Participating in Community Supported Agriculture, or CSAs, is a great way to enjoy nature’s copious bounty, while also stating your values support sustainable food production and organic farming.

What’s better for a challenge in the kitchen than a giant box of farm fresh veggies harvested especially for you from the local farm?

It’s my third year participating in a CSA, and the weekly installments have taught me all about pairing fresh ingredients and being creative with my cooking.

Our farmers at Mahwah Environmental Volunteer Organization, or MEVO, delivered beautiful crops all summer long, and this penultimate edition did not disappoint!

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 This is my third year participating in Community Supported Agriculture and it’s be a bountiful season.
 
A post shared by  CookingWithClancey (@cookingwithclancey) on Oct 27, 2020 at 4:38pm PDT
 

Red Russian kale, rainbow Swiss chard, ginormous scallions, carrots, fennel, black turnips, green bell peppers, jalapeño peppers, frying peppers, carrots, and delicata squash was this week’s abundant harvest.

The farm and our region is dealing with some cold rainy weather today, so the crops were harvested in abundance ahead of the our CSA’s final week, Nov. 3 (which is also Election Day).

After unboxing the harvest, I was able to pull my vision into focus.

The big challenge was to use the fresh, largely unwanted ingredients — like carrot tops, turnip greens and fennel fronds, which are so fresh and good when coming directly from the farm.

It actually took some time and effort, but I was left with delicious veggie stock and pesto which have brought to life all the items coming out of my kitchen this week.

Here’s what we cooked:

1) Tahini Quinoa with Carrots and Scallions

2) One Giant Pot of Veggie Stock

3) Fennel Frond Scallion Pesto (Vegan & Nut Free)

4) Delicata Squash Boats with Pesto Quinoa

5) Braised Lentils with Pomogranate

6) Welcome Winter Harvest Pasta