Making the most of our CSA veggies

Jon and I have been members of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) off and on for the past 15 years.  When we first started, back before Eli was born, we split a box three ways and still could not finish off the veggies most weeks.  We ended up with some good results from our experiments on the shelf life of beets and rutabagas.  Over the years we have gotten a little more adventurous and have learned several ways of pounding the always abundant beet crop into submission.  We can now also identify a few more greens and roots. 
But it wasn't until this year that we reached the point where we could consume everything on a weekly basis. Sure, there were some stressful Wednesdays as we tried to use up the last of a week's harvest before the new load appeared.  And having two rabbits as fellow housemates did indeed help- but they mostly ate the tops of the radishes, beets, and carrots- although I know a serious cook would have ingenious uses for those as well. 

Here are my highlights of CSA cooking this year:

Butternut Squash Bread.  It took a little effort to bake the squash, then puree it, then start the bread making process, but I do declare it worthwhile!  The whole family enjoyed this one, which has not always been the case with my experiments.  I have very high hopes the butternut squash ravioli I plan to make tonight with the left over puree.

Roasted Vegetable Sandwiches:   This was more of a hit with Jon and I, but the boys gamely ate there's and only 'accidentally' knocked a few of the harder to identify vegetables off of their sandwiches on the sly.  I am on to them. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the rutabagas and turnips in this one.

Beet Burgers:  When you get 6-10 beets a week, you have to get creative.  My family would only eat the beet/arugula/feta salad so often.  Beet burgers were a mess to make, but I made a load of 15 at once and we are still pulling them out of the freezer and roasting them up in November.  They are a nice alternative to a veggie burger every now and then.

Chocolate Beet Cake:  I didn't tell my boys that there were beets in this cake before they ate some.  And they never knew!  Yeehaw.  Of course, there was also at least 3 pounds of sugar in the recipe as well.

Carrot Cake:  I've never made one before, and Ildar proclaimed my first attempt as the 'Best American Carrot Cake' he has ever had.  It was his first American carrot cake, but I'll log that praise in my little book anyway.

American Borscht.  As I have mentioned earlier, our Russian expert insisted that this soup was good.  But it was not borscht.  Oh well.  It was my first attempt at a beet based soup (but not the last, I am sure) and I think it came out ok.

I'd call it a successful harvest from our perspective.  From the farmer's newsletters I know the season was a struggle with heat and too much water, for a change, but they managed to get a pretty bountiful crop to our table.  We will miss it as we settle back into the store bought groove for the next 6 months or so.