CSA Fridays: The Fields are Getting Full!

Well, I’m proud to say that out of our past two CSA shares, we were able to eat about 95% of the vegetables with the other 5% unfortunately ending up in the compost heap that I am semi-obsessed with. The soil in our back yard turns out to be super fertile, but I am tending that compost for when we turn over the garden beds in the fall. My plan is to double our own garden next year. Um. . . and I may have convinced the husband that we need a glass house so I can extend my growing season. I want all the fresh and local veggies and fruits!

The past two weeks of our CSA have been chock full of lettuces again, with the addition of lots of kale, zucchini, dill, cucumbers, more garlic scapes, and some onions. Oh, and parsley. What do you do with a TON of parsley? I like to chew on it on its own, but I don’t really have many recipes for fresh parsley!

We’ve been working to meal plan so that we include all of the beautiful fresh veggies we are receiving. One of the best ways to use up different types of lettuce, is grilling it up and serving with a delicious dressing. I had my first grilled lettuce at Diavola in Geyserville, California on a heavenly wine country trip, and I was sold at first bite. Once lightly grilled, an entire head of lettuce is appealing to me. We have been serving with a good bottled Caesar dressing. Grilled lettuce is so simple but really changes up the flavors and textures and makes salad a little more exciting.

Shrimp and dill are perfect together, so one Friday night we made shrimp in a frothy dill butter sauce. My favorite shrimp dish is my shrimp with dill and sambuca, but we were missing some of the ingredients. This did the trick. With a salad, of course.

Speaking of salads, we’ve been eating a LOT of them. Kale and all sorts of greens come together for a filling bowl, topped with chopped garlic scapes and a homemade buttermilk dill dressing.

For this dressing, I simply mixed buttermilk, a bit of sour cream, salt, pepper, and dill and poured over shredded kale and lettuce. It was fresh, tangy, and super easy.

While eating our entire CSA still remains a challenge, we are loving it, especially the email we get every Tuesday letting us know what’s growing that week. I love how each delivery depends on what the weather is doing, though I am sure this makes farming stressful!

What summer produce recipes are you loving lately?