CSA Bounty – Week Eleven

Well, almost the entire week has gone by without a post, which is in part because of a number of tasty dinners with friends that happened this week that has occupied my time, happily.  I’ve been able to eat my CSA veggies and fruit, though, and everything has been amazing.  My favorite so far has been the cantaloupe, followed by the excellent cherry tomatoes.  This week’s collage:

Week 11 collage

From top to bottom, left to right:

Apples, peaches, cantaloupes, nectarines, cucumbers, eggplant, summer squash, tomatoes.  Not shown: green beans.

Everything is gorgeous and bursting with flavor.   This really is my favorite time of the year for produce.  I wish it could continue for months!

CSA Bounty – Week Ten

Week 10 Collage

This week was another winner – ultra-summery veggies and fruit.  From the top, left to right, row by row, starting at the top:

cucumbers, basil, green and purple peppers (we got one of each), blackberries, summer squash, tomatoes, donut peaches, cantaloupes, okra

We actually got melon in both the vegetable and fruit shares! So I have two lovely melons at home.  I think the last time we got melon in a veggie share was the first season as Hellgate CSA (so, in 2006), and we’ve never had melon in the fruit share.  It’s very exciting.

Donut peaches are amazing!  I love them.

Not sure what to do about the okra – maybe make lact-fermented okra?  Will explore some recipes.

As I write this, the tomatoes are gone.  I used most of them to make lacto-fermented salsa, and ate the other one in a tomato and basil salad.

Will make cucumber soup this week, most likely.  Would be good to use some raw yogurt in it.

Love the summer veggies and fruit!

CSA Bounty – Week Nine

Well, this week we got a fantastic selection of summer vegetables.  I was really excited when I saw the share menu for the week!  I was so excited that I forgot to take pictures of my share before I dove in, d’oh.  It’s been a hectic week, too, so I haven’t had a chance to do a share photoshoot.  Still, I’ll tell you what we got this week:

tomatoes
cucumbers
bell peppers
summer squash
eggplant
parsley (mint was another option)
peaches
plums
blackberries

Fantastic!!!  You can’t ask for a more summery selection than that.

I took the tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers and stewed them all together and topped it with a little grated parmesan.  I have a lot to learn about cooking eggplant, I think.  It is one of the most challenging vegetables to cook well.  I have a white eggplant that I will work with over the weekend.

I also peeled the cucumber, sliced it, and combined it with the tomato, cut into wedges.  Add a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and perhaps some sherry vinegar, and that makes for a delicious summer salad.

As for the summer squash, not sure what I’ll do with them exactly.  I am overloaded with summer squashes of all kinds right now. One thing I could do with them is simply grate them and freeze them for use in zucchini bread or sprouted muffins over the winter.

As for the fruit, I’ve eaten most of the blackberries and am enjoying the yellow plums a lot.  I think I’ll make a peach crisp this weekend, too.  I would like to see if I can adjust the recipe for the crisp topping to accommodate rapadura/sucanat and coconut sugar. Yum!

Pictures next week, promise.

CSA Bounty – Week Eight

week eight collage

So far this season, this week has been my favorite week with the CSA.  The share was quite varied, as you can see.  From the top left, clockwise:

Basil, cherry tomatoes, blackberries, peaches, yellow plums, radicchio, fennel, cucumbers, apples, and summer squash. Not pictured: lettuce.

Last night I made a salad of the tomatoes, cucumbers (from the CSA and the monster lemon cucumber from my garden), basil, scallions, all dressed with olive oil, salt & pepper.  I added sherry vinegar to my serving, as T does not like vinegar.  It was a fantastic salad.  I ate it with eggs and goat cheese for protein.  Such a lovely summer meal.

csa salad

The weather has calmed down some, and for the past couple of days it’s felt like a normal NYC July.  People seemed in a better mood, in general.

distribution week eight-2

I mentioned above including my lemon cucumber in the salad, and I just have to say, what a delicious cucumber!  It actually tasted a little lemony and not at all bitter.  The flesh is really tender, too.  These cucumbers are a winner in my book.  No wonder my grandfather grew them every year.

Fagioli Con Limone – Amazing Green Beans

green beans in egg lemon sauce

We got summer’s first green beans in our CSA share last week; we tend to get a lot of green beans (and purple beans and yellow beans) in our share each season.  Sadly, wasting them – meaning, letting them rot in the fridge – inevitably happens because we get so, so many each summer.  This year, I’m determined to not waste any.

There are some simple and delicious ways out there to cook green beans: sautéing them with garlic, ginger, and a little naturally fermented soy sauce, topped with Sriracha; incorporating them into omelet; and simply eating them raw in salads.

But I have one way to cook them that makes them really special; it elevates the simple green bean to something truly amazing.

boiling beans

I discovered this method several years ago, and rediscovered it while perusing my cookbooks last week.  After making it mid-week, I was reminded why I love this dish – it holds a wonderful combination of summery, earthy green flavors lent by the beans in a silky lemony egg sauce, almost like they are in a warm lemony aioli.  The green beans also take on my favorite texture – fork tender. It’s really easy to make, too.  And it’s full of good fat and protein from the pastured eggs and butter.

beans and lemon egg mixture

I find it’s easy to down a half pound of beans when cooked like this.  In fact, I had to restrain myself from eating them all the other night, so that I could save some for lunch the next day. They were terrific as leftovers.

I’ll be making this all summer, I believe.  I doubt there will be any wasted green beans, too!

Fagioli Con Limone
from The Vegetarian Table: Italy

1/2 pound string beans, ends trimmed, preferably organic
2 tsp kosher salt or coarse sea salt, plus more to taste
1 tbs unsalted butter (I used raw butter)
2 small eggs, preferably pastured
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (not from a bottle)
grated zest of 1/2 small lemon
freshly milled black pepper

In a saucepan bring enough water to cover the beans generously to a rolling boil. Add the beans and 2 tsp salt. Cook until tender, 6-7 minutes, then drain well.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the drained beans to the butter, toss to coat, and cover the pan to keep them hot. In a bowl, lightly beat the eggs, and then beat in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and pepper to taste. Add the egg mixture to the hot beans and stir quickly with a wooden spoon. To prevent the eggs from curdling, keep the pot over the lowest possible heat, or place a flame tamer over the burner. As soon as the sauce thickens, remove the pot from the flame.

Serve hot.

CSA Bounty – Week Seven

CSA Week 7 Collage

This week the share seemed quite large to me.  From top to bottom row, left to right:

Beets, tarragon, scallions, lettuce, green beans, zucchini, red and yellow plums, mutsu apple, nectarines.  Not pictured: cucumber.

So much deliciousness!  This is my favorite time of the year for fruits and vegetables.  Summer makes for such beautiful produce.

Not much else to say, but…. YUM!

I Took a Little Break

So last week I was a little lax with the posting.  It was my birthday on Friday, and I had a bunch of plans with friends, so I ended up being offline from Friday afternoon through the weekend.  It was a nice break, and a little odd not turning on the computer, but I think it’s important to unplug from the laptop a bit for a few days from time to time.

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to reconnect with old friends, as well as with some newer friends, and that made the weekend really special.  So good to be with the people you care about, and who care about you.

As far as what I ate… well, I admit that overindulged in the rich, sweet food category a bit, but hey – it was my birthday!  But on the bright side, what I ate was made with quality ingredients.  I had some cake from a local bakery that uses real food – butter, eggs, cream; none of this shortening or veg oil business.  And I did make a peach sorbet from my CSA peaches, which came out great. Had a few cups of fair trade coffee and tea.  Sharing it all with friends made it even better.

So now I’m back on my favored eating path, and expect to feel amazing over the next couple of weeks!  I’ll have some recipes, a garden update, and another CSA report this week.  Stay tuned!