What’s for dinner? Local food makes it fun

What’s for dinner?  I get asked that a lot.  Usually right after breakfast by my very busy teenage swimmers.  During the school year, the question coincides with them heading out the door to the bus stop.  In the summer I sometimes get until lunch before the question pops up.  Coming up with a menu the kids want to eat, and I want to feed them, can be a challenge.  Our definitions of what a “great” dinner is are not always the same.  Summer also brings with it the added challenge of heat.  A/C or not, when it’s hot outside the last thing I want to do is fire up the oven or stove for any length of time.

Enjoy in season dinners

While the summer brings challenges, it also brings solutions.  Fresh, in season veggies and fruit do not need much cooking to be enjoyed.  Hello salads, with or without lettuce!  Almost everything tastes great grilled.  Be it protein or vegetable matter.  Buying locally grown food also takes some of the guess work out of shopping.  The season, weather and the farmer dictate what is available to be enjoyed.  In my case, our CSA share takes the guess work out of “what should we eat today”.  The farmer hands me my share of deliciously fresh vegetable goodies, I just need to turn them into meals (and snacks). 

My CSA share takes some out the guess work out of what to eat.  It can also be overwhelming when the harvest is good.  When I first purchased a CSA, there were times where it felt overwhelming trying to figure out how to use up all the goodies before the next batch arrived.  There was the anxiety of dealing with vegetables I never heard of, let alone cooked before.  Despite that, I was determined to have fun and not let anything go to waste.  That first year I mostly succeeded.  The secret to getting the most out of the local harvest?  Thinking of it like an adventure.  A delicious adventure.

Getting the most out of in-season bounty

First, it was important to have a plan, a menu that could guide our eating (and prep) for the week.  The menu helped me see early on when the weekly bounty was going to be more than we could eat that week.  Next, a plan for what to do with the extra helped a lot.  We shared some things with friends and family.  It was great to see the delight on my mother-in-law’s face when we brought her a bag of peppers that remined her of her childhood.  Some things I prepped and froze to be enjoyed in the off season.  I learned a lot about preserving the harvest, but much remains to be learned. Lastly, a plan for what had to be consumed by when.  Knowing how long certain vegetables last, and how well they keep, can help save a ton of waste.  We ate the delicate stuff first, then worked on the rest. 

The biggest secret though was being open to culinary adventures.  The “new to us” items in our share inspired me to find new recipes.  They also helped all of us step away from asking “what is that” and instead just try it.  Most of these new adventures were a hit.  The misses still tasted good, just did not make it to the repeat pile.

Early season bounty
Early season farm bounty

Maximize dinner enjoyment

That first summer we learned just how limited our “eat at home” diet really was before we became CSA members.  We always ate plenty of vegetables, and fruit is a staple, but we ate the same things over and over.  The result was a regular litany of “Again?!” after getting an answer for “What’s for dinner?”.  After we embarked on our farm-based eating adventure (in our case a CSA membership), “again” was replaced with “sounds interesting” more often than not.  With a farm curated selection of veggies (what grew), in an ever-changing weekly variety, it was easier to make each dinner new and different without thinking too much about it.

During the season we discovered new favorite recipes and ways to preserve fresh produce.  I prepped and froze a good amount of Bok choy, peppers, Swiss chard and tomatoes not to mention celery leaves and basil.  I also cooked things in batches and froze those too.  It did not add significantly to what I was already doing but it helped extend our season of eating local well into the winter.   We finished off the last of the frozen goodies a few months ago.  Using up the last of the frozen Swiss chard and peppers was bittersweet.  We could not wait for the first CSA pickup of the season, and the explosion of taste that comes with it. 

Dinner from the farm

Now as the growing season in CT is underway, we are once again enjoying the variety of veggies our farmer provides.  Yes, we can get much of the same stuff from the store but the taste does not compare.  More importantly, using up my basket of farm goodies always feels like a culinary adventure, the same cannot be said for shopping at a store.

If you are like me and the thought of once again coming up with the answer to “what’s for dinner” makes you want to hide, consider getting a CSA share or visiting a farm stand.  Letting the local farm bounty decide what ingredients go on the table can turn dinner into a culinary adventure.  And when “what’s for dinner” gets thrown your way you can confidently answer “what the farmer grew”.

The start of many delicious dinners straight from the CSA farm
Organic produce from my CSA share

Join the fun, eat healthy and delicious local food!

Want to have some fun while you enjoy locally grown food?  Join me for a Scavenger Hunt and Challenge and win prizes.  Find out more at https://manageablepieces.com/summer-2021-eating-local-scavenger-hunt/ .

Eating healthy and delicious food can be fun and affordable. Exploring seasonal offerings helps with exploring new foods and your local environment. Knowing where your food comes from and just how delicious it can be, when picked at its peak of freshness, can be life changing. Everyone can have fun learning more about where our food comes from. Eating local is just one way to live a healthy life. My programs help you discover many other ways. Check out the currently available programs and deals on the Programs and Services tab. You can also preview course content and register on my online school dashboard

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