Week #21, Final box for Sampler/ A group

This week (October 5/6) is the final delivery for our Sampler/ A group members, unless you rescheduled to a later week.

We are in the final month of our regular-season CSA deliveries.  I find this shocking but it is October.  Please identify the date of your final delivery on the calendar above.  Please communicate that information with everyone picking up your produce.  If you don’t remember your green/purple/A/B/C/D assignment, then log into your account and view your schedule there.  Instuctions are under ‘View your schedule and orders.’

FYI, I will continue to send my weekly email to all members each week, even after their deliveries end.  I want you to have info on farm events, recipes and we might add an extra late-season share.

Thanks,
Beth

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #21

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ purple
– Sampler/ A group

Sweet potatoes, ~3 lb
Carrots, ~2 lb
Celeriac
Romano beans, ~1 lb
Jalapeno chile (packed in bag of beans so it’s easy to identify)
Kale or collards, 1 bunch
Red peppers, mixed bell and frying
Oranos snack peppers, several
Yellow onion
By site: Large cauliflower OR medium cauliflower + broccoli

Next week’s box will probably contain carrots, winter squash, peppers,  fall greens and more.

‘Orleans’ sweet potatoes – Store your sweet potatoes at room temperature.  They suffer chilling injury below 50 F.
Here are a few things we’ve learned about sweet potatoes:
– For best flavor, cook your sweet potatoes so they brown and caramelize.  We have a simple, favorite way to roast sweet potatoes.  We used to prepare sweet potato fries in the oven.  Now we just quarter the potatoes, rub with olive oil, dust with salt and place cut-side-down on a cookie sheet.  Roast in a 450 F oven without turning until soft.  The flavors will caramelize (like sweet potato fries) but preparation is simpler and the cooking time less exacting.  Slender sweet potato fries go from undercooked to overcooked in the blink of an eye.  Larger slices are less exacting, and therefore are easier.  Small sweet potatoes can be cut just in half.  Jumbos will need to be chopped into pieces.  Otherwise, they take a long time to cook.
– This first batch of sweet potatoes will need slightly longer cooking than ones from the supermarket.  I think this is because they contain higher moisture so soon after harvest.
– Sweet potatoes are good at any size. We have cooked everything from tiny to jumbo and consistently find that all sizes taste good.

Carrots – These are from our first harvest of fall carrots.  Storage: Refrigerate.

Romano beans – Romano beans are more robust and meaty than green beans.  They are excellent raw but really shine when braised (gently cooked for a long time).  

Oranos snack peppers – We have a wonderful abundance of Oranos this year!  They are a fabulous little package, crisp, jewel-toned, with very few seeds.  They are great to pack in lunches or use for dips.  

Oranos snack peppers

Your jalapeño is packed in your bag of beans so it is easy to identify. Your jalapeño could be red or green.

RECIPES by DEB

Sweet Potatoes Stuffed with Greens & Peanut Sauce

Serves: 4 as a side; 2 as a main course
Takes: 40 minutes to an hour to roast the potatoes; about 20 minutes active time to make the filling & stuff

The basic technique in this recipe can be varied many ways; try black beans with salsa and cheese, or swap tahini or almond butter for the peanut butter. It’s not strictly necessary to scoop out the potato and stuff it back into the shell with the filling ingredients. You can simply pile the filling on top of the potato halves and serve. The stuffed sweet potatoes reheat beautifully in the microwave (or oven) and you can also roast the potatoes and refrigerate for later stuffing and eating. I tested this recipe with Koji greens (minus the stems) because that’s what I had, but just about any green will work, such as kale or collards. If using a softer green like spinach use 1 pound instead of 8 ounces.

Potatoes:
2 large sweet potatoes, about 1 3/4 to 2 pounds
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Filling:
1/2 pound greens, such as kale or collards, washed, large stems removed, and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
kosher salt
2 large cloves of garlic, minced or put through a press
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon brown sugar or honey or maple syrup
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Sriracha or other hot sauce, optional
1/4 – 1/3 cup natural peanut butter, smooth or crunchy (I like crunchy!)
Extra hot sauce and chopped peanuts for serving

1. Roast the potatoes: heat the oven to 350°. Scrub the potatoes and cut in half lengthwise. Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet and drizzle with the oil. Turn the potatoes cut sides down and place in the oven and roast for 40 minutes to an hour until soft. Remove from the oven and cool until easy to handle.
2. Make the filling: Pour 2 tablespoons vegetable oil into a wide deep skillet with a lid. Heat over medium high heat. Add the greens and a few pinches of salt, stir to coat with oil, and cover and cook to wilt the greens, 5-10 minutes.
3. Reduce the heat and uncover the skillet and add the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar. Stir and then add 1/4 cup peanut butter. Cover the pan over the lower heat for few minutes to melt the peanut butter. Stir and if it doesn’t seem saucy enough to you, add more peanut butter.
4. Stuff the potatoes: Scoop out the centers of the sweet potatoes and mash into the greens and sauce. Spoon the filling back into the potato shells. Set the potatoes back in the oven for about 15 minutes to reheat and serve with optional hot sauce and peanuts. Alternatively cool the potatoes and reheat in the microwave (or oven) to eat later.

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Cauliflower Coronation Salad

From DebsLunch
This is a vegetarian version of Coronation Salad, a curried chicken salad that was the official dish for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1954. The chicken version is often served as a tea sandwich filling on buttered white bread; try this vegetarian version in pita or on a bed of greens. I think it would also be good on any type of sandwich roll. You could make this vegan by using egg-free mayo, and non-dairy yogurt in the dressing.
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Celery Root Remoulade (Celeri Remoulade) | David Lebovitz

From David Lebovitz
Here’s a French version of Celeriac Remoulade, or celery root slaw, from cookbook author David Lebovitz. Although it may be cooling off soon, the October weather so far has been a bit too warm for some of the other heartier preparations of celeriac, gratins or soups. Lebovitz discusses grating the celeriac into thick-ish shreds with a Moulinex grater so it keeps its crunch, but this type of grater is not widely availble in the U.S. A box grater will work; probably even better is to hand cut the celeriac into julienne with a good sharp knife. Peel the celeriac (Lebovitz provides illustrations), slice into thin rounds, and then slice the rounds into thin strips.
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Romano Beans with Shallots and Bacon | Pinch and Swirl

From Pinch and Swirl
Romano beans are often braised with tomatoes (fresh or canned) and onions – Smitten Kitchen has a good recipe if you’d like to prepare yours that way. This recipe from Pinch and Swirl is a quicker saute with shallots and bacon. Subbing a similar amount of regular onions for the shallots will work just fine!
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Sweet and Spicy Collard Greens | Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures

From Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures
This recipe combines the collards and sweet and hot peppers and onions from this week’s box in a stir fry served over rice. Sauce ingredients include a number of dried spices, like garlic powder and onion powder, that you can omit in favor of fresh.
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Vegetarian Sweet Potato Chili | Cookie and Kate

From Cookie and Kate
Along with sweet potatoes and peppers that we get in this week’s box, this vegetarian chili recipe use black beans and kidney beans, either canned or cooked from dried. A nice substitution for one of the types of beans would be our Romano beans, cut into 1-2 inch lengths. You might even want to try some of the celeriac, cut into cubes and added with the onions, for a nice celery flavor in your chili.
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Roasted Green Beans and Carrots | Bites with Bri

From Bites with Bri
Originally written for regular green beans, the Romano beans in our box can sub in perfectly here, in this recipe that combines green beans and carrots roasted with a bit of honey and finished with a butter-garlic-lemon sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Week #20; Who grows your food? Part 2.

Sweet potato harvest with the H-2A crew.

I wrote last week to honor our hard-working farm crew.  This week, let’s acknowledge another group who works for us a few days each year.  Since 2015, we have hired a migrant labor crew to weed carrots and do other big jobs.  Labor contractor (team leader) Carlos Aguilera brings 35 people to our farm for four or five days.  All are temporary agricultural workers from Mexico or Central America, working in the US under the H-2A program for agriculture.  

Many of you buy our carrots and other produce at Willy Street Coop through the winter.  Without their labor, we could not grow these winter crops.  We plant carrots on a tight schedule in July so they are ready to harvest in fall.  That puts us on a tight weeding schedule too.  Our regular crew does not have time to weed these big fields; they already have a full workload.  So we bring in Carlos’ crew.  

Thirty-five guys show up in a colorful school bus, spread out in our fields and leave them clean of weeds a few hours later.  We have a short list of jobs for them.  This year, they weeded carrots and beets, harvested green beans, onions and sweet potatoes, and helped us clean up finished fields.  They accomplished all that in just four six-hour days.  They are professional farmhands with high standards for their work.  

Carlos’ primary contracts are with seed producers in the area.  (He must have a signed contract at each business where they work.)  We are their smallest contract, offering just a few days per season, so we have to work with whichever days they are available, usually on weekends.

US Immigration showed up at our farm for a surprise inspection this year.  Remember the August day when temps hit 99 degrees?  Two immigration agents walked into our work shed, asking to see paperwork for the H-2A crew.  We had it but our employees were arriving at the same time so it was a scramble.  That day, agents visited each farm where Carlos’ team works.  I am reassured to know they do that, that they are watching out for the welfare of these workers.  Carlos told me the agents visited the farm where they were stationed that day, to check working conditions and that workers have access to their own passport.  That’s important, as abusive labor contractors could hold their workers’ passports.  That’s illegal. 

Carlos Aguilera is well-organized and seems to take good care of his team. Over the years I’ve had our Spanish-speaking employees work side-by-side with the H-2A crew.  I learned that they spend 90% of their time making fun of us and the rest teasing Carlos.

What is their favorite vegetable?  We send them off with lots of melons and sweet corn, their favorites among what we grow.  They are most excited for the corn, telling us they roast it and eat it sprinkled with cheese, salt and chile peppers. 

Thanks for reading.
Beth and Steve

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #20, September 28/29, 2023

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ green
– Sampler/ D group

Green cabbage
Cauliflower, 1 head
Broccoli, 1 head
Leek, 1 or 2
Acorn squash, 2, ‘Starry Night’ or ‘Jester’ or ‘Carnival’
Green beans, ~1 lb
Frying peppers, ~4 ct
Oranos snack peppers, several
Jalapeno chile, 1
Garlic, 1 head 

Next week’s box will probably contain cauliflower, winter squash, peppers and more.

Cauliflower and broccoli – Storage:  Refrigerate.

Leeks (look like big scallions) – These alliums have a milder flavor than onions.  Nonetheless, they can be used in recipes that call for onions.  To wash, split the leek lengthwise, from the green tops about halfway to the base, leaving the base intact.  Rinse well under running water, separating the layers to flush.  If necessary, split the leek further if soil has penetrated more than halfway down the leek.  Shake dry.  Leeks are generally eaten cooked.  They can be sauteed, steamed or roasted.  Intact leeks will store 2 to 3 weeks if covered loosely and refrigerated.  The outer leaves will yellow.  Just peel off and discard those yellow leaves.  The inner layers will be fine.

Winter squash – Store at room temperature.

Oranos snack peppers (sweet, orange) – Everyone gets a handful of Oranos snack peppers.  These are sweet and wonderful for snacking, loaded with flavor but sparse seeds.

Jalapeno chile – These are small, green and shiny.  Some have a red tip.  These are the only hot pepper in the box.

Garlic – This is the German Extra Hardy variety, with large cloves.  FYI, some heads look odd because they dried slower than I would have liked.

Oranos snack peppers

RECIPES by PHOEBE

Winter Squash & Pecan Pâté

Don’t let the name pâté put you off—this savory squash dip is made with 100% plants! It’s creamy, nutty, and tangy, with a subtle sweetness from the squash and roasted alliums. Served with crackers or crostini, it would be a lovely appetizer for a fall gathering.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Serves 8

1 cup raw pecan halves
1 acorn squash
½ medium onion, cut into 4 wedges
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¾ teaspoon sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
2 tablespoons water, plus more as needed
Freshly ground black pepper
Pepitas, for garnish (optional)
Crackers and/or baguette, for serving

Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Spread the pecans evenly on the baking sheet and place in the preheating oven. Toast until fragrant, 5 to 8 minutes, while the oven preheats. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Slice the squash in half vertically and scoop out the seeds. Rub the squash halves with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place cut side down on the baking sheet and add the onion wedges. Drizzle the onions with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place the garlic cloves in a small piece of foil and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap tightly and place on the baking sheet.

Roast the vegetables for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the onions are browned and soft. Remove the onions from the baking sheet and continue roasting the squash and garlic until the squash is soft and easily pierced with a fork, another 10 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly, then peel the garlic cloves and measure 2 cups of the roasted squash flesh.

Place the pecans in a food processor and process until finely ground. Add the 2 cups squash, the roasted garlic, onions, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, thyme, cumin, salt, and 2 tablespoons water. Process until smooth, adding more water as needed to form a smooth, creamy spread. You may need up to 6 tablespoons total depending on the moisture content of your squash. Season to taste.

Transfer the pâté to a serving dish. Top with a drizzle of olive oil and pepitas, if using, and serve with crackers or baguette.

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Photo by The Woks of Life

Tri-Color Pepper Steak with Leeks

From The Woks of Life
Many Chinese pepper steak recipes call for onions, but this twist by The Woks of Life features leeks instead…dark green tops included! If you don’t keep Shaoxing wine on hand, replace it with dry cooking sherry or stock.
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Photo by A Beautiful Plate

Roasted Squash and Leeks with Orange Tahini Sauce, Walnuts, and Za’atar

From A Beautiful Plate
This recipe highlights one of my favorite ways to cook leeks: by simply roasting them! They add lovely savory flavor to this stunning fall side dish, which features creamy roasted squash, a citrusy tahini sauce, and walnuts for crunch.

Acorn squash will work well here in place of the butternut, though I recommend roasting the squash in wedges with the skin on instead of attempting to peel it. If you don’t have fresh parsley, omit it, and season the roasted vegetables with an extra pinch of za’atar.
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Photo by Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews

Fettuccine Alfredo

From Love & Lemons
This homemade fettuccine Alfredo is creamy and comforting, but it isn’t made with any cream. Instead, boiled and blended cauliflower creates the sauce’s luscious texture. I promise you can’t taste it!
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Photo by Smitten Kitchen

Crispy Cabbage and Cauliflower Salad

From Smitten Kitchen
This humble salad consists of nothing more than roasted cabbage and cauliflower tossed in a creamy tahini dressing. It’s simple and satisfying, full of caramelized flavor. Serve it with a dollop of harissa alongside to add a kick of heat.
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Photo by The First Mess

Vegan Chopped Cabbage Roll Skillet

From The First Mess
This hearty skillet meal is two steps away from traditional cabbage rolls. For one, it’s plant-based, made with lentils and walnuts instead of meat. Second, instead of stuffing individual cabbage leaves with the lentil mixture, you chop and roast the cabbage. Then, just before serving, you stir it into the saucy lentils. As a result, this recipe is much simpler to make than the classic dish, though it’s every bit as delicious.

Tip: It calls for a yellow onion, but leeks would be great here too!
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Photo by Eva Kolenko

Sautéed Green Beans

From Love & Lemons
A lemon-Dijon dressing brightens up these quick sautéed green beans. If you don’t have fresh thyme on hand, replace it with 1 teaspoon dried, or omit it.

Week #19; Who grows your food? Part 1.

Photo captions:
– The first photo shows most new employees who joined us in spring. They bonded quickly and became great friends!  From left, Katie, Aly, Mary Anne, Lizzy and Ida.
– Steve and Simone look over an amazing pepper harvest.
– We all enjoyed the day that John (right) decided to impersonate Ben (left).  John shaved his head, trimmed his beard a bit and wore a blue shirt with cutoff sleeves.  What a hoot.  It’s a fairly easy impersonation because Ben wears the same outfit every day.  He has a closet full of those shirts.
– This is a close-up of Charlotte’s favorite vegetable Romanesco cauliflower.  That’s her in the background, in the orange rain pants.
– Mary Ann and Maggie both love tiny vegetables.  Honestly, Maggie is obsessed.  Here, they admire their gleaned tiny onions.  We walked through the harvested onion field and the little ones were irresistible.
– Their tiny onions.
– Bekah harvests basil from a beautiful planting.
– Maggie and daughter Ida who joined the farm crew this season.

I am overdue to introduce you to our hard-working farm crew.

We are joined in our farming endeavor by many employees.  Some have worked for us for many years.  Others joined the farm this season.  We rely on each of them.  

Do you have a favorite vegetable?  So do we.  Think about our hardworking field crew when you enjoy one of their favorites.   Here are our workers, the year they started working for us, and their favorite fruit or vegetable.

Ava Ahnen (2022) .
Bailey Boudreau (2023) .
Raul Casique Montes (2017)   “Hot peppers because I like adding them to everything I cook.” Raul runs his own vegetable farm and makes amazing hot sauce from home grown chilis.
Katie Eastman (2023)  “Peppers, because they are fresh, crisp and sweet.  I eat them like an apple and have always done that.”
Mary Ann Eastman (2023) .
Aly Fry (2023) .
Charlotte Hammond (2016 – 2018, returned in 2021)  “Romanesco cauliflower because it looks crazy and is delicious.  I actually planted some in my home garden just in case.  Some years we don’t get much here at the farm and I need it.  Sometimes I look up Romanesco photos online just to stare at it.”
Pete Hartman (2023)  Pizza.
Ken Kelly (worked for us many years, then returned in 2021) “That depends on the time of year.  Watermelons for sure.  During watermelon season, I’ll do a melon fast for a few days.  Keeps you hydrated!  
Me:  “Do you eat the seeds?”
Ken:  “Absolutely!”
Vern Mahlkuch (2014, 2020 – 2023) .
Lizzy Neuenschwander (2023) .
Karen Nicholson (2013) Winter squash, because they signify the change of seasons.  She appreciates the switch to cooking fall comfort foods that comes with winter squash.  Most of all, she loves the ethereal light during fall squash harvests.  By that time of year, we are racing the light during harvest but she loves the elongated shadows and finds the gold and silver colors poignant.
Simone O’Donahue (1999) Simone loves peppers.  She appreciates the variety of colors.  A favorite job is re-potting the young plants in the warm, sunny greenhouse.  She appreciates times when peppers are prolific, and has an affinity for this crop that grows well in hot summer weather.  Disclaimer; Simone runs our pepper harvest crop.  It’s a natural match.  She also loves poblano chiles for their acoustics.  They make the best rattling sound when you shake the plant or when you drop them in the basket.
Ida Schley (2023) . I forgot to ask Ida before she left for school but I can tell you she looked very happy during watermelon harvests!
Maggie Schley (1999?)  Maggie loves carrots and watermelons best.  Tipi carrots are a big part of Maggie’s life.  They were pictured on her wedding invitation.  She has lots of carrot jewelry.  Everyone on the farm saves ‘lover carrots’ for Maggie; carrots that have grown together in a spiral.  Maggie is always on the carrot harvest crew.  Melon harvests are special because they give a chance to spend time with Steve, plus a chance to throw around a lot of weight.
Bekah Severson (2022)  “My favorite vegetables are peppers because they’re fun to harvest and delicious any way you eat them!”
Ben Thomas (2019)  “My favorite is poblano chiles for fabulous flavor.  Tomatoes too because you can do anything with them.”  I know that Ben loves winter squash because he enthusiastically takes home all the specially-chosen squash that I offer him, even as everyone else has started to back away. “But these are special ones!” does not sway anyone but Ben.
Carrot Weinstein (2022)  “My favorite vegetable is the red cabbage.  SO much fun to harvest, great color, lasts forever, so good fresh in a salad, pickled and fermented, roasted and charred.  I love cabbage right now :)”
John Zydowicz (2019)  .  John loves peppers because they are crunchy and delicious, and appreciates that they come in so many diverse varieties.  He likes chilis with heat and grows many types in his home garden.  “It’s fun to start them in early spring and have something growing indoors.”

Steve Pincus (1975)  Onions and carrots.
Beth Kazmar (1999)  Asparagus.  Ask me in August and I’ll say red peppers.  But winter squash is my fall favorite.  I eat it for breakfast every day this time of year.
Sophie (since birth, no longer farming with us)  “Sweet potatoes and strawberries because they taste so good.”
Ari (since birth)  Cucumbers.  “You can do lots of things with them. Eat them raw or make pickles or turn them into cucumber salad.”

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #19, Sept 21/22, 2023

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ purple
– Sampler/ C group

Green beans, ~1 lb
Acorn squash, 2, ‘Jester’ or ‘Carnival’ or ‘Heart of Gold’ 
Koji greens, 1 head
Romaine lettuce
Tomatoes, a small bag
Colorful bell peppers, ~3
Oranos snack peppers, 4 or 5
Poblano chiles, 2
Yellow onion
German Extra Hardy garlic
Basil

Next week’s box will probably contain cabbage, broccoli &/or cauliflower, green beans, peppers, winter squash and more.

Acorn squash – If you haven’t yet, please read my Winter Squash Primer in last week’s newsletter. 
Storage:  This week’s acorn squash is best eaten within two weeks.  They are excellent right now, but do not store long.  And I will send more squash next week!

Koji greens (head of dark green leaves) – Refrigerate.
 Koji greens are a lot like tatsoi if you know that one; dark green with a nice balance of bitter flavor but not too strong.  I prefer Koji to tatsoi because it has larger, lusher leaves and not so many leaf stalks.  Recipes that use mustard greens or bok choy will work with Koji.  In a contest for my favorite fall green, Koji runs neck and neck with bok choy.

Tomatoes – Eat soon or refrigerate.  It is fall.  The tomatoes still taste amazing but will not store long.

Poblano chiles (dark green, triangular, and shiny; MILDLY HOT) –  Poblanos are the creme de la creme of chiles.  They have lots of great flavor in combination with manageable heat.  Roast and add to soup or casseroles.  To reduce heat, remove the seeds and midveins.  

Yellow onions – These are pungent cooking onions.  Store at room temperature.

Everyone gets two squash, either ‘Carnival’ (left), ‘Heart of Gold’ (middle) or ‘Jester’ (right).

Koji greens

Poblano chiles will be dark green, occasionally with red streaking or a red tip.  These are the only hot peppers in this week’s box.  All other peppers are sweet.

RECIPES by DEB

Photo by debslunch

Roasted tomato and squash quiche

This quiche is made with peeled squash but the varieties of winter squash, like acorn and jester, that have ridged shells can be hard to peel when raw. It’s a lot easier to remove the skin after the squash is cooked, so that’s what I’ve done here. And roasting the tomatoes concentrates the juices and makes then even sweeter. I’ve used Provolone cheese and a bit of goat cheese, but feel free to sub in other cheeses to your taste.

Takes: about an hour, but can be done in stages
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:
Crust for a single crust, 9-inch pie, store bought or here’s a recipe
One medium size acorn-type squash
2 slicing tomatoes, cut into wedges, then chunks OR 2-3 plum tomatoes cut into wedges
salt and freshly ground pepper
Approximately 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced onion
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, or 1-2 tablespoons fresh herbs, basil or parsley suggested
1 cup provolone or other good melting cheese, grated
about an ounce of soft goat cheese, optional
3 eggs
about 1 1/4 cups half and half
extra fresh herbs for garnish, optional

1. Make your crust and chill – this can be done the day before – or even several days before. Roll out the crust – or unfold purchased crust – and fit it into a deep 9-inch pie dish. Set the crust in the fridge while you make the filing.
2. Line one large baking sheet, such as a half sheet pan that’s 18 x13, or two smaller ones, with parchment. Heat the oven to 400°. Arrange the tomatoes on one end of the baking sheet, or on one of your smaller baking sheets. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut each half of the squash into wedges, and arrange on the other end of a large baking sheet, or separately on a smaller baking sheet. Salt the vegetables, and grind black pepper over. Drizzle with the olive oil and toss – you might not use the full 2 tablespoons. Flip the tomatoes so the cut sides are up. Here’s a pic of the vegetables on a half sheet pan ready for roasting. Place in the oven and roast for 20-30 minutes until the squash is soft and the tomatoes have released their juices. Remove from the oven and cool. This can be done several hours ahead.
3. Melt the butter in a skillet and add the onions. Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are slightly caramelized, about 10 minutes. At the end of the cooking time, stir in the thyme or fresh herbs, and remove from the heat. While the onions cook, peel the cooked squash – I find this easiest to do with a spoon, creating rough wedges of cooked squash.
4. Assemble the quiche: Heat the oven to 425°, and put one rack near the bottom and the other about in the middle. Spread 3/4 of the grated cheese on the bottom of the crust, then lay the squash over the cheese, breaking it into chunks with your fingers. Add the onions on top of the squash, then the tomatoes, and finish with the last 1/4 of the grated cheese.
5. Beat the eggs in a 2-cup glass measuring pitcher until they’re well-blended, then add enough half and half to get to the 2 cup mark. Crumble in the goat cheese if using, mix well, and pour the egg mixture over the veggies in the quiche shell.
6. Place the quiche on the bottom rack and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, move the quiche up to the upper rack, and reduce the heat to 375°. Bake until slightly puffed and golden, about 25 minutes. Cool for 10-15 minutes for easiest slicing. Garnish with the optional fresh herbs and serve.

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Asian Ground Turkey and Green Bean Stir Fry | Eat Yourself Skinny

From Eat Yourself Skinny
Here’s a quick way to turn our green beans into a dinner entree, even if you’re not trying to eat yourself skinny! Ground turkey is used here, but you could easily sub pork or chicken or even tofu if you prefer. Crumble the tofu and fry in a little oil till golden the same as you would for the meats. Adding some our bell peppers, thinly sliced, when you sauté the green beans would be tasty, and you can also add a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter with the other sauce ingredients to enrich the sauce.
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Pasta With Goat Cheese & Roasted Peppers For Mom | Italian Food Forever

From Italian Food Forever
The author of this recipe developed it in memory of their mother. They give you the option of using jarred roasted peppers, while noting that freshly roasted peppers will taste better. I agree, and since the recipe doesn’t provide instructions for roasting peppers, here’s the method I prefer: Place whole peppers on a baking sheet and broil in the oven, watching carefully and flipping the peppers till all sides are charred. Transfer the peppers to a heat proof bowl and cover with a plate or a lid. Allow the peppers to steam for about 15 minutes to loosen the skins and cool so you can handle them! Angle a cutting board so it drains into your sink, and lay the first pepper on the board. Carefully split the pepper, letting any hot juices drain into the skin. Working with half a pepper at a time, scrape out the seeds and veins and pull off the skin. For easy cleanup, you can line the baking sheet with foil, or use a foil pan – parchment tends to burn under the broiler.
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Quick Tomato Vinaigrette | A Couple Cooks

From A Couple Cooks
Here’s a quick salad dressing made with fresh tomato (rather than the usual ketchup or tomato paste). It would be tasty dressing a salad of steamed green beans on a bed of shredded Romaine, topped with garlic croutons.
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Easy Risotto Recipe with Butternut Squash and Green Beans | amycaseycooks

From amycaseycooks.com
This no-stir risotto recipe uses butternut squash, but you can use the acorn-type squash we get this week. Either try the cook-before-peeling method above, OR halve the squash, seed, cut into wedges, and peel each wedge with a vegetable peeler or a sharp knife, and be sure to choose the least ridge-y of your squash allotment. If using cooked squash add it near the end of the cooking time, otherwise the squash will blend into the risotto. It will still taste good, but it will be invisible. The risotto can be made vegetarian by using vegetable broth instead of chicken.
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Vegan Creamy Pumpkin Tomato Soup | Detoxinista

From Detoxinista
Anything that can be made with pumpkin can of course be made with winter squash, and that’s certainly the case with this creamy vegan soup. To sub squash for the pumpkin puree in the recipe, simply roast the squash and scoop out the flesh and mash or puree in a food processor. Measure 1 cup of puree and save the rest for another use. The recipe calls for strained tomatoes, a type of tomato puree. To use fresh tomatoes in place of strained, peel and seed fresh tomatoes, and you could either puree the tomatoes first or add to the onions and garlic, since everything in this soup is blended. You can also sub basil for the fresh sage. I found several pumpkin-tomato-coconut soups, and this version from the Washington Post sounds appealing, but you need to sign up for a free account to view if you are not a subscriber.
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Coconut Fish Curry | Blue Apron

From Blue Apron
In this recipe from the Blue Apron meal kit service, the Koji greens and basil from our box work perfectly in place of baby bok choy and Thai basil. Use any of the bell peppers, and you can add some Poblanos in addition or in place of the bell peppers for a little heat.

Week #18; Winter squash primer

‘Jester’ winter squash

Winter Squash Primer

We expect to have a steady supply of winter squash for the rest of the season.  Let’s review some basics.

Expected life:  Some winter squash varieties are ready to eat soon after harvest, others store deep into winter.  Check our newsletter each week for storage information about squash delivered that week.  For example, this week’s acorns are cured and ready to eat.  Plan to eat this early variety within two weeks of delivery.  

Storage:  Do not refrigerate!  Winter squash store best at room temperature with good air circulation.  No cooler than 50 degrees.  On your kitchen counter is good, where you can keep an eye on them.  If you see deterioration, cook promptly.  These early squash are not intended for storage.  Do not cover – that promotes mold.

To make squash easier to cut:  Microwave on high for 30 to 60 seconds, depending on size of the squash.  This will soften the rind and flesh, making it much easier to cut.

Beth’s favorite simple preparation (acorn or butternut):  Winter squash are easily roasted in a 400F oven.  The goal is to get brown, caramelized edges.
– Split in half with a sharp knife.  
– Scoop out and discard seeds.  
– Run the squash briefly under running water, then shake off the excess water.  Place cavity-side-down on an oiled baking sheet.  The little bit of moisture seals the squash to your roasting pan.  The water soon evaporates, allowing the squash to brown and caramelize.  Caramelization really boosts the flavor.  
– Roast at 400F until easily pierced with a fork, 30 – 45 minutes depending on size.  Flip over while hot.  Add a little butter to melt and some seasoned salt.  Cut into wedges and eat.

Stuffed squash
Acorn squash have a central cavity perfect for stuffing.  Prepare your favorite fully-cooked stuffing, e.g. a rice or quinoa mixture.  Roast your squash as described below.  Preheat the stuffing.  Fill the cooked squash with stuffing, top with grated cheese and return to the oven until everything is hot.

Can you eat the rind?  In my opinion, rinds on these acorn squash are too tough to eat.  Steve eats the Jester rind.  I do not.

We pick, you wash.  We are hustling to bring in our fall crops and don’t have time to wash the winter squash.  We are busy!  Please help by washing your squash!

Please wash your squash to remove any soil.  But let’s pause to ooh and ahh over that bright orange ground-spot.  That predicts a really tasty squash.

Carmelized acorn squash.

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #18, September 14/15, 2023

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ green
– Sampler/ B group

‘Jester’ acorn squash, ~2
Bok choy
Red watermelon
Colored peppers, 3 (or 4), bell &/or frying
‘Oranos’ snack peppers, several
Slicing tomatoes and/or plum tomatoes, ~3.25 lb
(Both types of tomatoes will be in the same bag.)
Zucchini or yellow squash, ~1 count (or 2)
Yellow onion
Basil
By site: globe eggplant OR another pepper OR another zucchini OR a bigger watermelon.

Next week’s box will probably contain green beans, winter squash, tomatoes, peppers, cooking greens, and more.

Watermelon – This is the last melon of the season.  We are sending small red watermelons this time, either ‘Dark Belle’ (oblong) or Mini Love (round).  

‘Jester’ acorn winter squash – You will receive one or two squash.  All are cured, ready to eat, and tasty.  Eat within two weeks, as they are less reliable after that; acorn squash are not meant for storage.  Plus, we will send more next week!  Skins of these types are not edible.  It’s best to cook the squash, then remove the skins, eg by scooping while eating.  
Storage: Store at room temperature for two weeks but keep an eye on your squash and cook promptly if they start to deteriorate.

Bok choy (rosette with thick white stems and green leaves) – This Asian green is good for stir-frying or sautéing or in soup. You can think of the stems and leaves as two separate vegetables. The stems require longer cooking. The leaves will cook almost as quickly as spinach. Bok choy stores well, so feel free to pull off leaves as you need them, or use the whole head at once.
Storage: Refrigerate in a plastic bag or other container.

Tomatoes – Keep a close eye on your tomatoes and eat soon.  It’s fall now, with cooler nights, and the tomato plants are weakening.  If your tomatoes start to show flaws, go ahead and refrigerate them to slow the decline.  It’s better to sacrifice a little flavor.

Zucchini or yellow squash – This is the last of the season.

Yellow onion – This is a pungent cooking-type onion.

RECIPES by PHOEBE

Baked Rice with Tomatoes and Feta

If you’ve ever struggled to cook perfect rice on the stove, then you have to try baking it in the oven! The technique couldn’t be simpler, and the rice comes out with a wonderful light and fluffy texture. In this recipe, I mix aromatic onions and garlic, cumin seeds, lemon zest, and juicy tomatoes into the rice to create a more substantial side dish or vegetarian main. A layer of broiled feta adds delicious richness and tangy flavor. Recipe adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi’s baked rice.

Serves 6 to 8
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon lemon zest, plus lemon wedges for squeezing
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
1½ cups basmati rice, rinsed
½ teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
2¼ cups boiling water
6 ounces feta cheese, roughly crumbled
Za’atar, for garnish, optional
Fresh basil, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cumin seeds, and lemon zest and cook, stirring, until fragrant, another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

Transfer the onion mixture, including all the oil and seasonings, to a 9×13-inch baking dish. Spread in an even layer. Top with the tomatoes and evenly sprinkle with the rice. Season with the salt.

Pouring the boiling water over the rice, then immediately cover the baking dish tightly with foil. Transfer to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Let the dish sit, covered, for 5 minutes at room temperature.

Turn the oven broiler to high.

Uncover the rice and fluff with a fork, mixing the rice, tomatoes, and onions together. Spread in an even layer, then scatter the feta on top. Broil for 3 to 8 minutes, or until the cheese is browned around the edges.

Remove from the oven, squeeze with lemon juice, and garnish with pinches of za’atar, if using, and fresh basil. Season to taste and serve.

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Photo by Jack Mathews and Jeanine Donofrio

Acorn Squash with Chickpeas and Chimichurri

From Love & Lemons
In this flavorful fall recipe, warmly spiced chickpeas fill tender boats of roasted acorn squash. The vibrant green sauce on top is a nontraditional cilantro chimichurri. Substitute basil to feature the contents of your share.
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Photo by The Woks of Life

Stir-Fried Bok Choy

From The Woks of Life
Pair this quick stir fry with any simply cooked protein and a scoop of rice for an easy, healthy meal.
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Photo by The Modern Proper

Chicken Caprese

From The Modern Proper
Homemade pesto is always a great use for fresh basil! While it’s delicious on pasta, you can do so much else with it too. For instance, enjoy it in this chicken Caprese recipe with some of the tomatoes from this week’s box.
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Photo by Half Baked Harvest

20-Minute Korean Beef Sesame Noodles

From Half Baked Harvest
This weeknight noodle recipe calls for “3 cups mixed stir fry vegetables,” which makes it a great match for the contents of this week’s box! Toss in chopped bok choy, thinly sliced peppers, and/or zucchini, and garnish it all with fresh basil. If you don’t have shallots on hand, replace them with thinly sliced onions and increase the cooking time as needed.
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Photo by Eva Kolenko

Tomato Galette

From Love & Lemons
This comforting recipe is perfect for the tail end of tomato season, when the temperatures get cool enough to turn on the oven. It calls for heirloom tomatoes, but both Tipi’s slicers and plum tomatoes would work nicely here. Omit the chives if you don’t have any on hand, and substitute 1 teaspoon dried thyme for the tablespoon fresh.
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Photo by Dishing Up The Dirt

Pumpkin Chili

From Dishing Up The Dirt
Ready for soup season? Make this hearty pumpkin chili with the squash and peppers in this week’s share! Feel free to omit the jalapeño—you can add a pinch of cayenne if you’d like the chili to be spicy.

Week #17; purple + A

Photo credit Mary Ann Eastman
Winter squash harvest begins!  The first squash are curing and will be in your box next week. Above, ‘Heart of Gold,’ a pretty and tasty squash.

I will be away this coming week

I am going to visit family for a few days.  If you have questions or need help, please email me by 12 noon on Thurs 9/8.  Let’s take care of things now because I will have limited internet access while away.  Steve and our hardworking crew will take care of things while I am gone.  Thanks!
Beth

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #17, September 7/8, 2023

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ purple
– Sampler/ A group

Sweet corn!  Final batch!, ~10 ears
Slicing tomatoes, ~4 lb
Red or yellow frying peppers, ~3
Colored bell pepper, 1 or 2
Oranos snack peppers, 1 or 2
Zucchini &/or yellow squash, ~2 lb
Yellow onion
Red onion
Basil

Next week’s box will probably contain bok choy, winter squash, watermelon, tomatoes, peppers, and more.

Sweet corn report – This is the seventh and final sweet corn delivery for the year.  We truly hope you have enjoyed it. We both love it, especially Steve. He has eaten his weight in sweet corn.
You will receive a mix of yellow (Vision) and bicolor corn (Solstice).  We did not see many caterpillars in this batch but this is the time of year when they can reappear. You can always take a close look and chop off the tip before shucking if you think there’s a caterpillar.

Slicing tomatoes – They are at their peak, beautiful and delicious!

Peppers – Pepper medley this week.  Storage: Refrigerate.

Onion – You’ll receive a yellow onion and a red onion this week.  Storage: Store these onions uncovered at room temperature.

RECIPES by DEB

photo by debslunch

Roast Tomatoes over Spicy Beans with More Tomatoes

Takes: 45 mins. to one hour
Serves: 4-6

This recipe includes tomatoes two ways – roasted and in a sauce with a bit of Korean gochujang. It’s based on a recipe by the British food writer and cookbook author Nigel Slater, who uses butter beans, which is what the Brits and some US Southerners call lima beans. I used giant white Corona beans from Rancho Gordo (sometimes available at Willy Street Co-op). You can use any meaty white beans in this recipe, such as great northern beans or cannellini beans; I think even garbanzo beans would work, either canned or cooked from dried. You can also use any type of tomatoes – I roasted slicers and used Romas in the sauce – but again use what you got. Be sure to drizzle a few spoonfuls of the roasted tomato juices over each serving, and serve with crusty bread for mopping up the sauce, possibly the yeasted corn bread below.

For the roasted tomatoes:
5-8 tomatoes, depending on size and how many people you’re serving
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil

For the beans and sauce:
1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped onions
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and shopped or put through a press
3/4 pound tomatoes, slicers or Romas, chopped – peeling optional
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1-2 tablespoons gochujang, depending on your taste for heat
2 14-ounce cans white beans, drained, saving about 1/2 cup of the liquid, OR 2 1/2 to 3 cups white beans cooked from dried, with about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid
Chopped fresh herbs, such as basil or parsley, optional

1. Roast the tomatoes: Heat the oven to 425°. Rinse the tomatoes you’re going to roast, and remove the stems, but otherwise leave whole. Nestle the tomatoes in a glass baking dish that holds them pretty snugly, and drizzle the 3-4 tablespoons olive oil over. Try to use a baking dish that just holds the tomatoes – I used a slightly-too-large dish and my kitchen got a little smoky until the tomato juices ran and covered the exposed olive oil in the bottom of the pan! Roast for about 40 minutes, until the tomatoes are brown on top – the original Nigel Slater recipe says until they have “tan on their shoulders” – and they’re just starting to split and collapse.
2. While the tomatoes roast, make the beans and sauce: pour the 3 tablespoons olive oil into a 10-12 inch deep skillet with a lid, and heat to medium high. Add the onions and salt and pepper, stir, and reduce the heat to so it’s at a gentle simmer. Add the garlic. Cook gently until the onions are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, mustard seeds, cumin, and gochujang, and continue to cook until the tomatoes are starting to break down, about another 10 minutes. Add the beans and their liquid, stir, and taste for seasoning. Cook for about 10 more minutes until the beans are heated through. If the roasting tomatoes aren’t done at this point, cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the roasters are ready.
3. Stir the optional chopped herbs into the sauce, and serve in wide shallow bowls. Give each person a whole tomato with some of the tomato juices.

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Photo by Heidi Swanson

Yeast-raised Cornbread Recipe | 101 Cookbooks

From 101 Cookbooks
Here’s a fun way to use our fresh corn, and this bread is a nice accompaniment to the beans & tomatoes. Cookbook author and photographer Heidi Swanson has been posting recipes to her 101 Cookbooks blog for close to 20 years, and this is an early one, from 2007, and works beautifully as written. I tweaked Heidi’s method just slightly: I made a sponge with all of the water and yeast, and let that rise for about an hour until nice and bubbly. Then I added the remaining flour, and cornmeal, oil, honey, and corn. I omitted the chives, and also used a combination of white and whole wheat flour, instead of the white whole wheat suggested. Finally, instead of doing a rise at the ball of dough phase I shaped my rolls and let those rise for about another hour, and baked them. Heidi suggests baking the rolls in muffin tins which would be pretty if you have fluted ones, as shown in the top picture – I baked my rolls in 2 cake pans, and got 16 as promised in the recipe.

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Hippie Hash (The Best Veggie Hash) | Slender Kitchen

From Slender Kitchen
This flexible recipe for veggie hash is great with a whole variety of toppings, from fresh herbs and feta cheese, as shown the picture, to avocados or a fried egg. The version here includes broccoli, but the main veggies are zucchini or summer squash and peppers, both in this week’s box.
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Simple Sausage and Corn Tart | An Oregon Cottage

From An Oregon Cottage
This corn-peppers-sausage tart is made with an easy press-in olive oil crust. The recipe includes a bacon variation, but you could also omit meat entirely for a vegetarian pie.
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One-pot Miso Corn pasta| ABC Everyday

By Hetty McKinnon, From ABC Everyday
This quick one pot pasta with fresh corn is from Hetty McKinnon, who writes wonderful recipes for vegetables, but most are at NYT Cooking, which is available by subscription only. If you are a subscriber, check out Hetty’s Sook Mei Faan (Cantonese Creamed Corn With Tofu and Rice) at NYT Cooking, for a nice cool summer dish, that despite the cream in the name, is vegan.
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Zucchini and Stuffing Casserole | The Spruce Eats

From The Spruce Eats
This zucchini casserole includes processed ingredients that most of us who get CSA boxes don’t like to use, stuffing mix and cream of chicken soup. I first encountered it in a community garden cookbook from my hometown, Pittsburgh PA, and thought it was so delicious I set out to recreate it without the stuffing mix and soup. One option is to make a cream sauce with vegetable or chicken broth to replace the soup, and make homemade croutons to replace the stuffing mix. An even easier method is to sub in 2 eggs and 3/4 cup of milk for the soup and use 2 cups of bread crumbs, toasted in some of the butter, instead of the stuffing mix.
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Photo by Sally McKenney

Zucchini Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies | Sally’s Baking Addiction

From Sally’s Baking Addiction
The final recipe for end-of-the-summer zucchini! Cookies with oatmeal and chocolate chips. I have always found the recipes Sally’s Baking Addiction to be thoroughly tested – they work! Sally’s website links to a number of additional ideas for zucchini, sweet and savory – including a zucchini casserole with feta cheese, and no stuffing mix.

Week #16; Monticello Social club

We have a new favorite place to enjoy amazing meals prepared with local foods.  During the pandemic, a group of farmer friends started a prepared foods venture called the Community Kitchen Co-op.  This year, they are offering sit-down meals in their beautiful shop in tiny Monticello, south of Verona.  The Monticello Social Club hosts five-course, fixed-menu meals every two weeks.  We’ve attended three times so far.  These folks know how to cook!  The spread is always amazing.  Most of the photos are from the August 26 dinner with a few thrown in from earlier evenings.

This is not some weird paid promo.  I don’t do that.  These are people I admire for their work in local communities.  I love what they are doing it and want to spread the word.  While it’s called a ‘social club’, it is completely open to the public.  Look for Steve and me if you attend a meal – we try to go at least one per month.  The meals are family style and everyone is friendly.  These generous meals are the equivalent of the best that Madison has to offer.  Come hungry!
Beth

How to freeze sweet corn.

We hope you are enjoying the steady sweet corn as much as we are.  Next week (Sept 7/8) will be the final corn delivery.  If you’re looking for new ideas, here are a few, all using kernels cut from the cob.  I recommend working on a cutting board in your sink, to contain the splatter.
– To freeze corn, cook it as usual, let cool, and cut the kernels from the cob.  Pack in freezer boxes or bags.  Include the accumulated corn juice, which will help protect the kernels from freezer burn.
– Cooked kernels are good in salsa.
– Raw kernels can be added to soups, stews, tomato sauces.  Add and stir during the last few minutes of cooking.
– By now, you probably realize that you can eat raw corn straight from the cob.  That’s a Tipi farm favorite!

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #16, August 31/ Sept 1, 2023

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ green
– Sampler/ D group

‘Vision’ sweet corn, 9 ears
Red or orange or yellow watermelon
Slicing tomatoes, ~3 lb
Red frying pepper, 1
Yellow bell pepper, 1 or 2
‘Orano’ orange snack peppers, a few
Zucchini, ~1.25 lb
Yellow ‘Expression’ onion
Basil
Korean Red garlic
By site:  1 cucumber or another pepper

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

Sweet corn – This is another beautiful batch of ‘Vision’.  No bugs.

Slicing tomatoes – These are riper than usual and so delicious, due to the hot weather.  Eat soon.  Spread on a platter on your kitchen counter so you can keep an eye on them.  If you see flaws developing, refrigerate.

Peppers – Some of the yellow peppers have black seeds.  This is undetectable from the outside, and largely does not affect the pepper itself.  If you find this, you will want to trim away the core and rinse the pepper.  This is frustrating for us since we cannot recognize it from the outside. And the peppers themselves are so great.  We think it’s a transient problem.  Doesn’t seem to affect anything other than the yellow bells.

RECIPES by PHOEBE

Creamy Corn Casserole with Basil

If you’re anything like me, you’ll go back for a second serving of this casserole as soon as you’ve finished your first! I love the combination of textures here. A creamy blend of ricotta and Parmesan lightly binds the crisp, juicy corn kernels together, and a crunchy layer of breadcrumbs tops it all off. Pair this casserole with a salad for a light vegetarian dinner, or serve it alongside your favorite protein for a heartier meal. Adapted from the Farro & Greens Gratin in Love & Lemons Simple Feel Good Food.

Serves 4 to 6
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

1 cup diced zucchini (about ½ medium)
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 teaspoon lemon zest
½ teaspoon sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 cup diced onion (about ½ medium)
Kernels from 3 ears fresh sweet corn (about 2¼ cups)
1 cup panko or toasted homemade breadcrumbs
⅓ cup finely chopped fresh basil, plus more whole leaves for garnish
Red pepper flakes

Place the zucchini in a colander and toss with a pinch of salt. Set aside to drain.

Preheat the oven to 375°F and oil a 9×9-inch or similar baking dish.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the ricotta, Parmesan, garlic, lemon zest, salt, and several grinds of pepper and mix well to combine. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes.

Shake any excess water off the zucchini, then add the zucchini to the pan. Cook for 1 minute. Add the corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until bright yellow and slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Place the breadcrumbs in a small bowl and drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Toss to coat, adding more oil as needed, until all the breadcrumbs are lightly coated.

Add the corn mixture to the bowl with the ricotta and mix to combine. Fold in the basil. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish and use a spatula to spread in an even layer. Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and bake for 18 to 23 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs are golden brown and the casserole is set. Remove from the oven and let stand 5 minutes at room temperature.

Garnish with fresh basil leaves, sprinkle with red pepper flakes, and serve.

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Photo by Two Peas and Their Pod

Grilled Italian Sausage and Peppers

From Two Peas and Their Pod
This recipe would be perfect for a Labor Day cookout! Grill up Italian sausages with onions and peppers, and stuff them into buns with marinara and melty mozzarella.
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Photo by Smitten Kitchen

Grilled Pepper and Torn Mozzarella Panzanella

From Smitten Kitchen
Panzanella, a Tuscan bread salad, is traditionally made with tomatoes, but in this recipe, Deb swaps in grilled sweet peppers for a delicious twist. Top it off with the basil from this week’s box!
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Photo by What’s Gaby Cooking

Basil Vinaigrette Pasta

From What’s Gaby Cooking
It’s not pesto pasta…it’s basil vinaigrette pasta! Gaby adds zucchini to this summery pasta dish, but you could toss in any veggie you like—sweet corn, peppers, or even chopped fresh tomatoes.

• Note: If you don’t have a shallot, omit it from the dressing, or replace it with 1/4 cup diced onion. Use thinly sliced onion in the pasta.

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Photo by Eva Kolenko

Tomato Salad

From Love & Lemons
If you love tomatoes, you’ll love this salad! It’s amazingly simple, so it really lets the tomatoes shine. Serve it as an easy side dish with any summer meal.

• Note: If you don’t have parsley on hand, skip the gremolata, and top the salad with extra basil.

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Photo by Spoon Fork Bacon

Tomato Bruschetta

From Spoon Fork Bacon
If you’re hosting a gathering over Labor Day weekend, bruschetta would be a wonderful appetizer! Balsamic vinegar, garlic, and black pepper add depth of flavor to the classic tomato and basil topping.
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Photo by Minimalist Baker

Grilled Corn & Zucchini Salad with Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette

From Minimalist Baker
This bountiful summer salad features grilled zucchini, sweet corn, and a creamy sun-dried tomato and basil dressing. Serve it as a side dish at your next cookout, or toss in roasted chickpeas to make it a meal.

Week #15; There once was a day so hot …

There once was a day so hot,
That produce did threaten to rot.
‘‘Twas hard for the crew
And prob’ly for you.
Fare well in the heat we did not.

Beth

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #15, August 24/25, 2023

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ purple
– Sampler/ C group

Bicolor sweet corn, 9 ears
‘New Orchid’ orange watermelon
Slicing tomatoes, 2.5 to 2.75 lb
Red peppers, 2 or 3, bell &/or frying peppers
Zucchini, 1 or 2
Cucumbers, ~2
Yellow onion
Basil, 1 sprig
Korean Red garlic
By site: Green beans (3/4 lb) OR 1 pint grape tomatoes

Next week’s box will probably contain sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, basil, garlic and more.

‘New Orchid’ watermelon – This has a beautiful sherbet color, crisp texture and great flavor.  It’s a great variety.

Cucumbers – These might be the last cucumbers of the season.  Sob.

Garlic – This is the Korean Red variety, large heads with lots of cloves.

New orchid watermelon.

If your Korean Red garlic has white papers, keep peeling and you’ll find its beautiful purple color.

RECIPES by DEB

photo by debslunch

Quick Crust Deep Dish Pizza

Serves: 3-4
Takes: ~45 minutes, depending on what toppings you use!

This pizza is based on Jamie Oliver’s Cheat’s Deep-Pan Pizza. Jamie’s is filled with sausage, onion, and pickled jalapeños and topped with cheddar, but you can use any type of summer vegetables, and add tomato sauce if you like (and have some around!). My version’s filling is bulk Italian sausage, onions, garlic, corn, and red bell pepper topped with a combination of provolone and pepper jack and sliced tomatoes. The trick to this pizza is preparing the filling in a cast iron pan. That gets the pan hot and well greased, then you remove the filling and stretch the dough in the same pan, top, and bake in a hot oven. It’s perfectly OK to omit meat and make your pizza vegetarian, just use the larger amount of olive oil when preparing the filling. The pizza needs to bake in a hot oven but only for a short time, so perfect for hot summer days!

Crust:
2 cups flour – I have only tested unbleached, but I’m sure adding part whole wheat would work just fine
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar, optional
1/2 to 2/3 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon olive oil

Pizza:
1-3 tablespoons olive oil (the larger amount is recommended for a vegetarian pie)
8 oz. Italian sausage
3/4 cup sliced onion
2 cloves garlic
small amounts of dried oregano, fennel seed, red pepper flakes, optional
kernels cut from 1 ear of corn
half a bell pepper, sliced
OR about two cups assorted vegetables, OR less veggies and 1/3 cup prepared tomato sauce
1 generous cup grated cheese, your choice
sliced tomatoes for topping
julienned fresh basil leaves, optional

1. Make the crust: combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar if using in a medium bowl. Add 1/2 cup water and the olive oil, and mix adding more water as needed to get a pliable dough, with no spots of dry flour. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Invert your scraped out mixing bowl over the dough and let it rest while you make the filling.
2. Make the filling: Heat the oven to 475°. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add your sausage if using, and brown while breaking the meat into small chunks with a wooden spoon. Add onions, garlic, and optional herbs & spices, and continue to cook until onions are starting to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Add the corn and bell pepper, stir, and continue cooking until peppers are soft, another 5 minutes or so. For vegetarian pizza, start with 2 tablespoons of oil, add the onions and garlic, then any additional vegetables and spices you like. (Cubed zucchini from this week’s box would be nice with corn!)
3. Assemble and bake the pizza: Turn the heat under the pan to low. Uncover your dough and roll out to a 9- to 10-inch circle. Scrape your filling into the mixing bowl that was covering the dough. If using meat, add more olive oil if the pan seems dry; if using vegetables only, add the 3rd tablespoon of olive oil. Fold your dough in half, gently – some people like to roll it around the rolling pin – and lay it in the pan. With your finger tips, carefully stretch the dough in the hot pan covering the bottom and going up the sides. If using sauce add it now, spread the filling over the crust, then rest of your toppings. Sprinkle the grated cheese over. If using fresh sliced tomatoes, make a layer of most of the cheese, arrange the tomatoes over the cheese, then top with the last of the cheese. Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Let rest 5-10 minutes before slicing. Top with fresh basil if desired. I like to remove the pizza from the pan to a cutting board to make it easier to slice.

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photo by Mark Bittman

Cucumber Caprese | Mark Bittman

From The Bittman Project
This is a formula, rather than a recipe, from Mark Bittman. Most of the content is behind a paywall but you can read Bittman’s formula for Cucumber Caprese (and his dissing of more traditional Caprese with mozzarella), an interesting and refreshing way to eat up our summer cucumbers and tomatoes! Chunks of our slicing tomatoes can be subbed for the cherry tomatoes Bittman uses.
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Mexican Street Corn Soup | Foolproof Living

From Foolproof Living
As I’m writing this it’s 87° and feels like 92° outside, so soup might seem a bit off season. But in fact this soup could be prepared in the morning when it’s cool, and reheated for a light supper, without your ever turning your oven on. It calls for potatoes, which do make it heavier – you could omit and increase the corn. The recipe suggests using kernels from 6-8 ears of corn to yield about about 4 cups of corn; I think you might not need that many ears. There are also suggestions for making the soup lower fat, and subbing bell pepper for the jalapeños. You can definitely adjust the toppings to your taste and what you have on hand.
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photo by Julia Gartland

Nonnie’s Tomato Pie Recipe | Food52

From Food52
This is a Southern-style tomato pie with mayonnaise in the filling so it does need to cool and set before cutting; the recipe recommends cooling 30 minutes. There’s also a version at OuiChef, but the recipe on Food52 seems more updated, and provides better instructions for preparing and blind baking the crust, while still giving the option to use purchased crust if you like.
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5-Ingredient No-Cook Tomato Sauce | The Mediterranean Dish

From the The Mediterranean Dish
The special technique in this no-cook tomato sauce is grating the tomatoes. You then mix in herbs and seasoning and a little olive oil, let the sauce marinate while you cook the pasta, add warm cooked pasta to the sauce, and serve. The recipe calls for parsley and dried oregano, but fresh basil from our box is a perfect substitution.
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Zucchini Sweet Corn Muffins | The BakerMama

From the BakerMama
I have to admit that the zucchini garnish on these muffins throws me a bit – I’d probably leave it off! Regardless the combination of fresh corn, cornmeal, and zucchini in these moist and mildly sweet muffins is quite nice and they could accompany lots of different main dishes or be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or snacks.
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Fresh Corn and Tomato Fettuccine Recipe | Taste of Home

From Taste of Home
This recipe instructs you to cook the corn with the pasta, still on the cob, which adds additional corn flavor to the pasta. If don’t want to fish the corn cobs out of the pasta, you could boil the corn first in the same water, then remove and add the pasta. You can also sub regular onions for the green – cook them along with the bell pepper – and of course use fresh basil as a stand in for parsley.

Week #14, Is that mud??

Farm News

Have you heard about this stuff called … mud?  We rediscovered it on Monday, during the first all-day rain of the year.  We had to get the rain gear out of storage.  That’s pretty crazy; it’s August.  We are happy to get the rain – it has been a very droughty season here.

The irrigator is parked, at least for now.  

We said good-by to longterm employee Karen.  
After ten years working for us, she’s returning to school to become a registered nurse.  Karen is great, up for any challenge and friends with all her coworkers.  We will miss her energy and deep Tipi experience.  She lives across the road so this is not a formal goodbye.

Gorgeous corn.
This is a beautiful batch of sweet corn.  It’s the ‘Vision’ variety again.  You know you can eat raw corn, right?  That’s how we celebrate the end of each sweet corn harvest. It is amazing straight from the plant.

Corn smut.
Here’s a twist.  If you find large black kernels in your sweet corn, it is a naturally occurring fungus called corn smut.  Known in Mexico as huitlacoche, it’s a delicacy when young.  By the time the corn is ready to harvest, the kernels are fully black inside and not good to eat.  If you catch it younger, the corn kernels are their normal color, often veined with black.  It’s a delicacy and very delicious.  Tastes like a combo of corn and mushrooms.  Corn smut is more common at the tip of the ear but we throw away those obvious ears.  It’s harder for us to detect when under the husks, and therefore more likely to show up in your CSA box.

The rest of the ear is perfectly fine.  Snap off and throw away the black kernels, then eat the ear of corn.

Looks like I will lose a chunk of garden. That’s the risk if you plant too close to the road.

Power outage
Our power was off Tuesday afternoon.  That’s a huge problem because we need functioning coolers and plenty of wash water.  Turns out that a crew installing underground fiber optic cable severed the main electric line for our road.  What a sheepish-looking group of men standing by the side of the road.  They freely admitted it was their mistake.  And a dangerous one!  The utility got the power back in a few hours and life went back to normal.  Next step, they tear up the roadside in front of our house.

Believe it or not, Steve and I got away for a weekend.  I rented a lake house halfway to St. Paul and our kids met us there.  It was great!  It’s amazing how restorative just a few days can be.

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!
Beth

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #14, Aug 17 / 18, 2023

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ green
– Sampler/ B group

Sweet corn, 9 ears
Red watermelon
Green beans, 3/4 lb
Slicing tomatoes, ~3 lb
Cherry tomatoes, 1 pint
Zucchini or yellow squash, 1 or 2
Cucumbers, 3
Silver Slicer cucumber, 1 or 2
Red bell peppers, 2
Yellow ‘Elsye’ onion
Jalapeno chile

Next week’s box will probably contain sweet corn, melon, tomatoes, peppers and more summer goodness.  It’s that time of year!

Red watermelon – These compact beauties are ‘Mini Love’.

Zucchini or yellow squash – First harvest from a new patch!

Cucumbers – Folks, enjoy these cukes as their season will end soon.  I have sent a lot of cucumbers recently, including this week.  Our second planting is on richer soil and has cranked out so many fruit.  It peaked in this week and last week but I think it’s going to crash soon.

Yellow onion – This variety is supposed to be mild, but we are finding that all the onions this year are pungent.  These will fry better than the recent Walla Walla onions.
Storage: Room temperature or refrigerate.

RECIPES by PHOEBE

Sheet Pan Gnocchi with Tomatoes and Peppers

I’ve developed a few sheet pan gnocchi recipes for Love & Lemons this year, and I think they’re such a fun, easy way to make dinner! You don’t have to boil the gnocchi—just toss it with veggies, olive oil, and flavorful seasonings, and roast until it’s tender and the veggies are browned. The red pepper flakes add a spicy kick to this recipe. Use less (or omit them) if you’re sensitive to heat.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Serves 3 to 4

1 pound store-bought gnocchi, refrigerated or shelf-stable
1 large slicing tomato, cut into thin wedges
1 bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and thinly sliced
½ small onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, less if sensitive to spice
Freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, torn

Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the gnocchi, tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, oregano, salt, red pepper flakes, and several grinds of pepper. Toss until the gnocchi and vegetables are well coated in the seasonings.

Spread evenly on the prepared baking sheet. Roast for 17 to 22 minutes, or until the gnocchi is tender and the vegetables are browned.

Remove from the oven and scatter the cheese evenly on top. Season to taste and serve.

Photo by Jack Mathews and Jeanine Donofrio

Watermelon Gazpacho

From Love & Lemons
It looks like we have a warm week ahead of us, so I thought a gazpacho recipe was in order! This recipe is a great fit for this week’s box, using watermelon, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and jalapeño. Here are a few tweaks to save you a trip to the store:

• Make sure to seed the watermelon!
• Replace the green onions with 1/8 white or Spanish onion. Add more to taste.
• Omit the basil if you don’t have any on hand.

 

Photo by A Couple Cooks

Easy Corn Fritters

From A Couple Cooks
These corn fritters really are easy, made with basic ingredients that you likely have on hand. Replace the green onion with a couple tablespoons of minced white onion.

Photo by Cookie + Kate

Cucumber Tomato Salad with Greek Dressing

From Cookie + Kate
This simple salad will pair nicely with almost any summer meal. Omit the fresh herbs if you don’t have any on hand—the tangy dressing packs this salad with plenty of flavor.

Photo by Minimalist Baker

Almond Butter Tofu Stir Fry

From Minimalist Baker
Almond butter adds rich, nutty flavor to this simple weeknight stir fry. The recipe calls for green beans and small, spicy peppers (your jalapeño would work!), but for a milder version, you can toss in a bell pepper or two.

Photo by Eva Kolenko

Zucchini Smoothie

From Love & Lemons
I thought it would be fun to feature some zucchini breakfast recipes this week. First up is this smoothie. Even though it’s made with a vegetable (and other good stuff like almond butter and dates), it tastes like a chocolate milkshake. A perfect breakfast for a hot summer day.

Photo by The First Mess

Zucchini Baked Oatmeal Cups

From The First Mess
The easiest way to take oatmeal on the go! These cute little oatmeal cups are vegan and gluten-free…and studded with chocolate chips, because who doesn’t like chocolate for breakfast?

Week #13; Seven weeks of corn

Staggered corn plantings.

This week’s sweet corn is week #3 of seven plantings.  If all goes according to plan, we will have seven straight weeks of corn for you.  You told us you want steady corn (and lots of it!) so this is it.  This is a very nice batch this week, of our favorite ‘Vision’ variety.

We have small sweet corn fields scattered around the farm.  You can see staggered plantings in the photos.  The top photo, taken July 15, shows a field with three sequential plantings, transplanted one week apart.  The youngest are the wispy ones on the right.  The bottom photo shows corn closer to maturity.  The rows on the left should be ready to harvest in three weeks.  The taller ones on the right should be ready in two weeks. 

Salsa box!

We’re sending ingredients to make a batch of salsa this week, with tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, jalapeño chile, and cilantro. For adventurous salsa makers, corn kernels are great too.

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #13, August 10/11, 2023

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ purple
– Sampler/ A group

Sweet corn, 9 ears
Yellow Doll watermelon
Slicing tomatoes, 3 lb
Cherry tomatoes, 1 pint
Green beans, about 1 lb
Bell peppers, red or purple, 2
Silver Slicer cucumbers, a handful
Cucumbers, 2 or 3
White onion
Cilantro, 1 bunch
Jalapeno chile (HOT), 1

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

White onion – These are more pungent onions than the Walla Wallas that we’ve sent in recent weeks.  We consider them intermediate between Wallas and yellow storage onions in both pungency and ability to be fried.  In other words, these will fry better than Wallas but not as well as a yellow onion.
Storage:  These can be stored at room temperature or refrigerated.

Cilantro (small bunch, fragrant leaves) – Used in both Mexican and some Asian cuisines.  Good to season stir-fries, salad dressing, salsa, etc.
Storage:  Cover and refrigerate.

Jalapeno chile – I suspect most of you are familiar with these small green chiles.  Good flavor and medium heat.
Storage:  Refrigerate.

RECIPES by PHOEBE
Phoebe is back and sharing recipe duties with Deb, who has been a trouper while Phoebe was away. I am lucky to have these two fabulous helpers!

Creamy Tahini Chicken Salad

A Mediterranean spin on chicken salad! A creamy tahini-yogurt dressing coats tender chicken breast, juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumber, and artichoke hearts. I love it on a sandwich, with crackers, or stuffed into pita bread.

Serves 2 to 4
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 slicing tomato (8 ounces), cut in a ½-inch dice
½ large cucumber (6 ounces), peeled if skin is thick, seeded, and cut in a ½-inch dice
4 canned artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed, cut in a ½-inch dice
¼ cup kalamata olives, pitted and torn
Pita bread, optional, for serving

Creamy Tahini Dressing
¼ cup tahini
¼ cup whole milk Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, grated
½ teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons water, plus more as needed

At the bottom of an 8×8-inch baking pan or other shallow dish, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Add the chicken and flip to coat in the marinade. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Transfer the chicken to the baking sheet and bake for 15 to 25 minutes, or until the internal temperature reads 165°F when pierced with an instant read thermometer in the thickest part of the breast. Remove from the oven and let rest for at least 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the tahini, yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and water. The dressing should have a creamy but pourable consistency. If it is too thick, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it reaches your desired consistency.

Cut the cooked chicken breast into a ½-inch dice. Place it in a large bowl and add the tomato, cucumber, artichokes, and olives. Pour in the dressing and fold to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately with pita bread, if desired.

Photo by Jeanine Donofrio

Homemade Salsa

From Love & Lemons
If you’ve never made homemade salsa before, this is the week to try it! It’s easy to make in the food processor, and it has a fresher, brighter taste than typical jarred salsa. Great on your favorite Mexican dishes or with tortilla chips.

Photo by Eva Kolenko

Elote

From Love & Lemons
One of the most delicious ways to eat grilled corn on the cob! Slather the ears with mayo and sprinkle them with Cotija cheese, chili powder, cilantro, and lime for a flavorful side dish or snack.

Photo by A Beautiful Plate

Charred Green Beans with Cilantro Vinaigrette

From A Beautiful Plate
Char this week’s green beans in a hot oven or on the grill. Then, toss them with a simple cilantro dressing for a zesty side dish!

Photo by Spoon Fork Bacon

Best Corn Salad

From Spoon Fork Bacon
If you’re looking for an out-of-the-box corn salad recipe, this one might be for you. It has a few unique elements:

1) Charred halloumi cheese offers a rich, salty contrast to the sweet corn kernels.
2) It has a brown butter dressing, which gives it nutty depth of flavor.

The recipe calls for chives, but you could sub in a little diced white onion for a similar savory kick.

Photo by Andrea Bemis

Summer Crunch Salad

From Dishing Up The Dirt
This salad recipe was made for this week’s box! It features sweet corn, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and bell peppers, all tossed in a tangy vinegar dressing with some creamy goat cheese. Swap out the parsley for cilantro.

Photo by What’s Gaby Cooking

Castelvetrano Greek Pasta Salad

From What’s Gaby Cooking
This pasta salad recipe would be great for a simple dinner, packed lunch, or picnic. It’s filled with chewy pasta, briny olives, tangy feta, and lots of veggies—you’ll use some cucumber, cherry tomatoes, peppers, and onion from this week’s box.

Week #12; Abundance

We are wealthy in watermelons.

Wow, the farm is incredibly productive right now.  This is common in a drought year on a vegetable farm IF you have irrigation.  Everything is growing strongly, probably because diseases are low during the dry weather.  Insect populations can go either way in a drought but seem to be at normal levels right now.  It was great to get rain over the weekend but it soaked in quickly and we are irrigating again already.  

I’ll be honest.  We’re pretty whipped by the extra work, so I don’t have much to share tonight except a beautiful evening sky over the barn and silo.  The farm is absorbing all our attention and energy right now.
Take care,
Beth

Tomato Care

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

We are heading into peak tomato season.  Yeah!  Ripe tomatoes are delicious but highly perishable so let’s talk about their care.

Ripeness:  Each delivery, we pack a mix of ripe and less-ripe tomatoes so you can stretch them through the week.  In the photo above, the top two tomatoes are ready to eat.  The bottom two tomatoes can ripen at room temperature for a few days.

Storage:  Tomatoes retain their best flavor and texture when stored at room temperature, no lower than 55 F.  I encourage you to spread your tomatoes on plates so you can watch them.  Eat the ripest ones first, or any showing flaws.  
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 to let your tomatoes spoil.  Also, fully ripe tomatoes are less sensitive to chilling injury.

They might need washing:  We handle the ripe tomatoes as little as possible to avoid bruising.

(Left)  The yellow arrow shows small inconsequential flaws that will grow with time.  Eat now!
(Right) The purple arrows show leaf residue bits stuck to the tomato.  Wet the tomato and the residue will come right off.

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #12, August 3/4, 2o23

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ green
– Sampler/ D group

Sweet corn, 9 ears
Carrots, 2 lb
Slicing tomatoes, ~2.5 lb
Cherry tomatoes, 1 pint
Green beans, 0.8 lb
Cucumbers, ~2
Silver Slicer cucumbers, 2 or 3
Green bell pepper, 1 large
Zucchini &/or yellow squash, ~1 squash
Walla Walla onion
BY SITE: muskmelon OR Yellow Doll watermelon

Next week’s box will probably contain sweet corn, tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, melons, onions and more.

Sweet corn – There are far fewer caterpillars than last week.  This is good news.  If you see browning at the tip, cut off the tip before shucking the corn.

Green beans – Storage: Store in the warmest part of your refrigerator.

Cucumbers – We’ve begun harvests from our second cucumber field.  These are beautiful, beautiful cukes.  You’ll notice less scarring now, which is typical as we move from an older to younger planting.  We are sending both green slicing cukes plus a special variety called Silver Slicer.  These smaller cucumbers are thin-skinned, like pickling cucumbers, and have delicious flavor.  No need to peel these ones.  For that matter, there’s no need to peel the green cucumbers either, unless you receive an unusually large one.  We will distribute the green and Silver cucumbers by site over the coming weeks, as we harvest them.

Walla Walla onion – Please refrigerate your Walla Walla this week.  They are not storage onions, and the recent hot weather is not good for them.  Keeping them cold is your best option.

Muskmelons (some sites) – Refrigerate or let ripen at room temperature for up to two days, max.

Yellow Doll watermelon (some sites) – Watermelons can be refrigerated or stored at room temperature until they are cut.  Once cut, they need to be refrigerated.

You’ll get a mix of slicing cucumbers (green) and Silver Slicer cukes (white) over the coming weeks.

RECIPES by DEB

Photo by DebsLunch

Summer vegetable stir fry with peanut sauce

You can adapt this recipe using what you like and have on hand. You need about 8 ounces of protein, plus 4-6 cups chopped vegetables (not counting onions and garlic!) to serve four. I used ground turkey, but you can sub ground pork or chicken or tofu. My stir fry has green beans, carrots, yellow summer squash, and bell pepper, but again use what you have. The peanut sauce recipe makes about 2 cups and you’ll only need one so will have extra for another purpose. This is a plain & simple peanut sauce that you can jazz up by adding Siracha or other hot sauce, and is great as a dip with cucumbers or steamed broccoli, and on sauteed chicken, or to make cold noodle salad. You can also top your stir fry with marinated cucumbers – here’s a pic; method in the week 11 newsletter (in the headnote for the Spicy Peanut Noodles with Cucumber recipe).

Serves 4-5
Takes about 45 mins. to 1 hour

Peanut sauce:
1 cup peanut butter, natural smooth or crunchy or commercial will all work fine
3 tablespoons lime juice or rice or cider vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar, maple syrup, or honey
approximately 1/2 cup coconut milk or hot water or a combination to thin

Stir fry:
1 cup white or brown rice
kosher salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 ounces ground turkey or pork, or firm tofu, crumbled
2-4 cloves garlic, minced or put through a press
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup sliced onion
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 to 1 1/2 cups green beans, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces – measure after cutting
1 medium yellow squash or zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into chunks
1 green or red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup of the peanut sauce
1 tablespoon Siracha or other Asian hot sauce, optional
Optional toppings: salted roasted peanuts, more hot sauce, cucumbers tossed with a little rice vinegar and salt, as discussed last week under Spicy Peanut Noodles with Cucumber.

1. If using brown rice, start cooking that first. Start white rice after you make the peanut sauce. Combine the rice and two cups water in a sauce pan with a lid. Bring to a boil, uncovered, add a pinch or two of kosher salt, then cover and turn the heat way down. Check after about 45 minutes to see if the water is absorbed and there are steam holes through the rice indicating it’s done.
2. Make the peanut sauce: Combine all the ingredients except the coconut milk or hot water in blender or a bowl, and either blend or whisk to combine. Add coconut milk and/or hot water until you get a good pourable consistency.
3. Cook the stir fry: Pour the oil into a deep wide skillet with a lid and heat over medium. Add the turkey or other meat, or tofu crumbles, and cook stirring, and if using meat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and salt and pepper, and stir until fragrant. Add the onions. At this point add the veggies in order of the length of time they take to cook, and cover the pan for a few minutes to steam the veggies a bit – add a few tablespoons of water if things start sticking. In this version, start with the carrots, then green beans, and finally squash and bell pepper. Total cooking time will be about 15 minutes.
4. When all the veggies are cooked to your liking, add the peanut sauce and Siracha. Mix to coat everything with the sauce and once it’s bubbling, cook for a few minutes uncovered to meld. Taste to see if it needs more salt, peanut sauce, or Siracha, and serve over rice with optional toppings.

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Photo by DebsLunch

Corn and green bean salad with cherry tomatoes and nuts

You can cook the corn for this salad using any method you like: steaming, as Beth suggests (Veggie Notes/ Sweet corn), boiling, or even roasting, on the grill or in the oven (see this link for oven roasting in the husks) or on the stove in a grill pan. You’ll need about 4 ears of corn, so if you cook up a bunch of corn to eat on the cob, you can use the leftovers!

Dressing:
1 large clove garlic, minced or put through a press
2 tablespoons white wine or cider vinegar
1 teaspoon brown sugar, plus more to taste
2 teaspoons grainy or Dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Salad:
3-4 cups corn kernels, cut from about 4 ears of corn
2/3 to one pound green beans, cooked and cut into 2 inch lengths
3/4 cup toasted nuts, coarsely chopped – I used whole almonds but walnuts or pecans would also be good
9-10 cherry tomatoes cut in half

1. Make the dressing: Combine the garlic, vinegar, sugar, and mustard in a small bowl or spouted glass measuring cup. Whisk in the oil until emulsified. Season with salt & pepper. Alternatively, combine everything in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake to combine.
2. Add the corn and green beans to a large mixing bowl, and toss with most of the dressing. Add the nuts and cherry tomatoes, toss again, and taste to see if it need more dressing or seasoning. This salad is good right away, but can also be chilled overnight – bring to room temperature and add the nuts right before serving.

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Photo by Christy Denney

Corn Salsa Recipe | The Girl Who Ate Everything

From The Girl who Ate Everything
This corn salsa recipe also provides a few more suggestions for how to cook your corn. I suggest saving the cobs for veggie stock; see this 2020 Tipi newsletter for tips on corn cob stock, under ‘Sweet Corn Risotto with Corn Cob Broth & Cherry Tomatoes’.  Feel free to omit cilantro, and sub Walla Walla onion for the purple onion – place the chopped onion in a strainer and rinse with cold water if it seems strong, then drain and add to salsa. You can also omit the jalapeño or use jarred or canned chiles, or a few dashes of red pepper flakes if you don’t have fresh.
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Roasted Carrot Hummus | Foolproof Living

From Foolproof Living
There are plenty of versions of dips with roasted carrots out there; this hummus from Foolproof Living is gluten free (if served with gluten free dippers) and vegan – and will surely appeal to any hummus lovers.
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Photo by DOTDASH Meredith Food Studios

Marinated Cucumber, Onion, and Tomato Salad | Allrecipes.com

Recipe by BogeyBill from Allrecipes.com
This marinated salad only takes a few minutes of chopping, and because it’s marinated, it’s actually better made ahead.
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Roasted Tomato Cream Sauce | Midwest Foodie

From Midwest Foodie
As this recipe says, you can use whatever kind of tomatoes you have for this sauce – the roasting process concentrates even the juicier slicers. It calls for 3 pounds of tomatoes, which is about what we got this week, but it makes 5 cups of sauce, and that’s more than you need for a pound of pasta. So, if you don’t want to devote all of this week’s tomatoes to sauce, you could halve it and still have enough for a pasta dinner. You can simply omit the fresh basil if you don’t have any, or substitute dried.
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Photo by Tieghan Gerard

Smashed Cucumber and Watermelon Feta Salad | Half Baked Harvest

From Half Baked Harvest
This recipe from Half Baked Harvest combines the watermelon & feta salad that’s been popular for years, with the smashed cucumber technique that’s we’ve been hearing about much more recently. Muskmelon can sub for watermelon if that’s what you get in your box – or try this cantaloupe and feta salad, with fresh mint. The salad will taste good without the fresh herbs, or you can sub small amounts of dried – about half a teaspoon of dill or basil. Like all Half Baked Harvest recipes it calls for avocado, which you can omit. Persian cucumbers are small and seedless, and a combination of 2-3 of our silver slicer and regular cucumbers will work fine here, and you can seed the green cucumbers if you wish.