CSA Week 8 and 9

In this week's CSA Bag I found:

I'm so-o excited about those gorgeous heirloom cherry tomatoes. A tomato tart seems just the thing!! I'm also intrigued by that melon and hope to find an interesting recipe, or else we'll just gobble it up tomorrow morning at breakfast.

A girlfriend of mine was kind enough to pick up our CSA produce while we were away. I've been so curious to know what she got and how she prepared it. Just when I couldn't stand it any longer, she emailed me!

First off: she received new potatoes, heirloom tomatoes, pint tomatoes, large and small onions, and corn.

That adorable little girl is her daughter, Lillian--the only girl out of six babies born to the families in my birthing class. I love her! And not just because her table manners are so clearly advanced.

Heidi set only two guidelines for herself as she determined how best to incorporate the produce into her family's weekly menu:

1. No other grocery trips! (She's a whole foods and farmer's market devotee)

2. Incorporate herbs and other vegetables already harvested from her personal garden

The heirloom tomatoes inspired a pasta dish that graced the table just in time to welcome her sister from out of town, and otherwise she kept things simple in order to let the produce do the talkin'. This approach is a Heidi hallmark.

So here's how she did it:

Ears of Corn--several to grill and eat this week (try with lemon basil butter or pesto) the rest to blanch and freeze

Cucumbers--simple tomato/cucumber/onion side salad with herbed vinaigrette, also tzatziki sauce served with pan fried panko cod

Onions large and Small--sliced in salads, sliced in tomato/squash bake, minced in recipes

New Potatoes--roasted with rosemary, Hawaiian red sea salt, smoked paprika flakes, EVOO, and ground pepper

Pint Tomatoes-half reserved for cucumber salad, half reserved to roast and toss with pesto pasta

Three Heirloom Tomatoes--peeled and chopped for pasta recipe to include 5-6 chopped tomatoes, 1/2 cup chopped basil, 4 oz. goat cheese (she used Sweet Valley Farm Dairy Tomato Basil/Farmer's Market), 1/4 cup EVOO, 1 seeded and chopped jalapeno, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, sea salt to taste, heated and served over 1 package DeBoles whole wheat pasta.

It's fun to see how other families use the csa produce, and I really missed my veggies last week!

Thanks Heidi! You can invite us over for dinner anytime!! :)