CSA week 3: Questionable “pesto” decisions

Week 3:

-Lettuce
-Mesclun
-Strawberries
-Beets
-Scallions
-Dill
-Summer squash
-Weekly eggs

I still had the garlic scapes from the previous week hanging around in the crisper, and the greens from this week’s beets were so lovely that I wanted to use them before they wilted. And here, for your eye-rolling pleasure, is where my thought process went: Everyone is making scape pesto this year. Scape pesto is delicious. I don’t have enough scapes to make very much pesto. I will bulk up my pesto with beet greens! I am a genius!

Yeah. This wasn’t a total disaster, but it wasn’t the invention of the best new thing ever, either. I took my lovely, lovely beet greens:

Blanched them, squeezed the water out, and blended them with the chopped up scapes and a bit of oil…

And toasted walnuts and feta (no parmesan in the house, somehow) and more oil, and it turned brown:

Mmm, appetizing! It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t thrilling, either. It lacked zip. I should have added in some garlic.

I sliced up summer squash and zucchini and sauteed those, along with sausage, and mixed it all with pasta for a rather brown and bland and dry meal. Maybe I didn’t add enough oil to the pesto?

Pretty squash!

Ooh, pasta in a pan!

What? Oh, you want to see the actual results? Well FINE.

Blaaaargh. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

And of course I ended up with LOADS of the stuff, which I froze in a muffin tin before transferring to a ziplock. Maybe I’ll add a bit to the israeli cous-cous I’m making tonight.

I wish I’d just made a mini batch of plain scape pesto. Lesson learned!

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