Basil Eggplant
Green peppers
Red Tomatoes
Squash
Watermelon
This photo has absolutely nothing to do with your share this week, but it sure cute! See the dirt on his nose?
Tips for using &/or preserving your produce:
Basil
Basil is an excellent herb to keep going all summer for hot and cold dishes alike. I keep several plants growing beside my kitchen door so that I can grab some leaves easily while preparing a meal and toss them into salads, wraps, sandwiches or sauces. That way I don’t have to store them, drag Finley to the field to pick them, or bat my eyelashes and ask Ford to go get some for me from the fields where your CSA veggies are grown. Hopefully you are finding plenty of ways to use up this great herb but in case you’re up for something new this week, try Grilled Corn with Basil and Gorgonzola Cheese. I love all three of these but had never thought of trying them together until I saw this recipe on the Tasty Kitchen blog. Give it a whirl this week.
3 ears Corn
2 Tablespoons Softened Butter
4 Tablespoons Crumbled Gorgonzola
Cheese
¾ teaspoons Coarse Ground Black
Pepper
2 Tbsp basil chopped or cut into thin strips
2 Tbsp basil chopped or cut into thin strips
Heat grill on medium heat.
Remove the husk and silk from the ears of
corn, place on the grill and close the lid.
Grill for a total of around 15 minutes, but
turn frequently to prevent burning.
Meanwhile, combine butter, 3 of the 4 Tbsp
crumbled cheese & pepper on a large plate.
Transfer hot corn from the grill directly on
top of the butter, cheese and pepper mixture.
Roll the corn around until it is generously coated on all sides.
This is almost as fun as eating it.
Roll the corn around until it is generously coated on all sides.
This is almost as fun as eating it.
Top each ear of corn with the remaining
crumbled cheese.
Garnish with chopped basil or basil that’s
cut into thin strips.
The eggplants most commonly found in supermarkets are large, pear-shaped and very dark (almost black) purple, but, as you’ll see this week, there are many other types of eggplant. In fact, the name eggplant is derived from the fact that one of the varieties is white and egg-shaped! Ford and I prefer the longer, slimmer, lighter purple varieties that you’ll find in your share this week. Eggplant is a popular alternative to meat in many vegetarian dishes from eggplant steaks to tasty spread/dip called baba ganouj (also ghanoush). Try the varieties in your share as you would your favorite supermarket eggplant and see what you think. Be sure to let us know so that we can plan and plant accordingly next year. My favorite way to enjoy eggplant is the Indian dish Baba Ganouj in which the eggplant is roasted and the flesh pureed along with lots of garlic, herbs, lemon juice and tahini (sesame paste) into a creamy spread. By the way, this stores well in the freezer. If you like vegetarian dips and spreads like hummus, you should definitely give this a try. The author of the following Baba ganouj recipe says that this recipe, using only 2 medium/small eggplants “makes enough to fill six people who are dipping vegetables and bread into it, and calling it dinner.” She also notes that you should get it started at least 3 hours before you want to eat it so that it will have time to chill. Personally, I like to roast the eggplant, then scoop out the flesh and complete the recipe when I have time within the next day or two. In fact, that’s probably what I’ll do for lunch tomorrow.
Baba
Ganouj
from the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen
from the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen
2 medium-small eggplants (up to 3 if they are the small slender variety like the ones in your share)
Juice from one good-sized lemon
½ cup tahini (sesame paste – check the health food/organic section at Kroger to find
this locally)
3 medium cloves garlic, crushed
½ cup finely-chopped parsley
1 tsp salt (more, to taste)
¼ cup finely-minced scallions (optional)
lots of fresh black pepper
lots of fresh black pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
Preheat oven to 400oF.
Remove stem-ends and prick eggplants all over
with a fork. (WARNING – if you don’t do this, they’ll explode!)
Roast 45 minutes. (When they are sagging, wrinkled, crumpled
and totally soft, you’ll know they’re ready.)
Remove them from the oven to cool a bit, then
as soon as you can touch them, discard the skin, scoop out the flesh and mash
well.
Combine with all remaining ingredients except
olive oil.
Chill completely, and drizzle the oil over
the top just before serving.
Green Peppers
It’s been a busy week in the Waterstrat house
so I’ve been turning to quick, easy recipes for our veggies. On Tuesday I made a big batch of beef
barbecue. I’m not a huge fan of coleslaw
but I do love good coleslaw with barbecue.
Much to my dismay, we were totally out of cabbage. …so, I decided to try something new, pepper
slaw. Once again, this was a recipe I
ran across a while back in an issue of Everyday Food (I remember food & recipes from years ago the way Ford remembers the
make and model of cars and tractors.) but I modified that recipe a bit to
suit our taste. Here’s the original: http://www.marthastewart.com/851788/three-pepper-slaw …and
here’s my version:Green Pepper Slaw
- adapted from an old Weight Watchers publication (Sorry, it’s a recipe passed on by a friend of mine. I don’t have the original publication but I’ve certainly tried to find it!)
1 Tbsp white-wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt &ground pepper to taste
4 medium bell peppers (2 dark green traditional
peppers and 2 light green flavor burst peppers), stem, ribs and seeds removed
and sliced into long, thin slivers (about ¼ inch or less)
1 shredded carrot
½ small green onion, white and light green parts thinly sliced
½ small green onion, white and light green parts thinly sliced
½ tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves (I used lemon
thyme)
For the dressing, whisk together first 4 ingredients (vinegar through salt & pepper), set aside.
Combine remaining ingredients, mixing well.
Pour dressing over the vegetables.
Serve immediately or chill before serving.
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
Red Tomatoes
Tonight I made my absolute favorite version of a grilled cheese sandwich. The ingredients were simple: sourdough bread, fresh slices of tomato, fresh basil leaves, onion, and mozzarella cheese. (…and a little butter, salt & pepper.) Oh, do I love this grown up version of grilled cheese! Here’s what it looked like:
Tonight I made my absolute favorite version of a grilled cheese sandwich. The ingredients were simple: sourdough bread, fresh slices of tomato, fresh basil leaves, onion, and mozzarella cheese. (…and a little butter, salt & pepper.) Oh, do I love this grown up version of grilled cheese! Here’s what it looked like:
Squash
Do you feel lost this week having squash without zucchini? Don’t! They are great alone or combined with their zucchini cousins. Keep using up yellow squash in raw salads, baked casseroles and breads. …and if there’s ever too much for one week, remember that you can blanch sliced zucchini, pat it dry (thoroughly), and freeze it OR freeze shredded zucchini – no blanching required.
Do you feel lost this week having squash without zucchini? Don’t! They are great alone or combined with their zucchini cousins. Keep using up yellow squash in raw salads, baked casseroles and breads. …and if there’s ever too much for one week, remember that you can blanch sliced zucchini, pat it dry (thoroughly), and freeze it OR freeze shredded zucchini – no blanching required.
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
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