CSA Box Weeks 17 & 18

I have to admit, I've been busy with work, house stuff and marathon training that blogging has been neglected. But I also have been busy cooking, which is definitely a good thing. Can't let that wonderful food from my box go to waste. Here are pictures of my food friends for the last two weeks of the summer CSA session.

Week 17


Week 18 (Last week of the summer session!)


I didn't get a chance to post individual blogs featuring the dishes I cooked but I have referenced the sites I used to make my dishes -

Miso Glazed Bok Choy (used tat soi)
Sesame Noodles with Radish Salad
Corn and Clam Chowder (potatoes, celery, carrots, onions)
Pad Thai (carrots, broccoli)
Kale Chips
Green Bean Casserole
Basil Eggplant

CSA Box Week 16

This is my first CSA subscription and it's become a way of life for me. I still go to the supermarket at times, but only to supplement items I am in need of such as peanut butter, grains, beans, and the like. Farmers markets here are winding down as well, except for the Ballard and University District markets that are year round. Winter squash and pumpkins are now in season, and corn and tomatoes are near their end of their growing season. I will definitely miss the corn, peas, and tomatoes. Anyway, on a brighter note, I am glad I signed up for the winter CSA session. Though we will see how the winter season goes as meterologists are forecasting a bitter cold winter - a huge winter like that we experienced in 2008 with inches and inches of snow, and one that we haven't experienced in decades.

Here's my food box from this past week -


I am loving these sweet nectarines and pluots. You just can't find these as sweet and nutritious in traditional supermarkets.


Here are the dishes I made:

Corn and Tomato Pizza	Spicy Honey Roasted Potatoes
Baingan Bharta Eggplant Curry	Roasted Cauliflower
Butternut Squash soup	Kale Chips

CSA Box Week 15

Just when it seemed like you were getting used to the summer days, fall sneaks up on you...and fast, especially in Seattle. In fact, I thought it was still spring all this time with the weather we were having here. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful summer - sunny and not to hot. I wish we had just a bit more summer here, but the falling autumn leaves are starting to line the streets and I need to let go. Autumn is my next favorite season, with summer topping my list. I love to see the abundant orange, yellow, and red leaves on the trees, littering the streets.

Now back to the purpose of this post...here is what's in my veggie box from this week:



And here are the dishes I made:

sauteed savoy cabbage	Zucchini Potato Frittata with Roasted Vegetables
broccoli and bell pepper noodles	egg noodle soup
pear and almond crumble muffin	Baked Zucchini Chips

CSA Box Week 14...and freezing veggies

I've been on vacation and now back! It's been a while since I posted so here's this week's veggie box. From my last box I received (Week 12), I blanched and froze some of my veggies such as corn, kale, and swiss chard to eat them for later in the winter. I certainly wish I could eat them fresh, but this is the next best option since I couldn't finish them, plus I wanted to enjoy some summer veggies during the winter months. As I was preparing for freezing, I felt like a bear, getting ready for hibernation and storing extra food away. :) Here's a link on freezing vegetables - it has an easy to read table listing the length of time to blanch each type of vegetable. When trying to remove all of that air from the plastic bag, one trick is to seal up the bag except a small area. Insert a small straw there and inhale the air out of the bag.

Here's this week's box of food (1 and a half times my normal food box size):





Here are some of the dishes I made:

sauteed iceberg lettuce	Corn Chowder
eggplant with spicy peanut sauce	Chocolate zucchini bread
Zucchini Frittata	Garlic Bread

CSA Box Week 11

It's beginning to look a lot like fall here in Seattle. But a little rain can't dampen spirits to make great tasting food. Here's in my box this week:


Below are the dishes I'm making:

Thai Lettuce Wrap	Basil Eggplant
Turnip Potato Soup	Mexican Slaw

CSA Box Week 10

With the latest food recall involving over 500 million eggs, I am ever more grateful for the local organically grown vegetables, fruits, and eggs! available here. All the more reason to rely on locally grown foods and to understand where your food comes from.

This week I decided to look for some ways to make use of the abundant summer squash, corn and tomatoes.



Here are the dishes I made with these veggies:

Quinoa and Zucchini	Homemade Tomato Soup
Zucchini Bread	Pad Kee Mao

CSA Box Week 9 and thoughts!

It's halfway into the summer session, and I gotta say, I'm loving my CSA box. I'm pretty new to it - the first time I participated was last fall & winter for 5-6 weeks. So 9 weeks is long time for me. There was a time where I asked myself, Am I going to be able to eat up my vegetables every week? And then, there was a time where I did inevitably fall behind and my fridge was stuffed with 1 and 1/2 weeks of veggies. Yikes! Besides a couple of these lapses for me, I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of a CSA, especially this one, where choosing the specific produce I want allows me to ultimately almost never leave any of my veggies sitting alone in my fridge and making a trip to the garbage/compost bin.

My comfort cooking is asian cuisine, so these last year or two has made me expand my cooking across several cuisines (american, indian, italian, and mexian), and has made me explore new vegetables and ways of cooking. I found myself asking these silly questions - How do I cook fava beans? Wow yellow and purple beans exist (and purple carrots)!? Ah this what rhubarb looks like!

Every week now I'm looking forward to getting my CSA box, filling up my fridge with wonderful organically and locally grown food, and satiating myself with goodness! The only routine is picking up the box - everything else is up to you to make magical, delicious, wholesome meals in the comfort of your home.

Here's my week 9 veggies and fruits -

Here are the dishes I made with these items:

Vegetarian Enchilada	Beets and Beet Greens Risotto
Tofu Bim Bim Bap	Lettuce and potato soup
Steamed pattypan squash	Roasted Cauliflower

CSA Box Week 8

Corn and tomatoes are here! I have been waiting for this day! I think I may have gone overboard with ordering two batches of corn, but that's ok - the more the marrier! Here's in my week 8 food box:

Here are the dishes I made from these veggies:

Caulflower curry (aloo gobi)	Red cabbage salad
Egg and Corn Soup	Corn Fritters
Penne pasta with Broccoli Pesto	Apple Rhubarb Crumble

CSA Box Week 7

Here are the items from my veggie box earlier this week -
Veggies - swiss chard, fennel, spinach, fava beans, green beans, red cabbage, zucchini
Fruits - pluots, blueberries, raspberries, nectarines YUM! The raspberries and blueberries were gone within 1-2 days!

So what did I do with these vegetables this week?
Fava beans - I just ate them as a snack after deshelling and blanching them. They were great as a simple snack.

Potato Fennel Soup

Wild Salmon Lasagne


Swiss Chard Sesame Salad


Sauteed Green Beans


Miso Glazed Bok Choy