What's in the box? Plus an asparagus gnocchi dish.

Happy Wednesday!  In our household, that means ... BOX DAY!  Hooray!

Here are the week's spoils, for 5/12 through 5/18:

* Asparagus
* Fava Beans
* French Breakfast Radishes
* Strawberries
* Collards
* Spring Onions
* Lettuce

More fava beans!  This time, I think I'm going to take the advice given by the farm, and remove the favas from their pods but leave the individual skins on the beans.  I've got a recipe in mind that I will share later this week.

Check out those strawberries up close:

They look positively succulent!  We couldn't help but taste one - it was sweet and juicy.

More French breakfast radishes.  I have an idea in mind to incorporate them into my lunch tomorrow.  Stay tuned ...

I am actually really happy to see collard greens again!  They are a sturdy green, perfect for filling and rolling (cabbage-roll style).

Tonight's dinner made use of this lovely asparagus.  I used a package of ready-made gnocchi and whipped up a veggie saute as a kind of sauce, with a bit of veggie broth, some butter, and a few dabs of goat cheese.  Ohhhh this was good!

Here's what I did:

Prepare the vegetables: Thinly slice two of the green onions from my box.  Clean and slice three carrots.  Rinse one bunch of asparagus (box), and cut into 2-inch pieces.  Drain and rinse one can of garbanzo beans.  Meanwhile, place a pot of water over high heat for the gnocchi and bring to a boil.

Cook the veggies: Heat about one tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and cook for about five minutes.  Add the carrot and cook for another 3 minutes.  Add 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 minced garlic cloves (I used frozen TJ's garlic).  Add the asparagus, plus about 1/2 a cup of veggie stock (or a bit more - keep it on hand), the chickpeas, herbes de provence, and salt and pepper to taste.  Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for about 3 minutes.  Add juice from 1/2 a lemon, and adjust the seasonings as needed.

While the veggies are cooking, cook the gnocchi according to package directions in salted, boiling water.  To serve, spoon the veggies and some of the broth atop the gnocchi, then top with a few dabs of goat cheese.