Salads, Pizza, Zucchini, Oh My!

This week has been a total blur since our whole family had the flu last weekend. I didn’t even realize that it was already Thursday until about 11 AM this morning! It’s even more of a challenge to use our CSA box on a week when our spirits have been quite low and lettuce is the last thing we want to eat. I’m going to post three menu items that have been on this weeks roster.

Summer Borscht

I had several beets that needed to be processed and it’s been so hot here so a cold soup fit the bill. Nearly all the ingredients were in our farm box. This soup is as simple as steaming diced beets until tender and letting them cool. Then in a bowl add approx. 2 cups of stock (I used vegetable), 1 cup of the beet juice from the steaming pot, 1 cup of yogurt, 8 oz of sour cream, juice from one lemon, 2 tsp of champagne or white wine vinegar, 1/4 c. sugar, fresh dill and a diced cucumber. Mix it all up and add the cooled beets. It’s really a treat on a cool night and you can’t beat the beautiful color combination of the beets and dill.

Bacon & Egg Salad

The only thing that we were able to stomach over lettuce was bacon and eggs this week. After taking care of Storkbite and her increased fussiness due to the emergence of her first tooth, I have been cutting corners in the kitchen. The abundance of lettuce is really overwhelming on top of everything else so I just made another big salad with bacon, eggs, avocado, paramesan wedges, lettuce, homemade croûtons and a mustard vinagrette. It’s so quick and easy that after a long day this is all I have the patience for. However, it’s not from a box and has no preservatives so it’s just great whole food.

Zucchini Pizza

Our CSA box had an abundance of zucchini for the past three weeks so I’ve gotten creative. I made a delicious zuccarrot cake but my presentation was terrible because it was a humid day. I made lots of puree zucchini baby food for Storkbite and she actually liked it! The last thing I could think of with my harried mind was pizza. This particular pizza was built on pizza dough that I got on my way home at our local pizzeria, then I layered on crumbled feta cheese, zucchini, yellow squash, drizzle of olive oil, onion, salt & pepper, and a sprinkle of parmesan over the top. I baked it at 450 for about 20 minutes until the crust was brown and then arranged fresh basil leaves on the top. It was delicious! The ingredients where as fresh as possible, probably picked yesterday. The best part about this pizza was that it took me ten minutes to put it together and get it in the oven, then I went and put Storkbite to bed and once she was fast asleep the pizza was ready to be enjoyed - in peace and quiet.