Well, it’s been over a year since my last Boxing Day post. Lots of excuses reasons, I suppose, from the physical fatigue of working straight through COVIDtimes to the mental fatigue of, nine years into this CSA-focused project, fighting to find something fresh to say about, say, kale. But last week at the shop, a…
Tag: csa
Mustard Greens and Mustered Beans
Mustard greens are one of those early-season (and late-season) CSA stalwarts that used to give me fits. Frittatas were the aspirational default, but if I’m honest, mushstuck to the crisper drawer was too often the reality. Since last May, though, my work schedule has had me home in the days following CSA Day, so I’ve…
Romano a Mano
Romano beans are just big, flat, broad beans that you could, in fact, snap the ends off and trim by hand. Or even eat by hand, once they cool down. Sweet and juicy—especially braised—this summer they’ve become my favorite CSA bean. Braised Romano Beans with Garlic and Tomatoes Use this same technique for waxed beans,…
Rhubarb Crumb Cake
She ain’t much to look at—come on, aren’t we all a little shaggy these days?—but she makes up for any deficits in plate appeal with undeniable belly appeal. This is a moist cake—lightly sweet with tiny, jammy pockets of Tart thanks to baked-in hunks of diced fresh rhubarb—that you’ll enjoy as a breakfast or brunch…
Slow-Roasted Fennel and Oregano Chicken
Here’s a one-pot, set-it-and-mostly-forget-it dish that’ll make the whole house cozy. It’s adapted only slightly from Alison Roman, whose new cookbook, Nothing Fancy: Unfussy Food for Having People Over, was recently featured in the New York Times Food Section—and is definitely going on my Christmas list. Just note that this is a low-and-slow dish, with a…
Penne with Butternut, Sausage, and Sage
If you get a CSA this time of year—and if you’re in a northern climate—you’re likely awash in squash. Beyond roasting and mashing (maybe with a little butter and maple or brown sugar or honey), beyond soup, and beyond Yotam Ottolenghi’s squash with red onions and tehina, what can you do to keep up with…
Swap-Box Hero: Quickled Shishitos
Shishitos are hot. Not hot hot (only one in ten have enough capsaicin to read as spicy). But hot trendy, I guess. Over the past six or seven years, they’ve shown up in our sharebox just three or four times—total. But if last night’s “predicted contents” email from LFFC holds, tomorrow will be at least the third…
Pasta with Fresh Asparagus and Mushrooms
We’re big fans of pasta al crudo over here. It’s quick, it’s easy, and, as the name implies, it requires little to no cooking beyond the noodles themselves. Just chop some stuff up, drizzle it with oil, let it marinate a bit in a big bowl, dump warm, cooked noodles on top, maybe sprinkle on some…
Swap-Box Hero: NSFW Edition
Cover photo partially redacted for your safety. Because horseradish, often, is Not Safe. Not for work. Not for polite company. And certainly not for expectant, insistent little pups who run counter-side as soon as they hear the clink-scrape of the carrot peeler.* Who knows whether it was squeamishness or unfamiliarity that put off our CSA…
Babycakes
This year’s “summer” CSA season is winding down—just three weeks left—and it’s been a rough one for farmers and gardeners in our neck of the woods. Stifling heat mid-summer, bookended by two of the wettest months on record (indeed, Philadelphia surpassed its annual average rainfall totals in just the first nine months of the year),…
Boxing Day 