CSA Standard Share Week 7

Now we’re talking! Tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, broccoli, cucumbers! Yum! My posts might start getting a little dull because I love all of these things plain. I will do my best to add suggestions to jazz them for those who are not as into plain old produce.

Lettuce Head- Another day, another salad. Manatee will be happy.

Tomatoes- We are going to be getting a lot of tomatoes this year so I am going to try to pace myself on tomato recipes. Next week, I will be featuring a panzanella salad recipe from a local Madison chef. You will need tomatoes, cucumbers, stale crusty bread, red onion, red wine vinegar and olive oil. Check back next week for photos, the recipe and an interview from the chef.

Green Beans- I will be steaming these green beans. For those of you looking for a little more flavor, try steaming them and topping them with pesto or sauteed mushrooms. Yum!

Cucumbers- Did you know that you use cucumbers as a pesticide? Put some sliced cucumbers in one those disposable aluminum pie pans and set out in your garden. The reaction of the cucumber and the aluminum will keep bugs away.

If you’re like me and want to eat your cucumbers, we will be using the cucumbers in the panzanella salad described above.

Zucchini– I am going to make my first round of zucchini bread for the season with this week’s zucchini. To make it a little more interesting, this recipe will be part of my new Clean Eating series. More details to follow on the series and on the bread. Check back next week!

Broccoli– This week I am going to experiment by steaming it with whole garlic cloves and lemon slices. I will let you know how it turns out.

Carrot– When I was little, I had a Golden Book about a group of rabbits. I don’t remember much from the story but I do remember that they ate carrot soup and I remember really wishing I could have some too. Hmmm…do you think that was an indication that I would someday I have my own cooking blog?
This week I am going to finally tackle my childhood dream of carrot soup and I am going to use a recipe from this Clean Eating blogger. She has a great blog and I hope you check her out.

Cabbage– Ugh. I almost didn’t take the cabbage. Our score last summer was Cabbage: 3, Badger Girl: 0. Here is where I claimed defeat. As I contemplated leaving it in the discard basket, I decided to brave the cabbage with a new attitude. For those who counseled me during the coleslaw attempts, don’t worry. I am not a complete fool. There will be no homemade coleslaw in this house. Instead, I am going to use it for lettuce wraps. For those of you who are brave enough to take on coleslaw: Shred on brother. I would love to hear how it turns out.