Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Vegetable Holiday Season is Here!

We've just gotten our first CSA box of the season, and it might as well be my birthday I'm so excited! I feel like I just won the produce lottery.
Here's a bit of the loveliness for this week:



Not pictured are some of the nicest leaf lettuces I've ever seen, some other assorted greens including tatsoi which I've heard described as Asian spinach, and that lovely pot of herbs there in the background that we decided I would be the caretaker of for the season (we're splitting our share with Ms. Knit-Whit). Those will be going into the ground in the sunny spot where our spiral stairs (that we can't afford yet) that will take us up to the greenroof (that we also can't afford yet) belong to keep my two heirloom tomato plants company.

So I'm thinking of starting a new game called "What did you do with your CSA stuff?" Feel free to chime in at any time throughout the season because I'm sure we're gonna need all the inspiration we can get!

Tonight, I used the big bunch of rapini in a spicy pasta with Italian sausage and onions which took a whopping 15 minutes start to finish and was absolutely delicious. Boy and I both had seconds even:


And it qualifies for a WFDW, too, since rapini is something I know I've probably seen Lidia Bastianich or Biba cook on TV at least a few times but never prepared or eaten myself just because it's not something that's typically available to me. But I've never met a cooked green I didn't adore and this one is no exception. And that is exactly what I love about the whole CSA box thing. Besides the fact that it's like a once a week Christmas, it also forces me to cook and eat things I might not normally have, like rapini which, for the record, is a slightly spinach-y, brocolli-y kind of sharp tasting green that kept a nice chewy texture after a quick saute and was perfect with the sweet sauteed onions and sausage.

So, what are you doing with your CSA stuff this week?

Comments:
So is there any sauce on that at all? Looks fabulous.
 
I wish I was in your neck of the woods...I don't start getting my CSA box until December, boo hiss! That's what happens when you live in Florida...Enjoy!!:)
 
the "sauce" is basically a pan sauce..the yummy pan goodness from cooking onions and sausage along with a little chicken stock to deglaze and some grated parm to tighten it up a little. I would have given it a splash of white wine before the chx stock if I had had some.
 
yea, but you'll be getting a box all through the winter when I am sad and vegetable deprived :)
 
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