Harmony Valley Farm: August 17, 2023 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Eggplant

It’s another full box this week, so full we had to delay a few items until next week! Lets kick off this week’s Cooking with the Box article with a little chat about eggplant. I know there are some people who may still be learning to like eggplant. My recommendation to you is to try a recipe, such as this week’s featured recipe for Mediterranean Grilled Eggplant Salad (See Below) where eggplant is combined with other flavors and textures. I also included links to some of my personal favorite eggplant recipes from past years. I make this One-Pot Vegetable Thai Red Curry quite frequently and like it because you can put any vegetables in this dish that you have available. Don’t think you have to stick to only what is cited in the recipe. Eggplant is good to include in this dish though because it holds all of the wonderful curry flavors. Possibly one of my favorite eggplant recipes is this Grilled Eggplant & Quinoa Salad with Dates & Almonds. This salad is a nice blend of sweet and savory. It also travels well, so it’s a great option for picnics, potlucks, brown-bag lunches, etc.

Moving on, lets talk about that big bag of tomatoes! There are so many ways you can use tomatoes, although sometimes I don’t get too far past just eating them with salt and olive oil! If you are in the mood to cook with your tomatoes, try this Tomato and Garlic Chicken Curry or Tomato Pie with Brown Buttered Garlic and Shallots.

Blueberry Melon Salad
Photo from www.byandreajanssen.com

This week we also included tomatillos in the box, along with the other ingredients you need to make Roasted Tomatillo Salsa. If you want a faster method, try this Fresh Raw Tomatillo Salsa. You can stop there and just use the salsa as it is, or turn it into a more complex sauce, such as in this recipe for Vegetable Enchiladas with Tomatillo-Cream Sauce. This has been a popular member-favorite recipe from a past newsletter, and a reliable recipe at that. It incorporates a lot of summer vegetables, but it also can be cooked and then frozen…in case you want to put a few portions in the freezer and give yourself a night off making dinner in the future!

Next week we’ll expand our melon lineup to include watermelons, but before we do I thought I’d share a few refreshing melon-centric recipes with you. Cucumbers and melons are in the same vegetable family, so it would make sense that you can pair them together in a recipe. This Cucumber, Melon & Blueberry Salad with Feta & Honey sounds delicious and you could make it with any of this week’s melon selections. I also found this recipe for Cucumber & Korean Melon Salad, which is most appropriate to make with the Sun Jewel melon.

Alright, I’m going to wrap things up here. I hope you’re enjoying all of these summer vegetables and are creating some tasty summer meals! Next week we hope to send poblano peppers and soon we’ll have colored sweet peppers. I mentioned watermelons will be coming along with more tomatoes, different types of eggplant and hopefully more potatoes if there’s enough room in the box! Have a great week—

Chef Andrea

Vegetable Feature: Eggplant

by Andrea Yoder

Eggplant is grown all around the world and is a part of the cuisine in many different cultures, which means there are many different ways to put it to use in your kitchen. Eggplant is a member of the nightshade family, along with potatoes and tomatoes, and is one of the most beautiful crops we grow. In their peak, the plants can be loaded with beautiful glossy fruit hanging heavy on the plant. There are many varieties of eggplant ranging in size from small round eggplant the size of a golf ball to large globe eggplant weighing several pounds. They also come in a variety of colors ranging from various shades of purple to black, green, lavender, white and orange. While there are many varieties to choose from, we have narrowed our lineup of eggplant to our four favorite varieties including Lilac Bride, Purple Dancer, Listada and the traditional Black eggplant. Each variety has slightly different characteristics which may impact your decision as to how you want to prepare them. If you’re not familiar with the different varieties, I’ve included a brief description of each one below. I encourage you to refer to these descriptions each week to help you identify which eggplant you receive as this information will also help you choose the most fitting recipe for what you have received!

Black Globe Eggplant: This is the most familiar variety of eggplant. It is characterized by dark purple skin that looks black and has an elongated tear drop shape. It is best used in dishes like Eggplant Parmesan, lasagna or to make dips, etc. This variety will also hold up on the grill or if roasted.
Black Eggplant

Lilac Bride Eggplant: Lilac bride eggplant is long and slender with lavender to dark purple skin and white flesh. It is best used in Thai curry dishes, stir-fries, stews, or any other preparation where you want the eggplant to hold its shape better. The skin is tender enough you don’t need to peel it.
Lilac Bride

Listada Eggplant: Listada is characterized by a small globe shape with dark purple/ magenta skin streaked with white stripes. This variety is very dense with firm flesh that holds its shape well for grilling or roasting.

Listada

Purple Dancer Eggplant: This superb variety is characterized by an elongated tear drop shape and a bright purple skin. Purple Dancer eggplant is an all-purpose eggplant that has creamy, white flesh. It is firm enough that it keeps its shape if you grill it or use it in curries, soups, or stews. The flesh is also soft enough when cooked to use in dips, etc.

Purple Dancer

There are many different ways to prepare eggplant, but it is important to note that eggplant should be cooked before eating. It should not be eaten raw or undercooked. Eggplant is at its best when the flesh becomes very soft and silky. In fact, the more it smooshes, the better! While eggplant has a pretty mild flavor, its texture is what makes it a sponge that is able to absorb other flavors. Eggplant pairs well with other vegetables including tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, zucchini, potatoes, lentils, and chickpeas. It also goes well with flavorful olive oil, tahini, herbs such as basil, parsley and mint, and spices including cumin, coriander, sumac, and cinnamon. It is a friend to dairy products including yogurt, cheese (feta, Parmesan, and mozzarella), and cream and fruits including lemons and pomegranate.

Eggplant can be prepared using a variety of cooking methods including pan-frying, baking, grilling, and roasting. Many resources will tell you to salt eggplant before cooking it to remove bitterness. While some older varieties were bitter, the new varieties we grow have been selected because they are not bitter, thus you can skip the salting step for that reason. You may still choose to salt eggplant to soften the flesh, so it doesn’t absorb too much oil. Most of our varieties of eggplant have skin that is tender enough to eat, thus you do not need to peel them.

Chocolate Eggplant Torte

Since eggplant is part of so many cultures, there are a lot of ways you can use eggplant in your cooking. It is often incorporated into curry and stir-fry dishes in Indian, Thai, and Chinese cuisine. Sicilians are famous for eggplant caponata and Pasta alla Norma while Middle Eastern dishes include baba ghanoush and moussaka. The French put their mark on eggplant with the traditional Provencal dish, ratatouille. When you are reading recipes, you’ll find they often refer to “1 medium eggplant.” Well, eggplant grows in a wide range of sizes. So how do you know what “1 medium eggplant” is actually referring to? Well, the best guideline I can offer you is that most recipes are likely referring to about one pound of raw eggplant. If you have a larger eggplant than you need to use at the time, I encourage you to cook it all (if possible) at one time and then store any remaining unused portion. If you have some extra grilled eggplant, you can add it into a vegetable wrap, scramble it into your morning eggs or add it as a pizza topping. If you choose to roast eggplant and puree the flesh, you can store any unused pureed portion for another use or you can freeze it. When you are ready to use it, just pull it out of the freezer, thaw it and it’s ready to turn into a dip, soup or even a chocolate dessert! That’s right, eggplant puree can be used in baked goods similarly to how we use mashed bananas! If you don’t believe me, refer to this decadent recipe for Chocolate Eggplant Torte.

Eggplant does not store terribly well and is best stored at a temperature of about 45-50°F. This is warmer than your home refrigerator should be set at, thus we recommend storing your eggplant on the kitchen counter and use it within 2-4 days. If it starts to get a little soft or dehydrated looking, it’s still good, however we recommend you use it as soon as possible.

In this week’s Cooking With the Box Article above, I included links to some of our favorite eggplant recipes from past years. Hopefully, you’ll find something that piques your interest!

Mediterranean Grilled Eggplant Salad

Photo from acedarspoon.com

Yield: 3-4 servings

1-1.5 pounds eggplant

Olive oil

Salt & Pepper, to taste

½ tsp zaatar seasoning

1 ½ cups diced fresh tomatoes

1 Italian Frying pepper, seeds removed, small dice

1 medium onion, small dice

2 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped

½ cup fresh parsley, chopped

The juice of 1 lemon, to taste

¼ tsp crushed red pepper

1-2 tsp fresh zaatar leaf, minced or ½ tsp zaatar seasoning

Heat a grill to medium heat, or heat a grill pan on your stove top. Slice the eggplant into rounds, about ½ inch thick. Rub salt on each side of the eggplant and lay on a baking sheet for 45 minutes to an hour. Use a paper towel to pat the eggplant dry, then brush each side of the slices generously with olive oil. Sprinkle each side with salt, pepper and zaatar.
Place the eggplant on the grill and cook for 5 minutes. Flip eggplant and grill until browned on bottom, soft and fully cooked. Remove the slices from the grill and let the eggplant cool to room temperature.
Chop the grilled eggplant into small, bite-sized pieces and place in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Season to your liking with additional salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and/or olive oil.

Recipe borrowed from www.acedarspoon.com.

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

August 17, 2023 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Eggplant

Cooking With This Week's Box

Vegetable Feature: Eggplant

Mediterranean Grilled Eggplant Salad

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