Farm Sharing

Ever since I saw a beautiful basket of fruits delivered to Julia (Thomas nee Zimmerman) when she was living in Pittsburgh, I have always wanted to participate in a farm share.  Those who know me know that I have trouble committing to long term purchases - especially if they are not on sale.  I got lucky when Groupon was selling a one time trial farm share for $25!  I was giddy when this showed up at my door!

I quickly realized, however, that I was not entirely familiar with everything that showed up.  I texted my mom, "What is this?"

or this?

When I got no answer, I texted Mike's mom.  She spotted the second one as a tomatillo.  The first, she still had no clue.  In addition, a space ship showed up.

I'll spoil the surprise... the unrecognizable green was purslane!  I had watched an episode of Dr. Oz about 2 years ago where he discussed purslane and I was so excited about it that I wrote down the name.  I've NEVER seen it in real life until now.  What luck.  Turns out, while it's very healthy for you, it tastes kind of bitter.  The spaceship turned out to be a delicious squash!

Here's what I made with each of the vegetables:

Tomatillos - Tomatillo Chicken Stew http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/tomatillo_chicken_stew/

Purslane - Purslane and butter crunch salad

Swiss Chard - Swiss Chard with parmesan http://www.beyondsalmon.com/2006/07/technique-of-week-how-to-cook-swiss.html

Tomatoes - Tomato Mozzarella Basil (with fresh italian mozzarella from Fairway!)

Squash - squash and sausage pasta

Mint - Mint dressing on top of quinoa, cranberry, sweet potato, walnut salad