Fun with Food

I'll receive the last of my CSA deliveries this week, and boy am I glad! There is only so much potatoes, butternut squash, and kale a girl can eat. It was my first year doing a CSA and unfortunately it didn't work out the way I thought it would... it is so much more expensive than shopping at the local farmer's market where I can pick what we will actually eat in reasonable quantities. For example, the two tomatoes a week I received from the CSA would last us a day, but we received so much kale that I gave oodles and oodles to neighbors, filled half my freezer with kale soup, and am still eating kale!

I tried a few new recipes this week - some with more success than others.

First, I tried making yogurt (fantastic post at www.thefrugalgirl.com) but it didn't work out so well... maybe I'll try again, but in the meantime, all my very watery yogurt is good for is mixing into smoothies. (Not that there is anything wrong with smoothies - yum).

Kale, oh kale. I made a wonderful recipe with bacon, red onion and cannellini beans. I have been eating it as a side dish with dinner and as a main dish for lunch all week.

My favorite though was an improvised recipe for butternut squash and apple salad. I saw this in a deli counter, and didn't know what went in it so I just made it up - wow was that good! I roasted the butternut squash, and mixed with chopped apples and some parsley, dressed with a combination of champagne vinegar, a little olive oil, and some orange juice. Yum.

I may not subscribe to a CSA again next year - with a new baby I doubt that I'll want to figure out forty tricks with kale next summer! There is a farmer's market near my house on Friday's on right in front of my office on Thursdays. That should meet the local and delicious criteria easily.