So, I am in a CSA, and I'm normally very low key with what I do with what we get. I usually turn it into a salad and maybe a side veggie or two. Nothing to experimental or extravagant.
This week, I got cranberry beans, and I didn't want to waste them, but I had never had them before and didn't know what to do with them. I also got rainbow swiss chard, and i figured I'd just sautee them with garlic and onions.
Today i decided to google "cranberry beans" "swiss chard" "recipe" and was surprised to find so many! I even found one that was for a hearty sauce for pasta, and I knew I wanted to make DH some pasta tonight before his big race (running, this time) tomorrow.
In this recipe, I got to use 5 things from my CSA from this and last week: Cranberry beans, swiss chard, onion, carrot and heirloom teardrop tomatoes.
It was an elaborate, 3 pan meal (which is at least one, if not 2 more than I'm used to), but it was very hearty and tasty and came out great.
Plus, I served it on organic whole wheat pasta, so all in all, it was a guilt-free dinner!
(okay, I sprinkled a little asiago on at the end... )
Re: Impressed myself with dinner tonight.
Oops! Sorry! I take things for granted sometimes...
CSA is Community Supported Agriculture. It's kind of like having a share in a farmer's market each week. You pay a set amount in the beginning of the season, entitling you to x weeks of a bounty of food. Some work where they pick out the veggies for you and give you your box each week (either they do drop off or you pick it up) and some, like mine, allow you to pick your own, within their guidelines. (like "take either 2 bunches of radishes or 2 bunches of turnips or one of each" and you get to look through the bin and pick what you want).
I did a 16 week share, and split it with a friend. We got a small share to split, since it is just me and DH and she and her H. It's a great way to get fresh produce every week, farm fresh, locally grown, etc.
Some CSA's can be with fruit or even meats!
It's been great all summer.... this week was 14th out of 16.
Mrs. Little Drew 10/25/08
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That sounds awesome! I would love to do a CSA, but DH is picky about veggies so we decided it would be too much.
And every pasta dish needs a bit of cheese on top!
Wives Unscripted
Oh good for you!!!
It's so nice when a meal comes together especially in this case.
I wondered how I would like it. In general, we get enough food each week that we eat and enjoy, and it tastes great. But each week, there's food we just plain don't eat... either because it's not our thing or it involves more prep/cooking time than we can invest or whatever. A few things we've just discarded: Japanese eggplant (about the size of golfballs) and celery root, for instance.
For a 16 week share, it cost my friend and me $300. So, for less than $10 a week, I had access to super fresh and tasty, local grown and organic produce for the whole summer. We certainly would have spent that much had we just been going to the store or farmer's market, for sure. So, from a money point of view, it probably wasn't as big a difference from what real life would have been. AND it forced us to try new things we wouldn't normally buy -- arugula, swiss chard, snow peas AND snap peas, eggplant, etc. So, from that point of view, it was a bit adventurous and we did well with that.