CSA: Week One

So, I'm sure this is just old news to those of you who've been on the CSA bandwagon for a while, but holy pajamas, y'all, I LOVE MY CSA SHARE.

Week one being the first week in May, it's still early here in East Tennessee as far as farm fresh produce goes, so our inaugural bundle is mostly greens, but, hey, I'm down with greens. Greens are DELICIOUS, and I know for a fact that Matt and I don't eat enough of them. SO, greens it is.

Our first share: Mixed salad greens, mixed steaming greens, baby kale, baby arugula, lemon balm, radishes, green onions, crunchy pea sprouts, and Bonus! half a dozen gorgeous brown eggs.

So, the bargain Matt and I struck with each other upon deciding to go in on a CSA share was that we had to use EVERYTHING, letting something go bad or unused was a crime, even if we'd never had it before (actually, especially if we'd never had it before) or weren't sure we'd like it. (although Matt, cheater, wouldn't have radishes on his salad tonight, but oh well, baby steps...)

Saturday evening I made pizza (it's a weekly thing now!), and that gave us a great opportunity to use some arugula. We had two pizzas, the first with pesto, fresh tomatoes, mozzerella, and chopped arugula added the last minute or so of cooking. The second was a caramelized onion, bacon, and smoked blue cheese (the brand is Moody Blue, if you like blue cheese, you NEED to try it!) pizza. Both were outstanding.

How beautiful is this pizza? Come over for pizza night anytime!

Sunday morning we went unconventional and decided on salad for breakfast. Topped with a fried egg. It was breakfast, after all...

Mixed salad greens, baby arugula, crunchy pea sprouts, minced green onion, crumbled Queso Fresco (which I made myself, a post for another time...), a drizzle of really good balsamic and a splash of olive oil, and a fresh egg fried in bacon fat, seasoned with kosher salt, pepper, and a dash of smoked paprika.

Monday's dinner had no CSA greens, mainly because I had to use up some produce I already had. But the leftover pork tenderloin from that meal made it's way into tonight's salad as well.

Same basic salad mix and dressing, with thinly sliced spring radishes, Moody Blue Blue Cheese crumbles, and sliced spicy grilled pork tenderloin.

I'm planning on using the steaming greens tomorrow along with the baby turnip greens from Matt's parent's garden. The remaining green onions and radishes are going to get chopped into a relish (ala chow chow) for blackeyed peas. The kale is on tap to get braised on Thursday. Any leftover arugula will top another pizza on Friday. And I think I'm going to steep the lemon balm in a simple syrup and add it to some iced tea (unless anyone has a better idea...anyone? Lemon balm?).

So that, my dears, is week one. And already I feel like this could change the way Matt and I eat completely. Every week is something new, and every night is like Iron Chef. Did you other CSA'ers feel this rapturous about your shares? Maybe it's just me. My relationship with food has always been somewhat unconventional. In the mean time, I'm giddy thinking about what's to come next week....