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I've probably mentioned this before, but this season Rob and I are participating in a CSA (consumer supported agriculture).  In January, we paid a lump sum to Handance Farm, Pat and Brian Bush's organic farm in Reidsville which specializes in heritage varieties.  In exchange, we get a share of whatever is fresh on their farm for 20 weeks.  The monetary costs averages to about $11 a week for produce I would have spent $40 on at the grocery store.

We never know what we're going to get until we're at the Market, picking up the bag - it makes cooking for the week a kind of culinary boot camp: how many ways can I cook kale?  How many veggies can I stuff into a quiche?  Since I love to cook, this is my idea of a good time.

Also fun are the farm updates the Bush's include on the bag along with the week's contents and the occasional recipe.  The updates talk about the work they're doing, how the weather has affected the crops and other details that really connect us to the origins of our food.

I thought it would be fun to periodically keep you updated on what's in this week's market bag and some of the ways I've used the food. This week, we have:

* 2 pounds of Yukon gold potatoes, half of which I made into mashed potatoes last night and served with a barbecue turkey meatloaf, made with onions from the previous week's market bag as well as eggs, bell pepper and garlic from the Farmers' Market.

* 1 bunch baby Swiss chard which I cooked Monday night, wrapping the steamed leaves around slices of tomato and Goat Lady Dairy Jersey Girl Gouda and roasting. (I used a spritz of canola oil instead of the 2 Tb the recipe calls for.)  I served this with squash fritters made with yellow squash and thyme from our garden and eggs and garlic from the Market.  The recipe was the one Chef Chris McKinley cooked at the Market on June 17th.

* 1 bunch baby carrots - I'm going to roast these tonight with some olive oil and kosher salt along with:

* 1 bunch baby fennel, on which, according to the Bush's note, the bulb is good grilled and the tops are good raw in Greek salad

* 1 bunch beets - I haven't used these yet but based on the success of my pickled beets (I used roasted garlic rice vinegar instead of the illusive tarragon vinegar) from last week , I may pickle these.  I also like to roast them to serve on salad.

* surprise - which for us was a small bag of broccoli - I also haven't used that but they may well be used as dippers in my homemade hummus for an afternoon snack.

 

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