Please excuse the remnants of dinner on the table in this photo. (Ravioli cooked with tomato sauce, onions, and peppers in the Crock Pot, by the way. It was really good!) Yesterday afternoon I picked up our final CSA share for the season. I was disappointed we didn’t get any butternut squash (I’d been hoping for it so I could make soup), but it is still a great share. We got a head of lettuce, arugula, greens (I chose kale), broccoli, carrots, parsnips, rutubaga, turnips, garlic, three delicata squash, and “take what you want” for peppers. I’m not even sure what the dark ones are or the long, skinny ones but I was excited to try them. Drew and I both love peppers.
With the kale and potatoes I plan to make a copycat recipe of the Zuppa Toscana served at The Olive Garden. I just need to pick up some cream or half-and-half. I’ve been planning on roasting a chicken this weekend anyway so I think the parsnips and carrots will go well with that. I’m determined to make something with the rutubaga. In the newsletter there’s a recipe for maple roasted root vegetables with walnuts that I might try.
So that’s that. We’re not particpating next year, but I do plan on making better use of local farmer’s markets for fresh, local produce. And I don’t have to purchase things we don’t eat (I’m talking to you, bok choy). Of course, now the challenge will be to keep our veggie consumption up over the winter when I don’t have a big basket of pre-picked veggies every other Tuesday. I think with a little inititiative I’ll do OK.
Our final share is this Friday, and I’m hoping that there will be some good things that we can use at Meredith’s birthday party!
I magically ended up at Olive Garden last night eating Zuppa Toscana soup after reading this post. 🙂