Hi friends! I seriously cannot believe that it’s almost freaking July. Are you kidding me?!?!? I mean once 4th of July happens summers zooms by and it’s the dead of winter before you know it. I need to soak up what’s left of summer!

I am going on vacation in a little under 2 weeks! Can.NOT.wait. We’ll be going to Beaver Island, Michigan. It’s heaven on earth. We have been going since I was a little kid (a few years off here and there) but I can’t wait to carry on the tradition when I have kids of my own. While it’s not every one’s cup of tea, I love it. It’s secluded and there not much to “do” but there’s so much to do! If you know what I mean. I’m so excited to go! But back to the reason for this post!

So, this week (really last weeks) CSA box, could be summed up in one word: LETTUCE! Holy moly- lots of lettuce. But I loved it because I could eat salad for the rest of my life and be a happy camper 🙂

Here is what we got in the box this time:

– 1 bag salad mix
– 1 lb Asparagus
– 1 bunch Dill
– 1 bunch Cilantro
– 1 bunch Green Garlic
– 1 bunch mini Bulb Onions
– 1 head Red Romaine Lettuce
– 1 bunch Rainbow Chard
– 1 bunch Spinach
– 1 head green Leaf Lettuce

Bananas not included 🙂

So as you can tell- a sh*t ton of lettuce!!! I knew I couldn’t juuuust eat salad with it.

HERE IS WHAT I DID WITH THE GOODIES: 

Salad mix- nothing too creative here. Just really yummy tasty salads
Asparagus- Used it to make this delicious zucchini pasta dish (See below!)
Dill- I put some in a salad one night (very good) and then I made a really yummy dill and lemon baked tilapia very low fat and fresh and delicious! I just prepped the fish, sprinkled garlic powder, chopped dill, and one of the mini bulb onions from the box, on top and baked in a 375 oven for about 1o minutes.
Cilantro- This is one of the those things you either love or you hate. Personally I love it. There wasn’t a ton of this so I made a black bean/corn salsa. Similar to this previous post of mine!
Green Garlic-Now that I know what this stuff is, I’m obsessed! This week you could definitely see that this is a baby garlic plant. The bottom totally looks like a mini baby head of garlic. So interesting! I used some of this in the zucchini pasta dish (see below) and then I also used it in an omelet.
Mini Bulb Onions- Truth time: besides the one I used on my fish dish mentioned above, I ate these raw. I love onions and have since I was born, they tasted soooo good. Not inventive I know, but I’m being honest 🙂
Red Romaine Lettuce- This was such a beautiful color. And it was delicious mixed into some of the salads we had!
Rainbow Chard- I sauteed this up with some shaved brussel sprouts and fresh lemon juice. Along with a sprinkling of balsamic vinegar at the end. I thought it was delicious, though I’ll admit, a little off the wall.
Spinach- Primarily I used this in my morning smoothies. I also put some of it in a salad. I was a little surprised by this because it looks nothing like the spinach you buy in stores. I’m guessing it has something to do with the fact that usually the spinach in stores is baby spinach but had they not provided a list of what I got, I’d have no idea what it was.
Leaf Lettuce- BLT’s. I used my lettuce as the bread and didn’t use mayo ( I hateeee mayonnaise) It was amazing and tasted like summer in my mouth!

That’s pretty much it! With the  first box we got I was very confident that we would have been fine getting an every week share but after this box, I’m not sure I could have eaten that much lettuce in just one week! I’m pretty content with my EOW share. Here is the recipe for the super healthy zucchini pasta with dairy free pesto!

This week’s CSA Recipes:

Zucchini Pasta with Creamy (Dairy Free) Pesto:

For the Pesto:

2 avocados, skin and pit removed
2 cloves of garlic
3/4 cup of fresh basil leaves
Juice of 1  lemon
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/3 cup of Olive Oil

– Add the avocados, garlic, basil, and lemon juice to a food processor and blend well.
– While the food processor is on slowly add in the olive oil until emulsified (fully incorporated so where the oil won’t separate after sitting).
– Set aside.
*you could also add any nuts to this, pine nuts, walnuts etc… I didn’t because I didn’t have any. 

For the “pasta” part:

1 small onion, diced
2 stalks green garlic (could some more onion), roughly chopped
1/2 pound fresh asparagus, cut on the bias into 2 inch pieces
1 cup organic corn kernels
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
3 zucchini (depending on size), use a vegetable peeler to slice thin ribbons of the zucchini, do this until you hit the seedy center.
Olive oil (or any oil of your choice)

Instructions:

– In a large saute pan(or just a pan with tall sides) heat about a tablespoon of your oil until hot and add in your onions and green garlic. Cook until softened (about 5 minutes).
– Add the asparagus and stir to combine.
– Add the zucchini ribbons and stir to combine, then top your pan with the lid and let it steam for about 5 minutes until the zucchini is softened and reduced in size.
– Toss in the corn and tomatoes and heat through.
– Add in about 1/2-1 cup of the pesto and stir until everything is coated. You can use as much or as little of the pesto as you want.
– ENJOY!

I loved this dish. Jake didn’t care for it. He said it tasted “green”….. no idea what that means but as a veggie lover I can assure you it tastes great! I’m currently doing a detox type of program where I’m eating gluten, dairy, and soy free so this dish was great. I was lovvvving the dairy free pesto. SO GOOD!

Whew! Another week down and I’m definitely loving the abundance of fresh veggies around the house. Thanks for stopping by! Hopefully you were inspired or learned something 🙂

xoxo

Check out week one here!