Today my daughter and I had our last CSA pickup for the season and what a wonderful visit we had. We walked around the farm with one of the owners, Vivian while we talked and she hand picked some vegetables for us. After we left the rows of lettuces and greenhouses of tomatoes and peppers she brought us to a mulberry bush with fruit so ripe it was raining from the plant as we picked it. My daughter and I had never had mulberries before and they were so juicy we ate them right on the spot (they are grown organically), my daughter’s hands and face stained red from the juice. I never saw a happier child. Vivian brought us over to feed the chickens, but my daughter started getting a bit shy so we watched as another fellow CSA member’s daughter scooped the feed mix and sprinkled it about while the birds gathered to eat it.
We headed back to the vegetable house where the veggies are lined up in bins for us to choose from. As several free roaming chickens, one lazy cat and menagerie of dogs visited us we sighed with happiness.
This is what it is like to know your farmer.
Tomatoes, Peppers, Cabbage, Lettuces
Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage
Cucumbers, Fingerling, Purple and Yukon potatoes
Watermelon Radish and Mulberries
Broccoli and Spinach
Sweet Onions and Yellow Squash
(And we were excited to find out the farmers are considering extending the share another three pickups as well as looking forward to our farm to table pot luck on April 23rd.)
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Avocado, Mango and Caribbean Black Bean Tostada
Two sweet champagne mangos, a creamy avocado, some sweet onion and tender baby lettuces came together on a crunchy pita. This one is going down in the favorites.
Originally this was going to be another salad (which is what I would do for my upcoming detox) but I am just salad-ed out. I wanted a piece of bread damn it and only something crusty or crunchy would do. I accidentally grabbed a can of Caribbean black beans and when I read the spice mixture I knew it was fate that I grabbed it; EDEN Caribbean Black Beans are organic black turtle beans cooked in a delicious sauce of mild tropical spices: organic dried onion, organic paprika, organic cayenne pepper, organic cumin, organic garlic powder, organic cinnamon, organic black pepper and a bit of our finest sea salt.
I whipped up the salsa and split the pitas, sprayed them with some oil and a sprinkle of salt and toasted them up. When topped with the sweet mango it had my favorite salty sweet thing going on. This one is easy and so delicious I just know you will love it!
Avocado, Mango and Caribbean Black Bean Tostada
***5 WW Pts Plus
Makes 6 Tostadas; generous 1/4 cup salad and 1/2 pita each
Vegan, Gluten Free Option
Ingredients
1 ripe but firm avocados, halved, peeled and cubed
2 ripe champagne mangoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
1 15oz can Eden Organic Caribbean Black Beans, drained
1 small jalapeño, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped (leave off if you prefer less spice)
1 lime zested and juiced
2 leaves culantro, chopped (or 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp agave
3 cups baby lettuces, chopped or torn
3 small whole wheat pitas, split open, sprayed with olive oil and seasoned with salt (for gluten free use toasted organic corn tortillas)
Directions
1. Add mango, avocado,onion, jalapeno and black beans to a medium sized bowl; add lime zest and juice through honey.
2. Toast whole wheat pitas (or corn tortillas) until just browned and crisp. Top each half with 1/4 cup chopped lettuce and 1/4 cup mango mixture.
Estimated Nutrition Facts
6 Servings
Amount Per Serving
***5 WW Pts Plus
Calories 259.5
Total Fat 7.5 g
Saturated Fat 1.1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.1 g
Monounsaturated Fat 4.6 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 180.2 mg
Potassium 616.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate 28.7 g
Dietary Fiber 9.6 g
Sugars 10.2 g
Protein 9.2 g
Vitamin A 16.0 %
Vitamin C 17.3 %
Folate 43.0 %
Magnesium 17.0 %
Manganese 38.8 %
Thiamin 17.9 %
They look amazing! I love the combo of foods. We had our last pick up from our CSA yesterday too … sad day.
Luckily I think they are doing an extension of three additional pickups!
Hey Dawn, just wanted to let you know about a new Florida Blogger Group that just started on Facebook. Check it out here:
floridafoodbloggers@groups.facebook.com Would love to have you on board. Take care, Warren
That sounds like an absolutely amazing day…those vegetables and those berries, WOW!
I am determined to find a CSA around here.
This recipe is so perfect, I am definitely going to make this when it stops snowing
First of all, these photos are beyond amazing! I want to inhale the screen.
Second of all, you are getting me SO excited for my CSA! Love this.
And this salad/tostada mixture…all of my favorite things and flavors in one crispy delicious shell. Love.
I'm not sure I've had mulberries before either. I will say those tostadas look so good. I used to make tostadas all the time. Totally forgot about them!
thanks for the blog comment! looks like we eat pretty similarly! this recipe looks delicious + healthy!
I heart your CSA!! Looks sooo good.
I love the recipe you created with mango and avocado. YUM!
Coastal Florida looks so warm and pretty. I sure could use some sun in rainy Seattle!
I hope it warms up soon. Thanks for visiting!
Dawn, the photos are gorgeous and the tostadas look so appetizing!
Your photos are fantastic. The tostados look scrumptious
This is a delicious vegetarian tostada. Beautiful flavors as always Dawn!
Oh This looks so good. I love mango in almost anything!
Everything looks soooooo beautiful! Yum!!
These tostadas look delicious! And I am always so jealous of your CSA experiences.