August 11, 2016

Veggie list and veggie notes (August 11/12, 2016, week#13, green EOW)

Watermelon, orange or yellow
Slicing tomatoes, about 4 lb
Carrots, 1.6+ lb
Beets with greens, 1 bunch
Red bell pepper, 1 or 2
Sweet corn, 2 ears
Walla Walla onions, 1 or 2
Cucumber OR pickling cucumbers (a small amount)
Zucchini or squash, a few

Some sites will receive globe or Japanese eggplant.
Some sites will receive an heirloom tomato.
Some sites will receive cherry tomatoes.

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

Watermelon – We grow a lot of watermelons.  The orange and yellow melons we are sending this week are among our favorites.  Both types are tender and sweet.  All are ripe and ready to eat.  Uncut watermelons can be held at room temperature for up to one week.  Refrigerate your melon after you cut it open.
Heirloom tomatoes – If you find a single tomato in your box (not in the paper bag), then it’s an heirloom tomato.  We tuck those near the top of the box where they won’t get damaged.  Heirloom tomatoes are unusually flavorful and unusually fragile.  Some are ripe and ready to eat.  Some need a day or two to ripen.  Place on your kitchen counter so you can keep an eye on it, and eat it as soon as it’s ripe.  These bruise very easily so handle gently.

RECIPES FROM LAUREN

BEET and CUCUMBER PANZANELLA

This salad does not store well because the bread gets excessively soggy. If you don’t expect to eat everything in one meal, toss all prepared ingredients together excluding the croutons. Store salad and croutons separately adding the amount you plant to use together 15 minutes before serving. Feta makes a nice addition to this salad if you are looking to make it a bit heavier. Fresh basil or fennel fronds also are a nice touch if you’ve got either around.

Takes 1 hour
Serves 4

Beets from one bunch, green removed
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
5 cups wheat, rye or white sourdough bread, crust removed and torn into bite size pieces
1 teaspoon Kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 cucumber, diced
1/2 Walla Walla onion, diced
2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons honey

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Wrap beets individually or in pairs in aluminum foil and place in the preheated oven. If beets are large, half and wrap separately.†Roast for thirty minutes until soft.
3. In a medium bowl, toss bread with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper until well-coated and even. Pour bread onto baking sheet and roast for 12 minutes or until dried out and browned evenly. Remove from oven occassionally and rotate if necessary.
4. Once beets are roasted, remove from foil and allow to cool until able to touch with your barehands. Remove the peel (if it does not come off easily the beets need a little more time in the oven) and dice the beets into bite-size pieces.
5. In a large bowl, add the beets, croutons, cucumber, onion, balsamic, honey and remaining olive oil, salt and pepper. Start with two tablespoons of balsamic, only adding more if you think it needs it. (I tend to like things on the excessively vinegary side so I’d add the full 3 tablespoons). Stir everything together until well combined and let sit for 15 minutes at room temperature. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.

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SWEET CORN and PEPPER BBQ PIZZA

This pizza is just so summery I can hardly stand it. Tomatoes, peppers and onions on a pizza are just pure bliss pretty much any way you shake it, but this pizza adds a bit of extra interest with BBQ sauce and sweet corn. Any extra hot peppers you have lying around would be a great addition as well as pretty much any fresh herb you have on hand (cilantro, basil or parsley come to mind specifically).

Serves 6-8
Makes 1 large 12×16 pizza or 2-round pizzas
Takes 40 minutes (if using pre-made pizza dough, ~2 hours if making pizza dough from scratch)

1 batch pre-made pizza dough (or make your own using recipe below)
2 ears of corn
1/2 cup favorite BBQ sauce
3 large tomatoes, sliced
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 red pepper, diced
1 Walla Walla, diced
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced, optional
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

For the pizza dough:
1-1/2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons active yeast
2 tablespoons honey
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons Kosher salt

1. If you are making the dough from scratch, begin here. If not, skip to step 2. Combine warm water (but not hot!) with yeast and honey in a small bowl or measuring cup. Whisk to combine and let sit for 5 minutes. Combine flour and salt together in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in water with yeast. Stir to combine but do not work the dough at all, just stir until all the ingredients are incorporated together. Let dough rest for 15 minutes. Turn out onto a well-floured counter and knead for 3-5 minutes until smooth and uniform dough forms. Grease or oil a large clean bowl. Add dough, cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let rest in a warm place for an hour or until dough has doubled in size.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
3. Line a baking sheet with paper towel. Lay sliced tomatoes on top and sprinkle with Kosher salt. Let sit for 15 minutes so some of the juice leaves the tomatoes (this will keep your pizza from getting too soggy). Pat dry with a paper towel and set aside until ready to use.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add corn cobs and boil for 7 minutes. Strain and rinse with cold water until corn is cool to the touch. Cut corn cobs in half and then steadying them on a cutting board (cut-side down), remove kernels with a sharp knife. Set aside.
5. Once dough has risen and is ready to be used, turn out onto a well-floured counter. Roll into two circles for pizza pans or one large rectangle to fit a large baking sheet. Very lightly oil baking pan(s) (with 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil). Place dough on pan and press out to the edges.
6. Leaving a one-inch border around the edges, add BBQ sauce to dough.†Lay tomato slices over†crust in a single layer followed by red†pepper and onion. Add diced chicken if using and then sprinkle entire pizza(s) with cheese. Top the pizza(s) with corn. Bake for 20-25 minutes until crust is golden brown and cheese and corn are just beginning to brown.

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LOCAL THYME RECIPES

Comforting Classics

Panzanella
Watermelon Gazpacho
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Beet, Beet Greens and Thai Basil Salad

Outside the Box Recipes

Romesco Sauce
Watermelon Feta and Basil Salad
Dragonwagon’s Millet Vegetable Cakes with Beets and Carrots
Carrot Beet Mustard Seed Salad

Quick and Easy Meal

Grilled Flatbreads with Tomatoes and Peppers