CSA Week 1 – Strawberry Feta Salad

I do not know how long I might be able to keep up such a feat, but I would like to emphasize the benefits of utilizing a CSA share (also known as Community Supported Agriculture).  I do not have the exact number but I think we paid about $600 (might be more like $700) for a family farm-pick-up share.  I will try my best to get the grocery store equivalent of each item and tally overall grand total value of produce.  Items that are missing an estimated price denote information n/a.

Officially the CSA started two weeks ago, but the strawberries in the PYO fields were not ready yet and only 6 heads of lettuce were being distributed.  Not really worth the near 90 minute r/t in gas.  So we started this week:

Distribution:

• 4 heads of Red Summer Crisp Lettuce ($6.38)
• 4 heads of Green Summer Crisp Lettuce ($6.38)
• 3 Quarts of Strawberries ($11.97)
• 1 sm bunch catnip (PYO)
• 1 sm bunch lemon balm (PYO)
• 1 sm bunch horehound (PYO)
• 1 sm bunch thyme (PYO)
• 1 sm bunch of winter savory (PYO)
• 12 stems Sweet William flowers (PYO)

Total Estimate For This Week: $24.66

What I did/am doing with this produce:

Being that we still have small children that turn their noses up at veggies, a good portion of the produce that cannot be frozen will go to nearby relatives. At least one quart strawberries is heading for the freezer.

I have been making the following salad over the last couple of days:

Strawberry Feta Salad

• 1 Head Lettuce cleaned & hand torn to bite sized pieces
• 1 pint of strawberries, sliced into 6 – 8 wedges each
• 2 – 3 oz garlic/herb feta cheese (plain feta will do) and well crumbled.

Simply combine all ingredients into very large bowl and toss well.  Dressing options are: 1 – 3 tablespoons plain basalmic vinegar, 1 – 2 tablespoons of vinegar/oil dressing, or (personalfavorite) forego dressing altogether and enjoy each ingredient individually.

Chicken Shepherd’s Pie – A Quick Way & The Slow Way a.k.a Why The Fuss Over A Potato?

You have leftovers taking over your fridge?  Try this fairly quick ‘mash-up’ so to speak:

The Quick Way:

Ingredients:

• 2 – 2.5 lbs leftover mashed potatoes
• 1lb cooked chicken diced
• 8oz. or one cup of cooked leftover veggies
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup or 10oz of left over chicken or mushroom gravy
• Salt/Pepper/Spices to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F degrees.  With cooking spray, lightly coat a 9×9 baking dish (or 2qt dish).  Using your hands, use some of the mashed potatoes (about 2/3 of it) and lay a ‘crust’ on the bottom and sides of the dish.

In a large bowl combine the diced chicken, vegetables, and condensed soup (do not add milk), season as necessary.  Pour mixture evenly over crust.  With the remaining mashed potatoes, mold a top crust.

Bake for 30 – 45 minutes, serve hot.

The Slow Way:

The slow way is simply starting from scratch and it is labor intensive.  Here is my recipe for the mashed potatoes:

Ingredients:

• 2 – 2.5 lbs potatoes cut up w/ skins
• 2 – 4 Garlic cloves minced
• 1 – 2 tbsp prepared white horseradish (optional)
• 2 tbsp fresh chives (hint: Chive blossom petals are really good!)
• 3/4 cup lowfat milk (More or less)
• 1/4 cup butter cubed

Directions:

Thoroughly wash the potatoes and cut into the large chunks with leaving the skins on.*  Cook in a large pot of water for about 20 minutes, drain.

Immediately, add about 1/2 of the cubed butter and  begin mashing using a manual potato masher, add a little milk. Continue mashing, sprinkle garlic.  Continue mashing, add horseradish.  Add more milk, mash.  Add remaining butter, mash.  Add chives.  By now, you can hand-whip your fluffy (albeit lumpy) potatoes. 

* I mentioned that in a previous post that it is my intention to let nothing go to waste, this is especially true for potato skins.  In fact there are health benefits in keeping on the skins and sadly, most people people just toss it aside!  My own grandmother would never let me leave the dinner table until my baked potato was eaten entirely.  It stuck with me to this day. She told me it was the best part of the vegetable, and less waste in your garbage can.

Two things should be noted here.  If you plan on making the change from going skinless to skinned, buy organic.  Non-organic will have pesticides that remain and it can actually be detremental to consume the skins.  Better to peel here. Also if the skin is green, DO NOT EAT the potato.  It will have developed solanine and is considered to be toxic.  Potatoes go green from exposure to light, so make sure your potatoes are stored in a dark, cool place.  If you buy a bag of potatoes, and find that the skins are green upon washing, demand an exchange or refund from the store.  This is especially true of organic potatoes as not as many people buy them and they sit out in bright light much longer.  Ok, enough with the ramblings…onward to the chicken.

Quick Chicken:

Ingredients:

• 1lb chicken breasts defatted
• Sea Salt (Optional)
• Coarse black pepper
• Lemon juice or white wine
• Olive oil

Instructions:

In a large skillet, coat lightly with olive oil (about 2 tbsp) over medium high heat.  Rub salt and pepper on both sides and put in skillet. Cook about 10 minutes on each side adding lemon juice or white wine to prevent from drying.  You can also use just plain water as well, especially if the lemon juice will make your chicken too tart.  When dicing, if it appears pink on the inside, it is still considered raw and needs to be put back in the skillet to cook longer.

Now read the quick recipe and finish your pie!  Enjoy!