Week #15. Here come the tomatoes.

Now our tomato harvests begin in earnest.  Linda and Kerry harvest plum tomatoes.

Some of this week’s tomatoes, before weighing and bagging.

Let’s talk tomatoes

They are a big part of our lives right now.  We have transitioned from tomato planting #1 to our much bigger tomato planting #2.  You should notice a jump in quality, as this week’s tomatoes were all picked from younger plants.  As tomato plants age, the tomato flavor and quality decline.  This is typical with organic tomatoes; our options to control diseases are limited.  We, and the crew, and all of you will appreciate the switch to a new field.

We will have lots of tomatoes for you in September, weather- and disease-permitting.  This field is ripening late, mostly due to the cool spring weather.  We will pack many in the CSA boxes.  We expect to offer bulk plum &/or slicing tomatoes for sale to CSA members.  We’re also planning a members-only plum tomato u-pick in September, date TBD.  Watch for emails with more information about the u-pick and the bulk sales.

Progress with basil!

We host basil trials for plant breeder Adrienne Skelton of Vitalis Organic Seeds.  She visited last week to see how her breeding lines are faring.

Once again, we are battling Basil Downy Mildew (BDM), a disease that risks our basil crop most years. After years of struggle with BDM, we are making progress.  BDM showed up on our farm in 2010, shortly after it was discovered in the US for the first time.  Spores have to blow into Wisconsin each year – it doesn’t survive our cold winters.  The best tool in this situation is plant resistance.  There’s been a worldwide effort to develop resistant varieties, and we had interesting ones to try this year.  I planted varieties from Vitalis Seeds, from an Israeli breeding program, and from a program based at Rutgers University.  This year’s varieties are a big improvement.

Susceptible basil infected with downy mildew.  Look for the yellow and brown patches on the leaves.

The new ‘Prospero’ variety grown in the same field, but with almost no disease.  This is a big improvement!  This variety was selected in an Israeli breeding program.

Because of BDM, we have to plant multiple basil fields, then harvest the plants young.  Usually four or five basil plantings per year, with two harvests per planting, maybe three if we’re lucky.  You can have low levels of BDM in a field but it doesn’t explode until the canopy closes.  It’s the humidity.  We have to harvest the basil before the plants are touching each other.  Also, I scout our basil fields a lot.   If I find a small amount of DM, I cut the plants at the soil, put them in a plastic bag, and put the bag in the sun to solarize.

Harvesting young means the quality is excellent, but the plants don’t have a chance to bulk up.  As a result, we are unlikely to have bulk basil to sell to you folks.  It’s too precious and scarce and we need it all for the CSA boxes.  I will let you know if this changes with the new resistant varieties.  By next year, I expect to be able to sell bulk basil again.  Beth

Cucumber updates

We are transitioning between cucumber fields.  The top cucumber is from a field we just finished harvesting.  The scarring accumulates from bug damage and from handling the plants during harvest.  The cucumbers taste fine but you’ll want to peel these ones.  The pretty, unscarred cucumber at bottom is the first harvest from a new field.  

We experimented with direct seeding cucumbers this year, a way to avoid the effort of growing and transplanting seedlings.  Transplants are useful in spring; they let us get a jump on the season.  By summer, that’s less valuable.  We planted seeds directly, cultivated with the tractor to keep the weeds down, and now we have a nice small patch of fresh cucumbers to harvest.  We’ll do this again.

Get ’em while they’re young

Chance, Andrew, Ari, Riley and Owen.  Billy (at right) manages the group.

Our high school employees are finished for the season.  This is a good group of kids and we will miss their help.  We routinely hire four or five high school students to work over summer break.  It’s a good job for teenagers.  We limit their hours to 8 am to 12 noon, and send them home before it gets too hot.  It gets them out of bed in the morning, then they have the rest of the day to themselves.  Their work is more routine than our main crew, who handle a wide variety of vegetables with finesse.  The high school employees weed, pick peas, strawberries and  beans, and harvest many, many onions.

This group did something different.  One day, we were under intense pressure, with too much work and too little time.  We were faced with a choice of which crop to harvest, knowing that the neglected crop would be lost for good.  The high schoolers talked together, then approached us and offered to work in the afternoon too.  They saved the day, and are the primary reason that you got big bags of peas earlier this year.  No high school crew has done this.  We were touched and impressed.  Beth

Veggie List and Veggie Notes
Week #15, August 29/30, 2019 (Th/Fri sites)
– Weekly shares
– EOW/ purple
– Sampler/ sun

Sweet corn, 8 or 9 ears
Watermelon, yellow (most sites) or red (one site)
Tomatoes, slicing & plum, 4.75 lb total
Bell peppers, red or green or yellow, ~2
Cucumber, green or silver, 1
Walla Walla onion, 1
White onion, 1
Jalapeno chile (HOT), 1
Basil, 1 small bunch
Garlic, 1 bulb

– Some sites get a small lettuce, and some sites get an extra cucumber.
– Everyone gets a few specialty peppers, of one type: Oranos snack peppers OR Jimmy Nardello frying peppers OR shishito peppers OR a red frying pepper.  All the specialty peppers are sweet, although an occasional shishito will be hot.

Next week’s box will probably contain tomatoes, peppers, melon, onions, kale, carrots, garlic and more.

Sweet corn – This is the final corn delivery for the year. We hope you enjoyed it!  This delivery is a mix of yellow corn plus a yellow-and-white bicolor.  You might get one type or a mix.
Watermelon – Most sites get a yellow watermelon.

You’ll receive both a Walla Walla onion (left) and a white onion (right).  Walla Wallas are sweet, excellent for salads or grilling.  White onions are intermediate in pungency between sweet onions and yellow storage onions.  They will fry better than a Walla Walla but not as well as a yellow storage onion.  We’re sending these two types together because they have different uses, and you can tell them apart.

Each site gets one type of specialty pepper.  Clockwise from top left; shishito peppers OR Jimmy Nardello frying peppers OR Oranos snack peppers OR a red frying pepper.  All types are sweet, although the shishitos will occasionally be hot.

RECIPES

Visit our 2019 Recipe Log or our 2018 Recipe Log or join our Facebook discussion group.

LOCAL THYME/ Comforting Classics
Roman Chicken and Peppers
Corn and Pepper Frittata with Cheddar and Bacon
Pesto Baked Tomato
Cajun Kale and Corn Salad

LOCAL THYME/ Outside the Box Recipes
Jalapeño and Corn Studded Cheddar Polenta with Roasted Pepper Salsa
Grilled Corn with Miso Butter
Whole Wheat Pasta with Chunky Pine Nut Sauce and Marinated Tomatoes
Hamburgers with Romesco Sauce (or choose your fave veggie burger)

LOCAL THYME/ Quick and Easy Meal
Turkey and Bacon Sandwich with Lightly Pickled Vegetables

????????????

RECIPES FROM LAUREN

TOMATO & SWEET CORN PASTA SALAD
Serves 8-12 as a side.
Takes 40 minutes.

1 pound pasta, the type is your choice
4 ears corn, husks removed
1 cucumber or silver slicer, seeded and diced
1/2 Walla Walla onion
1 pound tomato, seeded and roughly chopped
1 jalapeno, diced
1/2 cup basil leaves, roughly chopped

Dressing:
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon white wine or white vinegar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil on the stove over high heat. Once boiling, add pasta and cook to al dente according to package directions.
2. While pasta cooks, prepare your dressing by whisking together all ingredients.
3. Drain pasta in a colander and let sit for a minute to lose some of the water, then add to a large bowl. Add dressing to noodles while they’re still warm and toss to combine. Set aside.
4. Refill stock pot with salted water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add sweet corn and cook for 4 minutes. Meanwhile, chop your other veggies. Rinse corn under cold water to cool and then cut off kernels with a knife. Add cucumber, onion, tomatoes, jalapeno, corn, and basil to bowl. Toss to combine.
5. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as desired.

.
 ????????????
.
MARINATED TOMATO SALAD
Serves 4-6.
Takes 20 minutes, plus time to chill.

6 plum tomatoes, cut into large chunks or wedges (or 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved)
3 bell or sweet peppers, any color, diced
1 white onion, diced
1 cup (or so) pitted whole black olives

Dressing:
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup fresh basil, loosely chopped
1/4 cup minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram

1. Place all sliced vegetables in a large bowl. Add olives.
2. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over vegetables. Refrigerate 3-4 hours before serving.

.

Week #14, August 22/23, 2019

Our second tomato field is finally ready to harvest.  It was delayed by the cold spring weather, long ago. We’ve been waiting and watching for weeks, and are glad to move into a fresh field.  The quality is better (which we all appreciate) and picking is easier.  We are still harvesting from our early planting, and will continue until the new field is in full production.  

Please eat your slicing tomatoes quickly.  They are from the early planting, were picked ripe, and we know they will not store for long.  Eat your slicing tomatoes first this week, then your plum tomatoes.  Beth

Veggie List and Veggie Notes
Week #14
– Weekly shares
– EOW/ green

Sweet corn, 6 or 7 ears
Watermelon, orange or yellow
Tomatoes, plum & slicing, ~2.25 lb total
Bell or frying peppers, green or red or yellow, ~2
Cucumber, 1
Green & yellow wax beans, 1 to 1.2 lb
Walla Walla onion, 1
Basil, 1 sprig

Each site gets something from this list:
– a small globe eggplant.
– Silver Slicer cucumbers.
– Oranos (orange snack pepper).

Some sites get Jimmy Nardello or shishito peppers.

Next week’s box will probably contain melon, tomatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce and more.

Watermelon – Refrigerate these melons.  The orange ones are more perishable than typical red watermelons.

Tomatoes – Eat your slicing tomatoes first.  The plum tomatoes will hold up better.

FOR A FEW SITES THIS WEEK, Jimmy Nardello peppers (sweet, not hot) – We planted a small patch of these as an experiment, and we will share them among the sites are they are ready to harvest.  Here is the seed catalogue description.  “This fine Italian pepper was grown each year by Giuseppe and Angella Nardiello, at their garden in the village of Ruoti, in Southern Italy.  In 1887 they set sail with their one-year-old daughter Anna for a new life in the U.S.  When they reached these shores, they settled and gardened in Naugatuck, Connecticut, and grew this same pepper that was named for their fourth son Jimmy.  This long, thin-skinned frying pepper dries easily and has such a rich flavor that this variety has been placed in “The Ark of Taste” by the Slow Food organization.  Ripens a deep red, is very prolific, and does well in most areas.”  Can you see why we want to grow this one?

FOR A FEW SITES THIS WEEK, Shishito peppers (sweet, not hot) – We also have a small patch of shishito peppers to share as they ripen. From the Johnnys Seed catalogue:  “Heavily wrinkled fruits are thin walled, mild (no heat) when green and slightly sweet when red.  Popular in Japan where its thin walls make it particularly suitable for tempura.  Also very good in stir fries or sautés.  In Asia, fruits are always cooked green but they also may be used red.  Thinly sliced, the red fruits are excellent in salads and coleslaw.”

Everyone gets one of these.  From top left; Oranos snack peppers OR globe eggplant OR Silver Slicer cucumbers.

A few sites get one of these specialty peppers.  We’ll share them among the sites as they ripen.  Left; Jimmy Nardello peppers.  Right; shishito peppers.

RECIPES

Visit our 2019 Recipe Log or our 2018 Recipe Log or join our Facebook discussion group.

Four Bean Salad

Wax Bean and Tomato and Olive Salad

LOCAL THYME/ Comforting Classics
Light Vegetable Corn Soup
Four Bean Salad
Watermelon Basil Agua Fresca
Rigatoni alla Norma with Eggplant and Fresh Tomatoes

LOCAL THYME/ Outside the Box Recipes
Sweet Corn and Basil Lasagna
Wax Bean and Tomato and Olive Salad
Citrus and Spice Pickled Watermelon Rind
Keralan Braised Vegetables with Green Beans, Eggplant and Corn

LOCAL THYME/ Quick & Easy Meal
Simple Summery Pasta Salad with Corn, Tomato and Basil

????????????

RECIPES FROM LAUREN

CORN, TOMATO, and AVOCADO CHICKPEA SALAD
Adapted every so slightly from Half Baked Harvest

Takes 15 minutes
Serves 4

Basil spring, roughly chopped
1 can (14 ounce) chickpeas, drained
4 ears grilled or steam corn, kernals removed
3 cups diced tomatoes, seeds removed
1 colored pepper, seeded and diced
1 cucumber, diced
1/2 Walla Walla onion, diced
1 cup cubed feta cheese
1 avocado, diced

Dressing:
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 Walla Walla onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice + the zest of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons honey
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and black pepper

1. To make the salad, combine the basil, chickpeas, corn, tomatoes, and cucumbers to a large bowl.
2. Make the dressing by heating the olive oil in a medium skillet over high heat. Add the onion and cook until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, honey , and red wine vinegar. Season with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste.
3. Pour the dressing over the salt, tossing to combine. Top the salad with avocado and feta.

.
????????????

GREEN BEANS WITH CARAMELIZED ONION
Adapted from Bon Appetit

Takes 30 minutes
Serves 2-4

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound green beans, ends trimmed
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
• Add beans, onion, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Saute over medium heat, stirring every couple minutes, for 10 minutes. Some seasoning will stick to the bottom of the pan. After 10 minutes, add a tablespoon or two of water and scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer until reduced to a nice sauce, about 5 minutes more. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

.

Week #13; Garlic harvest!

We have a beautiful crop of garlic this year.  The bulbs need to dry for a few weeks, then we’ll start packing them in the CSA boxes.

Above, Steve loosens the garlic with our imported undercutter, the new tool I wrote about last month.  I rolled my eyes when he suggested it for this job but it worked amazingly well.  In the photo above, he has already undercut the bed of garlic.  The undercutter lifted the plants up enough to loosen them, then dropped them back in place, still standing upright.  We pull the garlic by hand when the ground is moist but (at that moment) it was too dry.  This was an excellent moment to use the undercutter instead of digging the garlic up with shovels.

 Above, Karen lays harvested garlic in shallow piles.  Our barn loft stays very dry, a good place to cure the garlic.

It looks like we standing on the floor but we’re actually five feet in the air, standing on overturned wooden bins.  We store carrots and other roots in these bins in winter.  They are empty right now, a great surface to spread the garlic.  The bins have slatted sides, so air circulates through them.

We ran out of room in the barn and filled some empty benches in the greenhouse.  The friend who grew half our garlic in past years has retired from farming, so we planted much more than usual this year.

Veggie List and Veggie Notes
Week #13, August 15/16, 2019
– Weekly shares
– EOW/ purple
– Sampler/ moon

Sweet corn, 9 or 10 ears
Muskmelon, green or orange
Yellow or green beans, 1/3 lb
Tomatoes, mixed slicing & plum, ~ 2.5 lb total
Pepper, 2 red or green, bell or fryers
Cucumbers, ~2
Walla Walla onion
Red onion
Parsley, 1 bunch
Basil, 1 small sprig
Jalapeno chile (HOT), 1
Some sites get a Silver Slicer cuke OR orange snack pepper (Oranos)

Next week’s box will probably contain sweet corn, melon, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onion and more.

Ripe (top) and less ripe tomatoes (bottom).

Tomatoes – As usual, we pack a mix of ripe and less-ripe tomatoes so you can stretch them through the week. The top tomatoes in the photo are ready to eat. The bottom tomatoes can ripen at room temperature for a few days.  Put on your counter or keep in a brown paper bag.
Storage: Tomatoes retain their best flavor and texture when stored at room temperature, no lower than 55 F.  However, you should refrigerate your tomatoes if they are fully ripe and you don’t expect to eat them right away.  It is better to sacrifice a little flavor and texture than lose your tomatoes to rot.  Also, fully ripe tomatoes are less sensitive to chilling injury.

Sweet corn – There are not many caterpillars at the tips this week.  Nonetheless, if you are squeamish about bugs, I suggest that you cut off (and discard) the tips of the ears before you husk them.  That way, you can avoid seeing the bugs.

Muskmelon – Everyone gets either a green or an orange muskmelon.  The green variety is new and unusual but tastes like a typical orange melon.  Both types have the typical netted exterior.  Storage: Some are ripe and ready to eat.  Some need to ripen a day or two on your kitchen counter.  Keep at room temperature but refrigerate if not eaten within 2 – 3 days.

Jalapeno chiles – These are hot.  

Cucumbers – We now have both normal and Silver Slicer cucumbers to share.  We’ll scatter the Silver Slicers among the boxes as they are ready.  They are medium-sized white cucumbers with thin skins.  They can be used interchangeably with slicing cucumbers in recipes, or mixed together.  However, their best use is as a snack.  Hand these to the kids on the ride home from picking up your CSA box.  There’s no need to peel them.  As usual, store all types of cucumbers in the warmest part of your fridge.

Some sites get slicing cucumbers (top).  Some sites get a mix of slicing cucumbers and ‘Silver Slicer’ cukes (bottom).

Everyone gets a green or orange muskmelon.

RECIPES

Visit our 2019 Recipe Log or our 2018 Recipe Log or join our Facebook discussion group.

LOCAL THYME/ Comforting Classics
Tomato Gazpacho with a Kick and Polenta Croutons
Grill Blistered Italian Frying Pepper Salad
Tuscan Rigatoni with Tomatoes and Pancetta
Velvet Chicken and Corn Soup

LOCAL THYME/ Outside the Box Recipes
Quinoa Tabbouleh with Corn
Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers
Spicy Chicken Paella
Mustardy Grilled Corn and Sausage Kebabs

LOCAL THYME/ Quick & Easy Meal
Spiced Shrimp with Corn Cakes

????????????

RECIPES FROM LAUREN

SWEET CORN FRITTERS
Adapted from Bon Appetit

Takes 30 minutes.
Serves 2-4.

1 green frying or bell pepper, seeded and cut into quarters
1 jalapeno, seeded, cut in half
1/2 Walla Walla, roughly chopped
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup parmesan
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups sweet corn kernals (not cooked!)
1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided
Basil Yogurt Sauce (recipe below)
Hot sauce, optional
Diced tomatoes, optional
1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided

1. In a food processor combine peppers and onion. Process until finely chopped. Add flour, eggs, parmesan, salt and pepper. Process until eggs are fully incorporated. Add corn and pulse 3-4 times until uniformly mixed throughout.
2. Heat a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Warm a tablespoon of oil for about 5 minutes. When the pan is quite hot and the oil is glistening, add a scant 1/4 cup of batter to the pan. You should have room for 3-4 fritters at a time. Fry for 4 minutes per side and until nicely browned. Set on paper towels so that most of the oil drains off. Continue cooking until you get through all your batter, adding more oil when the pan gets dry and adjusting the temperature as needed.
3. Meanwhile, prepare your sauce.
4. Serve 4-5 fritters on a plate with a heafty dollop of sauce, some hot sauce and diced tomatoes.

.
Basil Yogurt Sauce
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small spring basil, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
Few grinds fresh black pepper

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and stir to combine.

????????????

HEAPED HUMMUS
Adapted from the amazing Smitten Kitchen
Below you will find links to my favorite simple hummus and pita recipes. You absolutely can make them from scratch. I have. It can be very fun if you have the time, but it’s also really fun to get a vat of incredible hummus and pile of pita from a great Mediterranean restaurant (like Banzo in Madison), whip up this quick salad, and pour it on top of the hummus for a very simple, very affordable, very fresh dinner.  Do not feel like you need to avoid making life easy.
Also, if you still have any eggplant left in your box from last week, feel free to chop that into large chunks and toss it with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and roast it for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Serve on the side of your heaped hummus plate. It will pair beautifully.

Serves 8-12 (as a snack) or 4-6 (as a meal).
Takes 20 minutes (if just making the salad) or 2 hours if making hummus and pita from scratch.

3-4 cups diced tomatoes
2 cucumbers, seeded and chopped
1 red onion, diced
1 red fryer, diced
1/2 cup diced parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drilling
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 batch ethereally smooth hummus, preferably at room temperature
1 batch whole wheat pita, cut into triangles

1. In a large bowl, combine all veggies with parsley, olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper. Stir well, taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
2. Prepare you hummus and then spread it out (or maybe 1/3 of it out if not serving all 8-12 people at once) on a large platter. Using a slotted spoon, heap hummus with veggies placing them on top and in the center (so some hummus is still visible on all sides). Drizzle with olive oil and enjoy with pita triangles!

.

Week #12

Veggie List and Veggie Notes
Week #12
– Weekly shares
– EOW/ green

2 – 2.5 lb tomatoes, mostly slicers + some plums
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1.6 lb beets
2 – 3 cucumbers, green or Silver Slicer
3 – 4 zucchini/ squash
2 green + 1 purple bell peppers
Walla Walla onion
red onion
a red or yellow watermelon
a yummy Korean melon, crisp and sweet
1 nice bunch basil

Next week’s box will probably contain sweet corn, melon, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and more.

Tomatoes – Tomatoes fare best if stored at room temperature, in a paper bag or laid on a plate with the shoulders down. We send a mix of ripe and ready to eat, as well as a few that are slightly less ripe. This helps extend your tomatoes through the week.
Watermelon – Can be stored at room temperature. Refrigerate once cut.
Korean melon (yellow, oblong) – These unusual melons are sweet and crisp, reminiscent of a good honeydew. This new variety ‘Torpedo’ is an improvement over last year’s Korean melons. They are ready to eat. OK to store at room temperature for up to three days (they will continue to ripen). Refrigerate once cut.
Red onion – This week’s red onions sunburned while curing in the field last weekend. We can’t throw these beautiful onions away. Please cut off the flat , sunburned area before using; the rest of the onion is in good shape. Refrigerate and use soon. We don’t know if storage is affected.

RECIPES

Visit our 2019 Recipe Log or our 2018 Recipe Log or join our Facebook discussion group.

LOCAL THYME/ Comforting Classics
Sweet Zucchini Pickles
Spice Rubbed Chicken and Zucchini, Pepper and Onion Tacos with Chipotle Cream
Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya
Bruschetta with Beets and Goat Cheese

LOCAL THYME/ Outside the Box Recipes
Zucchini Brownies with Chocolate Chips
West Indian Kebabs
Hoppin John
Jade Rice Bowl with Grilled Beets, Pork Tenderloin and Feta in a Stone Ground Mustard Vinaigrette

LOCAL THYME/ Quick and Easy Meal
Cherry Tomato Pasta Puttanesca

????????????

RECIPES FROM LAUREN

ZUCCHINI & BURST TOMATO PIE
Adapted from How Sweet Eats

Takes 1 hour, 30 minutes
Serves 6

2-3 cored and sliced tomatoes
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups zucchini, cut into thick matchsticks
1 red onion, diced
1 green or purple pepper, diced
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
7 large eggs
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 or 10-inch pie plate with butter. Line the bottom and sides of the pie plate with sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese.
2. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil, zucchini, onion, pepper, salt, oregano and thyme. Saute for 5 minutes until zucchini is just beginning to get soft. Add tomatoes and cook until tomatoes are bursting, about 5 more minutes. Turn off the heat.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, flour, basil, pepper and another pinch of salt until combined. Add in the tomato zucchini mixture and remaining 1/2 cup grated cheese. Toss it together well. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan with tomatoes and cheese.
4. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until the center isn’t jiggling and the top is golden. Remove and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Slice into wedges and serve warm.

.

????????????

RAW BEET & CUCUMBER SALAD

Takes 30 minutes
Serves 4-6

2 pounds beets, peeled and very thinly sliced (ideally on a mandoline)
1 Walla Walla onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
3 cucumbers
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1-2 avocados, cubed, optional

1. In a medium bowl, combine beets, onion, vinegar, maple syrup, and salt. Toss to combine and leave to sit for at least 20 minutes to lightly pickle.
2. Use a vegetable peeler and peel strips of skin away from each cucumber so it has kind of a striped pattern. Halve the cucumbers lengthwise and remove the seeds with a spoon. Cut into 1/4-inch slices and place into large bowl.
3. Right before serving, use a slotted spoon to remove beets and onions from pickling liquid and add to cucumbers. Toss gently and then drizzle the whole thing with two tablespoons olive oil, a tablespoon of the pickling liquid, red pepper flakes, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Toss again and then add avocado, if using. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. It may need more vinegar, oil, salt or maple syrup according to your preference.

.

Week #11

Veggie List and Veggie Notes
Week #11, August 1/2, 2019
– Weekly shares
– EOW/ purple
– Sampler/ sun

Quantities might not be exact.
sweet corn ~9 ears
green beans ~1 lb
carrots 2 lb
red Summercrisp lettuce
eggplant 1 or 2
cucumbers 3
Silver Slicer white cucumber 1
muskmelon
Walla Walla onion
basil 1 sprig
There might be zucchini.

Next week’s box will probably have melon, tomatoes, pepper, beets, cucumbers, onions and more.

Muskmelon – Ripe and ready to eat. Refrigerate.
Sweet corn – There are fewer caterpillars at the tips this week.  Last week’s bugs were unusually early.  Nonetheless, if you are squeamish about bugs, I suggest that you cut off (and discard) the tips of the ears before husking them.  That way, you don’t have to even see the bugs.

RECIPES

Visit our 2019 Recipe Log or our 2018 Recipe Log or join our Facebook discussion group.

LOCAL THYME/ Comforting Classics
Salad with Cucumber, Tomato, Corn, and Fresh Mozzarella
Pancetta Braised Green Beans and Tomatoes over Mascarpone Polenta
Thai Vegetable Fried Rice
Pugliese Stuffed Eggplant

LOCAL THYME/ Outside the box recipes
Sweet Corn and Basil Lasagna
Thai Cucumber, Green Bean and Tomato Salad
Shrimp with Carrots, Green Beans and Zucchini in Tikka Spice
Basil Pesto Pizza with Grilled Eggplant

LOCAL THYME/ Quick & Easy Meal
Tomato, Cucumber, Corn Panzanella

????????????

RECIPES FROM LAUREN

LAUREN/ SWEET CORN & GREEN BEAN SALAD
Adapted every so slightly from Food & Wine No worries if you can’t find hazlenuts, almonds are an absolutely fine substitution.
Takes 20 minutes
Serves 4-6

1 cup hazelnuts
8 ears of corn, shucked
1/2 Walla Walla onion, diced
1 pound green beans
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Toast hazelnuts on the stove or in a 350 degree oven until they smell delicious and are golden brown. Let cool, the rub the nuts in a kitchen towel to remove their skins. Transfer to a work surface and coarsely chop.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the ears of corn and boil them over moderately high heat until just tender, about 4 minutes. Using a tongs, remove to a colander and rinse under cold water until cool to the touch. Move to a cutting board and remove kernels from the ear. Place in a large bowl with diced onions.
3. Bring the water back up to a boil and add beans. Boil for three minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. Pat dry. Cut the beans into 1-inch lengths. Add to large bowl.
4. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add hazelnuts and toss to combine before serving.

.
????????????

LAUREN/ ROASTED EGGPLANT GYRO
Inspired by Bon Appetit
Takes 1 hour
Makes enough for 6-8 pitas

1 pound eggplant, cut into 3/4-inch slices
1/4 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground corinader
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
Pinch Kosher salt
Pinch red pepper flakes
6-8 pitas or flatbreads
1/2 cup favorite hummus (I love the Supremely Spicy hummus from Sabra)
1 cup finely chopped lettuce, optional
Hot sauce, optional

Tomato Salad
3 cups diced tomatoes
1/2 Walla Walla, thinly sliced
1/2 cup crumbled feta
2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cucumber Yogurt Sauce
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 cucumber, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, combine olive oil and garlic with cumin, coriander, thyme, paprika, sesame seeds, salt and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine. Place eggplant on a baking rack that fits over a baking sheet. Pour one teaspoon of the oil mixture onto each eggplant slice. Rub in gently. Bake for 25 minutes, flip and pour teaspoon of oil mixture on other side. Rub in gently and bake for another 15-20 minutes until eggplant is dark brown (but not burnt) and very tender. Allow it to cool for 5 minutes then cut into thin strips.
3. While your eggplant cooks you will have plenty of time to make your tomato salad and cucumber sauce.
4. For the tomato salad, combine all ingredients in a large bowl. The tomatoes will release a LOT of juice as they sit. After 10 or 15 minutes, feel free to drain the salad so it’s not so juicy.
5. For the cucumber yogurt sauce, combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes. As the cucumbers release their juice, the mixture will become more saucy and less like cucumbers just stirred into thick yogurt.
6. To serve, toast a pita or flatbread for 1-2 minutes to warm. Spread one half of the pita with a bunch of hummus. Top with sliced eggplant, followed by tomato salad and lettuce, if using. Spread cucumber yogurt on other side of pita along with hot sauce, if using and fold close. Devour immediately and don’t stress the mess. It will definitely drip all over your hands.

.