The Weekly Box: Weeks One & Two

Our CSA membership has just started up for the season. The first week our share was a mere 1/2 pint of pick-your-own strawberries and two lettuces--but OH what strawberries and lettuces. Last Friday, our second week, the haul was more substantial. Three beautiful lettuces--one green leaf, one red, and a spiky red-tipped variety--and a full-to-overflowing quart of PYO strawberries. (Not to mention the ones we ate while picking.)

So while the goods are super fresh, the menu's not too complex yet. There's really nothing more to do than rinse and eat.

However, I did make a raw strawberry tart. The recipe is based on this one from Matt Amsden's Rawvolution, but I used less agave nectar on the berries. Just enough to make 'em shine. I don't have any small pie tins, but that Pyrex refrigerator dish I found at Goodwill a couple weeks ago ($2!) redeemed the tart's fugliness somewhat & anyway one bite and who cares what it looks like? Mmmmm.

Strawberry Fields Forever
From Rawvolution by Matt Amsden

For the crust:

2 C raw almonds, finely ground in a food processor
1/2 C agave nectar

For the filling:

1 1/2 C strawberries
1/4 C agave nectar [I used much less]

To make the crust:

in a mixing bowl, combine the ground almonds and agave nectar, and mix well. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom and sides of a 5 inch pie tin.

To make the filling:

in a food processor, slice the strawberries with the slicing disc. [Unnecessary! I used me trusty knife.] Transfer the sliced berries to a mixing bowl, add the agave nectar, and mix well. Spoon the mixture into the pie crust and serve.