What I did with week 1

This is my first week as a member of Country Garden and Farm Market.  My first bag of organic produce contained: pea tendrils, strawberries, lettuce, arugula, fava beans, onions, lemon balm, and thyme.  I was pretty excited about the pea tendrils as I have seen them called for in a lot of Asian recipes but have never had any luck finding them.  Unfortunately, I didn't use them to try any of those recipes as I didn't feel I had enough to cook.  I'm sure they would have cooked way down.  So I used them to make a salad instead.  I made a salad with pea tendrils, strawberries, and cucumber and drizzled it with balsamic vinegar sweetened with a little honey.

I was also excited about the chance to try another fava bean recipe.  After the labor-intensive effort of removing them from their pods and shells, I sauteed them in olive oil with garlic and prosciutto.  I finished them off by glazing them with a little balsamic vinegar and sprinkling on some finely chopped mint.  The fava beans in this batch weren't quite as sweet and tender as the ones from a couple of weeks ago, but they were still very tasty.  I think their season must be about over!

The arugula also got turned into a salad.  This salad was a bit more time consuming.  I tossed the arugula with caramelized red onions, candied walnuts, goat cheese, and croutons and drizzled it with a balsamic vinaigrette.  It was so delicious!

But my favorite was probably the poppy seed strawberry shortcake that I made with the sweet, delicious, organic strawberries!

The thyme will be used to make Haitian food as this is a key ingredient in almost every Haitian dish!  I'm not sure yet what I'll do with the lemon balm, but I've been eyeing a recipe for a chicken and fruit summer salad that calls for lemon balm, so maybe I'll give that a try.  Does anyone else have any suggestions on how to use lemon balm?

Overall, I was pretty happy with my first week of produce.  My only complaint would be the quantity.  A full bag is supposed to feed four people, but except for the strawberry shortcakes, the quantities I received barely made two servings.  Maybe that's because it's early in the season?  I'll have to wait and see what happens as we get further into the summer.

If you would like details on any of the recipes I made, let me know and I'll post or email you with the recipe!