A Week of Farm Share Meals

I am lucky to have a really fantastic farm share provider this year. Farm shares very considerably in the quantity and diversity of their options in each share, and most offer shares in a variety of sizes.

This year, I have the ‘single’ (smallest) share at a farm that consistently provides incredibly diverse selections of food. In the past, I have been a member of farms where you often end up with many, many pounds of a few items each week, and I already have a hard time figuring out what to do with ten weeks of cucumber without having ten *pounds* of cucumber! it is really inspiring this year to always to have so many items to creatively use.

Here is what I received in my farm share last week:

  • 4 medium carrots
  • 1 italian eggplant
  • 1 large head of broccoli
  • 2 peaches
  • bag of fresh oregano
  • 1 head of celery
  • 3 beets
  • 2 large ears of corn
  • 2 zucchini
  • 1 summer squash
  • 1 cucumber
  • 1 bag of green beans
  • 1 bag of serrano chili peppers
  • 1 small box of cherry tomatoes

On the way home from my pick-up location, I came up with the following set of recipes to use up my fresh farm bounty:

I like to think of my fridge as my own personal deli, full of delicious prepared foods. The day I get my share I try to do a lot of cooking so I have items available to munch on during the week. Apart from the farm share veggies, I needed the following items.

  • onions*
  • goat cheese
  • feta
  • tortillas
  • mint
  • dates*
  • raisins*
  • orange juice
  • lemons*
  • capers*
  • canned black olives*
  • anchovies*
  • pasta*
  • pepper jack cheese
  • limes*
  • peanut butter*
  • canned red beans*
  • canned chickpeas*
  • eggs*
  • potatoes*

*pantry items that I always have on hand and replenish occasionally when needed

I picked up the remaining ingredients I needed at whole foods for ~$17, and prepared beet salad with caramelized onions, moroccan carrot salad, three bean salad, tortilla espanola with broccoli, peach mint salsa, and tortilla chips right away. All week, I had delicious choices all ready to go for lunch.

Lunches

The greek salad is quick enough to make in the morning before work. If I had plans in the evening, I had a quick helping of salad with another freshly made veggie side to fill me up or a quick snack if I was planning to have dinner out and about later.

Snacks

  • chips and peach salsa
  • celery

Sides

  • broccoli
  • corn

When I had quests or more time on my hands, it was easy to make up a big batch of quesadillas or pasta alla siciliana and put together some quick appetizers from my pantry.

Dinners

For the $10/week that my farm share works out to plus less than twenty dollars, I had more than enough food to eat delicious, nutritious gourmet concoctions all week and have two dinners with guests.

Each summer, I barely spend any money on food because the farm share is usually more than I can eat in a week as it is and is a great reason to have friends over for dinner instead of eating out. When people hear that I usually only spend $20 dollars a week on food in the summer, they find it pretty hard to believe, but it can be done – and quite easily at that.

If you don’t already have a farm share, I don’t what better argument I can give you. It is insanely cheap and exceptionally healthy. But it must take time to cook all of this delicious food, right? Click through some of the recipes above and you’ll see that time is no issue with these quick and easy recipes. Don’t believe me? Try making this crowd-pleasing five minute curry.


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