First Produce Delivery of the Summer

This summer I'm supporting a local organic farm by purchasing a share in their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  For money up front, I get deliveries every other week of whatever is in season. 

This week's box contained Spinach, Mixed Lettuce, Napa Cabbage, Baby Bokchoy, Daikon Radishes, Garlic Scapes, and Strawberries. 

I had to do some surfing on the internet to find out what some of these things even were, but went to work planning the weekend's menu.  A couple of weeks ago I purchased a leg of lamb from a local farmer, and had that in the crock pot rubbed with rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper.  I threw in a couple of new potatoes and onions and let it cook on low for 9 hours.  But what to do with this bounty of fresh from the garden produce?

A mixed salad was up first.  I used the lettuce greens, some of the radishes and spinach, and sliced up some red onion, baby cukes, and carrots that I had in the fridge.  For the dressing, I used about a tablespoon of fresh dill from my garden, a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, a splash of red wine vinegar, and about 1/2 c. olive oil with salt and pepper to taste.  I threw a package of feta cheese into the dressing, and added to the salad right before serving.

I had never used Bok Choy before, much less the baby version, so I went to the web for some ideas.  I ended up cooking a few slices of bacon, removing them from the pan, adding a bit of olive oil and some chopped onions, and then the bok choy (whole).  I put the lid on the pan and let them cook for about 4 minutes, removed the lid and let them cook a few minutes more.  I added them to a serving platter with the lamb and potatoes. 

We're planning to go on the boat today, so I made a Napa Cabbage Slaw by rolling the cabbage leaves up and thinly slicing them.  To that I added a bunch of chopped green onions and the rest of the radishes (I used a veggie peeler to shred them).  Separately, I melted a stick of butter, 2 T sesame seeds, a package of slivered almonds, and a package of ramen noodles all broken up.  I threw that on a pizza plate and put in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, turning often.  When it got nice and brown I took it out, cooled it, and added it to a separate container.

For the slaw dressing, 3/4 c. vegetable oil, 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar, 1/2 c. sugar were brought to a boil until the sugar melted.  That was cooled too in a separate container.  When we're ready for lunch I'll add the crunchies and the dressing and toss.  We're also planning on having grilled shrimp (we have a grill on the boat, how cool is that?) and whatever snacks we wrangle up (there's a couple of strawberries left over, and snow peas are always good).

Gotta love the bounty of summer!