CSA Week 3 – Crustless Broccoli Quiche, Hot Radish Salad and A Quick Way To Decorate

Even with only 4 heads of lettuce from last week, we did not finish it.  And we have more!  The high 90’s heat nearly wiped out what was left of the strawberries but we still got some.  Technically you can only pick up your PYO share on your pick-up day; the CSA was so desperate to get the strawberries harvested that there was a call on the website to come on down and get your 6 quarts even though it was not your pick up day. The call was truly answered as we only got three quarts today. 

Distribution:

• 8 heads lettuce (Bibb, Oak Leaf, Leaf) ($15.92)
• 1.5 lbs spinach ($10.48 )
• 1 bunch collards ($1.60)
• 2 bok choy ($8.25)
• 1 bunch radishes ($1.29)
• 2 heads broccoli ($7.98  )
• 3 qt strawberries ($17.97)
• 1 pt snow peas ($4.99)
• 30 sweet william flowers (share called for 100)

 

Previous Week’s Overall Total: $90.05

Total Estimate For This Week: $68.48

Grand Total Value: $158.53

What I Did/Am Doing With This Produce:

I made a Crustless Broccoli Quiche from a recipe that my mother mailed me sometime back.  Even with an added 1/4 tsp of white pepper and a tsp of chopped garlic scapes it was on the bland side.  But hubby said he liked it and thought it a good idea to create other variations of it.  Also the 45 minutes the directions called for did not thoroughly cook the quiche and required more than an hour.  Next time I ante up to 375 degrees instead of the called for 350.

I also made a Hot Radish Salad.  By doing this I washed both the radishes and their leaves thoroughly. Then I separated the leaves and put aside.  The radishes were cut into quarters and steamed for about 15 minutes.  While this was happening, I sauteed the leaves in olive oil and a little sea salt.  When the steaming was finished I combined the two and seasoned with Slap Ya Mama cajun seasoning.

Final Result:

Dessert was a shameless pre-made cookie dough, but with super fast decorations. Here’s what I did:

I set the oven as directed.  And cut into 1/2 inch slices and then into quarter sized pieces.  In a small Pyrex bowl (any small bowl will do) I had mini chocolate chips and sprinkles.

 

I simply lightly pressed the cookie quarter into one of them and placed on my cookie sheet.  

Baked in oven as directed.  Voila!  No fuss, no muss! Pretty cookies as if store bought (so to speak).

 

The Dirty Dozen – When To Buy Organic and When To Skip It If Your Budget Does Not Allow It

We all know that we really should buy organic as much as possible (it’s healthier for us and it supports the small scale farmer).  But there are times when one simply cannot afford to totally go organic.  Thankfully research has been done from the Environmental Working Group and below in ranking order of fruits and vegetables from worst with pesticide residue (buy organic at all costs) to the best with the least amount of residue (OK to buy non-organic). Detailed data sheet can be found here.

Rank (worst to best)

Buy Organic At All Costs

1 Peaches 
2 Apples 
3 Sweet Bell Peppers 
4 Celery 
5 Nectarines 
6 Strawberries 
7 Cherries 
8 Lettuce 
9 Grapes – Imported 
10 Pears 
11 Spinach 
12 Potatoes 

It’s Gonna Be A Long Night!

I just returned from my final trip to the CSA for the year. At the end of the season they have what is called the annual ‘pig out’ in which members essentially take whatever was leftover at the farm. We were allocated 50 lbs of whatever produce we wanted. Only minor catch was that we need to come up with 15% of the total weight in either broccoli, cauliflower, collards or kale. The 15% will go to the local food bank just in time for Thanksgiving! A wonderful way to give back to the community.

I was only to make our way to broccoli on the food bank list so we had a whole bucket full of large heads for charity. I was more than happy to take the side shoots, less work on my part for steaming. I found out that they had purple cauliflower when I dropped off our donation. I was heart broken, my mother makes the meanest purple cream of cauliflower soup. I ran out of time as the twins were on the verge of having a meltdown from lack of nap.

Nevertheless, we were blessed to come up with the following veggies for our freezer this winter:

• Beets (3 kinds)
• Turnips
• Kholrabi
• Radishes (2 kinds)
• Broccoli (lots of it!)
• Celeriac and Cooking Celery
• Daikon (including a near 2-footer!)

Much of the celery stalks were damaged from the frost, but was able to salvage a fair amount for cooking purposes only. Celeriac has been sliced and steam blanched. I froze them in small batches to use as needed. I already saved a hassle for Thanksgiving vegetable side dish with the broccoli and the rest is going in the deep freeze.

Tomorrow I will tackle the beets as it is going to be a very messy affair. Old grubby clothes will be my fashion statement. The turnips and radishes I will do last.

Regarding my previous dillema as to what to do about next season it is still up in the air. We timed the driving at best to be bit over 45 minutes, fifteen minutes longer than our usual boxed share pick up.

Decisions decisions…