If you’re a CSA member in Puget Sound, you’ve probably been loving all of the fresh and local produce you can find in your CSA boxes these days. But now that most CSAs have been up and running for a while, are you finding that it is hard to use all of those veggies? I admit, some weeks we struggle too. After all, most boxes contain at least 4-6 pounds of produce. That’s a lot of carrots!
Here are the items we got in our CSA box this week and how we’re going to use them.
- 2 bunches of carrots
- 2 bunches of beets
- 1 fennel bulb
- 1 bag of salad mix
- 1 bag of snap peas
- 1 bunch of radishes
- 1 bunch of dill
Other items that are commonly found in CSA boxes at this time of year are: baby potatoes, shelling peas, the very first wax beans of the year, fava beans, and sweet onions.
First of all, one of the tricks is to unpack the box right away and take care of your veggies. Most CSA carrots come with the tops still on. You need to remove those tops right away or they will leech moisture from the carrots themselves and cause them to go soft. If your carrots do go soft, just cut the tops off and place them in a bowl of cold water for 2-3 hours. They will snap back into shape.
Next, make up a tupperware of cut vegetables for snacking. Cut the carrots into sticks, cut off the ends of the snap peas, and slice the radishes. Keep them in a sealed tupperware in the fridge and snack on them whenever you get hungry. That should take care of at least 1/4 of your box right away. We’ve been enjoying the cut up veggies with some Sound Bites hummus.
You can turn the beets into our Shaved Beet Salad with Mint and Feta as well as roast them on the grill.
Mince up that dill and make a marinade for some salmon with the dill, some oil, and some vinegar or white wine. Marinate the fish for at least an hour and throw it on the grill. You can cut the fennel bulb into slices and grill that up as well. Just brush it with some olive oil and crack some sea salt over it.
That’s how we’re using our CSA box this week. What about you?
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We’ve been making what I call “chop salad” (I’m not sure what the “official” definition of chop salad is…). Anyway, we just cut up carrots, fennel, radishes, and snap peas (etc. – whatever we have, basically) into roughly 1/4″-1/2″ cubes and toss with dressing. It’s crunchy, colorful, and tasty.
.-= MK´s last blog ..Rhubarb and Ginger Jam =-.
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