To view Farmer John’s latest update, click here.

This week’s share will include:

• Veggies: lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, salad turnips or kohlrabi, summer squash, choice of escarole or endive, elephant garlic, and choice of an herb (cilantro, dill, thyme, and sweet marjoram).
• Add-on shares:
  • Mushrooms: oyster mushrooms
  • Fruit: not yet
  • Flowers: not yet

For those with half shares, this is “B” week.

Serving Suggestions:

• When we get early season shell peas, my favorite way to eat them is raw. There’s no taste and texture more evocative of the CSA in my opinion.
  • Perhaps my favorite way to eat these early season peas is topping a ricotta smeared crostini. A great spring lunch!
  • I’ve made a springtime ramp risotto in the past which would benefit from the texture of fresh peas on top. If you don’t have the time, don’t worry there’s plenty of quick risotto recipes out there that get the job done. The biggest tip is to use the right rice (arborio) to have enough starch. This recipe for an Easy Garlic Parmesan Risotto sounds good.
  • Serious Eats offers a list of 13 recipes for using peas, most of them cooked but I think many would be even better adding the peas in at the last second to maintain their fresh pop. The preserved lemon-olive salad caught my eye at the top of the list because I know I have both of those ingredients in the fridge right now. The charred peas with buttermilk ranch style dressing also sounds interesting since I typically go with a vinaigrette rather than a creamy dressing.