I'm glad about what's in my fridge

I just watched the movie "Food, Inc." a documentary that exposes the underbelly of the food industry in our country and gives us many very sound reasons for eating organic and buying locally. I highly recommend this film. Interestingly, a representative from Grant Farms was at the theatre passing out a free half dozen organic pasture raised eggs at the end of the movie. Good marketing!

Before going to the movie theatre this evening, I unpacked my CSA vegetables that had been kindly left for me by Carolyn in her cooler on my front porch. We've developed a nice routine of picking them up from the stand at alternating times, dividing them in half, and getting them to each other. My half share this week was very generous, and it looks like we are getting warmed up! Our season is late to mature because of all the rainy cold weather we had early in the season, but things are looking good now!

Today I unpacked some lovely large beets, corn on the cob, parsley, cilantro, eggplant, cabbage, peas, romaine lettuce, spinach, and a large purple kohlrabi! There were also some carrots, long radishes, onions, and of course, eggs. I remembered what worked so well for me last week: slicing up radishes ahead of time and washing the lettuce meant that at dinnertime I could just reach in the fridge and in two seconds I had a nice salad. I took that big purple kohlrabi and chopped it into small squares, and I also sliced more radishes and carrots to toss with lettuce. I'm getting good! Salads are becoming a real staple...I'm eating them twice as much as I did before CSA came along!

Plentiful Zucchini

I wanted to come up with a recipe that incorporated several of the vegetables I had on hand, and I believe I came up with a good one. I did my usual recipe search on the internet and found Drop Dead Delicious Stuffed Zucchini on recipezaar.com. I modified it a bit and came up with this one that used the zucchini, eggplant, egg, and onion that I had on hand from my CSA food.

Stuffed Zucchini
4 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise
1 medium onion, diced
1/3 cup roasted red pepper, chopped
1/3 cup eggplant, diced
2 large cloves garlic
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. oregano
salt and pepper
3/4 lb. ground beef (or whatever substitute you like)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
shredded cheese for topping (I used pepper jack)

1. Wash zucchini, halve and put in a pot of cold water. Do not remove ends.
2. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 10 min.
3. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet.
4. Sautee garlic first, then add onions, eggplant and spices
5. When eggplant and onions have softened, add ground meat, season with salt and pepper, and brown through.
6. Drain off grease.
7. Set aside to cool slightly.
8. Remove cooked zucchini from water, allow to cool. Then scoop out center, leaving a little flesh to form a boat.
9. Mix ground meat mixture with the red peppers, and the scooped out zucchini (chopped) and the egg.
10. Full the zucchini boats with the mixture, and top with grated cheese.
11. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
12. Serve hot.

Somehow weeks 6, 7 and 8 have flown by, and I'm in week 9, as I've been informed by Grant Farm's e-newsletter. We are about one-third into the 26-week season, and I am still firm in my commitment to support local agriculture and organic farming, rather than giving my dollars to huge mega-farms from far away who use genetically modified seeds that have bred Roundup into the food.

I am still trying to think of new ways to use up all the kale. I was told that one way to use it up is to steam it, roll it into balls, and freeze it, using it in the winter months for soups and stews. That seems like a good way to spread it out, so I steamed some this week and stored it in a ziploc bag in the freezer.

As the season rolls along, we are finally getting into zucchini, summer squash, and green beans. Also this week for the first time there was eggplant, artichokes, and corn on the cob. These are vegetables that I find easier to use up. I've been eating the zucchini raw in salads or dipped in hummus, and squash and green beans I've steamed and mixed with other veggies. We've also had fresh basil leaves the last two weeks, which inspired me to make a new type of salad--Caprese-style. Since we aren't quite into tomatoes yet, I bought some organic heirloom tomatoes at the supermarket and sliced them over a lettuce bed of baby greens (this time soaked in water and cleaned more thoroughly, inspecting carefully for worms). On top of the tomato slices, I put a slice of fresh buffalo mozzarella and sprinkled it all with fresh-ground pepper. Over the top, I drizzled some balsamic vinegar dressing. It was sooooo good.

Is the novelty wearing off?

Even though the Thursday pickup is on my calendar and I get a pop-up reminder telling me to go get the veggies between 4 and 7 p.m., I forgot to go this week. I was attending a free summer concert just a few blocks away from my pickup location, and it dawned on me at about 8 p.m. that I hadn't picked up the vegetables. I made a quick decision to scoot on over there, even though the 7 p.m. cutoff time had passed and I was on my bike with no way to get them home.

I know I'm not the only CSA customer who has forgotten their pickup. Maggie, who runs one of the farm's pickup locations, tells me that every week there are about 7 or 8 customers who neglect to pick up their veggies, and when she doesn't hear from them the next day, she simply donates them to the food bank.

I pulled up at the lean-to just as it was getting dark, and was relieved to see the colorful bins still waiting. I took out my cell phone and dialed my husband who said he would meet me with the car and the bags if they were still there. I quickly discovered that mosquitos were thick in the air, and I sat next to the bins slapping my arms and legs while I waited. In the gathering dark, Scott pulled up with the car and we quickly loaded the forgotten vegetables with relief.