CSA Wednesdays : Tips and Menu Ideas

We are two deliveries into CSA season and picking up a third today, and I am so thrilled to be playing in the kitchen again! Some people shy away from CSAs because you never know what you're gonna get (that was said in the voice of Forrest Gump, in case you were wondering). But that is part of what thrills me. I love that I'm guided by the seasons and whatever local ingredients the farm sends to us. Each box is like Christmas morning, full of surprise and intrigue.

I have two secrets to make meal creation a little bit easier. I keep a pretty standard bunch of staples on hand, including whole wheat pasta, onions, garlic, lemons and limes, flour, dried and canned beans, grains (like rice, quinoa, barley, etc.), coconut milk, and spices-- that way, I don't have to make too many trips to the grocery store when I want to whip up something with my CSA vegetables. I also don't rely too heavy on recipes, and instead let myself be guided by the ingredients first and foremost. Sometimes this means swapping out regular onions for green onions from the farm, or adding arugula under our Caprese salads because we have an abundance of greens. I'm getting better about intuitive cooking, and we have a great encyclopedia on flavor to help with the process of moving away from formal recipes. Plus, our new CSA farm is so amazing that yesterday we received a free (massive) cookbook with veggie recipes by season featuring Angelic Organics own specific vegetable crops. {Fun fact for fellow food-documentary nerds (there's one or two of you out there, right?): Our CSA farm was featured in the documentary "The Real Dirt on Farmer John."}

Here are some of the dishes we've been whipping up with our farm ingredients (with ingredients from the farm designated in parenthesis):

- Basil and Corn Quinoa (basil, parsley)
- Pad Thai (cabbage, green onions)
- Beet Burgers (beets, lettuce, thyme)
- Green Salad with mangoes, red onions and toasted cashews (lettuce, spinach)
- Creamy, non-dairy spinach soup (spinach)
- White bean dip with garlic scapes (garlic scapes)
- Orzo Super Salad from 101 Cookbooks (broccoli, spinach, basil and asparagus from the Farmer's Market)
- Zucchini and Squash Cakes (zucchini, yellow squash, basil, thyme)
- Basil pesto pasta (basil)
- Kitchen-sink Thai curry over brown rice (scallions, radishes, broccoli-- not the best combo though!)
- Caprese salads (basil, arugula)
- Spring rolls and Tom Yum soup (basil, lettuce, cabbage, green onions)
- Pasta with caramelized onion, squash, fresh tomatoes, basil, pine nuts and Parmesan (squash, basil)
- Random hummus + veggie sandwiches (whatever is on hand)

Let me know if there are any recipe requests for the above dishes! Some might be popping up on my Foodie Friday posts in the future.

PS- The wonderful blog Perry's Plate has a CSA Wednesday feature as well, and links to a number of recipes with common CSA vegetables. It's definitely worth a look if you participate in a CSA, or even if you are a regular at the Farmer's Market.