This summer, my daughter convinced me to sign up for a CSA box. After a decade-long hiatus from local seasonal cooking instilled in me by years of SF living, I decided to give it another shot!
My kids grew up on weekly delivered produce like Pluots and Satsumas from Terra Firma Farm. Kale chips were a constant in our house. My cooking has always been make-shift, à la minute, but always inspired by what's in season, what's fresh, what do I want to eat right now?! Thanks to Marin Sun Farms, I learned how to roast, braise, and grill every cut of meat that landed in my box. My cooking got much, much better when I decided to take the challenge and stick to our CSA, cooking 3 meals a day for a family of 5. A cooking bootcamp, called life with kids. lol
When we moved to New York, I tried to find my bearings but felt solo in this pursuit. My cooking shifted. I left the 100-mile diet behind. No more backyard lemons. No more U-picks, jamming, or pickling. I was in the East Coast burbs and had to face reality. Everything felt like a disappointment for a long time, until now!
What I LOVE about Halal Pastures is that they offer the best bang for your buck AND a tremendous variety of vegetables. This box is awesome *because* of the ethnic variations of ingredients you won't find anywhere else, including the Bay Area!
Purple long beans, fava beans, Italian long beans, Romano beans, Marvel of Venice, to name a few. Japanese, Middle Eastern, Kirbe, Armenian, and muncher cucumbers. So many summer squash varieties, including Costata Romanesco, which are the go-to for Italian and Middle Eastern recipes.
I got to make Fasoulia with flat Romanesco beans, which are the "correct bean" for this recipe, according to my mother:). I made a big batch of quick kimchi pickles, not my mother's recipe. lol But I could have made Kousa Mahshi if I felt like it, 'cuz I had the right kind of zucchini. Instead, I made delicious Chocolate Zucchini Cake, Zoodles with basil and Parmesan, and spaghetti with summer squash, miso, grated dried ricotta, butter, and stock.
The last two weeks were all about summer squash, and so breakfast one morning was this:
Scrambled eggs with Summer Squash:
- Sautéed summer squash with chopped jalapeños
- Eggs, grated cojita, basil torn into bits
- Toasted homemade sourdough
This week we're hitting tomato season, and so today's lunch was in style: Pan con tomate with pan-fried haloumi and watermelon gazpacho.
Pan de Tomate con Haloumi:
- Cut your baguette in half and rub half a raw garlic clove all over the crumb/la mie.
- Fry the bread in a generous amount of EVOO until golden.
- Rub half a tomato all over your bread, then slice it thinly. Add tomato, torn basil, sea salt and pepper, and a slice of pan-fried haloumi.
It's a good thing when our kids keep us on our toes. They do it so well! lol Sometimes reminding us of all of our faults, and sometimes reminding us of the things we loved and wanted so much to share with them, but may have left behind along the way.
It's extra special when your kids remind you to be you. To stop and enjoy the moment, to slow down for lunch on a summer weekday, even when you would rather not add to your pile of dishes.
These are the moments that make me love summer!
Happy cooking,
-Ariella