Cooking With This Week's Box
Yellow Onions: Sweet and Sour Watermelon Rind Stir-Fry (see below); Sweet Corn & Zucchini Pie
Italian Garlic: Sweet and Sour Watermelon Rind Stir-Fry (see below); Tomato Galette; Baked Feta Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Basil & Garlic; Egyptian Spinach Soup
Green and Silver Slicer Cucumbers OR Green and/or Italian Zucchini: Sweet and Sour Watermelon Rind Stir-Fry (see below); Sweet Corn & Zucchini Pie; Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies; Watermelon & Cucumber Salad with Feta
Chocolate Sprinkles, Valentine Red Grape, Mountain Honey Red Grape or “Glitter” Yellow Grape Tomatoes: Baked Feta Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Basil & Garlic
Variety of Large Tomatoes: Tomato Tart; Tomato Galette; Baked Feta Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Basil & Garlic
Jalapeno Pepper: Sweet and Sour Watermelon Rind Stir-Fry (see below); Mexican Corn Dip with Cream Cheese & Jalapenos
Red Seedless Watermelon: Sweet and Sour Watermelon Rind Stir-Fry (see below); Watermelon & Cucumber Salad with Feta
Orange and/or Red Italian Frying Peppers: Sweet and Sour Watermelon Rind Stir-Fry (see below); Spanish Tortilla with Peppers; Mexican Corn Dip with Cream Cheese & Jalapenos
Green Bell Peppers: Mexican Corn Dip with Cream Cheese & Jalapenos
Sweet Corn: Sweet and Sour Watermelon Rind Stir-Fry (see below); Sweet Corn & Zucchini Pie; Sweet Corn Risotto; Mexican Corn Dip with Cream Cheese & Jalapenos
Edamame: Sweet and Sour Watermelon Rind Stir-Fry (see below)
Egyptian Spinach: Egyptian Spinach Soup
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| Sliced watermelon rind |
Was it just me or did August come and go like a flash of lightening?! Despite the fact that nights and mornings are getting chilly, the celeriac and parsnips are almost ready to dig and we started harvesting winter squash last weekend, lets not forget we still have a few more weeks of summer remaining! What better way to embrace this season than by featuring watermelon! I never really thought about doing anything with watermelon other than cutting it up and eating it, but I found some interesting ways to use it when I did some research in preparation for this week’s feature article (see below). This week I challenge you to try a recipe that may seem a bit “out there,” but is really quite tasty! Our first recipe is for Sweet and Sour Watermelon Rind Stir-Fry (see below). This was my first time using watermelon rind and I was really surprised by its texture and flavor which are more like a vegetable than a fruit. Plus, stir-fry is always a good way to incorporate a lot of vegetables into one meal.
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| Tomato Tart photo from foodieinnewyork.com |
This week I want to feature a few recipes that were posted in our Facebook Group. For those of you who are not yet signed up for our private Facebook group, you are missing out! There has been a lot of great interaction this year and some fabulous recipe ideas have been shared! We have a few more weeks to embrace fresh tomato season before the first frost. This recipe for a Tomato Tart was recommended by one member. This tart has a custard-gruyere cheese filling under the tomatoes. Another member recommended this Tomato Galette recipe that includes slices of garlic and cheese held together by a flaky galette pastry. This recipe for Baked Feta Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Basil & Garlic also looks quite tasty. The recipe calls for 2 pints of “cherry” tomatoes, but there is only one pint of small tomatoes in your box. I would recommend either halving the recipe (to yield 2 servings), or use one pint of small tomatoes and substitute diced larger tomatoes. I’d recommend a variety that is more “fleshy” such as marsalato or black velvet. In this recipe, the tomatoes are roasted or baked with a block of feta cheese so the sweet acidity of the tomatoes mingles with the salty cheese.
Before we bid farewell to zucchini for the season, consider this member-recommended recipe for a crustless Sweet Corn & Zucchini Pie. Of course you could also go the sweet route with these Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies! If you receive cucumbers instead of zucchini this week, consider making this refreshing Watermelon & Cucumber Salad with Feta. This is a super easy salad to make with simple, bright flavors of mint, basil and lime to complement the fruity watermelon and cucumbers. You could even serve this along with Sweet Corn Risotto for a light dinner.
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| Mexican Corn Dip with Cream Cheese & Jalapenos photo from theanthonykitchen.com |
Sweet peppers are one of my favorite crops, especially the red and orange Italian frying peppers included in this week’s box. I’d like to recommend using them in this recipe for a Spanish Tortilla with Peppers. This is an egg and potato dish made in a skillet, similar to a frittata. Serve it for any meal of the day, either hot or at room temperature. You could also use either the red or orange Italian Frying peppers and/or green bell peppers along with a jalapeno and corn to make this Mexican Corn Dip with Cream Cheese & Jalapenos to serve with tortilla chips.
This week we’re picking our final crop of edamame. If you don’t use it in this week’s Sweet & Sour Watermelon Rind Stir-Fry recipe, consider making this simple recipe for Edamame and Sea Salt which we featured in a past newsletter. The other recipe that comes from our archives and deserves mentioning is Egyptian Spinach Soup. I mentioned this recipe several weeks ago, but it really is the recipe to make with Egyptian Spinach which is a pretty unique green.
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| Prosciutto Wrapped Melon with Mint & White Balsamic Vinegar photo by Scott Phillips for finecooking.com |
As we round out this week’s box, we’ve found a use for every item in the box aside from the melon! Keep the flavors and prep simple this week, but enjoy these Prosciutto Wrapped Melon with Mint & White Balsamic Vinegar. The salty prosciutto is a nice balance to the sweet, juicy melon and the vinegar serves to heighten your senses to all these flavors!
Have a great week, a Happy Labor Day and I’ll see you back here again next week for more summer recipes and a few glimpses of fall!—Chef Andrea
Featured Vegetable....I Mean Fruit: Seedless Watermelon
By Chef Andrea
This week we’re featuring one of the few fruits we grow at HVF—seedless, personal-sized watermelons. This is a challenging crop to grow, but if you know Farmer Richard you know he likes a good challenge! The burning question you may be asking is “How do you produce seeds to grow a seedless watermelon?” The answer to this is more detailed than I can explain, but if you’re interested in learning more about the details of this process, you can find information at Watermelon.org.
The challenges of growing this crop start with sourcing seed. Since we specifically want to grow smaller melons, the selection of untreated or organic seed for seedless watermelons is pretty limited. We don’t have a lot of varieties to choose from and the seed is pretty expensive. We also have to create a “perfect” environment for the seeds in order to get them to germinate. We water and preheat the greenhouse flats a day before planting the seeds. Once the seeds are planted, we cover the greenhouse table with a cover to keep the flats nice and warm. Yes, we baby these seeds along because we want them to grow so we get a return on our investment in the seed! If we’ve paid attention to these details, we can hope to see sprouts within a week. The other challenging aspect to growing seedless watermelons is pollinating them. The plants themselves are sterile which means they cannot self-pollinate. We plant “pollinator” watermelon plants in the rows of seedless watermelons. These plants do produce watermelons, but they are seeded and are not delectable. They are, however, excellent pollinators that take care of pollinating the plants we do want to produce fruit!
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| Watermelon Sushi, photo from watermelon.org |
While it is most common to just cut the watermelon and eat it, there are many other ways you might use watermelons in a variety of ways in recipes. I have to admit that up until this year my experience with other “non-traditional” recipes was limited to watermelon drinks and watermelon-tomato salad. As I started my research I found an extensive collection of recipes at Watermelon.org. There are recipes for drinks such as Watermelon Green Tea and a Watermelon Ice Cream Soda Float! They also have recipes for salads such as a Watermelon Caprese Salad and Thai Watermelon Salad. I was also intrigued to find recipes for Watermelon Barbecue Sauce and Watermelon Chutney. They even have a recipe for Watermelon Sushi! These are just a few of the hundreds of recipes on this site specifically dedicated to watermelons!
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| Watermelon Rind Kimchi, photo from watermelon.org |
Lets talk about the watermelon rind for a minute. I have never been excited about making Watermelon Rind Pickles and I really didn’t know you could do anything with it beyond pickling. As I looked around at other recipes, I realized there are many other ways you could use the rind of watermelon in ways that treat it more like a vegetable than a fruit. You can use it to make Watermelon Rind Coleslaw, Watermelon Rind Kimchi, Watermelon Relish and so much more! I found a recipe for Watermelon Rind Stir-Fry and another for Watermelon Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce. I liked portions of both, but didn’t like the entire recipe so I decided to create my own recipe for Sweet & Sour Watermelon Rind Stir-Fry for this week’s featured recipe. The end result--I actually really like stir-fried watermelon rind! The rind is actually more like a vegetable and less like a fruit. It has the texture of a carrot when cooked and is very mild in flavor. To prepare watermelon rind for use, you first need to cut away the red flesh. You also need to use a paring knife or vegetable peeler to remove the thin outer green skin. The part of the rind you want to use is the white portion. It is important to note that each watermelon variety may have differing amounts of usable rind because some have a thick rind and others are very thin. Nonetheless, in the spirit of embracing the concept of reducing food waste and maximizing your food dollars, I’d encourage you to try utilizing the rind!
Whether you choose to try something new or stick with the old method of just eating it as is, we hope you enjoy these sweet, little seedless watermelons.
Sweet & Sour Watermelon Rind Stir-Fry
Yield: 6 servings
Sweet & Sour Sauce:
2-3 cups cubed seedless watermelon
1 ½ Tbsp toasted sesame oil
3 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 ½-2 Tbsp soy sauce, plus more to taste
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
Stir Fry:
1 pound ground pork (optional)
2 Tbsp sunflower oil or other high heat oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 medium onion, small diced
2 cups sliced watermelon rind
2 cups sliced zucchini
1-2 sweet peppers, sliced
¼-1 jalapeño, minced (amount to your tolerance)
1 cup raw sweet corn (from about 2 ears of corn)
½ cup shelled edamame
Freshly ground white pepper, to taste (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Steamed Rice, for serving
1 cup chopped cilantro, for serving
- First prepare the sauce. Puree the seedless watermelon cubes in a blender. Pour the puree into a small mixing bowl. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and stir to combine. Set aside.
- Prepare all the vegetables for the stir-fry before you start cooking. Once everything is prepared, heat a wok or medium to large skillet over medium-high to high heat. Add the oil and once hot, add the ground pork (if using). Cook the ground pork until thoroughly cooked through, then add garlic, ginger and onion. If you choose not to include the pork, simply preheat the oil and then add the garlic, ginger and onion. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes more and then add the watermelon rind, zucchini and sweet peppers. Continue to keep the vegetables moving as they cook and keep the heat on medium-high to high. Stir fry for 5-6 minutes or until the zucchini and watermelon rind are tender but not fully cooked.
- Next, add the jalapeño, sweet corn, shelled edamame, white and black pepper, and sweet and sour sauce. Stir to combine. Bring the sauce to a rapid simmer and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the sauce thickens just a bit. Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional salt and soy sauce to your liking.
- Remove from heat and serve with steamed rice and fresh cilantro.
Recipe developed by Chef Andrea
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