Southside CSA

You probably recognize me as the grouchy lady who is always yelling at her kid on Monday night at The Woods. I’m Alyssa Palombino, and this is my third year with the Southside CSA.

I’m a really terrible grocery shopper. I went to Fairway a few weeks ago, only to return with $40 worth of Belgian candy, some grapefruit soda, and four kinds of cheese. It is fortunate, then, that I can walk up the street every Monday and have my food for the week pre-selected. I pick up veggies, orchard fruit, and berries every week, and one chicken every other week. With a small amount of pantry goods that we always keep on hand, some bread, and all of the cheese I bring home, that feeds three out of four members of our family VERY WELL (the fourth is five months old). This week’s share required some supplemental shopping, but in the summer I can go for weeks without setting foot in a grocery store (it helps that we don’t eat much meat). Since the food is coming straight from the farm, it lasts longer than conventional grocery store produce, and anything not used one week is still fresh the next. Except for a few dozen jars of jam, I don’t do any canning, and everything gets eaten.

While I love to cook, I don’t have a lot of time to do it. Since the baby screams every time I set him down, I also usually have only one free hand. That means that most of our dishes are either prepared in lightning speed while the baby naps, with the baby in his Ergo, or by my five year-old (I man the knives and the oven, of course). Everything that can be roasted usually is, and served with simple seasonings. If I find myself with some extra time (ha!) or I’m stumped by an ingredient, Epicurious is my go-to recipe resource.

Our must-have pantry items include: olive oil, garlic, shallots, lemons, salt, pepper, Old Bay, red pepper flakes, dry pasta, brown rice, capers, olives, grating cheese, dried or canned beans, canned tomatoes, and a million billion types of vinegar.

This week’s share offered: potatoes, salad greens, lemongrass, onions, zucchini, tomatillos, cilantro, a pumpkin, jalapenos, apples, and pears.

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