CSA

My CSA shares return tomorrow. It can't come a moment too soon; I have looked forward to my weekly organic veggie bushel's delivery since the last day of last year's program. I split a large share at Many Hands Organic Farm in Barre with a friend last year; this year, I went with my own medium share, which I think will give me the same amount of vegetables.

For those who don't know, Community Supported Agriculture  works like this: you pay ahead of time over the winter for a "share" of the farm's vegetables. Every week, they drop them off. Every week, you wonder how you will ever be able to buy grocery store vegetables ever again.

I started cooking competently soon after I got married, just about 12 years ago. I had always had an idea of what cooking entailed; I spent most afternoons of my childhood loitering in the kitchen; I think enough culinary vernacular sunk in by osmosis, enough to buoy my confidence that I could handle myself with at least a minimum amount of skill.

Starting out, cooking involved basically asking my mother how she cooked certain dishes. I had the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook to help me fill in some other gaps and try a few new dishes here and there. A subscription to Bon Apetit sort of showed me what's out there. Food television proved seductive; I still use some recipes from Ina or Giada or whoever, but I think you just evolve at some point.

That point for me came last year with the arrival of my CSA. There was something very educational about not really knowing what mix of vegetables would be arriving every week. Making do with what was dropped off every Monday at the Living Earth was, to call back to food television, sort of my own personal episdode of "Chopped."

"Next up, we have beets, collard greens, and garlic scapes. Go!"

The true development of skill came from two sources. That unpredictable assignment of what was picked that week up in Barre put a premium not so much on what recipe to use, but how to cook each particular vegetable. Does this one get steamed? Is this one better raw? How long do I roast this root vegetable?

On a more cultural, or even spiritual level, getting the CSA every week helped develop more respect for ingredients. The food is so good, so fresh, that it seems almost inappropriate to prepare it one bit more than it needs to be. It's not about slathering food with cheese, or hot sauce, or salt. What should a properly cooked beet taste like? What is the absolute minimum this zucchini should be boiled? Do I need to go with a full-on tomato sauce, or can I just saute this tomato with some garlic and herbs, and I'll be all set?

The dish pictured to begin this post is grilled salmon with a Thai cucumber-basil sauce I cribbed from one of my favorite websites, Serious Eats.