(A quick recap: this is my second season belonging to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture---basically I pay a farm upfront for a share of their season's harvest). Every week from now until October, I'll drive to my farm's pick-up spot and get my share of whatever is in season. When I remember, I'll take a photo of the week's bounty, tell you what I got and what I did with it. Hope you enjoy this ongoing project).
Week Seven
It's a good week:
Pictured are: (sorta-kinda clockwise starting at top left) String Beans, Swish Chard, Patty Pan and Yellow Crookneck Squash, Flat-Leaf Parsley, Scallions, Giant Zucchini, Asian Eggplant, Slicing Cucumbers, Pickling Cucumbers, Green and Hot Peppers, Broccoli, 3 Heads of Lettuce
I'm going to start my recap with last Sunday, two days before the pickup pictured above. On both Sunday and Monday, I tried new recipes that are worth mentioning, even though I feel differently about each.
First, if you like to grill vegetables and like things a little spicy, you must try this recipe for Spanish -Style Grilled Vegetables. This is a very flexible recipe---just throw together any vegetables you like to eat grilled. Regarding the ingredients, Panko is probably found in the "Asian" section of your supermarket. We always have it on hand since the Sushi Chef brand is milk-free and makes a nice crunchy topping without a lot of heavy seasoning. Also, I did not have any Sherry Wine Vinegar on hand, so just substituted Balsamic Vinegar.
The next recipe looked so promising since it allowed me to use both my Swiss Chard and Kale (although it doesn't call for Kale, per se) and could be made vegetarian by making an easy Garlic Broth. The soup and broth's reviews were also (mostly) glowing which gave me confidence.
Well. . .I don't know what I did wrong, but my experience with the Bean and Swiss Chard Soup was just "eh". Personally, I think it was the Garlic Broth that did it in; using Chicken Stock would probably be a better idea for those of you who can go that route.
On Tuesday, I threw some chicken breasts on the grill for that meat-eating family of mine, steamed the gorgeous green beans and made a basic salad with cucumbers and lettuce from the farm. I have a confession: I hate cucumbers. I love pickles and don't mind cucumbers when sliced very thin in vegetable sushi or spring rolls, but I cannot, for the life of me, eat one plain. Thankfully, my oldest took a bite and declared that cucumbers are her "Favorite Vegetable Ever". Phew. She can have my share.
Wednesday morning, my 3-year-old son helped me make zucchini bread with the "club" of zucchini I had tucked in my refrigerator (if you end up with a huge zucchini, turn it into bread or some other baked good; they are not as good grilled or steamed as the smaller ones are). I have no idea where my mother got this recipe, but we've been making it for years. I do not have two loaf pans, so I just made one loaf and six jumbo muffins (mixed raisins into the muffins).
Zucchini Bread
3 Eggs
3/4 cups Oil (Canola, or other mild tasting oil)
2 cups Sugar
3 cups Grated Zucchini
2 tsp Vanilla
3 cups Flour
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
3 tsp Cinnamon
Beat eggs until light. Add oil, sugar, zucchini, vanilla and mix well.
Mix dry ingredients together and then add to wet mixture.
Pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees. Flip out of pan and cool. (I always store my uneaten bread in the refrigerator or freezer)
Later on Wednesday, I turned to Rachael Ray's "30 Minute Meals" program for inspiration. Say what you will about Ms. Ray (yes, some of her catch phrases make me nutty), but, when I have just a little time to get dinner on the table, her recipes often pull through (nothing makes my head explode with a little "POP!" more than getting everything ready to make a dish for dinner, and then reading, "marinate for 4 hours, or up to overnight".
This Stuffed Cabbage Stoup (I'm assuming Stoup is a combo of Soup and Stew) from Ms. Ray used up one of the many heads of cabbage I still have and even called for some of the lovely dill I received last week. I replaced the 1 1/2 pounds of meatloaf mix with 3 pouches of Boca Crumbles, and the chicken stock with vegetable stock with no problems. I ran a little shy on Paprika so just added a little Cumin and Cayenne in its place.
Thursday was killer hot, and I knew we wouldn't get home from the beach until about two minutes before the kids melted down from hunger. So, I actually planned ahead (imagine that!) and made a recipe for Freezer Salsa* which used both hot and green peppers. Cooking salsa was a little weird for me, but once it was cooled in the refrigerator, it was pretty tasty with the hastily made cheese quesadillas.
And, that is all I have for this week. Off to research recipes for the rest of my yellow squash.
*from Home Education Magazine, which requests you purchase the issue for the recipe; there are also dozens of recipes online that you can try.
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