This is a lot of work! But I have some tricks to help

Farfalle with arugula pesto

I finished up last week's cooking with some pasta and arugula pesto.  I have never really cared for pesto, and now I think it's the basil-pine nut combination.  This arugula-walnut stuff is great.  So creamy, so zesty.  I used a lot of onion and garlic in the dish, which never hurts.  I had some grape tomatoes that never made it to a salad, so those got halved and sautéed, along with some asparagus.  The pasta I had in my pantry was farfalle, from a kasha varnishkes craving (note to self: find something to eat with buckwheat!), and I added a little freshly grated parmesan at the end.  The final product was amazing.

This week's haul

On Friday I went out to the farm to get the first official share of the season. Apparently last week was just a teaser. In my half share, I got: one bunch each of collards, broccoli rabe, Ruscan kale, red Russian kale, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, and arugula, plus 4 radishes, a handful of basil (or dill) & thyme. That is 8 leafy greens to eat in one week. The first trick is to eat the stuff that goes bad first. So Friday's lunch featured arugula topped with beets, goat cheese & walnuts. My neighbor contributed a zucchini soufflé, and soy chorizo we fried up with sliced potatoes. (Huge praise for Trader Joe's soy chorizo! The only thing missing is the grease!)

Blanched kale and roasted peppers

Another trick for using up all this produce is to feed other people.  My old roommate came to visit from New York, and brought some great tips from when she had a CSA.  Unfortunately, she also brought me more produce: a lovely hothouse cucumber, a large bunch of dill (thank goodness I went for basil at the farm!), some scallions, rosemary, and hot peppers.  The dill & cucumber went into my favorite summer dish: cold Lithuanian borscht. I'll post the recipe later when I actually get beets from the farm.  I bought a dozen eggs from my farm (it is a poultry farm, after all), and put them into a frittata, following this recipe from chow.com.  I used the tuscan kale.  

Kale and roasted pepper frittata

While that was cooking, we also made some kale chips.  This is a simple recipe, and a great way to use up those greens:  Heat the oven to 300.  Cut away the thick stems of your kale, and cut the leaves into pieces about the size of a playing card.  Wash, and dry. (The third trick for a CSA is a salad spinner...some people even keep two around the house!) Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and toss with your hands.  Lay the leaves flat on a cookie sheet in a single layer.  Bake for 7-9 minutes, until crispy.  Eat like potato chips!  They'll keep for about a day, if you can stop eating them...

Kale chips going into the oven

Roasted kale chips