The Great Utah CSA Experiment 2009 - Week 4!

Gosh are we already on week 4? This season seems to be slipping by much faster than last. And we're still ahead of last year's schedule, with summer squash and zucchini coming in looking very nice. Here are the goods, with non-organic prices from Dick's supermarket:

CSA SHARE					Price	Value
1.09 lb red & green leaf lettuce					1.38/lb	$1.50
0.63 lb spinach					3.18/lb	$2.01
1.19 lb beets					1.29/lb	$1.54
0.75 lb baby carrots (with tops)					0.79/lb	$0.59
1.56 lb summer squash (2)					1.29/lb	$2.01
0.63 lb zucchini (2)					1.29/lb	$0.81

That's it! We're looking forward to more vegetable hash, a salad or two, and some oven roasted vegetables. Unfortunately, with the added heat coming on this time of year, we're also looking for more recipes that don't require a stove. Though I've steamed carrots in the microwave before, I'm not sure about beets. We might have to experiment - I can't keep using my oven at this rate. Suggestions, anyone?

The Great Utah CSA Experiment 2009 - Week 3!

We got the food from weeks 1&2 used or stored just in time for the week 3 pickup. The peas all went to snacking, the spinach was stored in the freezer with the beet tops and half the chard. The other half of the chard was shared with neighbors (along with two bags of lettuce greens) and we had lots and lots of salads. I would probably be tired of salads right now if I weren't coming out of 5 months of fresh food deprivation. As it is, I'm excited to have leafy greens for breakfast lunch and dinner. And as for the rest, oven-roasted beets (recipe) have now become a real favorite of mine. Hurray for beets! (I don't think I could ever have pictured myself saying that a year ago.)

I'm also happy to report that I've gotten quite a few great recommendations on how to use leafy greens creatively. Head on over to my friend Sarah's recipe blog for some good recipes with arugula. However, because of my recent deprivation, and because last season I ran out of stored greens at the end of August, I am quite happy to store those that I can. In fact I may purchase extra before the end of the leafy greens season with the express purpose of storing them. Sadly, lettuce greens like romaine, red leaf, and green leaf cannot be frozen for later use and as a result we get a bit more tired of them. If anybody has any non-salad based recommendations for romaine - I'm all ears.

This week in the box I received the following. Prices for this week are for non-organic fare from the local Dick's supermarket:

CSA SHARE					Price	Value
1.19 lb romaine					0.84/lb	$1.00
0.63 lb red & green leaf lettuce					1.19/lb	$0.75
0.63 lb spinach					3.54/lb	$2.23
1.00 lb beets					1.29/lb	$1.29
1.00 lb rainbow chard					2.50/lb	$2.50
1.06 lb baby carrots (with tops)					*0.75/lb	$0.79
1.75 lb zucchini (3)					1.29/lb	$2.26

*Price based on 2-lb bag carrots, the closest equivalent.

The season seems to be moving along a bit earlier this year than last, as this week's share included several young zucchini (not available until week 5 last year!) Also new are the carrots, which I didn't receive last year. These are real baby carrots, none of them thicker than my fingers, and most of them shorter. The picture at right shows them next to the storebought whittled down snacking "baby" carrots for comparison.

The spinach was used in a chicken cannelloni dish (one day, when I perfect the recipe, I'll post it). The leaf lettuces have surprisingly been devoured already, thanks again to my wonderful brother. The zucchini went into vegetable stir-fry (see picture, at left) and the beets and carrots have a date with the oven tomorrow. After all that, and a little more blanching/freezing beet greens and the rainbow chard, I'll be ready for the next CSA pickup!

The Great Utah CSA Experiment 2009 - Weeks 1 & 2!

It's that time of year again! Weekly produce and weekly posts about my adventures with East Farms CSA. I've been anticipating this ever since they ended last October, but I've really felt it the last few months. Every time I buy produce at the grocery store I regret it: it really tastes awful. Even the stuff from Whole Foods was just okay. (I mean, it was better than the alternative, but I had no appetite for it).

After being fooled by the system 5 times over the past winter - I decided not to bother at all. (Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me five times. . .) A whole winter subsisting on bread, milk, occasional protein has convinced me to store as much of the great produce I get during the season as possible. I don't think I could make it through another winter like that again! I'll probably need buy an upright freezer sometime this summer to help me store food, but it'll be well worth it.

Unfortunately, after all the anticipation for the CSA pickup, I'm a week late getting started! I missed the first week because I didn't get my pickup letter in time. (It was sent in time, but it took an extra week to navigate the change-of-address process via post). Luckily the good people at East Farms decided I could pick up a full share this week to offset the loss. Here's the goods for a full share (two half shares) delivered Tuesday the 16th. Prices are based on organic fare from Sunflower Farmer's Market:

CSA SHARE-A	CSA SHARE-B					Price (organic)	Value
0.94 lb romaine	1.0 lb romaine					1.90/lb	$3.69
1.25 lb red & green leaf lettuce	0.94 lb red & green leaf lettuce					3.00/lb	$6.57
0.81 lb spinach	0.81 lb spinach					5.99/lb	$9.73
1.06 lb beets	1.25 lb beets					1.59/lb	$3.68
1.31 lb rainbow chard	0.19 lb rainbow chard					2.89/lb	$3.90
0.69 lb english peas	0.81 lb english peas					*2.99/lb	$4.49

*Price based on non-organic sugar snap & snow peas, the closest equivalent.

Compared to week 2 from last year, there is a little more variety. I was really surprised to find beets so early! The peas, chard, spinach, and beets (pictured at right) are great: I can eat them now or freeze for later use; but the lettuce is again a problem for me to put away quickly enough (it doesn't help that my father has been supplying me with as much lettuce as I can consume for the last few weeks from his garden.)

With a glut of fresh locally grown vegetables I'm eating as much as possible to make up for my winter starvation. The first thing I did was eat an entire bowl of peas. I can't begrudge the shucking, they were really great. Next night I prepared a simple salad and roasted root vegetables with the beets (pictured at left). Thankfully, my brother joined us for dinner - the one that can down a large horse. He personally cleared 5 plates of leafy greens! (THANK YOU!) Even with that, I'm going to have to eat as fast as possible so I have room in my refrigerator again!

This year I'm not going to be as picky about including recipe posts - that will allow me to put up the 'what I got' pretty quickly, and the recipe tweaking won't delay the posting: I can post them individually later. Besides, it helps me solicit help from readers in deciding what to do with all my produce!

Having said that, here's my recipe for yesterday's Simple Salad:

3 c. salad greens, torn
3/4 c. chicken tenders or popcorn chicken (optional)
honey dijon salad dressing

I first had a salad like this at my cousin's house - just lettuce and ranch. I was floored by the audacity of the dish. What, no tomatoes? No cucumbers or cheese or olives or peppers? No onions or spices? No nothing? It sounds pretty plain but it was great, and now I don't feel bad serving simple salad. (Besides, let's admit it: the rest of that stuff isn't seasonal at the same time leafy greens are. And what busy cook can resist simplicity in mealmaking?) I should clarify: Craig likes it with the chicken, but my brother liked it just as well without. Nothing is really required beyond the greens and some dressing you love.

The Great Utah CSA Experiment 2009!

It's that time again! Time to spend time online, dig out your checkbooks, and choose which CSA is right for you and your family. Lest you protest that it is too early, let me remind you that the CSA farm needs to know how many clients they will have so they can order their seeds and get planting. In fact, some CSA's offer financial incentives to sign up early - even by March 1st (ONE week away!)

For a list of all CSA's available in Utah, visit Utah's Own website. For those, like me, in Salt Lake Valley and Davis counties, I'll list and weigh in on the options available for pickup here.

Bell Organic is a vegetables-only CSA: the only CSA in the area which is USDA Certified Organic. They are based out of Draper, UT: so for those in the SLC valley, they are the very closest farm you can find. Their season runs from 18-20 weeks based on weather, and cost for a 2-person share is $400. (They also offer some egg, cheese, fruit, and meat shares from other local farms, but slots for these shares are limited.) Pickup times and locations are very limited: you can pick up produce at their Draper location on Mondays from 5-7 pm, or a Downtown SLC location is available for Tuesday pickups from 5-7 pm.

If you watch the Bell Organic Blog, you'll also find some extra bonuses: regular recipes for the weekly produce, dates available to tour the fields, extra produce for sale on the side at the end of the season, and more!

Borski Farms operates out of Kaysville, UT, and provides a variety of organically grown vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Their season runs 15 weeks and cost for a 2-person share is $200. Pickup locations include Downtown SLC on Mondays, Sugarhouse on Wednesdays, and Kaysville, and Ogden on Fridays. For each of these locations pickup times run from 12:00-6:00 pm. I used and reviewed this CSA in 2008 and was very pleased with the variety and amount of produce I received for the price; you can see my final assessment on their last week of delivery here.

They also provided several mid-season newsletters with information and recipes, and they are part of a co-op which operates a locally produced vegetable and fruit stand in Kaysville.

East Farms operates out of West Pointe, UT, and provides an alarming amount of vegetables for the price. They operate over 150 acres of farmland, 30 of which are specifically set aside for CSA cultivation. Everything included in the shares is grown to meet organic standards. Their season runs for 18 weeks and cost for a 2-3 person share is $250 (sign up before March 1 for a 10% discount)! East Farms is by far the most widely available, with 16 pickup locations overall: 6 in Davis county and 9-10 in the Salt Lake Valley. Pickup is usually available any time after 4:00 pm. I used and reviewed this CSA in 2008 and was extremely pleased with the amount of produce I received for the price; you can see my final assessment on their last week of delivery here.

This season East Farms is adding an online membership tool to help offer additional member services, such as purchasing surplus or signing up for special share offers.

Zoe's Garden is based out of Layton, UT, and provides an astonishing variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and even meats all naturally grown and cultivated on-site. They boast the most thorough inventory offered by any CSA in Utah, and offer a Produce ID guide for those of their customers who can't figure out what their mystery vegetable is. Their season runs for 20 weeks and their smallest share is $736 ($700 for an early-bird special). They claim the small share is for one person who likes to eat vegetables daily, but seeing as how it contains on average 15 varieties of produce it might feed more. They have pickup locations in Downtown SLC, Sugarhouse, Sandy, Layton, and Ogden. Pickup times vary depending on location, but are usually 3-8 pm.

Zoe's garden also offers part-season shares, and some deliveries include eggs (chicken AND quail eggs) and honey.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A note on 'organically grown' and 'naturally grown' food vs. Certified Organic standards: Certified Organic standards were implemented to protect the consumer and help provide truth in advertising, but they are very expensive to obtain, and that includes a several year waiting period. Those farms which claim to grow their produce according to organic standards but do not have this certification offer the consumer no guarantees or assurances.

However, the cost of actual certification is reflected in food prices. If you know and trust your local farmer, then produce grown organically by them is produce grown organically period, whether certified as such or not. That's the benefit of supporting your local economy!

This year will be a bit different for me and my husband. I had hoped to try out at least one new CSA, but we are moving from our apartment in Holladay to a new home in Bountiful. This is very exciting, but unfortunately there is only one convenient pickup within a few miles of our home: the East Farms pickup in Woods Cross.

I am more than happy to sign up for an East Farms share again, and I will keep you all updated on relative amounts and costs, same as last year. I'm also excited to try out the new online CSA membership option. I almost can't wait for fresh produce again - I've tentatively purchased some fresh produce from different grocers several times in the past few months, and regretted it every time. I'm going to need to freeze and store as much as possible, so I don't suffer next winter!

And finally, because I still have pumpkin puree in my freezer, I'll include the simplest ever pumpkin recipe:

-----Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies-----

2 c. pumpkin puree
1 box spice cake mix
2 T. butter, melted
12 oz. chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together, drop onto cookie sheet, and bake 10-12 minutes at 350 F.

(Photo to be added when I get my new camera. I'm sure I'll still have puree at that time =P)

The Great Utah CSA Experiment - Winter Squash Update!

I promised it would come, but I'm sure you didn't think it would take me this long to start tackling my store of CSA winter squash! It's a good thing it stores so well. I once had a pumpkin I dressed up for president's day - this year I wasn't going to wait quite that long. Over the past few weeks I've been experimenting with pumpkins and acorn squash, and I have to say they are easy to prepare and delicious to boot - but finding enough recipes to use up a whole pumpkin's worth of purée is not a simple task!

Luckily, my cousin loves to cook and use pumpkin and has a few great recipes to share. She helped me determine the best way to cook (and store) a 30 lb monstrosity, and was the source of two of the recipes included. So for the curious, here is a play by play of Me vs. The Pumpkin.

The first job was to wash the pumpkin of the little remaining dirt and collected dust. This wasn't a simple task, as the pumpkin didn't actually fit inside the kitchen sink (see above). We make do with what we have. I rinsed one side, then turned the pumpkin and repeated, and we were off to the races!

After washing the pumpkin, I carved out the top with the handle, just as if I were preparing for a Halloween pre-jack-o-lantern lobotomy. After I could get my knife inside, I began slicing the pumpkin up into 2-3" wedges and dug out the insides. Of course, I saved the guts so I could cook the seeds later.

All in all, I obtained 11 massive wedges - now the difficulty was how to cook them. There was no way I was going to boil them: I wasn't interested in standing over a hot stove all day nor was I interested in losing any flavor to the water. I found my microwave could cook 1 cut-up wedge in 20 minutes, and it retained a bright orange color. I could also fit up to three wedges on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour at 300 F, that resulted in a darker color. After cooking a grand total of 4 wedges with these methods I called up my cousin. "Buy a plastic turkey bag" she said. I was able to crowd the remaining 7 wedges inside the turkey bag, balance it precariously on the small cooking tray, then forget about it while they all cooked at 300 F for 1.5 hours. I should have done that at the start!

After cooking, the flesh was soft enough for me to dig it out with a spoon - and in some cases, peel the skin right off. I then proceeded to puree the pumpkin with my handy immersion blender. (One day I will write an article on how much I love my immersion blender). It made quick work of the very soft pumpkin and I was soon scrambling to find containers in which to fit 25 cups of pumpkin purée.

The obvious solution was to use as much as possible by cooking as quickly as possible. So I immediately used 2 cups to make pumpkin muffins. But it turns out 2 cups makes > 3 dozen muffins - and I really didn't think my family of two could eat 450 muffins before they spoiled. Good thing I could give some away! These were delicious, and everybody I shared them with loved them. I am counting on making many more with the remaining pumpkin purée stored in my freezer.

My next bright idea was to experiment with cream of pumpkin soup for dinner. I used up 2 cups making a variant with a can of evaporated milk and bullion, and it wasn't bad, but needs a bit more work before I publish the recipe. Craig wouldn't even taste it though - which leads me to believe that it doesn't matter what I do with the recipe, he's decided he doesn't want anything to do with pumpkin soup. Guess that leaves us with more muffins!

After that, I made a pumpkin dessert roll - pumpkin cake rolled up in cream cheese frosting: cant' go wrong! It was delicious and evaporated at a family party; but it only used up 3/4 cup pumpkin.

Finally, I rinsed and roasted the pumpkin seeds. Nearly 2 cups of raw seeds baked up nicely, and since Craig won't eat them, it meant more for me. Hurray!

After a full day of cooking, not even 20% of my pumpkin was used. I put the remainder in the freezer, and started brainstorming on who I could share it with. So far, I've pawned 2.5 cups off on my sister and 5 cups on my cousin (who took the first pumpkin and gave me the help. I hope she'll continue to do so!)

As for the remaining squash in our storage, we've made it through one acorn squash and three spaghetti squash. Again, the spaghetti squash were all used for quick and dirty meals on nights when I was too tired to think of anything else - they are very practical and easy to prepare if you have jars of spaghetti sauce. The acorn squash was nearly as easy - much easier than the pumpkin to prepare, certainly - but that's likely because it was 15x smaller. This one Craig and I ate right out of the shell, loaded with butter and sugar. It was delicious!

All that remains to be experimented with are several buttercup and carnival squash. Expect that update soon!

Recipes for Winter Squash Update:

-----Fabulous Pumpkin Muffins-----

1 c. butter	4 c. flour
2 c. sugar	1 t. cloves
2 eggs	2 t. allspice
1 T. vanilla	1 T. cinnamon
2 c. finely pumpkin purée	2 t. baking soda

Mix together the first five (wet) ingredients, and blend well. In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining (dry) ingredients. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and mix until just moistened. Distribute the batter in muffin cups and bake at 400 F for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes ~ 3.5 dozen.

-----Pumpkin Cake Roll-----

Rather than copying and pasting content, I'll just direct you to two of the best recipes on Allrecipes.com, which is where I was told to find them. Don't let the multi-step process fool you into thinking this is a difficult dessert to make - on the contrary it was VERY easy and relatively quick.

Pumpkin Roll II
Libby's Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

-----Roasted Pumpkin Seeds-----

2 c. raw pumpkin seeds, rinsed thoroughly
2 T. butter
2 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. salt
1/2 t. garlic salt

Mix together butter, sauce, salt, and garlic salt in a small bowl. Microwave on medium until the butter is completely melted. Whisk the ingredients together, then add the pumpkin seeds and coat liberally. Scoop the seeds onto a cookie sheet and spread out until you have one layer, then cook at 250 F for 1 hour.

-----Sweet Acorn Squash-----

1 acorn squash, cut in half and de-seeded
4 T. butter
6 T. maple syrup*

Microwave the squash on high for 12 minutes, turning several times to ensure even cooking. Remove the squash, and put 2 T. butter and 3 T maple syrup in each half. Place the halves in the oven on 'broil' (~ 6" under the elements) for 2 minutes until the butter melts and the syrup begins to caramelize. Remove and serve hot.

*You may substitute brown sugar, apricot jam, or any other appropriate sugar laden flavorful sweetener you desire. Brown sugar appears to be commonly used, but I liked mine with apricot-cranberry jam, and Craig enjoyed his with maple syrup.

The Great Utah CSA Experiment - Week 18!

This share came with the very sad news that it would be the last of the season for the East Farms CSA. This was just as well - this week also brought the first big snowfall of the season! Not much more was going to be growing after that. In fact, the produce in the share was all hardy root vegetables or winter squash - the only things that could have survived intact for delivery. This was by far the heaviest load of the year, at over 20 lb of total food:

CSA SHARE		Price (Organic)				Price ('Normal')	Value
8.81 lb Butternut Squash (2)						0.99/lb (asst. squash)	$8.72
2.20 lb Buttercup Squash						0.99/lb (asst. squash)	$2.18
3.75 lb Carnival Squash (2)						0.99/lb (asst. squash)	$3.71
3.71 lb Spaghetti Squash						0.99/lb (asst. squash)	$3.67
1.73 lb Yellow Potatoes						1.49/lb	$2.58

It's a good thing this share was full of winter squash, because my refrigerator is still overflowing with more perishable produce. In fact, despite my best efforts, I am ashamed to admit I've already lost 1 cucumber, 2 eggplants, and 5 roma tomatoes to time. I should have given them away faster! Or frozen them. Oh, well.

Because I'm still struggling to eat the other produce, I'm going to have to add an addendum or two as I eat the winter squash over the next few months. We'll see how it goes! Included at right is a photo of one of the new squash varieties I received with this share: a carnival squash. At bottom is a recipe for butternut squash fries, as inspired by my local bakery's sweet potato fries. Unfortunately I don't have a picture - they were all eaten before I could buy a new set of batteries for my camera!

This share came with a newsletter announcing not only the end of the season, but also including an invitation to visit the East Farms pumpkin patch on Saturday and pick up one pumpkin per family member. We were excited about the prospect of pumpkin patching, and since the farm is close to the Borski Farms produce stand we figured we'd visit both over the weekend. We hopped in the car early Saturday morning for our field trip and easily found both the farm and the stand.

The pumpkin patch was full of both pumpkins and pickers, as well as Andrew, the manager of the East Farms program. He was kind enough to talk with us for a bit about the program in general and the year specifically - East Farms was hoping to add some fruit to its shares from a family orchard, but the fruit was mealy and lacked flavor, even though it looked good. This was likely the result of our unusually cool spring and early summer, and possibly some frost damage; but I was impressed that they didn't go on and include it anyways - I sure know the grocery chains don't think twice about selling mealy and flavorless produce!

Andrew also directed us to the back of the patch where the really big pumpkins were. He kindly agreed to let us take two extra pumpkins for our neighbors, which we did. Our four pumpkins were almost perfectly round, very handsome, and together weighed in at over 90 lbs! (Individual weights were 29.75 lb, 23.5 lb, 19.75 lb, 17.6 lb.)


At the grocery store price of .19/lb each, they all added up to a $17.21 value. But mostly I was proud of the size and regularity of the squash (pictured below). I did indeed deliver one each to both of my immediate neighbors, and another one was given to my cousin. Since I haven't actually used mine yet (it will meet the same fate as the other winter squash in my cold storage - eventually) I can't post what I did with it, but I will when I cook it!

We stopped by the Borski stand on the way out, and found that it's actually a cooperative stand run by a few farms in the area. As a result the produce may or may not be organic, and it may or may not be completely local - though the stand operator at the time could tell us which was which. They had a great selection of winter squash, potatoes, onions, garlic, and even boxes of peaches (in mid-October!!), all at fair value.

Since I have more food than I know what to do with spoiling, I couldn't justify purchasing more. Regardless, it was nice to see the location and what produce was available. As the year has worn on, I've found that I've really craved produce from weeks prior - but the grocery store versions are so flavorless. I have had extra produce I could have stored, but to make food storage worth my while I feel I need to work with more than just two weekly shares. Now I know where to go to grab the produce I want to store in bulk so I can put it up for the rest of the year and not crave it for months without relief (ahh arugula, how I miss thee!)

Overall, I found this share provided a great variety of vegetables, the share distribution was flexible, the pickup times worked very well for my schedule (both when I was working and when I wasn't), and the location was very convenient. It also provided the best value overall value: for the total spread of 18 weeks, the conservative estimated value adds up to $334.64. That is of course treating most of the produce as non-organic grocery store fare. Even so, I paid a price of 205.00 for this share on April 23rd (the late price - earlier comers paid slightly less), and I've been exceptionally pleased with the results. I would highly recommend this CSA to anybody who doesn't mind a glut of vegetables every week.

Looking back, the biggest highlight of the East Farms season for me was learning how to use the overabundance of vegetables in ways I've never done before, including bitter mediterranean greens - which I have been craving for the past month - eggplant, beets, peas, kohl rabi, green beans, and summer squash. Mostly this was all new because I've never had to cook these vegetables on this scale before - I can manage to use one package of green beans a year but several pounds in two months meant searching out good recipes and learning new cooking and/or storing techniques. Additionally, I found it incredibly fun to give extra produce to neighbors, friends, and some acquaintances (which made more friends!) I am grateful that everybody was so excited to help me with my project and to learn more about it - or at least, they were tolerant of my eccentricities and if they thought I was really weird, they didn't let it show.

Overall, I have very much enjoyed both of the CSAs, and would be hard pressed to say which I would pick, if I had to pick just one. Craig says we should just get both again - and I'm tempted to do so!

An additional perk of the project that I hadn't really anticipated was our near independence from grocery stores. We rarely needed to shop for anything other than milk and bread, and some meats and cheeses. Our grocery store runs were quick and to the point - and included very little side-spending on things we normally would have purchased while 'browsing' the aisles. Though it may or may not have helped our overall costs, I feel it helped us cut back on unnecessary spending and it certainly saved me a lot of time shopping. Exact numbers follow!

Quicken reports to me that for the 18 week duration of the experiment, including the costs of both shares, Craig and I spent $55.54/week on groceries - this is our bill for all grocery items, food and nonfood (like toilet paper and toothpaste) but not household (like linens and clothing). If we had only opted for one share (the recommended amount, meaning we would have given away less food) our bill would have been $44.15/week. I'll be honest in saying that's a little bit more than our usual grocery bill, which was for the 7 months prior to the project an average of $150/month; but it's difficult to tell whether the increase came from the CSA, or from several other changes in buying habits I've made in recent months, including buying eggs from cage-free hens and raw milk (more on that subject another time.)

Recipe for week 18:

-----Oven-Roasted Butternut Squash Fries-----

1 whole Butternut Squash
1/2 t. salt
3 T. butter

Peel the squash with a knife or a vegetable peeler, cut and deseed. Cut the flesh into slices - thin if you like shoestring fries, and thick if you like potato wedges. Melt butter and salt, and coat the squash fries. Bake at 425 F until done, ~20 minutes for shoestrings and up to 1 hour for wedges. Be sure to turn them occasionally!

The Great Utah CSA Experiment - Week 17!

Week 17 was bittersweet - our first week in months with only one CSA share, but again with less produce we would have a chance to get caught up on what our refrigerator was overflowing with. Unfortunately I was very sick this week, and spent most of the time (when I wasn't working) either sleeping or drugged up so I would be well enough to work. As a result, fixing food wasn't exactly on top of my priority list. Luckily, the East Farms share again included a lot of produce that stores well!

CSA SHARE		Price (Organic)				Price ('Normal')	Value
0.51 lb Yellow Onions (2)						0.99/lb	$0.80
1.69 lb Roma Tomatoes						1.99/lb	$3.36
4.55 lb Buttercup Squash						0.99/lb (asst. squash)	$4.50
2.5 lb Acorn Squash						0.99/lb (asst. squash)	$2.48
4.27 lb Spaghetti Squash (2)						0.99/lb (asst. squash)	$4.23
1.67 lb Red Potatoes						0.69/lb	$1.15
1.52 lb Zucchini (2)						1.29/lb	$1.96

The total comes out to nearly 17 lbs of food - the squash takes us a long way! The potatoes and onions and winter squashes will all store very well. This week came with yet again a new kind of squash: Buttercup. This looks nothing like a buttercup in my opinion - we can start with the fact that it is green, not yellow; and warty, not soft. But I didn't make the rules, so we'll call it a buttercup.

Only the Zucchini and the Tomatoes will spoil in the next month, if I don't get to them all, and that includes the stash of tomatoes I've been putting off for the past few weeks. I'm sure you are wondering at this point why I was so excited for tomatoes earlier in the season, if at this point I can't figure out what to do with them.

The problem with the tomatoes is two-fold:

1 - Most tomato recipes I am familiar with use vegetables out-of-season. Picture that delicious salad with shaved carrots, garden tomatoes, and green-leaf lettuce. Oh, wait. Lettuce season is over. Hrm, what about the classic BLT? Bacon on wheat toast with sliced tomatoes and lettuce - oh wait, lettuce season is still over. I could do glazed green beans with tomatoes, except I haven't received any green beans in my share recently!

2 - By and large, I have recived a disproportionately large amount of Roma tomatoes compared with those that I typically use. At least the round tomatoes I can slice up and eat straight with salt and pepper, but Romas don't have quite the flavor, and tend to be better in sauces and baked goods, since they are more fleshy. So they have to wait until I use a recipe for them. Luckily, they store a little bit better than the others (so that's probably a good thing).

So I was out shopping at one of my favorite grocery stores, and found they had a really fantastic deal on green beans - $1.00/2 lb California grown green beans. Now, I realize they aren't Utah green beans but I was pretty sure I wasn' t going to find Utah green beans, and I thought at the time that these would help me use up my tomato supply. They looked healthy, so I bought a package and made a batch of glazed green beans with (extra) tomatoes with dinner.

I probably should have seen this coming but, they tasted awful. No - not awful, they just tasted like nothing (which is awful for green beans). I think straw would have had more flavor. This was the first time I can ever remember throwing out perfectly 'good' food (they really were completely healthy looking, no defects at all) but neither Craig nor I could bring ourselves to eat them - even with the really good sugary tomato glaze.

What happened? Have storebought green beans always tasted this way, I just never noticed because I was used to it? Did I notice it now because I'm used to food with flavor? Or was this batch of green beans just no good? I don't have any answers, but I am disturbed. I feel even more leery of purchasing grocery-store fare now than I was before! I suppose time will tell (as I am forced to buy more grocery-store produce over the winter) whether or not this was an isolated incident or a horrifying revelation of actual flavor that I always thought was 'normal'.

In the end, I used up quite a few (~10) romas in a Red Chili dish. (Think the White Chili recipe from last week, but use red kidney beans and black beans in place of the white ones, beef steak chunks instead of the shredded chicken, and lots of added pureed and chopped tomatoes) Note to self: pureed roma tomatoes still don't approach the thickness of tomato sauce, much less tomato paste. The chili was all right - not great enough to justify posting the whole recipe, and the White Chili was better but Craig ate it and that was good. I would have a picture but I'm blaming drugged-up brain fogginess for the lack thereof. Please forgive me!