Using the Word “Plan” Loosely (CSA Menu Plan #5)

Selected successes from last week:

As promised, I actually took pictures of some the meals I made last week.  I was really pleased with the way these particular dishes turned out.

Coconut Shrimp with whole roasted summer squash – I wasn’t sure that roasting the squash whole would work, but it did!  And it was so easy!  An instructional post is in the works,so look for that in the next couple weeks.  Also, the coconut shrimp were much, much easier than I expected – even though you sort of had to fry them and I have a major fear of frying – and turned out perfectly.  Who knew you could successfully make coconut shrimp at home?  I’ll be doing that again, for sure.

I also made this Cheddar and Swiss Chard Frittata…there’s a recipe coming soon for this one too.

Now, onto this week.

The pick up:

Kale, lettuce (we remembered this week!), snap peas, tomato (still limited to just one), broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini and Hakurei turnips.  I also picked up tomatoes, corn on the cob and green beans at the Farmer’s Market.

The plan:

kale: sautéed to be served over polenta, possibly used as a pizza topping and probably made into chips

lettuce: taco topping, chef’s salad, lunch salads (clearly, not creative in this category)

tomatoes: one was already used as a taco topping, but most of the others have already just been sliced, salted and eaten alone.  Side note: today in my grad class some of my peers were talking about their dislike of tomatoes and it made me feel very sad.  Tomatoes are the best.

broccoli:  I’m going to try making Smitten Kitchen’s Broccoli Parmesan Fritters.  I’ll let you know how that goes!  If there’s any broccoli left, it might end up on pizza.  I’m only making one pizza this week though, and it probably won’t have kale AND broccoli on it.  So we’ll see.

cucumbers/carrots/snap peas/turnips: some will go into salads, but most of the others will be cut into sticks (if necessary) and used as snacks.

zucchini: roasted?  sautéed? breaded and baked?  It’ll be a side of some sort, I’m just not sure what sort or for what main dish.

So, I feel like this week’s “plan” is more like a collection of ideas than an actual plan.  It’s a place to start, at any rate.  Anyone have any good suggestions?