This week I found myself scrambling yet again to make my One Local Summer meal. It was Saturday already before I realized, while I'd been eating a lot of local dishes, I hadn't planned and prepared a fully local meal. So I sliced up a sweet and juicy local tomato, pulled some local lettuce leaves from the refrigerator and placed them both on a local sandwich roll. I made up some chipotle mayonnaise (not local except for the cilantro I added to it) and slathered it on the roll. On the side I had sauteed zucchini, yellow squash and onions topped with local chevre and some corn on the cob. A quick and easy local feast!
A few of the other local dishes I whipped up included:
- Potato and green bean salad with honey mustard dressing
- Tomato and scallion salad with balsamic dressing
- Egg salad
- Cucumbers with dill yogurt dressing
As for my CSA shares, week 7 was a little sparse again: a quart container of red potatoes and a head of new garlic. The good news is we had a potluck at the farm today and found out things are about to get a bit overwhelming. Because the planting schedule was pushed back a couple of weeks, we're looking at an upcoming onslaught of green beans, tomatoes, peppers, squash and zucchini, eggplant and more starting the first of August or so. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the summer brings! The greenhouses are overflowing, the fields are getting greener, the blackberries are ripening...and because of the delay in planting it looks like we'll be getting vegetables well into November and maybe even December. I'm already dreaming of fresh, local holidays!
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6 comments:
Sounds yummy.
All of it sounds so very yummy. Since I can't cook/bake in the summer, I do a lot of salads and try to have veggie sides as often as we can.
Ever since we joined the CSA I've been trying to eat more locally, and I can't get over the difference in flavor. Of course, the best vegetables come from our OWN garden, but I am beginning to enjoy exploring the farmer's market. Your blog makes my mouth water!
I was just thinking the same thing when poking about for dinner ideas last night... meals lately have been centered on "what needs to be used *now*" even if its not a traditional go-together or what I might have had in mind. But it almost always turns out well. Cucumbers with dill yogurt sounds particularly good, as does the sauteed veg.
CSAs are an adventure I think, never knowing what will come in the share, how much.... enjoy!
Jennifer - Thanks. It was! I often find that the simplest meals are the most enjoyable.
Kat - I like to cook as little as possible in the summer, too. Sandwiches and simple cold salads that I can make ahead and have several nights are the perfect meals!
Sandy - Tasting a homegrown tomato for the first time in several years was my motivating factor to start finding local produce in my area. Once I discovered the farmer's market, I practically stopped shopping at the grocery store from May until December (and definitely stopped circling the produce department). And now that I've joined a CSA, it makes avoiding the grocery store that much easier.
livinginalocalzone - Getting creative with my meals is a huge part of the fun of eating locally! Learning to use what's available rather than running to the store for missing ingredients has been a big lesson for me.
Oh, this makes me hungry! I love fresh local produce..mmmmm!!!!
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