June 10 CSA share

And so it came to pass that real life did throw a flaming, tar-coated curveball my way, and I was forced to take the time to catch it with appropriate fire precautions. As such, while we got our second CSA share on time, we were forced to be out of town on family business for the third. All that noted, it is time for life, and food, to get back on track. Our second share:

The roll call: radishes, strawberries, spring onions, eggs, bread, white potatoes, peas, zucchini, and swiss chard.

The June 17 share, which a friend of ours picked up on our behalf, consisted of: cherries, lettuce, spring onions, white potatoes, squash, cucumbers, peas, bread, and eggs. We ended up with the lettuce, onions, potatoes, squash, cucumbers, and peas on our return from travel.

Given family issues, time was more limited than usual, resulting in us using the above in very basic ways. We didn't get a chance to try the week two or week three recipe suggestions, although there are some excellent ideas therein. Also appreciated were their produce storage suggestions. A few experiments:

• baked beets - based on the week one recipe, I used beets, squash, onion and garlic. I haved the onions and cut the squash into rounds, which worked well for both. The beets I left whole, which was an issue - although they turned out acceptably well, they were large enough that halving them would have improved their "doneness" significantly. Although a time investment, this is an incredibly easy veggie dish, and I look forward to revisiting it in the future.

• chard and onion mix - sauteing chopped chard with diced onions and butter over several minutes of medium heat was a quick and extremely flavorful vegetable option.

• squash zucchini soup - I adapted Paul's recipe, opting not to skin the veggies first, adding a copious amount of parsley and cilantro for the herbs, and flavoring with sea salt. The result was refreshingly different and damn good. Just... don't start prep at 8:30pm if you want any sort of "reasonable" dinnertime.

Tomorrow comes share four, and we will be ready. Oh, yes.