Cucumbers to spare

This is the week of the cucumber. Maybe I will make some refrigerator pickles; however, Bert pointed out that the spices I need to buy are more expensive than a jar of pickles. I also don't know if I have many glass jars to put the pickles in. Maybe I'll throw out the old pickles in the fridge. I probably bought them for the 4th of July last year.

This week's box
2 yellow squash
1 zucchini
1 bunch arugula
1 head of leaf lettuce
1 bunch of beets
1 bunch kale
1/2 pint of blueberries
3 ears of corn
5-6 cucumbers

We made corn the first night. It was so good. We boiled the water, added the corn and took the ears out when the water returned to a boil. The corn was perfect.

We ate summer squash two nights in a row and kale tonight.

I've been taking lettuce/arugula blend to work every day with roasted beets, cucumber, and lentils.

I finished the berries with breakfast.

I have one small zucchini left, some beet greens, and 4 cucumbers.

Kale chips

Tonight I finished the lentils, 1/2 of the beet greens, and the roasted beets. Bert tried to finish the Swiss Chard. He ate the leftover Greens Pizza from last night. Half way through the "slice" he told me that he doesn't think we should do this next year (the CSA) since he doesn't like Swiss Chard... or beets. I tried telling him that he should try something at least 15 times before making a decision, because that's about how many tries it takes to acquire the taste of a new food. He then told me that we have an agreement that he only has to try something 3times before making a decision. I vaguely remember this agreement, but am pretty sure it was strictly about texturized vegetable protein as a meat substitute. (He eats tofu fine).

He did offer to drive me to the Farmer's Market every Saturday to pick up fruits and vegetables instead of getting a box. I told him we won't make any decisions until next year since we never know what next summer is going to look like. For now, we have a commitment until fall.

I guess I'll be eating the vegetables myself, and possibly sharing with my co-worker's if I can't get through the veggies quick enough. I certainly can't eat squash and zucchini every day for an entire summer, which right now is about the only thing he eats consistently from the box (and he will eat kale),

I prepared kale chips tonight. Recipe here: https://stillmansfarm.wordpress.com/2010/06/25/kale-crunch/
Washed the kale, but didn't dry it. Chopped it. I used my Misto spray with canola oil to spray the kale. The bunch formed about 3 layers on the sheet. If I was smart, I would have sprayed each layer separately. I then put in the oven for 10minutes or so, I didn't set a timer. The top was crunchy looking and browning when I took them out to add the Parmesan cheese (front the green shaker). I took them out of the oven after maybe 5mintues.  At this point I decided I should have tossed them around a little during the baking process. Oh well. I tossed them and put them back in a little longer, maybe another 5 minutes, but the oven was off (since I thought I was done), so I just put them in the warm oven a little longer. Finally, I took them out for real. They are so good for snacking!! Great use for extra kale. Not sure I would buy a bunch though just to make chips.

Green Pizza

For lunch I have been eating lettuce with cucumber, lentils, roasted beets, low fat feta cheese and low fat Caesar dressing. It is a very filling and tasty salad, but I still eat a peach and maybe some crackers with it.

Tonight I made the Green Pizza from a previous post. I cut up one small onion and 3 cloves of garlic. I used Swiss Chard. I trimmed the stalks from the leaves and sauteed the stalks with the onion and garlic first. After those were tender, I added the damp leaves and covered. I tossed once. I decided to not use the pie pan this time, too many dishes. I was able to put the pan I used for sauteeing into the oven after spreading pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese on top. While that finished off in the oven I prepared a chicken breast for stir fry.  By the time this was all done it was 7:30p. I probably started around 6:20pm.  Luckily I had a snack of melba toasts and hummus before I started!

I still have so many vegetables left!
1 large zucchini
1 small summer squash
1 large cucumber
1 bag green beans
1 bunch of kale
Enough lettuce and a small cucumber for lunch tomorrow
1/2 bag of beet greens
Leftover roasted beets (maybe 2-3 servings)
Leftover squash from Monday
Leftover pizza from tonight

I think I might try refrigerator pickles with the remaining cucumber. I will probably have to gift the squash and maybe the green beans to Bert's mom before I get a new box on Sunday!