Week 7 July 20

I was away some of this week and we had company so things didn't get photographed.  But this was the delivery:  salad greens with flower petals, squash, zucchini, braising greens, chard, an artichoke, potatoes, garlic, onions and beans!

I did stir fry up a bunch of the veggies together with a bit of butter

Glyn put zucchini slices on the grill, always an easy summer side.  

Dad and Liz, after spending the school year up north in Nunavut, were very impressed with our local fresh delicious food.  They were blown away by our gorgeous weather too.  

Week 6 July 13

This week we got some interesting things, and a special treat, garlic scape jam.  Haven't used it yet.  I'm assuming I'll do a cream cheese/cracker thing with it.  We also got baby turnip thinnings, braising greens, salad mix, baby squash, potatoes, beets, garlic and green beans.

 

So I'm starting to have an excess of garlic, which is great.  I had some store bought garlic, but it's nothing like the juicy sharp garden garlic, so I roasted some to use it up.  I've been throwing that in everything. 

The baby squash was tossed with a bunch of other vegetables, feta, and a creamy lemon salad dressing.  (equal parts mayo, sour cream and yogurt, a dash each of dijon, pureed garlic, minced onion, zest and juice of a lemon, salt and lots of pepper)

Some of the potatoes and basil made it into a fritatta made and photographed by Glyn.  I had to go to work and he was making breakfast for our visitors, so I told him as I ran out the door, "Make sure if you use and of the CSA stuff you take a picture of it before it gets eaten!"  

This isn't from our CSA, but it's a local classic, blackberry crumble.  I'm almost out of blackberries, so it's good that the blackberry season is coming soon!  This is made with blackberries and apple slices tossed with a tbsp of cornstarch (|I was out of cornstarch so I used a tbsp of Birds custard powder which is mostly cornstarch) and sugar to taste.  The topping is oats, sugar, flour, cinnamon and butter.  Dessert for breakfast!

The rest of the potatoes and beets were roasted and tossed in a salad with the greens.  The dressing was a spicy one:  1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup sugar, 5 or 6 pureed roasted garlicbulbs, zest and juice of a lime, several dashes of tobasco, several dashes of sesame oil, pepper.  I also threw a half a cantelope in there, and that was a good idea!  The sweet/spicy/salty combo really worked.    

The simplest recipe for kale:  Wash, chop into ribbons, sautee for 45 seconds with a bit of garlic, butter and a tsp. of lemon zest.  The kids love it.

This doesn't include any CSA stuff, except the basil, but I was showing off for company and made this recipe, which I think of as a Tahsis local dish.  Pasta tossed with equal parts mayo and lemon juice, a bunch of green onions, pepper, arugula (I used our fresh basil instead) and smoked salmon.  This recipe originally came from Silvie, the chef at  Tahsis Time Grill when she fed the volunteers at the community garden one afternoon, and I have made it several times since.

  

  

Week 5 July 6

We received:  salad greens, carrots, garlic, a handful of baby squash, potatoes, thinnings from the turnip patch, peas, braising mix and my favourite for the week, a big fragrant bunch of basil.  

I happen to think vegetables are gorgeous, so I take lots of photos of them.  

Andrea and Marion enjoyed the potatoes, boiled, and then tossed with melted butter, garlic scapes, and fresh herbs including oregano, chives and thyme from the communal herb plot at the Tahsis Community Garden.  .

Once again, when I don't know what to do with the CSA items, it works to just put them all together.  This is (sauteed in butter) chard, kale, baby squash, basil and loads of garlic.  Just a few moments of cooking so the squash and greens aren't mushy.

Eat it straight or for the girls add it to the macaroni and tomato sauce.  I put mine on top of my salad greens.  

Local Foods

What a treat tonight, at Westview Marina we attended the 4th Annual BBQ cook off, with net proceeds going to the Tahsis Salmon Enhancement Society.

From the Village of Tahsis Website:  "Each year, the Tahsis Salmonoid Program releases from 250,000 to 500,000 fry (80% Chinook 20% Coho) into the Tahsis and Leiner Rivers. The program is staffed 100% by volunteers with the assistance of a coordinator from Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Currently, the Society is asking for Tahsis community groups to raise funds for the Salmonoid Program, to upgrade the water supply system."

There was a rich seafood chowder (which I've never tried before), A chicken, prawn and salmon dish with crisp vegetables with chipotle mayo in a savoury broth, and candied barbequed salmon.  All winners, although the prawn dish chefs walked away with 1st place.  Including salad it was only $13 a plate.  About 75 hungry guests showed up to celebrate some really great local food.  There's alot of things we don't have in Tahsis, but we do have pretty amazing seafood.

    

Week 4 June 29

This week we received:

braising mix, peas, garlic, bok choy, salad greens, baby beets, baby turnips, and dill.  The dill smelled amazing right away.  The garlic is juicy and fresh, nothing like whatever comes from China to the grocery stores, it's like a different vegetable altogether.  I've been putting it in everything.

The first thing I did was chop up the Kale from thr braising mix and throw it in a fritatta for the kids' breakfast, along with broccoli and italian spices.  No pics, it disappeared too fast.

I wasn't sure what to do with beet greens so when in doubt I saute with other veg.  In this case, it was the baby beets thinly sliced, the baby turnips thinly sliced, some garlic scapes from my garden, some of that juicy farm garlic, the bok choy, salt, pepper and butter.  My strange kids, who won't eat lettuce or celery or tomatoes (or a bunch of other stuff) will eat this strong tasting concoction, and even put it in their tacos with spicy ground beef and avocado slices.

For Glyn and I, a favourite taco salad using the farm salad greens.

I wanted to use the dill in a way that really made the most of the gorgeous flavour.  The kids made this soup all by themselves, I talked them through it but they did all the work.  It was potato cauliflower soup.  We were going to puree it in the food processor to make it creamy, but we didn't bother.  

Saute a chopped onion, some garlic scapes, 4 peeled diced potatoes, half a cauliflower chopped for a few minutes in a knob of butter.  Add a litre of chicken stock and the chopped dill, salt and pepper.  Simmer till soft and serve.  The dill came through fresh and flavourful.

We froze the leftovers and then when it was thawed a few days later, the kids added a can of corn and some chopped up carrots.  Still good!