CSA report: Landisdale Farm, week 11

Saturday, August 16, 2008

It’s depressing to walk up the Landisdale Farm stand at Clark Park, see the gorgeous tomatoes they’ve got on sale, and then not get any tomatoes in your CSA share from them.  It is.  But at least the size of the share is a little bigger this week, even if there are no tomatoes.

• Three heads of lettuce.  For the love of pete, I can’t take the lettuce!  Do they grow this stuff in a place where the lettuce never bolts?  I feel guilty that all the lettuce ends up in the compost heap, but who eats that much lettuce?
• Three small heads of cabbage
• Three green bell peppers and two purple bell peppers
• Eight red potatoes
• Six shallots.  Something unexpected and interesting!  I’m thrilled to have the shallots!
• A pint of plums
• Two bunches of swiss chard

So...what’s on the agenda for meals this week?  I’ll probably roast the peppers and freeze them, along with the chard (I have tons of it in the garden right now for fresh eating). 

With cabbage, I’d normally just shred it and throw it in the vat to make sauerkraut.  However, I never ate all the sauerkraut I made last year.  There’s the option of making soup, although August is not really soup weather.  I’m not really in the mood for any kind of slaw or kimchi or stuffed cabbage, which really narrows down the options.  But there are options, beginning with this amazing-sounding recipe for Braised Green Cabbage with Onions, Carrots, and a Poached Egg. 

Here are some other ideas:

• cabbage and potato bake
• warm cabbage with bacon and gorgonzola
• cabbage curry
• cabbage latkes
• stir-fried spicy cabbage