We’re feeling strong, having gotten one week of our CSA from Untiedt’s Vegetable Farm under our belts. And week two started well with the promise of peaches, just-picked strawberries (this week’s “low-hanging fruit”; we just ate them out of hand) and one of my favorite items: garlic scapes.

I discovered garlic scapes several years ago, and they became my go-to for pesto. You know how when you leave garlic out too long and little green buds start to poke their heads out of the cloves? They’re the flowering part of the garlic–let them grow long enough and they’ll turn into scapes. To make pesto, cut one of the scapes into pieces and then chop it in a food processor. Add about 2 cups of basil leaves, 1/2 cups of nuts (pine nuts if you have them, otherwise blanched almonds), 2/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese and salt to taste; process until well-chopped. Then slowly drizzle in olive oil through the pour spout, adding enough until of desired consistency. (I like mine well pureed.) To use, toss with pasta, spoon over toasted baguette slices, serve on top of chicken–so many possibilities. I had salmon in the fridge, so I topped each fillet with the pesto and broiled them.

Bibb and romaine lettuce and slicing tomatoes Salads, salads and more salads.

Cauliflower Earlier this year, I made Chicken with Cauliflower and Olives. We absolutely loved the combo of the salty kalamata olives and the sweeter cauliflower, so I just roasted the two of them together, coated in a little olive oil with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, at 400°F. for about 15 minutes. It’s a super simple side dish for almost anything.

Baby red potatoes As with the cauliflower, these got roasted. I cut them up (keeping the skins on) and tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper and some fresh thyme, then baked them at 400°F. for about 20 minutes or until they were tender when pierced with a fork.

Radishes I’m not a huge fan of radishes, but serve them with a little European (higher-fat) butter and coarse sea salt and I’m ok with them.

Peaches These had seen a little bit of wear and tear by the time they arrived at our house, so I decided to turn them into peach sauce. I chopped up the peaches (keeping the skins on) and cooked them over medium-low heat with some brown sugar and butter until they were softened. Then I used my hand blender to roughly puree the mixture into a sauce, which I pretty much ate out of the jar over a few days.

Kohlrabi TBD. These guys are always tough. I need a little more time.

Bok choy We had every intention to turn these into a stir-fry, but with the end of the weekend approaching and our fridge still filled with items, Ian decided to chop it, sauté it in a bit of olive oil along with minced garlic and ginger, as well as salt and pepper. I’m not a huge fan of bok choy, but this worked for me.

With the July 4th holiday falling on Tuesday next week, our CSA delivery is being moved up a day. So the rest of the weekend will be filled with trying to finish off the leftovers to make room for the new veggie residents.