Alas, our farm days are over for this growing season. Our CSA farm closes up shop this week, a bit early due to the wet, wet summer; you should see the poor tomato plants. But the rain didn't ruin everything, as we have big, beautiful butternut squashes, just waiting to be cooked and gobbled up.

Butternut squash is loaded with vitamin A as beta carotene, vitamin C and fiber, along with B vitamins, so you really can't lose by making the most of your winter squash.

One of our favorite dishes is a simple pizza with tomato sauce, roasted butternut squash, shallots and sage leaves, topped with prosciutto and feta cheese. How's that for a fun way to eat your squash?

Our CSA Farm has begun to produce an abundance of tomatoes these past few weeks. Aside from eating them like apples, as my three-year-old often chooses to do, you can make fresh tomato salad, salsa, or fresh tomato sauce.

Our very informal uncooked recipe goes something like this:

• Chop a bunch of tomatoes and put them in a bowl.
• Add enough balsamic vinegar and olive oil to cover them.
• Stir fresh minced garlic and chopped fresh basil into the tomato mixture.
• Season with seas salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
• Let marinate at room temperature at least 30 minutes before serving.
  
  

This is such a refreshing summer meal when served on pasta with a green salad, or a tasty snack as a bruschetta topping.

Greens fit for company -- I'm sure the balsamic makes this delectable, while the sliced garlic is a new technique for me (I usually mince). Do you think it really needs the sugar? I'm betting not. I'd skip the preboil step with chard.

Swiss chard wraps -- Wrap a tomato and a little mozzarella cheese with a chard leaf, bake and you'll have a testy -- and healthy -- new side dish.

Yep, we're crazy about belonging to a CSA Farm. Fresh, local veggies every week fit our healthy lifestyle, and we look forward to choosing fun recipes to use each week's harvest.

Lately, we've been getting red and golden beets, complete with rich, green beet greens still attached. Want to know our favorite easy recipes to use every part of the beet?

Beet Greens with Tamari
Simply saute your coarsely chopped beet greens and a clove or two of minced garlic in your favorite cooking oil, over medium heat until they turn bright green (about two minutes). Then, sprinkle tamari (or soy sauce or Bragg's) in the pan, about two teaspoons or so. Cook through, remove from heat, and serve.

An egg is an egg is an egg, right? That's what I thought until we started buying them from our CSA Farm: they are bigger, with huge yolks, and so full of flavor that it is hard to compare them to a store-bought egg. The farmer credits the grass in the chickens' diet, and if you've ever noticed the difference between grain-fed and grass-fed beef, you'll know this makes sense.

Because the eggs are so outrageously delicious -- not to mention a healthy source of protein -- we've been cooking with them more often, and we simply love this spinach frittata recipe.

So what makes this frittata so healthy?

• goat cheese cuts down on the fat and improves digestibility
• spinach -- the perfect leafy green, adding vitamins and minerals
• onion fights cancer and boosts the immune system
• sun-dried tomatoes provide lycopene and then some

Serve the frittata with a big, fresh, crisp and colorful salad of seasonal veggies and you've got one healthy dinner. Do you have a favorite frittata recipe?