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!