source: persnickety palate

Today, I received my inaugural CSA basket from our local farmer Donna and spent my first hour at home this evening “breaking it down” for the remainder of the week – I’m trying for no waste/no spoilage.

What I got:
Asian Pears
Cucumber
Satsuma Plums
Zucchini
Purple Beans
Dragon Beans
Spring Mix
Valencia Oranges
Baby Spinach
Celery
Swiss Chard
Green Onions
Basil

What I did with it:
I made a huge salad for tomorrow’s lunch with a combination of baby spinach and spring mix and added cucumber, celery, green onions and some torn basil. To that, I added a few of my nectarines, fresh from my tree.

I tossed the purple beans with sesame oil, soy and a little green curry paste and oven- roasted them.  The dragon beans, which seemed big and tough to me, just needed about 10-12 minutes of steaming and a sprinkling of white truffle salt.  As I write this, I’m eating them chilled, dipped in white bean hummus – delish.

I sliced the Swiss chard in a chiffonade and sautéed it with some chopped green onions and garlic in a little olive oil and finished it with a sprinkling of salt.

My plans for the zucchini, which I’m hoping will keep for a few days, is a Greek inspired grain salad – perhaps farro,  with shredded zucchini, tomatoes, feta, oil cured black olives, green onions, fresh dill, mint and squeeze of lemon juice.