By Kelli Swensen, Dietetics Student, Sargent College

It’s now officially November and the end of the CSA season. Here at Sargent Choice, we’d like to thank Ward’s Berry Farm, and Carver Hill Orchard, for providing beautiful and delicious fresh produce for the past 21 weeks. One of the great things about the CSA box aside from supporting a local farm was discovering new kinds of foods and new ways to use familiar produce.

Here’s a quick recap of all the recipes we featured that incorporated CSA ingredients:

• Butternut Squash Soup
• Corn and Edamame-Sesame Salad
• Corn Salad
• Eggplant Parmesan
• Farro and Roasted Red Kuri Squash
• Grilled Peaches
• Hubbard and Red Kuri Squash Pie
• Penne with Roasted Tomatoes and Corn
• Quick Cuke Pickles
• Roasted Acorn Squash with Cider Drizzle
• Roasted Vegetables
• Smoked Pineapple and Tomatillo Salsa
• Southwestern Potato Salad
• Stuffed Peppers
• Stuffed Turban Squash
• Summer Tomato, Zucchini, and Red Onion Salad
• Turkey and Squash Soup
• Watermelon, Feta, & Arugula Salad with Balsamic Glaze

I hope you had a chance to make some of these! We’d love to hear if you came up with any original recipes using CSA box ingredients! If you did, be sure to leave a comment at the end of this post!

So what’s in the FINAL CSA box?

2 Hubba Hubba Squash, 1 bunch Carrots, 4 ears Popcorn, ½ head Cabbage, 2lbs Potatoes, 1.5 lbs Beets, 6 Apples (Carver Hill Orchard)

Looking at this list I was immediately drawn to the Hubba Hubba Squash. After doing some researching, I discovered that it is just another name for Red Kuri Squash, which we featured in a past CSA post.

For the last CSA-inspired recipe, I wanted to give you something different from all the others: a breakfast dish. With chilly weather here to stay, nothing is more comforting than a bowl of hot oatmeal to get your day running. Oatmeal is a great breakfast option because it is both cheep and filling. Depending on the types of oats you buy, it can be prepared anywhere from overnight to one minute. This recipe takes a little longer because it’s baked, but if you are short on time you can make it the night before then heat it up in the microwave in the morning. Another great thing about this recipe? It uses up some of those apples you have sitting around your kitchen and tastes like apple pie. Enjoy!

Picture Credit to Naturally Ella

Baked Apple Pie Oatmeal
Original recipe here

Serves 2
Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats
1 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup non-fat milk (or a non-dairy alternative)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 large apple, peeled and cubed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375-degrees
2. Peel apple and cut into cubes. If you only have small apples, use two or three in place of one larger apple
3. In mixing bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In separate bowl, stir together the milk and vanilla.
4. Take two 4 or 5-in ramekins and layer half of the apples in each. Next put half the oat mixture in each followed by a couple of tablespoons of milk mixture over the oats. Continue to layer with apples, oats, then milk.
5. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until the apples are bubbling and the oats are browned.

Bummed about not getting local produce each week in the CSA box? Although it’s harder to find local produce in the winter, it’s not impossible! Here are some options in the Boston area:

–Whole Foods lists where their produce comes from. Look for produce from Massachusetts or nearby states like New York.

–Trader Joe’s also supplies some local produce for very reasonable prices.

–Boston Organics. Although similar to CSA boxes in that they deliver produce boxes, Boston Organics differs in that the produce comes from all different farms in Massachusetts rather than one farm. Another difference? You pay each time. They have pick-up times throughout the week all over Boston. For more information, be sure to check out their website.

-Boston Localvores, an online community group of people in Boston who support eating locally as often as possible, has a whole list of farms that do winter CSA boxes. Although an option for supporting local farms, these winter CSA boxes are generally more expensive than the summer boxes and the areas to pick them up are more limited, so if you don’t have a car it may be difficult to pick yours up.

-Also check out our previous Best of the Food Web where we featured Local Harvest, which has a local food finder map!