CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Essentially, one purchases a ‘share’ in a local farm – much like the stock market, one then has a vested interest in seeing the farm succeed. Dividends/pay outs come in the form of produce – vegetables and sometimes fruit. Different farms do things differently; my farm happens to be also organic, and I pick up my box each week – Tuesdays for me – from a local location. Join me on this journey – my inaugural season with a CSA – as I explore the various vegetables I receive and what I can do with them to turn them into delicious happiness…
For more information on CSAs, click here. To find a CSA local to you, you can click here or for one in NYC, visit JustFood.org. I found mine by typing “Forest Hills CSA” into Google – my neighborhood name + the word CSA, and I’m sure that would work for you as well. Good luck and enjoy the fruits of your labors… har, har.
School started off fast with CSA Week #14, and I need to eat between the end of the work day and the beginning of my night classes. Last semester, I solved this problem neatly, since I would leave work and head straight to school via public transportation, I would pack myself an extra bento for dinner, or pick up something near school. This semester, I go home after work, pick up the car and then drive to school. Technically this saves me a ton of time from commuting, but it makes dinnertime a bit squishier, shall we say.
One day, craving salmon something fierce, but not having much time to go shopping, I managed to pick up a slab during work hours, stick it in the work fridge, then bring it home to cook.
My Facebook status the next day read:
“The Feisty Foodie rolls the right way: last night, got home from work at 6:45, made herself dill salmon, warm parsleyed potato salad, and zucchini & fresh corn, with a starter of a mini-caprese salad, and finished eating by 7:45, then left for school, returned home at 10:15, washed the dishes, in bed by 11:30pm.”
I guess I should have said spoiler alert, but here we go!
Here’s the beauty shot: locally made (as in, made at my local store) mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, hand torn basil from my windowsill pot, drizzled with EVOO and a touch of kosher salt, fresh cracked black pepper.
Different angle. That was really good. The tomatoes were super sweet. Not as sweet as last week’s, but still very delicious.
As I mentioned, salmon. I made a quick lemon-dill salmon that I baked, but cut it sloppily because I’m silly like that.
Sauteed some zucchini and corn cut off the cob together very quickly, onions, and it was good. Healthy.
Last but not least, I quickly boiled some chopped potatoes, and when they were ready, drained them then dumped them straight into a bowl with a bit of waiting mayo mixed with lemon juice, kosher salt, cracked black pepper, minced shallots and chopped parsley. The heat was enough to infuse everything with a lovely flavor. I REALLY liked this warm potato salad, I will be making that or something similar again.
I even had enough leftovers for bento 😀
Happy eating!!!
Previously:
CSA Week #1
CSA Week #2
CSA Week #3
CSA Week #4
CSA Week #5
CSA Week #6
CSA Week #7
CSA Week #8
CSA Week #9
CSA Week #10
CSA Week #11
CSA Week #12
CSA Week #13
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