lettuce – Harmonious Belly

November 16, 2011November 16, 2011

Hellgate CSA Weeks 22 and 23

It’s been a while since I posted about our CSA share, and I’ve missed that. We’re really into the fall vegetables and fruit these days – apples and pears especially, plus root vegetables. Week 22 brought us:

1 bunch of kale
1 bulb of celeriac
1 pound winter radishes
1 bunch kohlrabi (though I got two bunches – they weren’t so popular)
3 pounds carrots
1 head lettuce
2 pounds bosc pears
1 pound empire apples
1 pound mutsu apples

I made kale chips out of the kale, seasoned with rosemary herb salt made by my friends at Gardenfreude. The kohlrabi and some of the carrots went into the kimchi I fermented this past week. Loved the apples for snacking. I will make a celeriac remoulade later this week. I love, love, LOVE celeriac, especially in a remoulade. This celery root and apple salad is also delicious.

Continue reading “Hellgate CSA Weeks 22 and 23”

September 9, 2011September 8, 2011

Hellgate CSA Week 13

This week was marked by a huge fruit share – awesome. Summer veggies are still with us, but fall arrived with some amazing crispy apples and succulent pears. In total, we got:

2 pounds of tomatoes
1 eggplant
1 pound green beans
1 pound peppers
1 bunch leeks
1 head lettuce
1 pound plums
2 pounds peaches
1 pound nectarines
2 pounds apples
2 pounds pears

I’ve been enjoying the tomatoes in quesadillas, with patties of turkey sausage (from the CSA), and I’ve also eaten them with the eggplant and peppers for a delicious saute (punctuated with home grown basil). I’ve been snacking on the apples and pears. The nectarines turned into a fruit crisp, the recipe for which I’ll post next week – it’s all naturally sweetened, with sprouted flour in place of the white flour.

I may end up making another shrub with last week’s peaches – needless to say, things got crazy last week, so no Week 12 will be posted.

Here’s to continued good eating!

August 29, 2011August 28, 2011

Hellgate CSA Week 11

This past week brought us many delicious vegetables and fruit. We got:

1 pound japanese eggplants
2 pounds tomatoes
1 bunch leeks
1 head lettuce
1 pound summer squash
1 pound green beans
2 pounds apples
1 pound nectarines
1 watermelon (missing)

Sad news about the watermelon – it kind of died. Hard to describe, but it was very sad. I’ve also been on an apples and peanut butter kick, which is a terrific, satisfying snack.

The tomatoes went into tomato jam. Everything else has been eaten as is, sauteed and such together – all these summer veggies go so well together! Except the lettuce, which is languishing in the fridge. So much lettuce.

August 16, 2011August 15, 2011

Hellgate CSA Week 8

This is the share we got a couple of weeks ago, on August 2. This was the day before I left for Washington, so I left most of it for our housesitter. So, we got:

1 head of lettuce
1 bunch radishes
2 pounds mixed of summer squash and cucumber
2 bell peppers
1 pound white peaches
1 pound plums
1 pound donut peaches

I ate half the tomatoes the night before I left. I took a few donut peaches and plums with me on the airplane, and they were a welcome change from the starchy snacks I was offered there.

I ended up fermenting the radishes with carrots from the week prior, and am excited to see how this mixture comes out. The white peaches ended up going into peach thyme jam this weekend.

The following week, Week 9, will not be documented, for a variety of logistical reasons. Week 10 is this week, though!

July 27, 2011September 2, 2011

Hellgate CSA Week 7

week 7 csa collage — Week 7 share from our CSA

This week’s share was a bit more modest than last, but still full of amazing fruits and vegetables. We got:

1 bunch beets
1 pound zucchini
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 pound string beans
1 bunch carrots
1 bulb fennel
1 cucumber
2.5 pounds red plums
2 pounds nectarines

The carrots came with the fronds, and I’m looking into ways to use them. They could be good!

I was considering lacto fermenting the fennel with carrots, but I’ve read that fennel can get bitter in the fermentation process, with lots of shrinkage after a few days. Carrot fennel slaw I think is in my future, instead.

The fruit continues to be amazing and I am loving eating the plums with raw yogurt for breakfast. Jenny from Nourished Kitchen recommend poaching yellow plums in honey-vanilla syrup, and I bet these red plums would also be great that way.

We’ll be eating salad with the lettuce as opposed to the no so successful lettuce soup I made last week.

Zucchini will be eaten with tomatoes from my garden!

Summer is amazing.

July 21, 2011

Hellgate CSA Week 6

csa week 6 collage — Week 6 share from our CSA

This week in our CSA we moved full force into stone fruit season – yum. Nectarines and peaches made their debut, which made me really happy. There’s also lots of green stuff this week. We got:

1 bag of snap peas
1/2 pound of zucchini
1/2 pound of cucumbers
1 head of lettuce
1 pound of wax beans
1 bunch of spring onions
1 bunch of sorrel
1 pound of yellow plums
2 pounds of nectarines
2 pounds peaches
5 apples

I’ve already eaten the lettuce head. A recipe for a lettuce and mint soup arrived in my inbox, so I tried it. I must admit, it’s only ok. But ok enough to continue eating it over the next few days. I like drinking it out of a mug. I was able to use the onion heads in it, too. I also made a simple salad of chopped cucumber and onion in sherry vinegar and olive oil, with some hot peppers added.

I may pickle the snap peas again, and perhaps even make lacto-fermented dilly beans with the beans. Or saute them with garlic and ginger for dinner this week.

The peaches have been great in raw yogurt, and the plums are awesome for simply snacking on.

The way life has been moving at this point in my life, summer really will be over in the blink of an eye. Hard to believe we’re already at mid-July. September is just around the corner. I plan to enjoy the high summer bounty as long as possible and really savor it.

July 13, 2011

Hellgate CSA Week 5

This week we resumed receiving CSA shares (last week there was no delivery due to the Independence Day holiday). The biggest surprise was a pint of cherry tomatoes in our fruit share! All in all, we received:

1 pound of fava beans
1 bunch of fennel
1 bag of snap peas
1 head of lettuce
1 bunch of swiss chard (broccoli rabe was another choice)
two apples
2 pounds of yellow plums
1 quart of sour cherries

I’ve already eaten a lot of this. The tomatoes are gone – last night I cooked half them with two of the zucchinis in olive oils and garlic, plus fresh herbs from my deck. Today I had them in a raw salad with more zucchini. The favas were sauteed in olive oil with garlic at the end and topped with a little fleur de sel.

The sour cherries will become cherry liqueur and hot cherry preserves. As I write this the cherries are macerating with dried peppers, vanilla bean, and sugar for preserves, and the liqueur is coming to be with cherries and sugar sitting in rum and vodka.

I may make a plum syrup with any of the plums we don’t eat simply out of hand.

Let me tell you – it is so great to have the veggies and fruit back!