Last year, when I opened my first box from our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture or "Farm"), I was pleased. The kale was delicious, as were the spring onions, and green leaf lettuce. The cherries, on the other hand, were tiny and there weren't many of them. If I recall, there had been too much precipitation during the previous weeks and a late frost to boot. This year, when I opened our box, I was dazzled! We were given peaches and 2 boxes of beautiful cherries (see photo above). The cherries aren't the kind you eat as a snack. They're the tart variety and I hear they make a nice pie. I'll find out tomorrow. I plan to use a modified version of the Blueberry Pie recipe I posted last year to make my first ever cherry pie. We also received Swiss chard, which I cooked tonight with golden raisins, yellow onion,and bacon. The zucchini we got was THE BEST I have had in years - since I lived in California. I cooked up the smaller ones we got with a bit of lemon, pepper, and butter and they were incredible - not a hint of the bitter taste that the ones I find in our markets tend to have. Our box also contained some flawless large ones that I plan to stuff the way my mother stuffs peppers and tomatoes - with ground meat (I use turkey), onion, parsley, tomato sauce, and rice; seasoned with salt, pepper, cinnamon, and mint. The green onions are far superior to those that I buy at the market and I plan to use them to top an Indian dish I will make on Monday.
If this first box is any indication of what this summer and fall will be like, I know we are going to be blessed with 5 months of the best of God's bounty. I can not wait! Last year, I was happy enough to join our CSA again even though our cherries and potato crops had been ruined. This year, I have a feeling there will be very few, if any, disappointments.
I seem to recall telling you all that quite often the produce I buy at grocery stores "bothers" me. I feel queasy or downright sick after eating much of it raw. Nothing I ate from our CSA did that last year. These next 5 months, I will enjoy fruit and vegetables in quantities that I am usually not able to. I wish I could find a way to eat like this all year long! Oh well....
I hope you are all enjoying the end of what has been a very strange spring for me. Until next time, happy and healthy eating!!
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