From our farm to your table this week…
Item
|
How to Store it
|
How long will it last?
|
Acorn Squash
|
room temperature or slightly
cooler in a dry, dark place
|
~2 months
|
Eggplant
Saturday only |
room temperature
|
3-4 days
|
Melon
|
room temperature
|
1 week
|
Green Beans
|
unwashed in fridge
|
3-4 days
|
Peppers
|
unwashed in fridge
|
1 week
|
Sweet corn –
non-organic
|
shucked (my preference) or
with husks on in the coldest part of your fridge (usually the bottom
vegetable crisper)
|
Enjoy as soon as possible – fresh corn is much
sweeter when fresh than when stored
|
Tomatoes |
at room temp |
~1 week |
Tips
for storing and enjoying the produce in your weekly share
New items this week…
Acorn Squash
This week marks the beginning
of one of the major highlights of the harvest season. We are now enjoying the first winter squashes
of the year and acorn squash just happens to be my favorite! I love it stuffed with delicious grains and
fruit or sliced into rings or wedges, basted in a citrus glaze and baked. It is an amazing vegetable. It also happens to be the only winter squash we
grow with a skin that’s thin and tender enough to be eaten. Some folks still pass on the skin, but a well
baked/roasted acorn squash has firm, crisp skin and soft orange flesh and I
think they make a great pair! Here a
couple of my favorite ways to enjoy acorn squash, skin and all: #1) Acorn Squash Rings Glazed with Maple & Orange and #2) a homemade recipe below for Stuffed Acorn
Squash with items that are usually available at the same time in late
summer/early fall – acorn squash and fresh pears!
Stuffed
Acorn Squash – 6 servings
3 small to medium acorn squash3-4 cups brown rice, cooked
1.5 cups toasted walnuts, broken into small pieces
2 cups orange or pear juice
1 cup pears, peeled & chopped into small squares
½ to 2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbsp REAL butter
1.5 cups raisins
1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Wash acorn squash remove stem or stem end and cut in half from the pointed end to the flat, stem-end.
Remove seeds and any stringy flesh inside.
Place cut-side down in a baking dish with about ½ inch of water and bake for 1 hour.
In the meantime cook your rice if you don’t have prepared rice on hand. (I like to make big batches of rice then store it in the freezer for quicker meal preparations.) Set aside.
Toast walnuts in oven or microwave and set aside.Combine remaining ingredients and bring to a boil on the stove while stirring frequently with a whisk. (You don’t want the raisins to stick and burn. You want them plump and juicy!) Reduce heat but continue stirring until sugar is completely dissolved and mixture has thickened slightly.Remove baked acorn squash from oven, remove any excess water from squash and pan.Arrange squash, cut-side up, on a lightly greased cookie sheet or baking dish.Combine the rice, walnuts and all but 3/4 cup of the liquid portion of the juice mixture. Stir until ingredients are evenly distributed then fill the acorn squash. Now put the stuffed squash back in the oven for an additional 20 minutes to let all the flavors blend.In the meantime, return the ¾ cup remaining juice mixture to the stove and bring it to a boil, stirring constantly. Allow it to get just a bit thicker but don’t let it turn into a sticky syrup.Remove stuffed squash from oven and drizzle with remaining juice mixture.Serve immediately!This is great alone but a light salad of fall lettuce & greens balances out this hearty, vegetarian main dish.
This week our dear friend and
CSA member Tifany, shared a wonderful recipe that uses both tomatoes and
corn. It’s quick, simple and received a
lot of great reviews online! You can
find the recipe at this link: Pasta
with Fresh Tomatoes & Corn. Thanks Tifany!
