuna Salad. This was also for the baby shower and was a big hit!

Quinoa Stir Fry with Ginger Peanut Sauce

I finished off my crate at dinner tonight by using up my broccoli. I made a quinoa stir fry with baked tofu and a ginger peanut sauce. I will work on getting this recipe up soon.

Do you have a CSA share? What fun things are you doing with your vegetables?