CSA Share Week 14: From our farm to your table this week …

Basil                                    
Eggplant OR  Okra
Green onions                  
Green peppers
Kennebeck potatoes (non-organic)              
Red Tomatoes                
Watermelon

Tips for using &/or preserving your produce…

Basil
Keep up the good working doing whatever you’re doing with basil, but you might want to add a new recipe to your repetoire that combines peppers, basil & tomatoes.  The mix-and-match recipe for this week is Stuffed Peppers with Basil.  See below.

 MIX & MATCH RECIPE – USE YOUR BASIL, PEPPERS, TOMATOES & ONIONS IN THIS DISH

Stuffed Peppers with Basil
from Herbs Love Tomatoes, Peppers, Onions & Zucchini by Ruth Bass
makes 8 servings (you can freeze half for later if that’s too much)

1 lb lean ground beef (or your favorite ground meat)
2 large onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded & minced

2 tsp chili powder
Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste.

2 cups tomatoes, pureed
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
¼ cup milk
½ lb sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 ½ cups cooked rice
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
8 sweet green peppers, cut in half, ribs and seeds removed

In a large skillet, cook beef, onions, and garlic until meat is thoroughly browned.

Add basil, jalapeno pepper, chili powder, salt & pepper, stirring well.
Combine tomato puree, sugar, soy sauce, & milk & add to the skillet.  Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
Stir in the shredded cheese and cook over low heat, stirring until the cheese melts.  Stir in rice & parsley then remove from heat and cool slightly.
Preheat oven to 400F.
Bring a large pot of water to boil and drop the cut peppers into the boiling water for 3 minutes, then remove, drain & cool slightly.
Arrange the cut peppers on a cookie sheet or baking dish & stuff them with the meat/veggie/rice mixture.
Cover them and bake for 30 minutes.

To FREEZE: arrange stuffed peppers on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer UNCOVERED. Once they’ve frozen, cover with foil.  When you’re ready to eat them, thaw them partially in the fridge then bake for 45 minutes at 400F.

Eggplant

I recently read an excerpt from a cookbook that said the “eggplant was made for the grill.”   …so slice it up and throw it on your grill along with squash, peppers, & onions.  Just coat it with a good bit of oil first and note that it will probably take a bit longer than your other veggies, so you’ll probably want to begin with the eggplant.  If it doesn’t cook long enough, it will be a bit chewy.
 
Green Onions
The large green onions in your share this week can be used like traditional green onions but the white bulbs also make a fine substitute for white onions.  You can use them in the stuffed pepper recipe above, but you’ll probably need 3-4 of the green onions. 

Green Peppers
If you liked polenta stuffed peppers (described in the post for Week 11) you should try the mix-and-match recipe above for Stuffed Peppers with Basil.  These green peppers are also delicious to slice and dip into a creamy sauce like homemade sour cream and onion dip.  Fresh green peppers are one of several vegetables that seem to surprise me each year.  I can’t believe just how much better they are than conventional, supermarket peppers.
Kennebec potatoes – non-organic Kennebec potatoes have been described as an excellent all around potato.  They are large with tan skin and white flesh that becomes smooth & soft when boiled or baked. They make great baked potatoes, oven fries and mashed potatoes. If you’ve never had freshly harvested potatoes, you’re in for a treat.  In the winter months when we have a more limited variety of vegetables at home, I like to get creative with potatoes but, in my opinion, fresh potatoes are best enjoyed very simply.  Here is my absolute favorite recipe for fresh potatoes: Peel potatoes and cut into large cubes and boil until you can very easily pierce them with a fork.  (They should even fall apart a little when pierced.)  Drain the water from your boiling pot then add butter, salt, pepper and fresh chopped parsley to taste. 

Okra

I’m not an okra fan.  There, it’s out in the open.  Yes, you can be an organic farmer and not like certain vegetables.  The only way I’ve found that I REALLY enjoy okra is this very easy roasted okra recipe from a blog called the FatFree Vegan Kitchen.  If you follow this recipe to the letter, I PROMISE you won’t be cutting or eating okra slime. It’s hard to believe but it’s true.  Try it if you have okra in your share this week. The recipe is located below for your reference but you can also follow this link: Roasted Okra from the FatFree Vegan Kitchen by Susan Voisin. 
(Disclaimer: I don’t advocate totally fat free eating nor am I vegan, although I really respect those who do choose a vegan diet out of concern for the lives of animals and/or spiritual conviction.)

Roasted Okra
**exactly as it appears on Susan Voisin’s FatFree Vegan Kitchen Blog, I wouldn’t dare alter this one!  http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/08/roasted-okra.html

about 1/2 pound of small, whole okra per person
salt to taste
pepper to taste
olive oil spray

First, start with the smallest okra you can find. Larger okra tends to be woody, which wouldn’t work in this recipe.Preheat the oven to 450 F. Spray a shallow baking dish with olive oil, add okra, and season to taste. Give the okra one quick (1/2 second) spray with olive oil, and put them into the oven. Bake, stirring every 5 minutes, until okra is browned on all sides, about 15 minutes. Serve hot out of the oven.

You can also jazz these up with spice blends such as garam masala, curry powder, chili powder, Creole seasonings, or jerk seasonings–whatever your taste demands. But simple salt and pepper is amazingly good and allows the fresh flavor of the okra to shine through.

**Amanda’s note: Please heat your oven all the way to 450 F FIRST, it’s important, and I highly recommend taking Susan’s advice and adding a little curry and/or chili powder or Creole seasonings.

Tomatoes
If you’ve never tried whipping up your own fresh salsa or making marina from scratch, you should definitely give it a shot this summer.  The tomatoes you’re getting now are some of my very favorite varieties.  Just this week I used about three large tomatoes to make a quick marinara.  We used it to top a homemade pizza crust and it was GREAT! …also, don’t forget to puree a tomato or two for the mix-and-match stuffed pepper recipe above.

Watermelon
If you (or your kids) love popsicles (but you don’t want all of the fake stuff in supermarket varieties) you might like trying your own homemade watermelon pops.  Here’s the recipe from Everyday Food:
For 12 3-oz pops: Working in batches, puree 6 cups cubed watermelon chunks (seeds removed) along with 1-4 Tbsp of sugar (or omit the sugar altogether).
When the mixture is COMPLETELY smooth, pour into 12, 3-oz Popsicle molds or plastic cups.  Insert sticks or wooden spoons and freeze until solid, at least 8 hours.
* If you’re counting, these only have around 23 calories each!  That’s good, because I’m likely to eat all 12 at once!



As always, please feel free to contact me for clarification, further information, or to share your own adventures in cooking local, USDA certified organic produce.  amanda.waterstrat@gmail.com