Week nine and getting wild!

The bounty of a summer garden is impressive enough, but this past share brought with it a bonus of a wild green edible that you probably pass all the time (invading your garden, growing in the cracks of sidewalks...). In this week's share we were gifted with a big bunch of purslane (blending it with all of the other green in this photo). It is often considered a weed, and I see a lot of people pulling it out of their gardens and discarding it like any other agricultural nuisance. However, I also see this green for sale at the Union Square Green Market and it tends to go pretty quickly. Purslane is a super healthy, dark leafy green, with small thick leaves that spread out flat covering the ground. It also is an amazing source of Omega-3 fatty acids, and is tasty to boot.
I decided to put some of my purslane to use in this potato salad. I'm not exactly sure what kind of potatoes we received this week, but they were a nice waxy red skinned variety. I cut them in half and boiled them up until they were soft. After draining them, I tossed with extra virgin olive oil, the purslane leaves, some chopped chives and a little lemon juice. I seasoned with salt and pepper, and it was ready to go.

Vacation and cool as a cucumber

The famous Round Barn at Hancock Shaker Village in Massachusetts


Last week we were on vacation in the Berkshires and consequently were not around to pick up week eight of our share (two months have gone by already!). Fortunately, dear friends and fellow local food lovers were kind enough to pick up our share and tuck it away in our over crowded fridge for us (thanks M & T!). While we were enjoying our time in the country, along with some yummy local food we picked up at the Berkshire Food Co-op in Great Barrington, we were glad to have our veggies waiting for us safely at home. This is also the reason that there is no share picture this week - I couldn't bare to drag out all that food that had been carefully tucked away... instead I have posted an image of the famous Round Barn the Shakers built in the City of Peace (the name of the community they settled on the outskirts of Pittsfield, MA) in the 1780's. The Shakers, along with being a religious group, are known for being highly regarded for their craftsmanship, industry and farming practices. They are often considered a model of sustainable living, and I found so much inspiration while we visited. This barn, for instance, was brilliantly designed with an earthen slope connecting to the upper level, acting as a natural driveway so the farmers could draw in the hay in their carriages and ride seamlessly around the center and out the exit, quickly facilitating the entire process. The hay fell down the center section to the lower level, where the livestock have spaces around the exterior section of the of the barn. Not only is the design ingenious and innovative, it is simple and beautiful like much of their handy work. I highly recommend anyone passing through the area to make your way over for a visit and to learn more about this amazing group.



Upon our return home to our veggies, along with the heat and humidity, I was glad to see yet more cucumbers as I find them amazingly refreshing in this humid northeastern summer weather. I made this creamy cucumber salad as a variation of the one from Alice Water's, "The Art of Simple Food" which I have borrowed from my library and now feel I must purchase (I know, I'm really trying to stop...this will be the last one for a while!). This book is a great overall "how to" on cooking along with a nice inventory of simple and easy, yet elegant recipes. This salad calls for 2 cucumbers (I seed mine) peeled and sliced and tossed with salt (I used pink salt here). The dressing consists of about a quarter cup of cream, a few tablespoons of really good olive oil, juice of half a lemon and some fresh ground black pepper whisked together. After I dressed the salad I tossed in some fresh chopped parsley and a little fleur de sel to taste. I chilled a bit longer before serving and its perfect for a steamy new york city evening.

CSA week four - wrapping up the first month

Its hard to believe that we're a month into the CSA season already! The food has been wonderful and we have recently had the opportunity to really begin connecting with the community and discovering the different ways we are connected. Last week I took a yoga class at the Yoga Room
in LIC, and discovered the teacher I just had class with lives in my neighborhood and also belongs to a nearby CSA that is supplied by the same farm as ours - neat! Golden Earthworm is a great farm that has such amazing variety and I feel so lucky to be receiving my food from those hard working folks out there on Long Island.

My husband and I had dinner on Friday with our neighbors whom we also met through the CSA. They are actually two of the founding core-group members of
the Sunnyside CSA, and they happen to live in the same building as we do (its funny and comforting how the anonymity of urban living can be transcended by food). Dinner was amazing, but I sadly forgot to tote along my camera so there are no photos to share of the wonderful ratatouille Diane made for us. She is an amazing cook though and also a holistic health counselor with a wonderful approach to preparing food. We look forward to many more meals with them (hint, hint...).

On Sunday we had a CSA potluck with friends who belong to the Astoria CSA which is also supplied by Golden Earthworm, and it was so much fun to see the different things we made from the same share ingredients!

I made a lasagna with a red sauce that I prepared with lamb sausage and green garlic from the farmer's market. I layered the lasagna with a ricotta mixture to which I added minced garlic scape (from the green garlic tops) and a bit of S&P, and a layer of steamed beet greens seasoned with a bit of crushed red pepper. I topped it all with slices of fresh mozzarella and baked it for about 40 minutes until the cheese started to brown and it was all bubbly and oozing inside. When it was done I finished it with a chiffinade of fresh basil for garnish (and the wonderful smell it provides). It was so delicious (thank goodness...I was a bit nervous about it since it was totally improvised and I couldn't really taste it before serving it to friends). I have to say the dish came together pretty quickly and is a nice thing to serve to a small group.


It also left me a good bit of time to prepare a "red" salad (made with the red oak leaf lettuce and shredded beets, also from this week's share) to go along with it.


Our friend M. brought along an amazing salad of kohlrabi and fennel (using up some of last weeks share combined with this weeks fennel) with a bright and yummy lemon caper dressing, that complemented the spicy and savory flavors of the lasagna very nicely. Its also nice to see what other folks are making to help give you ideas.

Dessert was made by T., and she made an amazing strawberry-rhubarb cobbler that really hit the spot. It was a nice change for me since I always seem to make crumbles (like the one last week) and had actually just made a blueberry-pecan crumble that I brought to by neighbor's dinner on Friday (that was complimented by Diane's amazing pear sorbet).

All in all, the food this month has been amazing. It has been a wonderful challenge to try to keep up with the shares and I feel like overall we have done a great job of being creative and keeping the food both simple and interesting. For me though, what I am noticing I appreciate the most is the food connecting us with people, whether old friends or new. It has been great to share so many of these meals with others at the table recently and something that I am truly grateful for.