Friday, July 31, 2009

Summer Squash in Coconut Milk, plus, the risk side of the CSA

I didn't take a picture last night, but here's YASSR (Yet Another Summer Squash Recipe...with all the squash, can we ever have too many recipes??) I found this recipe written on the board at the CSA pick up this week, and decided to try it when I got home. Quick, easy, yummy!

Ingredients:

3 or 4 medium sized summer squash (any varieties)
8 or so leaves of fresh Thai (purple) basil
A few sprigs of fresh parsley
A small handful of fresh cilantro
About half a can of coconut milk
Pinch of salt

Directions:

Cut the squash into bite-sized pieces.

Chop up all the herbs. Chiffonade, anyone? I just jammed all the other herbs inside the basil, rolled it up, and chopped!

Add the squash and herbs to a frying pan, and pour enough coconut milk to cover the bottom of the pan completely.

Cook over medium heat until done to your liking. Season with a little salt.

Quite tasty, easy, and a little different from the normal ways I prepare squash!

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And on the flip side, I wanted to talk for a minute or two about the inherent risk of a CSA. Part of what I like about a CSA is that it's a *SHARE* of a harvest. If there's a good harvest, presumably you'll get a good share size. But if it's a bad harvest, well, you might not get such a big share.

This year, our CSA is taking a huge hit: tomatoes. We probably won't get any. They were hit by late blight. It's not just our CSA, it's throughout the northeast, so I'm guessing many of you reading are in the same situation, with tomatoes and/or potatoes affected.

I won't lie...it's a disappointment. But I'm glad I belong to a CSA, where the loss of a huge crop like tomatoes means just that: disappointment. Presumably not something that leads to the demise of a farm.

Our latest CSA newsletter had a great article about losing the tomatoes. Tammy at Food on the Food has reprinted it on her blog. Worth a read (not to mention sticking around and peeking at the rest of her blog...it's wonderful, and the first blog I started reading way back when I first got interested in eating locally.)

5 comments:

  1. ya, I also read that on her blog today. So sad. We have been getting hot house tomatoes from our farm. Not sure how/if they have been hit so I'm just glad that we have had any, even if this was the last week.

    Just got a bunch of coconut milk so I just might try this recipe soon!!

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  2. We have been getting potatoes steadily for the last few weeks, so our farm has not been hit in that regard. Word has it that tomatoes will start to arrive next week-fingers crossed. We'll see. I am growing two pathetic tomato plants in my back yard next to the asparagus gone to seed. I can share tomatoes if I start getting enough. That and fresh corn are my favorite things about summer harvest!

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  3. What a Card- that was EP posting as anon. I can't figure out how to post otherwise and don't have time to sort it out right now.

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  4. Okay, our CSA just announced that all MA CSA tomato crops have been hit with the blight. Our primarily organic farm, after much consultation with various resources, made the decision to spray after trying alternatives. Her big concern is that blight gets into the soil and affects future crops for years. We'll see what happens.

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  5. Not quite true....as of Saturday, our CSA was "blight free", though they are on pins and needles and watching those plants like hawks. If they find evidence of infection in a couple of isolated plants, their plan is to pull them, bag them and put them in the dumpster. If blight settles in, they will have no choice but to sacrifice the plants in an effort to keep it from spreading to nearby farms.

    I did notice that the tomatoes on one of our local farms (where I pick up the occaisional supplement from their stand) had been stricken. I'm not sure why they haven't destroyed the plants yet.

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