Tom Robbins was right...

"The beet is the most intense of vegetables. The radish, admittedly, is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire, the fire of discontent not of passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious."

Now that the CSA is truly underway, the pressure is on to use up all the vegetables, share them, eat them and write about the whole process.

One consistent offering each week is beets. I've never been a fan - I can't see them without thinking of dirty, hairy Pan from Jitterbug Perfume. And to be honest, they taste like dirt to me. However, from the Middle Ages forward they have been considered one of the healthiest foods out there (or, as some call it, Nature's Viagra) so I decided to combine some of my favorite things (pears, shallots, pistachios) with some roasted beets to see if I could make palatable a root that doubles as a way to dye your clothes.

A little research showed that the place to start is a roasted beet salad (though beet brownies are coming soon!). First, I weighed out my beets and then wrapped them in foil.  After about 40 minutes at 400, their rock hard fibrous structure turned firm and cranberry-jelly-like. This was actually a shock to me. Every time I had seen beets at a restaurant or in a picture, I assumed they had been enhanced or pickled. Pas de tout, it turns out. Beets really are nature's answer to the saturated colors of a Helen Frankenthaler painting. Bold, deep scarlet and soft with structural integrity.

The preparation after that was simple and effective. Chopped pistachios, sliced pears, and a homemade dressing made with lemons, shallots, olive oil and a good white wine vinegar. And while the beets didn't win my heart, I enjoyed them far more than I expected.

Tough to see the beets on a red plate - note to self!

Bright and Beautiful Broccoli

I never thought the words "broccoli salad" would ever cross my lips, much less show up on my dinner table. Based on my experience, any sort of mayonaise based salad belongs at a church potluck right next to the jello mold and the banana pudding with nilla wafers. (Not, by the way, that I don't enjoy those things when I'm at a church potluck or lunch at grandma's.)

However, I was browsing through recipes for my freshly-picked-today broccoli and found a gorgonzola-based, broccoli salad that worked with my gluten-free rice pasta. Knowing my husband's deep attachement to gorgonzola, I had to give it a try. And of course, our intrepid dining companions, Kate and Gary, were willing to test out today's recipes for me.



The broccoli salad recipe came from Epicurious and I made a few changes of my own (notably, making it gluten free, subbing canola mayo for regular and skipping the celery). The broccoli and scallions came from our CSA.

First, I blanched the broccoli and immediately shocked it in cold water, stopping the cooking process. This leaves the vegetable crisp-tender, which is perfect for a salad. At the same time, I started some rice pasta - and let me tell you, I have been disappointed by gluten-free pasta time and again, but the Tinkyada Rice Pasta held up well and didn't clump at all.

Practicalities

Well, I broke down and ordered a new cord for my camera - my Android camera is simply not up to the task and my orignal cord has vanished into the Great Black Hole of Tangled Cords on Campus Ave. Going forward the photos should be much crisper and color saturated.

 Thank you Amazon points!

Second practical step - I cleaned out the fridges and freezers so we have adequate space to store the fresh and lovely farm share. Last week's got mashed into the tiny available space and this did not improve their quality...

Finally, the chalkboard wall of options - now I can list out our ingredients and cooking ideas on the day we get the produce, making waste much less likely!



What practical steps do you take to make sure you use up all of your fresh produce?

Scape Escape!

Finally, after months of waiting, Colchester Farms has rolled out this year's CSA! As I begin my second year of exploring fresh, local produce and locally raised meats, I'm excited to restart the blog as well. This year we'll be looking into new ways to enjoy kale, exciting kolhrabi recipes and trying out food ideas from around the globe.

We recently hosted  group of friends for a back porch happy hour. Our friends Kevin and Heather, also Colchester CSA subscribers, brought along a bowl of garlic scape pesto. (Check out Kevin's local brewing project here!) So I decided to look around and try my hand as well, with delicious and visually pleasing results!

Garlic scapes are the "flower stalks" of regular hardneck garlic. Not only are they gorgeous and twisty (see below) but they have recently become very popular with food bloggers and New York farmer's markets. I had never seen (or heard of) garlic scapes until last year's farm share, where we were inundated with them from week one. With my husband's family from Texas visiting the Eastern Shore this weekend, it felt like the right time to introduce a wider audience to our local food adventure!