Weekend 1 of Farm Tours is complete, and I’ll be spending the week preparing for Weekend 2. The early morning alarms are a bit more difficult this week, but it’s the time of year we just keep going. I won’t lie though, I was in bed by 7pm last night and it was absolutely glorious. I’m hoping a 7pm bedtime is in order for tonight as well. We shall see….

 

The shares this week are full of items that should be pretty easy to incorporate into your weekly menus. With only tonight and tomorrow night at my house this week due to farm tours, I will spend a bit of time this evening and tomorrow afternoon doing some meal prep with the items from this week’s share so I can bring some food with me as I head back to the farm on Thursday.

 

Let’s dive in and figure out what to do with the share this week:

 

Sweet Corn: Perfect for your classic summertime dinner, burgers and sweet corn. Whether you grill it or boil it, enjoy the first of the season. I also like to cut the corn off the cob and sauté it with some onions, peppers, and zucchini for a great side dish alongside some chicken or fish.

 

Tomatoes: BLTs are definitely in order this week as well as a tomato and cheese sandwich. Tomato and cheese sandwich you may say? Yes, it was a staple growing up on the farm in the summer. We didn’t always have time to cook the bacon at lunch so we substituted cheese. To this day, it’s one of my favorite things about summer. Never ever would I consider making a tomato and cheese sandwich with grocery store tomatoes in the winter, it just wouldn’t taste right.

 

English Peas: While they take a bit of time to shell, enjoy the process. Grab an evening cocktail, a bowl and take a seat outside and start shelling. Simply steam the peas and enjoy with a little butter and salt. It takes A LOT of peas to yield a large bowl, so with this amount I will likely add the steamed peas to some steamed cauliflower for an extra dose of vegetables at lunch or dinner this week.

 

Lettuce: A salad or two will definitely be in store with the lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers found in this week’s share. Lettuce wraps also sound good and would be perfect for taking back to work for the second half of the week. We will see how ambitious I feel when I get home this afternoon.

 

Zucchini: Diced and sauteed with onions, corn, and maybe a pepper or two I find in my refrigerator. Speaking of my fridge….I haven’t been home in almost a week so who knows what is even inside it. Whoops! Anyways, zucchini is always great for a quick weeknight stir fry. You can add anything you have on hand and it always tastes good. If you’re feeling adventurous, this Chocolate Zucchini Cake is another great way to use your zucchini. I’m not a fan of chocolate cake, but baking is often times a stress reliever for me, so my coworkers benefit. Many have requested it again…maybe not this week, but I’ll definitely make it for them again soon.

 

Cauliflower: Steamed, grilled, roasted, boiled….you can’t go wrong any way. I’ll probably keep it simple. Chop, toss in olive oil, and roast it with a bit of salt and pepper. Quick and easy, ill add the steamed peas and call it a day. The buffalo cauliflower recipe included in the weekly newsletter is also a great option if you have just a bit more time than me this week.

 

Onions: Diced and added to the zucchini and sweet corn, I’ll have a quick and easy stir fry. If you find yourself with too many onions, remember you can always chop them up, toss them in a freezer bag, and put them in the freezer for use in soups or stews this fall or winter.

 

Chub Cukes: Wash, cut, and place in a Tupperware container. I like to prep these as soon as I get my box home because then they are ready to go whenever I want a quick and easy snack. Or, if I decide I want them on a salad, they are ready to go as well. If it’s quick and easy, I’m way more likely to eat it.

 

Beets: This is probably what I’m most excited for this week. I’ll roast these as soon as I get home today. I like to wrap each beet with tinfoil and a tiny bit of olive oil. I roast that at about 400 for 30-60 minutes, depending on the size of the beets. When they feel soft, I remove them from the oven and let them cool in the foil. Once cool, sometimes the next morning, I unwrap them and the skin peels off so easily. Roasted beets on top of a salad or with goat cheese is easily one of my favorite things.

 

Sugar Snap Peas: Another thing that I will wash as soon as I get home and put in a container that I can easily grab from. Snacks, on top of salads, or on the go lunch is how these will be enjoyed this week.

 

There you have it! A few ideas on what to do with your shares this week. Nothing fancy will be taking place at my house this week due to time constraints, but food doesn’t have to be fancy to be delicious. Actually, I find it much easier to use all my produce on a weekly basis if I keep things simple. Alrighty, I better get back to my to-do list…..it’s amazing what can get done from 3-6am when there are very few interruptions in the office. My favorite time of day 🙂

 

Cheers,

Jenna