CSA Harvest Box: week 9, 10, 11, 12, & 13!

Well gee- looks like I've gotten a *little* behind! Hope you weren't sitting on the edge of your seat- hahaha.

Here's a run down of the last MONTH of awesome farm-a-licious produce.

actually... I think this picture was from week 8. For lunch when we got home from the market, I sauteed corn, green beans, cherry tomatoes, potatoes, and chicken (not from the farm.) It kind of looks like schlop, but it was tasty!

Week 9: lettuce, tomato, cherry tomatoes, leeks, tomatillos, basil, fresh garbanzo beans, zucchini, potatoes, and cucumber.

That big shaggy thing in the center of the picture is the garbanzo's. I think the farmer ripped the whole plant up out of the ground and stuck it in our bag- roots with dirt on them and all! Well I was excited for something new, so when we got home I picked off all the pods:

and then shelled them:

and then made a fresh hummus! It was green.... and probably a little too thick, but yummy. I just sauteed the fresh beans in olive oil until they were soft and then continued with the recipe as stated.

Another straight from the farm meal: I made a "tortilla" soup of sorts (um... no tortillas though... is that wrong?) I heated up some previously made chicken stock and threw in some cooked chicken, and then the tomatillos, corn, leeks, and tomatoes from the farm until they were soft. Of course, it needed chili powder, salt & pepper, cumin, etc. Top with sour cream and cilantro, and jack baby! I love meals that come together with what I have on hand.

Week 10:

lettuce, leeks, summer squash, cucumbers, slicing tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, gravenstein apples, sweet corn, and sweet peppers

well, looks like this wasn't a heavy picture week! We probably ate everything in a very non-exciting manner. The purple peppers were much like green peppers, and lost their color when cooked. How anti-climactic. The apples, however, were scrumptious in this "sweedish apple pie" from allrecipes.com (well, sort of. I always mess with things...)Several people requested the recipe, so here goes my best attempt at remembering what I altered:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 1 egg

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Toss apples with 1 tablespoon of sugar, and pour them into a pie plate. Thoroughly mix together sugars with the flour, spices, butter, and egg. Spread this evenly over the top of the pie.
3. Bake in preheated oven until the apples have cooked and the topping is golden brown, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Week 11:

lettuce, summer squash, cucumbers, eggplant, candy sweet onion, tomatoes, basil, tomatillos, cherry tomatoes, melon, fresh beets, and possibly a padron pepper or two.

my first try at canning anything! I don't have canning supplies, but my stockpot is just big enough to do one quart jar. Since that's all the cucumbers I had anyway, perfect! Apparently you have to wait 8 weeks until you eat them, so.... I'll have to let you know in a couple months how they turned out!

the peppers were yummy! I guess the only way to eat these guys is to sautee them in olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt. So that's what we did! Eating padron peppers is like playing pepper roulette. 1 in 9 or something is spicy, the rest are not at all! Matt and I each got a hot one- it was kind of fun. Mm, yummy. Mm yummy. YIKES! GET ME SOME MILK!! hhaaaa haaa haaa

My first try at eggplant parmesan. Looks gross. Wasn't much better tasting than it looked. Sorry, guys. With my inexperience with eggplant, I just followed the recipe to the T and my eggplant came out undercooked. It was fine, but not worth repeating.

Week 12:

lettuce, Bartlett pears, cucumbers, tomatoes, beets, plums, cilantro, and a salsa kit

No picture this week, we were camping and our friends the Jensens were kind enough to pick up our bag for us! The salsa kit is kind of a bust for us- it included spicy peppers, onions, and lots of tomatoes. Since we were only home two days that week, I canned the tomatoes.

Looking forward to trying them when there are no more fresh tomatoes to be found!

Week 13:

eggplant, cucumbers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, sweet onions, peppers, beets, Brooks plums, basil, and potatoes.

Again, we were gone and missed the farmers market. Thank you to the Marson's for picking up our bag!

This beet was seriously the size of Rowen's head. I know it's a little closer to the camera, but not much. It really was that big. I decided to cut it in quarters to roast it, and it still took a couple hours! SO yummy though. The sweetest beet I've ever enjoyed.

Last night I made caponata with the big eggplant. It was much yummier than the eggplant parmesan! Doesn't look it though- more schlopp. It also included tomatoes from the farm.

Caponata (Sicilian Eggplant Relish)

from Cooks Illustrated vol 93

makes 3 cups

serve caponata over slices of toasted baguette or alongside grilled meat or fish. Adjust the vinegar as necessary, depending on the acidity of your tomatoes and what you are serving with the caponata. It is best made a day in advance and can be refrigerated for up to 1 week in an air-tight container.

1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 lbs), cut into 1/2" cubes (about 7 cups)

3/4 t kosher salt

3/4 C V8 juice

1/4 C red wine vinegar, plus extra for seasoning

2 T light brown sugar

1/4 C minced parsley leaves

1 1/2 t minced anchovy fillets (2-3 fillets)

8 oz ripe tomatoes (2 med) cored, seeded, and cut into 1/2" dice (about 1 C)

1/4 cup raisins (I omitted)

2 T minced black olives

2 T extra-virgin olive oil

1 celery rib, but into 1/4" dice (about 1/2 C) (I omitted)

1 small red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4" dice (about 1/2 C)

1 small onion, diced fine (about 1/2 C)

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

1. Toss eggplant and salt together in medium bowl. Line entire surface of large microwave-safe plate with double-layer of coffee filters and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. Spread eggplant in even layer over coffee filters. Microwave on high power until eggplant is dry and shriveled to one-third of it's size, 8-15 minutes (eggplant should not brown.) Remove eggplant immediately and transfer to paper-towel lined plate. *microwave is essential to the texture of the dish*

2. Meanwhile, whisk V8, vinegar, brown sugar, parsley, and anchovies together in medium bowl. Stir in tomatoes, raisins, and olives.

3. Heat 1 T oil in 12" nonstick skillet over medhigh heat until shimmering. Add egplant and cook, stirring occationally, until edges are browned, 4-8 minutes, adding 1 tsp oil if pan appears dry. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

4. Add remaining 2 tsp oil to empty skillet and heat until shimmering. Add celery and red pepper; cook, stirring occationally, until softened until edges are spotty brown, 2-4 minutes. Add onion and continue to cook until vegetables are browned, about 4 minutes longer.

5. Reduce heat to med-low; stir in eggplant and veg juice mixture. Bring to simmer and cook until veg juice is thickened and coats vegetables, 4-7 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl and cool to room temperature. Taste and season with up to 1 tsp additional vinegar. Sprinkle with pine nuts before serving.