Veggie Report 8/5

The weekly baskets seemed a little light sometimes in May/June. That's all forgiven in the deep summer months.

Here's this week's list of veggies from Two Small Farms, our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm.

Amazing Cook Tim sent us some food earlier this week, too! Gazpacho and homemade tortillas (some made by Princess Melissa) and rice with peppers. mmmMMmmm... thanks, man. I don't get food gifts often enough! Also, a bag of superior cherry tomatoes from the Princess's garden.



It's a very summer-ry basket this week. Strawberries, summer squash (the mystery this week), corn and tomatoes. And green onions. A big bunch. Luckily, I was nearly out. (no, really!) Rebecca loooooooves corn and we got about 8 ears, so many corn dishes are a'coming. Plus, one of the great oddities of the vegtable world called romanesco broccoli. It looks like an alien plant, but it's a kind of cauliflower, I guess. (Turns out that broccoli and cauliflower are the same species. Who knew?)

Finishing out last week:
- I read lots of pickling and brining recipes last week for the pickling cucumbers, but couldn't bring myself to start a canning operation. (Lazy!) So, when I finished a jar a pickles, I cut about 3/4 of the pickling cucumbers up into spears and stuck them in the left-over pickle juice. I figure in a week or so, they'll have soaked up some vinegar-y, dill-y, garlic-y goodness. Or, they'll taste just like cucumbers soaked in salt water. I'll let you know.
- I took potatoes from a few weeks back and made a dish similar to one suggested by Facebook Kelly: a "no mayo" potato salad with green beans and feta cheese. (*cough* ...and green onions). Thanks, Kelly!
- Chicken stock and the chard and the beet greens went into a red risotto. Golly, I like risotto. Learned how to make it from Walter, who learned from a master.
- Oh and that "lettuce"? That wasn't lettuce. That was escarole, a slightly bitter tasting green that's more firm than spinach and softer then chard. I've made that mistake before. Ask me about the "bad lettuce soup" sometime. I sauteed the escarole and nearly all the green and bulb onions up with the rest of the tarragon. I had it for breakfast with some sunnyside eggs poached in salsa. Kinda-of-a rancho huevos with greens.


Tongight:
- I'll prep up the strawberries for breakfast. Strawberries are almost entirely a cereal topping here at the Bungalow. If they get a little too ripe, I turn them into a desert sauce, or toss them in the freezer for smoothies.
- Tomatoes + corn + a couple peppers from our own backyard(!) and some (everybody say it with me!) green onions will make a nice summer side salad.
- It really is lettuce this time, so actual salad with Princess tomatoes, fennel and feta. I'll bake some bread to go with.

I gotta find something cool to do with summer squash. Something out of the ordinary, so no breads, no pasta, no stir-fry. I'll work on that...

Take care