CSA Week #20

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. 

CSA Week #20 came fast and hard this time around.  I was excited to see the return of some items and some new items as well.  I didn’t manage to use everything as quickly as I’d have liked, but the squash was cut in half for me, so I quickly decided to roast it on the spot.  I dropped chopped kielbasa into the hollowed out center, garlic, and onions, rubbed the exposed bits of it with olive oil, then roasted it at 350 degrees for an hour or so until the flesh was nice and tender. 

Mmm, it smelled heavenly.  I only used kielbasa cuz that’s what was in my fridge; if I’d had Italian sausage, or something more porky-and deeply flavored, I’d have used that to greater pleasure. 

I mashed everything altogether and look how delicious it looks!  It smelled awesome!  And it tasted awesome for lunch.  Which also shows what I did with the broccoli – I roasted it, then tossed it with sour cream, crisped bacon, and onion… mmm.  YUMMY!!!

While the squash was roasting, I threw a packet of the beets in with them and let those get nice and yummy too.  I just snacked on these and watched one of the baseball games. 

Last but not least, magic soup!  Kielbasa (since I already had it, clearly), cabbage, kale, carrots, and broth… and so good.  Man, I love my magic soup!  It will have an entire post dedicated to it soon… and yes, this did stave off any illness that tried to take me down! 

Not a bad week for my CSA, though the next few promise to be really horrible, judging by how little time I have for everything 🙁