Tag Archives: CSA

Cuisine - American, Recipes

Recipe: Scallion and Cheddar Scones

Cheddar and scallion sconesOur CSA blessed us for a few weeks with lots of scallions. Sure, you can use them as a garnish, add them to a dip or salad, or get creative with some Asian-inspired dishes like scallion pancakes or potstickers.

Not having one of my creative days in the kitchen, I was looking for something that I could make with what I had on hand – some flour, eggs, milk and cheese.

The origin of the scone comes from Britain or Scotland. The small quick breads can be sweet like my favorite flavor with orange and cranberry, or it can be savory like this recipe for scallion and cheddar scones.

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Cuisine - Desserts, Recipes

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

It’s that time of year where zucchinis are popping up like wildflowers. It can be hard to think of what to do with them after you’ve sauteed, roasted and baked them for weeks. But, if you have a few stray zucchinis lying around – like we did from our CSA crops – I promise that this recipe is SO well worth it!

Topped with a peanut butter frosting, the rich chocolate batter is so moist from the zucchini but sweet enough with hunks of chocolate melting in your mouth. If your kids are picky eaters (or perhaps you are), they’ll easily down a few of these before you have the chance to tell them the secret ingredient.

Chocolate zucchini cupcakesI hope you enjoy!

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Recipes

White Bean and Garlic Scape Hummus

Cannellini bean and garlic scape hummusDuring the first few weeks of our CSA, we were receiving tons of garlic scapes. I already showed you the easy pesto you can make but another super quick and very tasty recipe is this cannellini, or white bean, and garlic scape hummus dip that I found on Farmer Dave’s recipe section that is originally from the New York Times.

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup sliced garlic scapes (3-4 scapes)
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon course sea salt
  • Ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 15-ounce can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

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Cuisine - Desserts, Recipes

Recipe: Beet Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Grated beets for cupcakesOk, you’re probably thinking she’s gone mad. Beet cupcakes? Yes, I know it sounds very off-kilter but they are really tasty!

As you know, Brett and I joined a CSA (community-supported agriculture) for 30 weeks. A few weeks ago, we received tons of beets in our weekly crops. Both of us had never had a beet before (besides the occasional one that was slipped into a salad) so we didn’t even know where to begin when cooking these devilishly red veggies at home.

I was chatting with a co-worker one day when she mentioned her mom made a cocoa beet cake that was amazing. I typed away at Google and found this “Chocolate Beet Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting” recipe on Food.com, that was adapted from a recipe in “Cooking Light” magazine.

While I initially liked the recipe because it said “chocolate” in the title, the end result tasted more like gingerbread to me and all of my test guinea pigs (Note: No real guinea pigs were harmed in the making of these cuppies.) I suppose you could just add more cocoa powder in to get more of a rich taste, but I actually really liked how they turned out. I think the best part is the cream cheese frosting. There’s nothing like homemade cream cheese frosting but poke-me-with-a-fork-I’m-done when you add in orange rind to anything. It just gives it that added oomph of flavor! Mmm!

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Cuisine - Italian, Places - Massachusetts, Recipes, Shopping

Recipe: Garlic Scapes and Basil Pesto

A few weeks ago, we joined a CSA, or “Community Supported Agriculture,” with Farmer Dave’s based in Dracut, Mass. Each Monday, we pick up a share of fresh crops in Beverly, just a little hop from our place in Salem, Mass. The variety of veggies is different each week and depends on field conditions. For instance, this week we had beets, spinach, yellow and green zucchinis, fennel, Swiss chard, lettuce and more.

It’s more than enough produce for the two of us. It is also great since it makes us eat more healthy. We can get creative with our meals (I made some beet cupcakes with an orange cream cheese frosting from our second week’s crops), and we support local farmers.

We especially like the last part after watching documentaries like “Food Inc.,” which details how the government regulates the U.S. food supply. Plus, with the rising cost of fuel, those increases are then transferred to all of our food purchases. So, if we can buy locally, we save a little in the end by not buying produce from across the country or that is out of season. We always know what we have is fresh and local. It’s a good feeling to know that you’re supporting a local, small business, too.

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