Introductory Mod Post

[daedala]

Community Supported Agriculture is a great idea! You give a local farmer money, and they give you part of their yield. You get fresh, seasonal, delicious vegetables. The farmer gets to farm. It is a win/win! Most, but not all, of CSA farms are organic (or organic-but-not-certified). They're all small farms. It's a way for small farms to survive.

I like doing the CSA thing, but it's hard to eat a share by oneself. Every year I promise I will, but every year I fail and poor wee tasty vegetables are wasted. I started this community so that people could support each other in the quest to eat their vegetables!

A little friendly competition on polishing off shares is good. Arguments on food politics, however, will be squashed by the mod, because this community is not for that. This is a community for recipes, strategies for managing the vegetable invasion, creative ways to reuse leftovers, the trials of randomness (my CSAs never provide enough beets!), and above all tasty food.

I haven't figured out a tag scheme yet. Most shares haven't started (in the USA) yet, so I have some time.... If you have suggestions, I'd be grateful. Also, more silly interests are always good.

This community is called Iron Chef CSA after the Iron Chef TV show. I don't watch much TV, so I've maybe seen three episodes. I point this out so that readers will understand that I really have no idea what I am talking about. But being forced to make something with an ingredient is in there somewhere. :)

About me: I'm a lousy community moderator, but I'm a pretty good cook. I like kitchen gadgets. I anthropomorphize my food. I am single and live alone and (because my partner-in-vegetables cancelled) ended up with an entire CSA share by myself.

Addictive Broiled Asparagus

[daedala]

Here is a preview recipe!

These are like popcorn or potato chips. You can't eat just one. Mathgeekboy and I stood over the stove, burning our fingers, eating them fresh out of the pan:

1. Preheat broiler to 500F. Set top rack about 4" from heating element.
2. Break off woody ends of asparagi. Toss with olive oil, salt, and lots of pepper in a roasting pan.
3. Broil for 4 minutes. Shake the pan. Broil for 4 more minutes.
4. Let cool enough so that you don't burn yourself.

The tops get fried-crunchy and the bodies are tender-crisp and delicious. You can add spices (on the second batch, we tried rosemary and thyme, and it was good) or I bet sesame seeds would be nummy. Something other than olive oil would be good (just keep in mind smoke points; butter may or may not burn). The hardest part is the "waiting for them to cool enough" part.

Recipe from The Best Recipe cookbook by Cook's Illustrated.

I am not sure what the makeup of this community will end up being, so if you need more cooking details or explanations, I am happy to provide them.