Aaaand once again I’m a week late.
Week two CSA contents:
-1 bunch chard (green)
-3 medium red beets
-1 head lettuce
-4 oz. garlic scapes
-8 oz. summer squash/zucchini
-1 bunch dill
Tuesday night I stopped at Whole Foods after the CSA pick-up and grabbed the makings for a semi-homemade pizza. They sell bags of fresh dough, all ready to bake. I also got some mozzarella and a couple tablespoons of an artichoke-garlic spread from the antipasto bar. (I find that there are frequently useful little things in those!)
At home I spent ages washing greens, then I cut up:
…and sautéed the chard and set it aside. I rolled out the dough and brushed it with olive oil, then smeared the artichoke dip around and put on the cheese, lovingly grated by Ben. (“It. is. sticking. Why is it clumpy? Why?”–it was a humid night and even putting the cheese in the freezer to firm up didn’t do the trick.)
I baked that (on the highest heat below broil; somewhere north of 500 degrees) until the cheese started to bubble, then pulled it out and added the chard, and baked until it seemed done. Precise, no?
All in all it probably took about 10 minutes longer than throwing a frozen pizza in the oven and it was *delicious.* I will likely be doing this a lot this summer, and experimenting with grilling them as well.
We finished with a salad made from the lovely tender lettuce. For some reason the head this week had loads of little baby lettuces (clones? mutants? they were delicious so I don’t care) clustered around the base:
Eee! Tiny tiny lettuces! Adorable. *Munch* We both commented on how tender and delicious the lettuce was, eaten within 24 hours of harvest! And not to be all philosophical, but there’s something appealing to me about washing mud off the lettuce because the farm was hit by the same thunderstorms that hit us here, too.
Coming soon: Cooking scapes with Tom!
OMIGOD this is HEAVEN seeing you cook with all of this wonderfully super-fresh produce! The pasta from last week looked incredible, and my mouth is watering from looking at the pizza!
I can’t wait to see what you are doing with the garlic scapes! We hardly get them at our Farmer’s Market, but when we do I buy up the entire lot and put them in everything!
How is your Basil doing? The thing with Basil is that it wants heat heat heat and sun. Be careful of overwatering – don’t water it until you stick your finger in the soil and the top two inches is dry. Overly moist soil will do the baby basil in for sure, especially because I know you have h pretty shady balcony. Put it in a place where it can get the most possible sun and let it dry out a little.
I had an embarrassment of riches with my basil harvest this week – i forgot to take pictures I was so excited! I made a watermelon, mint, and basil salad, a ton of pesto that I am going to freeze, and I’ve been wrapping everything that goes into my mouth in a basil leaf (does that sound dirty? …sorry!)
XOXO!
All this food looks amazing!