Adventures in a CSA box

In our CSA box last Thursday, we received:
Huge bag kale
Big bag lettuce
Bunch of apples
Bag of parsley
Two acorn squash
Dozen small potatoes
Three zucchini
Three tomatoes
Bunch of green onions

The apples, lettuce, and potatoes were no big deal, we eat them all the time. We used the green onions and tomatoes (and three peppers from the previous box) in a stirfry, so that was easy. Acorn squash is a bit more of a challenge; last time we did the roasting with butter and brown sugar thing which was just okay, and I've also made savory muffins with them, but this time I decided I wanted to try the sweet route. So I roasted the squash, pureed the insides, and ended up with two cups - enough for two recipes, basically. I tried http://www.manifestvegan.com/2010/10/chocolate-acorn-squash-baked-custard/ which was not a huge success - flavor was so-so, it never set (although who am I to decry pudding), and it was too squash-flavored for Peter. At the same time, I made http://peasant-palate.blogspot.com/2011/10/acorn-squash-bread_09.html with half brown sugar, half regular sugar, and an extra tbsp molasses for good measure, and that turned out quite well. So well, in fact, that there was a hole in the middle of the cake before it finished cooling. This is due partly because I was frustrated that it didn't seem to be cooking all the way (it was, but the sugar on top was melting and making it look undone), but it was continued long after there was a reason to dig. Hooray, a squash success! Even if it does involve sugar and eggs. =)

That leaves the kale, zucchini, and parsley. After a bit of waffling, I followed http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/zucchini_and_spinach_gratin/ except for a few things: we didn't have bacon, so just used bacon fat for the onions; instead of the spinach, so we blanched the kale for about three minutes and then squeezed and chopped it; we used 1/2 cup of cheese in the filling itself, mostly feta with a bit of parm thrown in, and then more parm on top. Also I think we threw in a significant amount of pepper and adobo seasoning. But the cheese and spices (and eggs!) yielded an excellent way to eat kale and zucchini! I was really quite pleased with myself, being 2/3 on experimental recipes. We do have one small zucchini left, but I can always roast it and throw it on something if I don't get around to being creative with it.

Finally, we had a ton of parsley left so I decided to make some parsley pesto. The Internet had about a billion different recipes for that, though, so I took a sampling of ten and did a kind of average over the proportions. The result is below, and it turned out way better than I had expected. For one, the huge bunch of parsley (I made a double batch) reduced down to barely a half cup, which is much less daunting. Also it was really good, not as bitter as I'd expected from so much parsley. My plan is to mix it up with some spaghetti, butter, and chicken pieces. Fancy!

1/4 cup almonds (I had raw, slivered)
1 clove garlic
1 cup parsley
1/2 tsp of lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup parmesan, to taste
optional good ideas that I didn't use: bread crumbs, onions

In the food processor, grind almonds nicely. Add garlic, parsley, and a jot of lemon juice and blend. Add olive oil to desired texture, then salt and pepper to taste. Add some parmesan, bread crumbs, or onions if you want them.

Overall, our solution to having all this good veg in the house is probably not the healthiest, but it's better than getting bored with the greens on your plate each night (which is what we tend to do without the box). Plus figuring out how to use some of the weirder stuff is fun! Peter always threatens to trash any nontraditional vegetable, so in the name of not wasting food, it is my responsibility to prove something edible can come out of things he or I don't usually like. It has turned out pretty well so far!