Community Supported Agriculture

I look forward to Sundays because I know that I get to pick up my weekly Community Supported Agriculture share from UrbiCulture Community Farms (UCCF). I have been a CSA member of UCCF for three years now.  Community Supported Agriculture consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farming operation where the growers and consumers share the risks and benefits of food production. CSAs usually consist of a system of weekly delivery or pick-up of vegetables and/or fruit, and sometimes includes dairy products and meat.

I receive produce, sometimes fruit, and at various times can purchase eggs, homemade jam and other homemade items through my CSA.  Each week, as I walk to my pick up site, not knowing what yummy vegetables are waiting for me this week to choose from, I feel a bit like I am walking down the stairs on Christmas morning eagerly anticipating what Santa brought for me.  Today, the selection was beautiful...heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, a variety of squashes and zucchinis, purple green beans, carrots, swiss chard, kale, garlic, jalapeno chilis and japanese eggplant.  Immediately, I begin to put recipes together in my head.  After bidding adieu to my good friends Candice and Jon, the inspired leaders of this amazing nonprofit, I go home to begin prepping.  I peel and wash the carrots and cucumbers.  I remembered a recipe that Jon and Candice shared with me today that they tried this week, Cucumber Gazpacho; cucumbers, Greek yogurt, and a chili all blended together.  I decide to recreate that with a bit of a twist.  I used my cucumbers and Japanese eggplant.  I didn't have any Greek yogurt so I decided to use white cannelini beans instead.  I used my food processor for the cucumbers and eggplant first.  Then I put in the beans with the fluid.  Next, the chili pepper, salt, pepper and sage.  It wasn''t bad, but I decided to heat it instead of serving it cold.  I added skim milk to the soup while I heated it.  It still needed something.  I think the jalapeno should have been left out so it needed a fix.  I put more milk in and added fresh basil.  It was ready.

Normally, I know how to add herbs, spices and ingredients to a dish to make it exactly right, but something awry occurred with this soup.  It didn't taste good, not exactly bad either, but not something I would recreate.  It was obvious that the chile and the basil were the wrong choices.  I tried to cover the taste with grated parmesean, but not even parmesean could help this dish.  Lesson for the day, next time stick to the original recipe:)