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.
It looks so much like an ordinary canteloupe.
Slightly smaller with thinner skin,
with an incredibly juicy flesh, bursting with sweetness, it looks like a jewel.
I ate it simply and loved it greatly.
I made a stuffed eggplant attempt which was pretty terrible. The stuffing was fine – I also stuffed zucchini with the same stuffing (and brought it for lunch) and that was delicious – so it was an issue with the eggplant, either the way I cooked it or that breed of eggplant doesn’t sit well for me.
The other side of the plate contains creamed spinach that was only alright – and the spinach wasn’t from my CSA – and…
the ULTIMATE ROASTED ZUCCHINI SALAD.
Come closer. You’ll like this… a lot. I promise…
one or two medium sized zucchini cut into cubes
few strips of bacon
minced shallot
one spoon of mayo
lemon juice
spicy brown mustard
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
grape tomatoes, cut in half (see below for trick/tip)
chives, chopped
corn cut from the cob
Chop bacon into small bits and put in skillet over very low heat, allowing as much fat to render as possible. Cook until super crispy. Reserve a 1/2 spoon of the bacon fat (I actually keep all of my bacon fat in a jar for future use, but that’s person by person).
In the meantime, roast the cubed zucchini on a baking sheet tossed with olive oil, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until you peek in and the edges are starting to brown a bit and it all looks and smells wonderful.
In a work bowl, add: mayo, shallot, lemon juice, mustard, chives, 1/2 spoon of bacon fat and mix together. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Add grape tomatoes, corn cut from the cob, roasted zucchini and crispy bacon bits, tossing gently to coat.
Chill, then serve & enjoy.
Seriously? SO GOOD. Just mind bogglingly delicious! I urge everyone to try this recipe before the season for all of these things is over (well, it’s very close, sorry for posting so late, or rather discovering it so late). Mmmmmmmm!
Tip/trick for cutting many grape tomatoes in half: place a bunch of similarly-sized grape/cherry tomatoes on a takeout container lid (with the lip up to prevent them rolling away). Place another takeout container lid in the opposite direction; cut through the gap in one shot keeping the not-cutting hand on top of the lid.
I saw that on Rachael Ray and thought it was pretty impressive… since I hate chopping cherry/grape tomatoes in half because it takes forEVER!
Happy eating! Now go make the ULTIMATE ROASTED ZUCCHINI SALAD… now!!! 🙂
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