CSA Pics Week 4 and Some Seasonal Recipe Ideas

While this week's CSA share contained many greens, we started to see more vegetables too. This week we got a bunch of chard, a bunch of lacinato kale (my favorite kind of kale!!), 3 garlic scapes, a bunch of beautiful Japanese turnips, three beautiful bright yellow summer squashes, a head of lettuce (I chose butter lettuce over romaine), a nice bag of the best snow peas ever and a little pot of purple basil mixed with lemongrass.

So far this week I have made that kohlrabi slaw I mentioned Tuesday, beautiful squash and snow peas sauteed in pesto with eggs on top and swiss chard, squash and garlic scape pizza topped with goat cheese and basil. I have been on veggie cloud nine this week and it should only continue! The house is stocked with greens galore. I can't even decide which meal was my favorite. They were all so delicious and fresh.

The kids however, they have not been thrilled with the turn of events. After Block Island I can't say that the kids are eating much of anything except milk and bread. I don't know what it is about traveling that makes my kids go on hunger strikes. But while I have been making slight alterations to the kids' meals to keep the peace, by and large I am just serving them things like swiss chard and summer squash pizza because there is no guarantee that they will eat hot dogs either. Aaaahhh. Both Things picked absolutely everything off the pizza. They ate crusts for dinner. I am such a good mommy, aren't I?

Squash and Pasta

I had three weeks worth of CSA squashes in my cupboard last week. I had two delicata squashes, one kabocha and one butternut. I have run out of "orange ice cubes" for smoothies, and I was worried that they were going to go bad. So I needed to roast them all. The guy at the farmer's market suggested that rather than cutting the squashes and roasting them cut side down on a baking tray that I could go ahead and cut them in half, scoop out the seeds and put them back together and wrap them in tin foil and bake them in a 350 degree oven. I also added a little sunflower oil. That worked perfectly! Everything roasted beautifully and soft. And there were no hard ends where the squash dried out. It took about and hour and fifteen minutes for them to all cook through. I will never roast a squash differently now!

I made orange ice cubes for smoothies out of the kabocha and the butternut. But the Delicatas I did a little something different. This recipe came out so well that I might start making it every week. I buy squashes, or get them from the CSA. I love them, but maybe my heart isn't totally in it. We do alot of simple mashed squash as a side dish. And the kids do NOT eat it. I haven't made a great squash recipe that everyone really really loves. But now, that has all changed.

Squash and Pasta

4 ounces of bacon

1 medium onion chopped

2-3 small carrots

1-2 small zucchini

2 delicata squashes (or substitute any other squash), cooked and mashed

1/2 pound ground sausage, browned (I had some leftover cooked turkey sausage, this is optional, but you could brown it with the bacon or just do one or the other...)

cream to taste

8 oz whole wheat pasta

Dice the bacon (and sausage if you are using) and brown. Once it is very brown, remove the meat and drain off about half the fat. Saute the onions and carrots in the hot fat. When they are soft, add the zucchini and cook for a few minutes. Add the cooked and mashed squash and mix everything up. Put the lid on and cook until the vegetables are all soft. Then add the cooked sausage and the cooked bacon and a little cream (just because I like to be excessive). When it is all combined, add the cooked pasta.

Even the kids ate this one. Thing 2 ate it with relish. He even put a zucchini into his own mouth-which he has never done before. He has eaten mashed and hidden veggies, but this was a veggie in plain sight and he fed himself! Thing 1 ate somewhat more reluctantly. But he did finish his dinner and ate all the little bits. And DH? He asked me to make this for his family. There is no greater compliment!

Thank to my good friend DP for making this recipe at a recent Halloween party. Leave it to me for adding bacon, sausage and cream. I might just be going to hell!

Pumpkin Pie Smoothies (There isn't any actual pie in them...)

I never know what to do with the squashes that we get during the Fall from my CSA. This year I have finally found a use for them, though slightly by accident.

Last week I roasted my squashes and then pureed them when they cooled. I poured the puree into an ice cube tray and frozes them like popcicles. I wasn't sure what to do with them, put some in mac and cheese, what else? I was at a loss.

But then I got an idea. I took some of the frozen squash-cubes, some plain yogurt, a banana (or a half of one, whatever is around), a splash of vanilla, one squirt of honey (about a teaspoon) and a shake of cinnamon. Blend it all up and what do you have? A Pumpkin Pie Smoothie.

Thing One asked for a smoothie today. And then he paused, and specified...."The one with the ice. The one with the orange ice cubes!"

More veggies in the Things' tummies. Another point for Mommy.