Week 15 in Review

The Score
Eaters - 12     Compost - 0.5     Carry Over - 0.5

When writing last week, I forgot to mention that we didn't end up being able to attend the farm tour.  I had been down and out with the flu and, the day we were supposed to drive down to San Diego, I still had a 100+ degree fever and my husband wasn't feeling so great either.  While we were super disappointed to miss the opportunity to see where all of the GREAT produce from our box comes from, I was all the more saddened when I saw the recipes for what was served that day.  I'm already looking forward to next year's tour, and hoping that we will all be healthy that time.

As far as the week went, taking it nice and easy seemed to work well for us.  Finding a balance between being very prescriptive, and leaving some room for spontaneity probably will work well for us during grilling season!

The Best

• The Blackberries have just been amazing (only wish they had more available!).  I sauteed them with a couple of tablespoons of sugar and about a tablespoon of lemon juice, and the syrup made for some delicious breakfast crepes!

The Good

• Hard to go wrong with Caramelized sweet onions!  I made a large batch, then have been using them in meals all week.  

•  My favorite meal was probably when we used the onions on top of grilled steak, then served with a simple Arugula, apple and Radish salad.

• Caramelized onions were also called for in the strata with Swiss Chard and sausage recipe, but by the time I got making the recipe, it was almost dinner time (note to self: always COMPLETELY read the recipes in advance).  I didn't have time to bake the strata for an hour, so I improvised the ingredients into a faster cooking frittata.  Flavors were great, so have to imagine the strata would have been amazing.

The Rest

• The Zucchini bread was a big hit, even with double the zucchini and cutting the sugar by one cup.  Next time I want to try a version of this recipe that replaces vegetable oil with coconut oil, cuts the sugar by half, substitutes in some applesauce, and still doubles up on the zucchini.
• The Basil-Green Garlic pesto got made and is in the freezer for another time.
• The gorgeous blood oranges made for some delicious juice.  

Week 5 in Review

The Score
Eaters - 12.5   Compost - .5    Carry Over - 0
With my parents in town for the week, we did a great job of eating nearly everything for the first time!  We had a few carrots go uneaten, followed by a week out of town (see Week 6), and by the time we got home they were past their prime and had to hit the compost.  We made some fantastic meals this week, though, and our Oregon visitors really appreciated all of the fresh ingredients that we were able to incorporate into our meals courtesy of our California CSA box!

The Good

• We gobbled down the chicken mole verde recipe that allowed us to use cilantro and the entire radish plant (tops and roots)

 

• The green garlic, lemon salad dressing was wonderful on top of fresh lettuce, spinach, carrots and radishes from the box, and also it was delicious as a spread for bread - yum! 

The So-So

• The swiss chard with green garlic was just ok - the wonderful green garlic was sadly overpowered by the chard and prosciutto

• The steak salad (featuring skirt steak from our meat CSA) was good but while eating it, it definitely felt like something was missing.  I later realized that I had forgotten to add chili paste to the dressing, which I think would have brought the flavors together quite nicely.

The Ugly

• Call me crazy, but the bitter tendencies of the braised greens just did not blend well with the sweetness of the apple and sweet potato.  I give this one a big fat thumbs down (though others in the family didn't feel as adamantly opposed to it as I was)

Week 1 in Review

The Score
Eaters - 11    Compost - 0.5    Carry Over - 0.5
Not too bad for a box with twelve items, though I'm hoping that we'll do better as we get the swing of this.  One of the heads of lettuce wilted beyond the point of restoration before we got to it (so into the compost it went), and we didn't get through all of the radishes, but those should keep for at least another week so I'm confident we'll get them eaten up eventually.

The Good

• The grilled halibut with tatsoi was amazing.  We'd all eat that again (and make more so we don't have to fight over the little bit extra we had)!
• Eating homemade saag aloo made the chicken that we prepared with store bought tikka masala sauce pale in comparison:

The So-So

• The carrot cake muffins were very tasty, though super sweet (to the point that no frosting was needed, nor made) and so moist they fell apart went taking them out of the pan.  Next time I bake these, I might cut the sugar a bit, and I will definitely use paper liners.
• The carrot, blood orange and radish salad was interesting and beautiful, but not a combination of flavors that will bring us running back:

The Ugly 

• The flavors of the sauteed kale and sorrel just did not go together, resulting in a flatbread that was overly bitter.  Next time, I'll do better to find separate recipes for these two greens!