We’re in a year-long food rut. How can we shake up our diet?

Three words: community-supported agriculture (CSA). Depending on the season (usually spring, summer, and fall) and where you live, there are local farms across the country that offer “shares” of their crops on a weekly basis. (Check out Local Harvest to find farms near you.) You sign up with a farm, pay a seasonal fee (anywhere from $200-500, depending on the size of your share), and receive boxes filled with whatever’s harvested that week. Some CSA farms offer eggs, fresh flowers, and milk. A few farms might deliver the box to your door, but most have pick-up points at local farmer’s markets, which means you can also supplement your weekly box with fresh cheese, herbs, or anything else that looks good at the market when you pick up your share.

The thing I love most about CSA is the variety. I definitely fall into a fruit/vegetable rut -- eating salads, carrots, broccoli, spinach, bananas, and apples all the time -- but with CSA, you get some randomness in your diet. I also like the surprise element. You never know what little treats will show up, from a pint of delicate raspberries to tender fiddlehead ferns.

It’s also a great way to force yourself to learn some new recipes or figure out how to tweak the ones you already love. So when you get a box full of zucchinis, you can substitute them for cucumbers in this Veggie Clubhouse. Or, better yet, try something like this Crab-stuffed Zucchini. I love this Cashew Vegetable Stir-fry simply because of the flexibility of the ingredients -- you can use just about anything that shows up in a summer CSA box for this recipe.

-- Colleen Rush

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