On Carrots and Community

Hi all. I'm Christiana Thomas, and I just joined the Rio Gozo CSA. I'm going to be helping Rio Gozo with maintaining their blog and social media, so they can stay focused on maintaining their (our) crops. We're hoping that this blog can become a great place for community members to share what works for them, to exchange recipes, and to provide feedback about the weekly shares. And we hope that you will check in regularly.

If you have recipes to share, email Rio Gozo Farm at riogozofar@gmail.com. Photos are very welcome too. If you have general thoughts on sustainability or farming, and would like to contribute a blog post, just send it to us and we will make sure it gets posted. We hope that this space will grow into an active forum for the Rio Gozo community. With that said I'll go first. I keep my own food blog here, but will also be making regular personal contributions to Rio Gozo.

I believe that the only way to make a CSA share really work is to break out of the vegetables-as-main-or-side-dish rut and start working the share into breakfasts, desserts, and just about everything else. To that end, this is my favorite Carrot Bread recipe. I swear that this is the best way to start the day. With slow-burning carbs and protein as well as the nutrients from the veggies, this breakfast will get you through the morning. Just add coffee.

Carrot Muffins/Bread

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
pinch cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup pecans
2 large eggs
1 cup corn oil

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9" loaf pan and set aside.

Mix eggs, oil, and sugars in a bowl. Add dry ingredients and combine well. Stir in carrots.

Bake in prepared pan for 55 - 65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. For muffins, bake 15 - 20 minutes.