using up our CSA share: radishes, kale, zucchini, and tomatoes
We’re two weeks into our CSA this year and loving every bit of it, as usual. We’re partnering with Harvestland CSA this year, and they have been so great so far – delicious produce and lots of it, great communications, and just friendly folks in general. Here’s a bit of what we’ve done with our share over the past few weeks:
1. Radish sandwiches. I probably ate my weight in these around the end of May through the second week in June (when we finished picking all of our radishes). I think Grant stole a few radishes for salads, but I mostly ate all of them on toasted sourdough with loads of butter, some sweet onion slices, and plenty of salt and pepper. My mouth is literally watering right now just thinking about having that for lunch. Radishes are so fleeting around here because it goes from spring to summer so fast that I almost get sad when they’re over.
2. Sauteed or creamed kale: I made a creamed kale that was 1) super easy and 2) totally delicious (it was a Julia recipe, so I didn’t expect anything less). I’ll post the recipe here soon once I get it written down. But my go-to move for kale is just to saute it in some olive oil or butter (like this) and toss in a few smashed garlic cloves. Between our garden and the CSA, we’re swimming in kale, so I’ve been sneaking it in garbage frittatas (ha – that’s fun to say) or steaming (and then freezing it) to put in smoothies.
3. Grilled zucchini: I don’t remember ever having zucchini this early. I was quite excited because usually by the time the zucchini starts, we’re drowning in it pretty quickly that I get a little overwhelmed. We only had three small ones in our share, so it was very manageable. I sliced them long ways, put them in a bowl, dumped some olive oil, salt, and pepper on top, then just spread them on a baking sheet on the grill for about six minutes – long enough to pick up the smoky, grilled favor, but still very al dente and delicious. Unfortunately, J also thought they were tasty and ate all but two of mine.
4. Tomatoes: if these tomatoes were a taste of what’s coming from Harvestland this year, I’m really excited. I just sliced them up, added a few slices of red onion, a glug of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, and some salt and pepper. I also added a few slices of thinly sliced Parmesan on top. Grant and I may have fought over the last one.
5. Carrots: Freshly picked carrots are so much sweeter than their grocery store counterparts. We have no problem chowing through the carrots with hummus or just on their own since they’re one of Grant and the kids’ favorite snacks. I have on my list of to dos for the week to try to make pesto with the carrot tops, so I’ll report back on how that turns out!
6. Cucumbers. With the first cucs of the season, I just had to make my mom’s cucumber salad. Obviously!
What’s in your CSA share and how are you eating it?
