(Adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 bunch/pound carrots cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Dash of ground ginger
3 cups water
2 tablespoons heavy cream, divided
Chopped fresh herbs

1. Heat oil in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and carrots to pan; cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in salt, pepper, and ginger.

Turnip-Celeriac Mashed Potatoes (Recipe adapted from Paula Deen's recipe)

Ingredients:
6 medium to large potatoes, skin on
1-2 large turnips, peeled
and/or 1-2 bulbs celeriac
1/2 cup cream, heated
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
1/2 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper

Directions

This is the first time we have participated in a CSA. I am really enjoying the experience of receiving certain vegetables every week and then challenging myself to put them together in different ways. Cabbage and carrots always brings cole slaw to mind, but I'm not a big fan. I like my cabbage fresh but cooked. I found a recipe in an old Better Homes & Gardens magazine in my dentist's office. It got me thinking. Here's my adaptation.

This works best if you have a grill rack with smaller openings to set on top of your actual grill. You lose less that way.

1 small cabbage

This is my 12 year old nephew's absolute favorite vegetable dish in the whole world!

Not only do I have a lavender cookbook, I collect recipes where ever I can find them. Here's another favorite. This is adapted from THE LAVENDER COOKBOOK by Sharon Shipley.

LAVENDER BLUEBERRY BANANA BREAD

1/4 lb. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 C. sugar
2 large eggs
1 C. all purpose flour
1 C. whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp. dried lavender flower buds, ground in a spice grinder**
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/4 C. blueberries, fresh or thawed & drained
1/2 C. walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Lavender is one of the aromatic herbs, as is readily evident if you have ever come into contact with it. It, and others like thyme, rosemary and peppermint, contain volatile oils that have antiseptic properties and repel insects. Lavender is a nervine, in herbalist lingo; it calms the nervous system. I use every part of the plant. Flowers go into cooking. Leaves are pulled from the stems and stuffed into my bed pillow covers, or dried and put into sachet bags to keep closets and drawers sweet smelling and moth-free. Dried stems I put on the fire in the winter.

I have loved and used herbs since I was a kid, first for their scents, then for their flavor. In more recent years I have studied herbs and weeds for medicine, nutrition, and just all around better health. I'm thrilled that Stone's Throw Farm is including them in the shares. How do you cook with lavender? I use it in some of my favorite and most requested recipes. What can you do with a whole lot of zucchini? A hint: basil plays a big role.

Here's a link to a delicious recipe to try with all that wonderful cauliflower!

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/macaroni-chees...

Here's the link to Jamie Oliver's recipe for "Incredible Baked Cauliflower and Broccoli Cannelloni".

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/jamie-oliver/incredible-baked-caulifl...