Being presented with a late-summer CSA box is an exciting thing. I know it will turn anyone into a CSA subscriber, because it has me already looking into it for next year. As I looked over my bounty from Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative, I had to make a game plan for how to use it all, quickly and creatively.
Cauliflower
The cauliflower told me it needed to be used first, and I was in want of some comfort food, so I knew cauliflower mac ‘n cheese would be the best solution. Also, I’d just been gifted a few enormous bulbs of garlic from a coworker, and found this recipe would put it front and center. I tweaked the recipe a bit, adding white wine into the cauliflower cooking liquid, stirring in some shredded mozzarella and then baking it in the oven for a few minutes with a panko topping, because what’s mac ‘n cheese without a crunchy top?!
Dinosaur Kale
My first challenge was identifying the greens, which I determined to be dinosaur kale. They’d taken a bit of a journey to get to me, so they too were longing to be eaten first thing. Because the cauli mac ‘n cheese is so indulgent, I figured some simply sauteed kale would balance it out, aided by crimini mushrooms from my fridge. When I say simple, I mean olive oil, salt, pepper and a finishing touch of lemon juice. Easy.
Tomatoes, Onions, Corn
Having just made a batch of spaghetti sauce, I decided these tomatoes were destined for something else. I’ve been meaning to try canning salsa, so this was the time to test it out. I ended up burning some to the bottom of the stockpot, didn’t add enough jalapeno and heard some interesting sounds as the jars cooled and “pinged,” but the end result is still pretty good. I used all 10 of the roma tomatoes from the box, as well as a whole onion and two ears of the corn. The hearty salsa is disappearing quickly from the fridge, so I’ll have an opportunity soon to refine my craft.
Tomatillos, onions
I knew I was making red salsa, but I’ve never worked with tomatillos before. So, I figured why not make and process two different salsa recipes at the same time?! (I’ve made half a dozen different pickles in an afternoon, so two salsas should be easy, right?) Luckily, fellow local-canner Marissa’s recipe was perfectly easy to follow. Funny how smoothly things go when you don’t try to deviate from the recipe…
Potatoes
When I see red-skin potatoes, I think potato salad. And not anything in a yellow dressing with hard-boiled egg, bacon and other monstrosities. I’m talking tangy and lily white, with lots of dill. Now I’ve never made potato salad before (but I didn’t start a Kickstarter despite that) and I didn’t want to go to the store, so I searched my pantry and then found a dressing recipe that fit. This one did, and though I didn’t have celery or scallions, it was still a winner for my first-ever attempt.
Orange Bell Beppers, Eggplant, Delicata Squash
You might think I ran out of steam with this box, but roasted vegetables are some of my favorite things to make and eat. Plus, I didn’t know what else to do with all of these tiny eggplants. I sliced and salted them, then let them sweat for a while, since they had a surprising number of seeds in proportion to their size. After scooping seeds out of the peppers and the squash, everyone got tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper and popped into a super-hot oven with a few more of those garlic cloves. They were the perfect accompaniment to the dill potato salad and some Maiale chicken sausage with spinach and sharp provolone, picked up at Artisan’s Exchange in West Chester. The perfect end-of-summer meal, if I do say so myself.
- Photography: Melissa Woodley
