CSA farm subscription - week thirteen

I don't know about you, but I'm not nearly done with my Week 12 share yet and another box of vegetables is the last thing I need. On the other hand, this week's share, at least mine, was full of the largest, freshest vegetables yet. I've got to bump this stuff up to the top of the queue and figure out what to do with them quick because they're too large to fit into the storage bags I've got and they're going to go down hill quickly.

I've figured out a workable recipe for caesar salad soup and have picked up some bread appropriate for making croutons (and also suitable for cucumber sandwiches ((paper-thin cucumber with cream cheese on thin-sliced crustless country white bread)) which I've been enjoying more than I expected to. I do feel bad that I'm not making watercress sandwiches, scones and the rest of high tea too, but I think I'll have to get over that.) so you should expect that in the next few days. That will use the romaine from two weeks ago which just leaves me with two heads left. Sheesh.

For the daikon, the honey-preserved recipe in the newsletter is very interesting so I may use one there. The other (I picked a second one out of the extras bin) I think I'll use with fish and miso in something traditionally Japanese. No need to be fancy or innovative when there's a whole cuisine that considers daikon a basic ingredient. The greens I'll probably have with pasta; I haven't done that for a bit.

For the radish, I've realized recently that I should be eating more offal while I'm in Miami and have access to good quality. I'm thinking of radishes braised with sweetbreads in a red wine reduction. I don't see any recipes like that on-line, but I think it will work.

The basil I have no great plans for. None of the other vegetables in the share call out for Italian preparations. I wonder if I can freeze it.

The collards, I may use in a caldo verde (I know that usually calls for kale, but that's I understand that that's just substituting for black cabbage which you can't get outside of the Iberian peninsula so why not collards?) or just make up a mess of greens. The collards from my share are thicker, tougher and firmer than any I've seen before; that makes me think that a long braise instead of just tossing them into soup is the best approach. A mess of greens or some variation it is then.

And the star apple, I'll just eat.