6.05.2009

Day ? - First CSA pick-up

Today, I went with mama to pick up her first CSA (community supported agriculture) haul. Boy was that a trip! Here’s the scene… grey sky, light rain… car pulls into a parking lot, empty save for a box truck and a few other ‘customers’. We’re invited into the back of the truck (air: pungent. Smells like sheep and chickens…) to collect our grab-bag of produce for the week… our name is crossed off the list, the “goods” are loaded into our car, and… the deal is done.

The COOLEST thing about this program is that each week’s items are determined by what is currently being harvested. It’s like ULTRA-seasonal eating. This weeks goodies included:

Two baskets of strawberries
A bag of pea shoots
A hand full of radishes
Two rhubarb stalks
One head of lettuce, red or green (we went green, mom already has a garden full of red)
A bundle of asparagus
Three leeks
Half a dozen eggs
And… SOMETHING I’m forgetting, but… I lost it.

Mom and I are really embracing the challenge of planning meals around these pick ups., and the asparagus looked SO good… we knew we had Friday’s dinner right there!

Ingredients:
Whole-wheat pasta (we used rottini, I don’t think it really matters though)
A whole bunch of garlic, peeled and chopped
A handful of basil from mom’s garden
Some slightly wilted grape tomatoes
A bundle of asparagus

• Cook up the pasta according to the directions on the box. You may want to put the water on now, and wait until the asparagus is in the broiler to start actually cooking.
• Trim and wash the asparagus and oil/steam for approx. 5 minutes, then IMMEDIATELY immerse in cold water. This helps to retain their green color and halts cooking.
• Line a small pan (one with about a ½” lip – something like this frequently comes with a toaster oven) with tin foil. Lay out the asparagus on the bottom of this pan and top with the tomatoes. Spray or drizzle lightly with olive oil.
• Pop this pan under a broiler for 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes are soft and browned.
• This is a good time to peel and chop the garlic. Heat up a little olive oil in a large pan and sauté the garlic until soft. Put aside.
• Chop/cut the basil. Put aside.
• Remove the tomatoes, and put the asparagus back under the broiler for an additional 5 minutes until browned on top.
• Cut the asparagus spears into 2” sections, toss in a bowl with tomatoes.
• To serve, we do it make-your-own style. Fill your bowl with a few scoops of pasta, drizzle with olive oil, top with some sautéed garlic, sprinkle on some basil, throw on some asparagus and tomatoes, garnish with a little bit of parmesan cheese, and… dig in!

Today, I:
ate locally!
cranked out a few balance-ball sit ups. BOY does that thing make them more challenging!

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