CSA Friday

The CSA is really heating up these days – this week we got lots of green beans, some funky summer squashes, eggplant, hot and sweet peppers, red potatoes and heirloom cherry tomatoes. YUM!

I used lots of our loot from our CSA share for Friday’s dinner menu. We had homemade baba ghanoush using our eggplants as an appetizer down at the neighborhood pool. For the main course, we had some delicious brats from our pig (this one we’ve affectionately named Wilbur) from Homestead Heritage. They were amazing just grilled, but I think I’ll soak them in beer next time to spice things up. To accompany the brats, we had homemade purple sauerkraut, Local Folks stone ground mustard and sauteed onions. For sides, we had Grant’s favorite German potato salad (using some bacon from Wilbur, of course) and grilled green beans with cilantro pesto. I liked the pesto so much that I used the rest of it on my sandwich for lunch the next day. Make this soon!

Spicy Cilantro Pesto
Adapted from Mark Bittman’s  How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

2 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp neutral oil (I used sunflower oil)
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 small jalapeno
Dash of salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Combine the cilantro, garlic, and jalapeno into a food processor or blender. Slowly add the oil and lime juice as you blend the ingredients, scraping the ingredients off the side of the container as necessary.
2. Add salt and pepper to taste and finish pureeing the mixture.

Serving suggestions: serve over any grilled or sauteed vegetable, as a spread on sandwiches or chips, an accompaniment to grilled poultry or fish…what sounds good to you?