I blame Barbara Kingsolver for the current (jam-packed) state of my refrigerator.
You see, in February, I read Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and was fascinated by her account of her family’s attempt to eat totally local (and fresh, and organic) for a year. They raised chickens and turkeys, grew all their own veggies and some of their own fruit, canned and preserved a LOT in the late summer, and went without many of the gas-guzzling luxuries (such as fresh bananas, and strawberries in winter) that we all enjoy. (They also frequented local farmer’s markets, made their own cheese…the list goes on and on.)
I live in Abilene, Texas, which is borderline desert – we have mesquite instead of cactus, but not much else grows wild out here. It’s definitely not as verdant as Kingsolver’s Virginia farm. And we don’t own any land. So going/growing totally local is not currently an option for us – but we did join the Brazos River Farm CSA this spring. (For those who don’t know, CSA stands for Community-Supported Agriculture, and you pay a farmer up front in the winter for a weekly or bi-weekly box of produce during the growing season. The farmer can use the money to buy seeds, supplies, etc. and live off during the winter months, and then you get fresh, organic produce later on.)
To say we weren’t quite prepared for the amount and variety of produce would be an understatement. Our first box contained SEVEN different kinds of greens – only 3 of which (green lettuce, red lettuce, Swiss chard) I could identify on sight. We had to Google image the rest (kale, bok choy, mustard greens and something else – I can’t remember), and we wound up throwing them into a LOT of salads. (We also got baby radishes – yum! – and green onions.)
Two weeks ago, I expected our second box to be full of salad greens again – I was getting used to the salad thing, and I kind of liked it. Imagine my surprise to find kale, bok choy, onions and TWO DOZEN squash and zucchini!
We’ve been eating them every possible way – sliced, grated, sauteed, with pasta, on pizza, grilled, in salad, in zucchini bread, even in zucchini chocolate-chip cookies. (It’s like the ways to eat shrimp in Forrest Gump.) This week we’re trying them stuffed – because we just got a new box yesterday, and there are 20 MORE in there. (The herbs are starting to come in, too – yesterday’s box had mint, basil, rosemary, sage and oregano.)
I’m truly amazed at the abundance “Farmer Dan” is coaxing from this dry West Texas soil. And enjoying our fresh, local, organic produce, and even having fun experimenting with new recipes. (I can’t wait for tomato season.) But if anyone has any good squash and zucchini recipes, please send them my way – so my poor husband doesn’t flee the kitchen after being served zucchini pasta yet again.
cakes, tea and dreams 
What a good girl you are! 🙂 We practically live on a farm and I am woefully deficient in appreciating its bounty. There’s something cool about eating foods in season – wouldn’t that give us a better sense of the earth’s cycles? A better sense of “to everything there is a season and a time . . . “? Apparently American instant culture strikes again to deprive us of this ancient and world-wide pleasure!
That sounds amazing, I would love to have veggies delivered. Now I’m going to look into whether or not that is even offered around here! I hope so!
XO
Lenore
Do you have a good salad dressing recipe for me in return?
I’m glad that our vegetable box isn’t CSA-style, but from a business that buys from different farms. It has greater variety.
This sounds like a lot of fun. We’ve been considering doing the same thing, lately, because I like the idea of supporting the local community. It’s also a much more “green” way to live.
Please keep us (or at least me) updated.
Hi Katie!
I haven’t commented in ages, but I have been reading, and I have to comment on this 🙂 You should try zucchini mock apple pie. My grandma used to make it every summer and I still have trouble believing it’s made with zucchini and not apples. It’s simply amazing.
I. LOVE. THIS. SO cool that you’re support local food. And I love that for most people, trying to be that kind of socially responsible ends up feeling like having a fridge jam packed with produce you can’t even recognize. That’s been my experience here in Armenia. I want to try new local foods, but I have no idea how to use the stuff I buy when I get home, so I just make egg tacos again.
Zucchini chocolate chip cookies! HA! Were they good? And I’m interested in this CSA business. How big a phenomenon is this?
So, I love zucchini! I haven’t yet had an abundance of it yet, but we did harvest our first golden zucchini and ate this way (my very favorite zucchini recipe!) Take the recipe as inspiration and create your own spin with what you have in your CSA box…
Also, Barbara Kingsolver is also to blame for my locavore-ness… very inspiring!
Excerpted from Your Organic Kitchen, by Jesse Ziff Cool.
Ah, summertime and the cookin’ is easy. Jesse Ziff Cool finds herself motivated to make salads and dishes that don’t require a lot of stove time. Everywhere, gardens are growing in full stride.
A favorite appetizer in her restaurant (Flea St. Cafe in Menlo Park, CA), these quesadillas are the perfect way to use abundant zucchini and tomatoes. Serve as a light lunch along with a tossed salad.
Zesty Zucchini Quesadillas
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 zucchini, shredded, or julienned
1/2 red or yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin, optional
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon chili powder, optional
1/4 teaspoon hot-pepper sauce (optional)
4 whole wheat or white flour tortillas (8″ diameter)
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts, optional
2 cups (8 ounces) Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Heat the oil in a medium skillet over mediumheat. Add the zucchini, bell pepper, onion, garlic, and cumin. Cook for 5 minutes, or until all the vegetables are soft. Stir in the cilantro, salt, and black pepper. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the tomato, lime juice, chili powder, and hot-pepper sauce, if using.
Spread one-fourth of the zucchini mixture evenly on one half of each tortilla. sprinkle each with 1 1/2 teaspoons pine nuts and one-fourth of the cheese. Fold the tortillas in half.
In a a large skillet over medium-low heat, cook the quesadillas for 5 minutes, turning once, unti the cheese is melted.
Cut the quesadillas into wedges and top with a generous amount of the tomato mixture.
Makes 4 servings
Per serving: 444 calores, 18 g protein, 28 g carbohydrates, 31 g fat, 60 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 561 mg sodium
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