CSA: Week #9 Update & Week #10 Pickup

My pace at posting shows the increasing activity of summer or at least reflects that I’m spending more time at the pool (if lounging counts as an activity). I made use of almost everything in my week #9 CSA basket, and I even made two dishes I’d never made before. I picked up my last spring CSA basket on Tuesday, which means that next week’s Week #10 Update will be my last post in this series.

Week #9 Update

I got creative with using my veggies in week #9. Here is what I did.

Cucumbers – Sour Cream Cucumbers – A friend of mine made sour cream cucumbers for our Fourth of July gathering. It was the first time I’d ever had them, and I loved them! That following weekend, I made them myself. This is the recipe I used as a guide. I did not use any sugar, and I used white wine vinegar instead of white vinegar. They turned out great!

Green Peppers and Onions – I chopped the green peppers and onions and put them into two freezer bags for use in fajitas later.

Radishes – Roasted Radishes – When in doubt, roast ’em! I chopped off the tops and bottoms of the radishes, sliced them into wedges, tossed them in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and popped them into the oven for a half hour at 450. They tasted sweet and buttery.

Basil – Pesto! – I had never made pesto and did not have pine nuts on hand, but that didn’t stop me. I put chopped garlic into my small food processor, pulsed a few times, added basil leaves, pulsed some more, added olive oil, pulsed some….repeat, repeat, repeat. Once it reached a nice, little bit chunky consistency, I added fresh grated Parmesan. I refrigerated the pesto overnight and enjoyed it over spaghetti the following night.

Tomatoes – Caprese Salad – My first tomatoes of the season became a wonderful Caprese salad lunch. With sliced tomatoes, sliced mozzarella, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper, the dish looked like summer!

Week #10 Pickup

The last CSA basket of spring held the bountiful delights of summer. With twelve ears of corn, two tomatoes, five apples, and a bunch of green beans, I knew I’d need to share a bit of my basket with my parents. I gave Mom and Dad six ears of corn and two apples since I already had a bowl of Fuji apples. The featured photo for this post shows the corn and apples that I kept. Posting so late in the week, I already know how I’ve used some of these goods, but I will save those juicy details for next week.