CSA week 1: Spring veg!

Ask my husband if I'm excited about my new CSA share and he will probably roll his eyes. I might talk about it a little too often. Fine, I'm a nerd. But he will have to admit he likes the yummy stuff he gets. I signed up with a local farm in Cranford, NJ. Dreyer Farms is about 15 minutes from where I live so I decided to give it a shot. I got an email about the contents of my first box last weekend: pastured eggs, asparagus, broccoli rabe, shiitakes, local goat cheese, pizza dough, scallions, beets. YUM! So many possibilities.

I've made the eggs for breakfast a couple times this week. I sliced and sauteed a couple of the shiitakes added a bit of chopped scallion greens and then added the egg. These eggs are seriously good - from a farm in Princeton NJ. For dinner last night, I made grilled whole branzino and grilled the asparagus with a drizzle of olive oil and some garlic and sea salt. To go with it, I made this roasted beet salad with some of the local goat cheese. The beets are gorgeous and super sweet and the goat cheese is some of the creamiest I've ever tried. (This dinner took about 10 minutes to prep - roast the beets the night before.)
I can't wait for the next 26 weeks of delightful fruits, veggies and treats. No doubt the choices will make many appearances in my post. Tonight we're using the pizza dough and broccoli rabe on a grilled white pizza. If it's a hit, I'll share next week. Til then, enjoy the weekend!

(And for the locals, I think Dreyer Farms still has openings in their CSA if you're interested - Check it out at the link above.)

Roasted beet and goat cheese salad

Ingredients

• 2 medium beets, scrubbed
• 2 cups mixed greens
• 2 oz. fresh goat cheese
• 1 scallion, green part only, thinly sliced
• 3 tsp. Extra Virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
• salt and pepper, to taste

Cooking Directions

1. To roast the beets, preheat oven to 400F. Place each beet on a square of aluminum foil and drizzle each with 1 tsp. olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Wrap in foil. Roast for 30 minutes, then test for doneness with a sharp knife. The knife should slide in easily. If still hard, roast for a few more minutes until done.
2. Allow the beets to cool then use your hands to rub off the outer skin. At this point you can refrigerate and store the beets for a day or so.
3. When ready to serve, divide the salad greens among two plates. Sprinkle the scallions over and the top with the goat cheese. Halve the beets and add them to the plate. Drizzle with remaining olive oil and a little balsamic or lemon juice (I used Mission fig balsamic). Add salt and pepper to taste.