CSA Adventures 2011: Week 1

Sneak a peek at week two's veggies, above!

Hello!  After disappointing myself, and perhaps some of you, with last year's CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) coverage, I'm back for a third season and determined to improve my game.  If you've forgotten why my follow-through was so abysmal in 2010, it was because I got pregnant in July and developed an aversion to vegetables that left me uninterested in cooking most of the items in my share during the height of the season.

I had to join a new program, as the one I'd been a member of for the past two years wasn't an option this year.  Now, I'm a shareholder in Local Roots, a new CSA in the neighborhood.  They've split the season into two halves (12 weeks each), so for now I've paid for the first 12 weeks of produce.  If all goes well, I'll buy a share in the second half of the season, too.

Dan and I actually got a half share, as the "whole share" was described as being for larger families.  So far, the amount of each type of produce seems good for the two of us (the baby is not eating solid foods yet), though there aren't a lot of different items yet.  I'm hoping that the variety of vegetables we receive each week will increase as the growing season gets underway.

The other piece to this blogging-my-CSA-adventures puzzle is taking photos to share with you, and so far I've been trying to put the baby to bed during prime "golden light" hours.  Eating in the dark doesn't make for nice pictures, either.  But I'll work on getting you some shots of what we're receiving and eating.  Can't be worse than last year, right?  Right?

Tonight begins Week Two, so I'll share a brief wrap-up of last week and look forward to filling you in on what follows. As in past years, items I mark as "challenge vegetables" are ones we're cooking with for the first time.

Week 01 Produce:
1/2 pound of Nettle - CHALLENGE VEGETABLE
1 pound of Spinach
1 bunch of Radishes
1 bunch of Scallions

Local Roots linked to this helpful video about cooking with nettle.  Don't get stung!


Nettle from Local Roots NYC on Vimeo.



With the produce from week one, Dan and I were able to make just two dishes:
1. Stinging Nettle Pesto
Notes: Dan prepared this with pine nuts, walnuts, nettle, oil, garlic and parmesan.  We ate it over pasta one night, and also had it on toasted bread.  It had a fairly mild flavor, so the garlic was a good addition.
2. Big Salad
Notes: I do like a big salad.  We used the spinach, radishes, and scallions for this one and dressed it with left over arepa sauce from Caracas Arepa Bar.

Coming Up in Week 02 Produce:
1/2 pound Quelite or "Red Root," a sort of Mexican wild spinach - CHALLENGE VEGETABLE
1 head of Lettuce
1 bunch of Scallions
1 bunch of Parsley

Did you join a CSA this year? What was in your first week's share?

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