We love visiting all the local farm stands and stores in our area, especially in the summer when the fresh produce is abundant. This summer we are taking our garden-fresh summer lifestyle to a new level. We signed up for the Community Supported Agriculture program at Holcomb Farm in West Granby. CSAs are like owning a seasonal share of a farm. We’ll get a weekly supply of just-picked vegetables and fruits through the fall without having to grow it all ourselves. And we’ll be challenged to broaden our horizons and prepare produce that we may not have picked out on our own. Not only is that fresh, it is exciting!

I picked up the first week’s worth of produce and came home with a bounty of lettuces, greens, bok choy, scallions, rhubarb and an heirloom tomato plant! I also went for the pick-your-own part of the CSA. I walked out into the fields to cut some pea shoots and sampled a few of the early strawberries they had growing. There is nothing sweeter than a ripe strawberry picked and eaten while standing in the field! Heavenly delicious!

The lettuces became my lunch salads for a few days and the bok choy, greens, scallions, & pea shoots became a stir-fry dinner. The rhubarb was cut up & frozen for the pie I’ll be making to blog about next week and I planted the heirloom tomato in my garden as soon as I got home. I can’t wait to eat the tomatoes from that!

We saved the arugula for this sandwich. The original recipe calls for mint leaves. We liked it that way but loved it with the arugula from the farm. I bet this sandwich will taste even better when the cucumbers are ready at Holcomb Farm!

Hummus, Feta & Cucumber Sandwich

Hummus, Feta, & Cucumber Sandwiches (adapted from realsimple.com)

Makes 2 large sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 4 large slices multigrain bread
• ½ cup hummus
• 1 small cucumber, peeled & thinly sliced
• ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
• ½ small red onion, sliced
• 2 ounces arugula, torn or cut

Directions:

Brush or spray the bread slices with oil. Grill or toast the bread until lightly golden. Spread each of the toasted slices of bread with a layer of hummus.

I like my cucumbers without the seeds,

Layer the cucumber and onion slices on one half of each sandwich. Sprinkle the feta on the cuke & onion. Layer the arugula on the second half of each sandwich.

Layer the ingredients on the slices of toasted bread.

Put the 2 halves together and serve or wrap them tightly in plastic wrap  or wax paper to pack them.

Garden-fresh is best!

This is a garden-fresh sandwich!  ~Linda

Hummus, Feta, & Cucumber Sandwiches (adapted from realsimple.com)

Makes 2 large sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 4 large slices multigrain bread
• ½ cup hummus
• 1 small cucumber, peeled & thinly sliced
• ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
• ½ small red onion, sliced
• 2 ounces arugula

Directions:

Brush or spray the bread slices with oil. Grill or toast the bread until lightly golden. Spread each of the toasted slices of bread with a layer of hummus. Layer the cucumber and onion slices on one half of each sandwich. Sprinkle the feta on the cuke & onion. Layer the arugula on the second half of each sandwich. Put the 2 halves together and serve or wrap them tightly in plastic wrap  or wax paper to pack them.