Welcome back readers!  Sorry Serving Suggestions had a brief hiatus this Summer but we are back with some great recipes for you today.

Shana has been pairing her Wrong Direction Farm orders with her CSA veggies:

I’ve been having a lot of fun cooking ground pork (or sausage) from Wrong Direction Farm with onions, cabbage and peppers from our share for a comforting meal that makes great leftovers. The cabbage cooks down a lot, is low- calorie and adds a nice crunch to the meal to oppose the soft ground pork. I even toss in tomatoes sometimes for more acid.

For hotter days (not to be found this summer!) I love a crunchy cabbage salad, but sometimes feel unsatisfied with a typical vinegar dressing. This recipe uses a yummy Thai peanut dressing that nicely compliments the cabbage!

Need a new salad recipe?  Try this one for a Mexican Green Salad with Jalapeno Cilantro Dressing.

Speaking of jalapenos, Bob has been making use of some from the CSA “extras” box as well as a prolific pepper plant on his front porch.  The number of peppers was a bit overwhelming so he decided to try something new:

I have purchased jars of pepper jelly in the past and found it to be a versatile condiment.  It’s good with some cream cheese and crackers as an easy appetizer (and was a hit at a recent family party).  Or for an easy one pot meal, brown some boneless cubed chicken breast, add in some sliced bell pepper near the end, add in a hefty tablespoon of pepper jelly and a heavy squeeze of dijon, stir to combine and let heat through, serve over leftover rice or with a salad.  The recipes I found for pepper jelly varied widely but this one seemed to be the easiest.

Since it’s a cool and rainy Summer night, you might also want to try a soup, here’s a suggestion from Bob:

Whenever I get leeks in my CSA share, I like to cut, clean and freeze them right away.  I slice them in half, keeping the root end on so it’s easier to handle, and cut them into inch wide semi-circles.  Then, I rinse and soak them repeatedly, at least three different changes of the soaking water, and then dry in my salad spinner.  I bag the cut leeks and put in the freezer so I have a quick base for my favorite Potato and Leek Soup. Bonus points if you use CSA potatoes too!

If you’re looking for an interesting way to use your corn, Shana has two ideas:

I’ve been making salad with raw corn since I first started doing CSA’s many years ago. Fresh, organic corn is sweet and has a delicate texture and adds something special to salads. I tossed it this week with kale, tomatoes, peppers and carrots.

I also did a “grill pie” with the corn which came out beautifully. I love using a bechamel garlic sauce on a pizza- it’s different and lighter in flavor so the csa veggies get to shine. Grilled dough has a certain crispness that I don’t find with oven cooked pizza. This weeks’ pie included grilled eggplant, peppers, corn, Wrong Direction’s fuet, and mushrooms- it was yummy!

Serving Suggestions is a recurring article that will be posted weekly during the CSA season featuring photos, tips and recipes.  Content is provided by Jessica, Shana and Bob.  If you would like to submit your own photos or recipes, please email Bob at robertfcowper@gmail.com.  To read through previous Serving Suggestions articles, click here for an archive.  You can also use the handy search feature at the top of the right hand menu bar to search for the name of a particular ingredient you need help using.